Waves, Sunsets, & Coffee

Chapter 12.1

     "You need help?" Ares asked as he saw me somewhat struggling walking up the trail since I was carrying both my pack and some of the first aid.
     Ares offered to bring some of my stuff but I told him I was good since he was already bringing his things, the tents, and other camping gear that he promised to bring.
     It was a struggle to carry these bags since my arm was still in a cast and we're fucking waking up the mountain, but I managed.
     "It's alright, I can manage." I told him as I just needed a few deep breaths.
     "Give me this." One of my bags was suddenly pulled away from me to see Liam putting it on his back.
     "Liam! I can do it." I told him.
     "Your fracture is not fully healed yet and you're carrying a ton of shit." He argues and I rolled my eyes.
     "Here, let me help you man." Ares offers his hand to carry some of the things Liam was bringing but the latter shakes his head.
     "We're good dude. I can bring this." Liam said.
     "You sure?" Ares ensured and Liam nodded.
     "Jesus Christ hold up. I need to breathe!" Someone exclaimed since one of us was bound to stop the group and rest for a while since we've been hiking up the mountain for about half an hour now.
     "Water! I need water or I will pass out!" Madds exaggerates as she is covered with sweat and we chuckle at her.
     "Alright, I guess we can rest for five minutes, yeah?" Erik chuckles at the stamina and endurance of my friends. Clearly, we never hiked up before.
     "Oh thank Lord!" They exclaimed as they all plopped down on the ground and I did the same, resting under a tree.
     "You sure you're good?" I groan as Ares kept asking me ever since the hike started and I've reassured him a hundred times that I am in fact okay.
     "Ares! I did much much more reckless things before compared to me hiking with an arm in a cast alright?" I told him and he chuckled.
     "Yeah like the time you went paragliding with a sprain." Enzo mentioned and I rolled my eyes.
     "Oh what about when you went diving with sharks and you recently had an open wound." Madds said.
     "Sharks going into frenzy mode when they smell human blood is a myth! I showed you guys a video to prove it!" I argued back.
     "I didn't know my girlfriend's an adrenaline junkie huh? I guess I gotta level up my game." Ares said, sitting beside me and I scoff.
     "Please, you can never get on the same level as me." I teased him.
     "Hmm, you're right. God, I love you." He kisses my cheeks and gives me a tight hug. God, this man, I chuckled.
     "I love you too, now get off doofus! You'll crush my bones."
     "Holy shit! Did you just— did you guys just say I love you? Oh my God, they did!" Madds exclaimed and I rolled my eyes at her. It's not a big deal really.
     "Damn, what kinda world do I live in now? Am I dreaming?" Emma says and I threw a small rock towards her.
     "Shut up guys." I told them and they only laughed, teasing us more which only makes me blush harder.
     "Congrats man. Just wait 'till the real Alex comes out!" Alec told Ares while laughing and I got another stone and threw it straight to his head.
     "Hey!" He exclaims.
     "Alright, let's get going?" Erik interrupts and the group groans.
     "I mean, we could stay here and let the other group go first and pick the best spots...'' At the mention of that, Madds immediately stood up and went beside Erik.
     "Let's go!" Madds being Madds.
     The group then followed their lead as we continued our hike to God knows where.

     Half an hour later, we finally reached the camping site and everyone called dibs on a spot which they thought was perfect, but that wasn't what caught my attention.
     Just a few feet away from the campsite, I walked over to the cliff and the view immediately caught my breath.
     It was the perfect view of the beach, the forest, and the ocean. The sun was at its highest peak, illuminating the whole place as waves reflect the light.
     Soft breeze passes us and soon, the group joins me and stares over the horizon in amazement.
     "Some view huh?" Ares tells me and I nod.
     "It's beautiful." I say, not being able to take my eyes away.
     "It really is." He says and I look at him, and he wasn't looking over the ocean. He's looking at me.
     "By the way, you can cliff jump here." Ares mentions and my eyes widen.
     "You're not playing are you?" I asked, making sure if I could really jump off.
     "Yep. But it's only for the brave souls." Erik walks up to us who looks down but immediately backs away.
     "There's a saying that only the toughest could jump." He says.
     "It's not even that high. Compared to the other cliffs I've been through." I said, looking down.
     "Oh it's not. But they say there's a spirit that brings bad luck to those who jump." Erik tells me.
     "That won't stop me from jumping. I mean, if I didn't have this stupid cast on."
     "Well, neither did the other people who jumped. Nothing happened to them after anyways so that saying has been ignored for years."
     "Someone help me!" We heard Emma and Alec complain as they have been trying to get their tents to stand up when Keith scolds them.
     "Someone didn't read the manual" Keith says, helping them with their own tent.
    Ares managed to only get four tents that could only fit two people max. So Enzo and Liam are occupying one, Keith and Madds on another, and Emma and Alec stay on the third. That leaves me to share a tent with Ares.
     "Come on, let's set this tent up." I pulled Ares and got the bag of the tent.
     "I'll do it Alex, you have a fracture." Ares argues but I just rolled my eyes and ignored me.
     After an hour of settling down and exploring nearby places from our campsite, we heard voices coming from the forest.
     Erik said it would be the other group and soon, a group of four people came into view.
     "Woah!"
     "Hot damn!"
     "I didn't know the other group would be this good looking. I should've dressed better." One of the buff guys says and a girl responds.
     "I'm on you on that one." The group then greeted us and we greeted them back.
     "Thought I heard new voices." Ares then says, appearing beside me.
     "Ares?" We heard the girl with the most beautiful white hair I've seen says.
     "Oh my God, what a coincidence!" She says as she runs towards Ares, jumping on him and giving him a hug.     
     I try to keep my laughter in Ares' shocked and confused look.
     "I miss you boo!" Boo? She says and I felt a small pang on my heart as I looked at her, who was hugging a confused and uncomfortable looking Ares.
     "Uh..." Ares slowly tried to push the girl away.
     "I didn't know you'd be here!" She says in a high pitched voice, happy like a child given candy at night.
     "You know, I never heard from you... after..." she says as she caresses Ares arms up and down.
     He looks extremely uncomfortable, and so do I so he removes the girl's arm, went to my side and circled his arm around my waist.
     "Nicole, hey." He says and I look back at the girl with white hair who's name is Nicole, and she obviously looks surprised by the gesture and visibly takes a step back.
     "Oh... Hi. I'm Nicole. And you must be...?"
     "Alex." I say, giving her my sweetest smile as I put my hand out and she hesitates before she shakes it.
     "Ehem. Anyways, why don't you guys settle down for a while and we can introduce ourselves later yeah?" A guy who's probably in his late twenties says, the other group's instructor. Ares said.
     "You okay?" I asked Ares who still seems like he can't shake off the feeling of being uncomfortable.
     "Yeah, and I'm sorry about that. Nicole's my ex and I didn't know she'd be here." He explains and I smile at him for apologizing, even if he has nothing to apologize for.
     "Hey, you don't have to apologize okay? I don't mind, I trust you.
     "Thanks." He says and I give him a big hug, which seems to remove the stress out of him as he visibly relaxes.
     While the other group claimed their part of the clearing, I sat on the cliff with my legs dangling while the others were minding their own business.
     It was almost sundown and I just can't help but think about life.
     I mean, how things are all connected. If Andrew didn't cheat on me, I wouldn't have gone here and I wouldn't have met Ares.
     It's amazing how one small decision could have a great impact on someone's life.
     "Hey." Keith walks by and sits besides me.
     "Hey, what's up?" I asked as she offered me a biscuit.
     "I saw what Ares did back there. Seems like he's a keeper huh." I rolled my eyes as I felt my cheeks warm.
     "Honestly? I kinda liked what he did. Pushing that Nicole off." I chuckled, remembering how ridiculous Nicole looked.
     "So, you're not worried?" She asked and I shaked my head no. Like I said, I trust Ares and I had nothing to worry about.
     "Anyways, saw that girl with a pixie cut? She's kinda cut. Making me question my sexuality." She jokes out and we laugh.
     "You're right though. She's cute. Make a move." I told her but I knew she wasn't that kinda girl.
     "No. You know me Lex, I'm not making a move."
     "Suit yourself. She's a catch you know."