I'll Find You

“Are you ready to go yet?” I asked as I came back inside from dropping off the tent and my duffle bag of clothes in Jan’s car that she was letting me use. Cooper was sitting in the backseat with his tongue out and his head out of the window and the car wasn’t even moving yet.

“Almost. Just a minute.” Sara answered.

“Do you need help?” I started walking into the room and Sara’s head popped out. She had this devilish glint in her eye.

“No, I’m fine. Go wait in the car; I’ll be out in a moment.”

“What are you up to?” I narrowed my eyes at her and took a step forward.

“Nothing. Go wait in the car.” She grinned wickedly and slammed the door shut before I could reach it. I heard the lock click shut and I groaned loudly.

“Fine, fine! I’ll go wait with the dog.” I mumbled and walked back out to the car.

I was sitting in the driver’s seat, still scowling, when I heard the trunk close and Sara open the door. She kissed my cheek and said, “We can go now.”

“I wanna know what took you so long.” I frowned, but started the car anyways.

“I’ll tell you later, don’t worry. How far away is it?” Sara reached back to scratch Cooper behind the ear.

“We have to drop him off at Jan’s, and then it’s about a two and a half hour drive to the campsite.”

“It’ll be about six when we get there.” Sara turned back to me.

“Yeah, and we’ll set up the tent and I’ll start a fire and we can have hot dogs and s’mores and then go to bed. Sound good?”

“Sounds pretty wonderful.” She smiled as I pulled up Jan’s house.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I got out and let Cooper out of the backseat. I had his leash in my hand as we walked up to the apartment Jan stayed in. I knocked on the door and waited patiently for Jan.

“Dev! Hey!” She looked down and smiled at the little Australian Shepherd. “And hello to you too Cooper!” She rubbed the top of his head and looked back to me. “Walk him three times a day, feed him a cup in the morning and afternoon, and play with him because he’s so adorable.”

I rolled my eyes and handed her all of Cooper’s things, including his bed. “Take care of him while we’re gone, okay?”

She held her right hand up and said, “I swear. You take care of your girl too, don’t want her getting bit by something or drowning or who knows what.”

“She’s not incapable of taking care of herself you know, I think she’ll be fine.” I shook my head and started to turn away. “I’ll see you Monday.” I raised my hand in farewell as she said goodbye and made my way back to the car.

“Now it’s just you and me.” Sara said when I started the car again.

“Hope that’s not a problem.” I said with a small grin.

“Not at all. I like it that way.” Before I could actually start driving she turned my face to look at her and softly pressed her lips against mine. “Just the two of us for the weekend.”

“And then Jan on Monday and your friends in class on Wednesday. I was thinking we could have dinner with Caleb and his new girlfriend sometime next week.” I suggested before I pulled out of the parking spot.

“I still haven’t lived down that hickey you gave me.” She frowned as if she didn’t like that I had given it to her, but I could see through that. “As for dinner with Caleb and his new lady friend, I would love that.”

“I’ll take you out for a walk in the park or something beforehand, and then we can go to dinner with them.” I was glad to see my brother again. We hadn’t gotten to see much of each other since the accident, but we emailed and texted each other occasionally. He had gotten a new girlfriend almost a month ago now, and he seemed to really like her. I was excited to meet her from what Caleb had told me of her.

“It’s not supposed to rain, is it?” Sara asked after a few miles.

“Nope, clear and warm all week. The stars are supposed to be gorgeous too. You’ll like it, I’ll show you all the constellations I know.”

“Really? How many is that?” Sara looked over at me with this smirk, like she knew exactly what I was going to say.

“Okay, so maybe it’s only, like, two, but it doesn’t mean it won’t be beautiful.” I stuck my tongue out at her and she just started to laugh.

“Well, we don’t have to talk about the stars, we can just look up at them and eat our s’mores. I’m sure it will be beautiful, and it’s even better that I’ll be there with you. You’ll be able to keep me warm at night and shower with me in the morning and all of that wonderful stuff.”

“Speaking of showers, the bathrooms are right next to us. Since nobody else is really camping, I could get a really great spot. Just don’t use the second shower, the hot water doesn’t work.”

“Now we’ll definitely have to shower together. I wouldn’t want to waste any hot water.” She grinned playfully.

“You just want to see me naked.” I chuckled and cast her a glance before turning my attention back to the road.

“I plan on doing that a lot too. Tonight, in our tent under the stars, the shower in the morning, and basically every other chance I get.” Her voice had a lustful huskiness to it that hadn’t been there earlier.

“Someone is really ‘in the mood’, aren’t they?”I raised an eyebrow and tried to ignore the little lustful monster inside of me that seemed to awake at the mere idea of what she wanted.

“Isn’t that what weekend getaways are for?” She sounded so innocent, like she hadn’t just told me how she wanted me or anything. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was talking about breakfast tomorrow. Then again, maybe she was talking about breakfast and I was the meal.

I forced away all of the less than innocent ideas from my mind and swallowed the lump in my throat. “That is true. I suppose I could let you see me naked a few times.”

“I like that idea. Anyways, you said we were doing hot dogs tonight?”

How the hell can she switch from topic to topic like that? I was still focused on showers and sex. “Yeah. We’ll cook them over the fire and I’ve got buns and ketchup and mustard and all of that other good stuff. There’s also a really good garlic bread in there that you just have to warm up over the fire real quick. We have soda and beer, so that’s all covered, thanks to Luce.”

“Has Jan asked Luce out yet?” Everyone seemed to notice that Jan and Luce would be good together except Jan and Luce. I think Luce wanted Jan to ask her out, but Jan was the ‘man’, and Luce was a lot more nervous about that sort of thing than she let on. She would never ask Jan out, and Jan was too terrified to ask Luce out.

“Not yet. I’m going to force her to pretty soon, because Luce is trying to get Jan to do it, but Jan is oblivious and scared shitless.” I mumbled.

“Sounds like someone else I know.” Sara laughed and looked over at me with this huge smile.

“I have no idea what you mean.” I grumbled quietly.

“Really? Jan sending me over to you so that you would ask me out, writing you that list of instructions for our first date, you not realizing that I did in fact like you more than a fuckbuddy. Sounds a bit like you. Maybe that’s why you guys are so close.”

“You saw the list?” I could feel the heat on my cheeks and I just hoped I wasn’t as red as I thought I was.

“You gave me your jacket at the park and didn’t take it back until you left in the morning. I had my hands in the pockets and I felt my address, which had been folded so many times I could barely read it, and the list. I thought it was sweet, it showed me how you actually thought it was important. And you didn’t have conversation topics on it, which was definitely a couple bonus points.” She laughed again. “You’re blushing.” She said with a huge smile. “It’s cute.”

“Liar.” I muttered darkly.

“It’s extremely cute.” She countered.

“Yeah, yeah. I can’t believe you found out about it.” And then a thought crossed my mind. “Did you take it? I tried to find it after I got home, but it wasn’t in my pocket. I thought I lost it.”

“Were you planning on keeping it?”

“Maybe I was.”

“Too late, I already did that. It’s my bookmark.”

“Your bookmark?” I thought it would have been somewhere meaningful, and instead it was in a book. Here I thought it would be a scrapbook or something. But no.

“I like looking at it. I read a lot.” It was her turn to seem embarrassed.

I grinned. She did read a lot. We would always cuddle on the bed and read with music playing in the background. I just never noticed her bookmark, I thought it was just a piece of notebook paper from one of those little journals, but it was actually my list. The fact that she used it as a bookmark wasn’t so bad, actually, it was kind of nice. She would always fiddle with it and sometimes she’d read it. I always thought it was some inspirational quote that she’d never let me see, but it was the schedule for our first date.

“That’s sweet.” I said with a smile.

“You can’t have it back.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to get rid of your precious bookmark.” I smiled over at her.

“Keep your eyes on the road.” She mumbled.

I looked back in front of me and thought about everything that had happened.

Do people really change this much in such a short amount of time? Can I really go from one night stands every couple of nights to being in a committed relationship? And love? What was I supposed to do about that? What if one day she told me she loved me and I had to say I didn’t believe in love?

Love.

Jan said that I was falling. She said I felt more than ‘like’ for her. Is that true? I felt a lot for her. I cared about her, I was happy with her, I worried about her, I felt different for her than anyone else. Could love maybe be real? I had been through so much so quickly, things I never thought would happen happened, so why would love be so hard to imagine next?

Because it doesn’t exist.

I reminded myself firmly.

I feel like everyone has those moments where they feel like everything is a dream, or that it’s not real, or something like that. At that moment, I thought of that, that this could all be a dream, and my blood ran cold.

“Sara…” I started. I didn’t know what else to say. That I was scared to wake up? That I wasn’t ready to lose her? Was this what falling in love was like? I didn’t even know anymore.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Sara was looking out the window and didn’t seem very focused right now. I didn’t mind that she called me sweetheart. I had never really had anyone call me a pet name or anything, so it made me feel…special. Different. Important to her I guess.

“What if…what if this is a dream? What if none of this is actually happening?” My voice was quiet. I didn’t really want to tell her, I was embarrassed at the fact that I was worrying about it actually.

Sara didn’t answer for a bit, but after a few moments she said, “I don’t know…”

“I don’t want to wake up for a while.” I mumbled quietly.

“Neither do I.”

We didn’t talk too much for a little while, and then we went back to how we normally talked, ignoring the idea of losing one another so soon.

When we finally drove up to the campsite it was already starting to get dark. I set up the tent, and then the canopy that went over the picnic table. I attached a few lights to the top so that when it got dark we could see our food. I pulled out dinner for tonight and lit a fire.

I was currently burning a hotdog over the fire and Sara was putting hers in a bun when she said, “It really is beautiful out here.”

I smiled. “I love it. You can see the stars so well because we aren’t by the city, so the lights don’t hide them.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars at once.” She said, and when I looked over at her she was looking up at the sky with a hotdog in her hand.

“It’s absolutely beautiful.” I agreed.

We ate hot dogs and garlic bread, and then I pulled out marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. “S’mores?” I asked as I set the things down beside her.

“Don’t mind if I do.” She stuck a marshmallow on the metal fork like things we had been using for hotdogs earlier (after we cleaned them) and walked to the fire.

When I joined her I saw the worst thing I could have imagined to happen tonight.

She was burning her marshmallow.

The damn thing was on fire.

And she seemed happy about it.

“What are you doing?” My voice was barely above a whisper and my eyes were wide with shock.

“Making a s’more. What’s it look like?”

“The devil’s handiwork.” I mumbled darkly.

“You don’t even believe in the devil.”

“I do now. Look at this crime.”

“What are you talking about.” She held the marshmallow up as walked towards me.

I backed away. “Why would you do that to a marshmallow? It’s supposed to be a golden brown and gooey on the inside, not black and charred.”

She laughed. “That’s what this about?” She walked towards me until I was backed up against a tree and she held it out to me so that I was almost touching it.

“I’m not getting naked for you for a very long time. Stay back demon. You shalt not experience sex with me until I have forgotten this moment.”

She leaned in and I felt her breath on my ear as she whispered, “I bet I can change your mind tonight.” And then she turned around and walked back to the fire, her hips swaying with every step.

I thought I was going to start to drool just watching that.

Four or five s’mores later and we were walking out of the bathroom from brushing our teeth. We entered our large tent and I attached a light to the top of the tent so we could see. I grabbed some boxer shorts and a tank top to get changed in. I turned around and my jaw dropped.

Sara was shirtless and was in the process of taking off her jeans, and while that was normally enough to get me going, she had an extra surprise for me.

She was wearing plum colored lingerie and had a smug look in her eyes when she noticed I was staring and my jaw was on the floor.

“Forget about the marshmallow thing?” She asked teasingly.

“Huh?” Was my brilliant response.

“That’s what I thought. Purple is your favorite color, so I thought you’d like it.” She said with this evil smirk crossing her lips. Her fingers traced the top of her bra and I bit my bottom lip to keep from whimpering at the sight.

“Fuck.” I breathed after a moment.

“My thought exactly.”

It was hot in our tent after all of the glorious sex we had, so we lay naked on top of our sleeping bags, which I had zipped together as I promised.

“Marshmallows still a big deal?” She asked after a moment.

I chuckled. “I guess not.” She rolled onto her side and I felt her cheek against my chest and her hand on my bare stomach.

“Good. I like being close to you.”

“Is that what you were doing earlier? When you wouldn’t let me in your room?” I let my hand rest on the back of her head while I played with the long, lazy curls of her hair.

“Mhm. I had to keep it in boxes and hide it from you, I wanted it to be a surprise. I think it worked.” I could feel her lips pull up into a grin.

“That it did.” I laughed quietly.

I could feel her breath on my skin as we lay there in silence, and soon I started to doze off.

“Dev?” Sara whispered after a bit.

“Hmm?” I was still almost asleep.

“If I woke up and this was only a dream, I’d come find you.”

I felt my heart skip a beat at that. She’d find me? She’d come look for me to make this real? Would I?

Did I even have to ask? Of course I would.

I smiled and whispered back, “I’d search day and night for you. If I wake up, I’ll find you.”

“Cross your heart?” She asked, her finger tracing circles and spirals on my stomach.

Part of me felt like I was in sixth grade again, the other part felt warm and fuzzy when I said, “Cross my heart.”

Perhaps this is what falling in love was like. I guess I’d find out soon enough.

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You guys. This story is number 767 on the Romance tag for the 'Hot' list thing. You guys. This has never happened to me. I mean, who goes in 52 pages (I checked), but still. Crazy, right?

I wish this happened to me when I went camping. No girl showed up in plum colored lingerie for me, instead I get 12 year olds refusing to sleep in her tent because of a leaf bug that got in her tent because she left it open for half and hour. She didn't sleep in her tent for two nights. She wouldn't go near the damn thing. Devon's camping experience was better than mine :/

Many of you know I'm writing three stories right now. In Life in Color, I almost call Erica Sara every other time. I almost called Sara Casey three times, and I've almost call Regan Devon a couple times. I catch myself I think, but if you see a name mix up, feel free to shout it out, I beg you. I don't want to confuse people or go back and read this and face palm myself for doing that.

Let me know what you all think! Especially commenting, but I love when you guys vote too. I just like actually hearing your thoughts. What do you think will happen, do you have questions, what do you want to happen, all of that. Hope you enjoyed it.