Painted Angel (Artist! 2p! America x Reader)

Swear Not by the Moon

        "(N/n)?"

        "Yes?"

You had flown up to New York once again to hang out with Allen. There was more to your visit though. The air between the two of you was thick with tension. It had been five months since Allen confessed his feelings for you, and the two of you had been discussing it on and off again, but the conversations never lasted long. You were both super awkward with approaching the topic of a possible relationship with the other person, especially with having been friends for so long.

Currently, the two of you were hiking in Watkins Glen State Park, having planned to spend the weekend camping there, something neither of you had done since your shared environmental science in high school. You admired the beauty of the natural landscape and the sounds of wildlife at work. Allen speaking again broke you from your nature induced stupor.

"Can we talk? Like really talk without dodging the subject?"

"Uh... Yeah. We should, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, but... Not out here."

"What do you mean not out here? We're in the middle of the forest," you laughed. "Privacy is pretty easy to come by unless you're worried about a slug or a deer finding out your deepest darkest secrets."

"Oh, hardy har har. You're such a comedian," he shot back, an amused smirk playing at his lips. "I meant that there are too many people around right now. I wanna talk when we get to our campsite."

"But there's so many campsites surrounding it."

"I... may have bought out the surrounding twenty or so sites around our own for more privacy..."

You narrowed your eyes at him with a slightly judging look. "I want to say I don't believe you, but I also know you too well to not believe you when you say things like that."

The New Yorker gave you a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his neck as you continued your hike. "I just didn't want people right on top of us. I'm not exactly low key anymore. People recognize me, more so now than ever before."

"Ah, I see. You want your normal life back, at least just for a little bit. Won't people think it's odd that all the campsites around ours will be empty though?"

"Yeah... Probably... I didn't really think about that."

"Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure we can still have a decently quiet weekend either way."

"Let's hope so."

The two of you fell into silence once more as you went about your way. When night began to fall, you returned to your campsite. Setting up your tent in the fading light was a bit of a struggle, but you managed to pitch it and build a fire before the final rays of dusk disappeared. Allen got to cooking dinner while you laid out the sleeping bags inside of the tent and set up your bear box. You ate side by side in folding chairs in front of the fire, watching the flames lick at the air. Plates and silverware were washed in a small basin filled with water and some dish soap, then dried and put away to use in the morning.

"It's quiet," you whispered, "without people so close."

"I know. It's kinda nice, don't you think?"

"I do, but it's also foreign feeling. We both live in cities and rarely are outside of them for long. Here... Here is so different. The only sounds are nature and the faint sounds of other campsites in the distance. Even then it doesn't compare to the hustle and bustle of home."