No Regrets, Only Memories

Cold Summer

Maeve

From day one in Australia, things had been more than Ideal. I would argue they had been perfect. To wake up wrapped in Daniel's arms, with a light kiss being placed on the back of my neck as the sun shone through the open windows was not new. However, it was new to wake up in the domestic bliss without an alarm blaring or having to scramble apart because someone was coming to get us. Daniel could feel it too, peace settling in as I stretched slightly before turning over in his arms.

"G'day. Fancy some breakfast?"

I laughed as I snuggled into his chest, not wanting to leave the warmth he was providing. While it was summer break, the southern hemisphere was currently experiencing what they would call winter. Even the brutish landscapes of the Australian bush had a cold front currently. The balmy 50 degrees was a far cry from the 90 or more that we would experience in some places in Europe and the US. It made me want to stay here forever and just enjoy the two weeks we had.

"Do we have to? It's warm here." I attempted to get even closer to him, despite how impossible that feat really was.

"Sure, but I can always make us breakfast and we can snuggle in the living room too..." He leaned down, placing a kiss on my forehead as I sighed.

"Breakfast would be wonderful. I have to start in the garage today." He nodded despite me not seeing it before moving away from me to get out of bed.

I whined as he did so, making him come back and give me a kiss good morning.

"Get ready, I'll meet you in the kitchen and then we can go to the garage together."

He meant together when he said it too. It was the start of our routine. Daniel settled into a supportive boyfriend role like it was his job. Every morning we would wake up together, make breakfast before a quick workout. Michael would come over occasionally to do a longer workout with us both, but mostly we were alone on the ranch. I spent most of my days in Daniel's garage, putting in the hard work and hours on my engine while I had the time to. Daniel would join me, asking questions about the work I was doing. Sometimes he would help, be the providing tools, playlists, or momentary distractions when I needed a break. There were days he of course had his own plans, friends that hadn't seen him in months or even years that he would go out with or they would come to the ranch to spend time with him while I worked.

It was a tricky situation, most of them wondering why I was here and such. Scotty was the one that got a little too close, trying to play a prank on me after we had spent the night barbecuing. His master plan was to scare me awake after they thought I had gone to sleep, only to notice that none of the guest rooms looked lived in. Daniel had apparently told him a semi truth, that I was going through something personal and had been sleeping in his bed due to nightmares. Scotty was just too good of a person to perpetuate any kind of rumor or claim, keeping the information to himself. I only knew because Daniel had told me the night it had happened when he came into his room. I had been nearly asleep, exhausted from a day of hammering away in the garage mixed in with fun time with his friends.

Scotty and I got on like two peas in a pod though, racing around on the ATV like the troublemakers we were just the second day of me being there before I had to go to the garage and get some work done. We even plotted a small prank on Daniel, rigging the speakers in the house to blast black and yellow on repeat the next day when the Renault signing was announced. We knew he held a lot of anxiety about the change, but the video of him laughing as he raced around trying every button possible to turn off the loud music as Scotty, Michael, and I danced around him was forever going to be a core memory for me. We were doing our best to cheer him up since the decision still weighed on him heavily.