the heart never lies (chris evans)

chapter twenty six - aquariums and swan pedal boats

Meg's POV
On Saturday morning, Evans and I head out to his place early again so we can make the most of the weekend. Our last weekend together until this experience is over. It's hard to imagine my life the way it was before all of this happened. I hope this long distance plan will work. "Sooo, what's the plan f-for today then?" I ask curiously when we arrive at his place, setting our bags down. He smiles over at me.

"Well, first thing first — I reckon we should take Dodger for a walk." Dodger's head immediately tilts when he hears the word walk.

"Good plan."

"Then we're gonna go out."

"Where we g-goin'?" He smiles wider and walks closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Do you really want to know?" I nod eagerly.

"Yessss, tell me!" With a chuckle, he nods.

"Alright, alright. I'm taking you to the aquarium." He tells me, to which I start smiling.

"With penguins?" Chuckling again, he nods.

"Of course! I did some research. We're going to Aquarium of the Pacific. They have twenty Magellanic penguins there." I clap my hands in excitement.

"Yay! I can't wait!"

"We're going straight after walking Dodger, don't worry." He says, pecking my lips softly and making me smile widely. "Then I may have another surprise for you."

"Is it s-something you're going to do in the n-night?" I tease playfully, making him smile and roll his eyes.

"Oh shut it. Come on." He gently taps my bum and then walks towards the front door. "Come on, bubba! Let's go walkies!" Dodger gets excited, quickly running over and wagging his tail furiously.

After we walk Dodger, Evans drives us to the aquarium, and I can't deny the fact that I'm very excited. Especially to see the penguins. During the ride there, I look on the aquarium's website and it seems like they have loads of really amazing animals to see; otters, sharks, seals, sea lions, frogs. I can't wait to explore.

"You on the website?" Evans asks and I nod eagerly.

"Yup! Seeing what else they've got." He chuckles.

"And? Anything take your fancy beside the penguins?"

"I mean, m-most the animals to be honest." With another chuckle, he nods.

"That's true, yeah. They have some good ones."

"S-Seals though. I like them a lot."

"Ah, yes! They're pretty funny and cute."

"Yessss!" He starts grinning.

"There's definitely a running theme here." I smile a little.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yup. Penguins, seals. They're a lot like you — funny and cute." He says with a wink, making me blush deeply and let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, shush." I mumble and his grin widens.

Once we arrive, we both hop out of the car and my eyes wander slightly. This is definitely the biggest aquarium I've ever seen.

"Come on then, let's go see those penguins." Evans says with a smile, putting on his sunglasses. I smile too and nod, starting to walk towards the entrance. "Hang on, hang on." I pause, looking back at him, hands on his hips with a serious gaze. "Something's missing."

"...Oh?" He breaks out into a smile and quickly takes my hand, intertwining our fingers. My smile widens uncontrollably and I blush slightly.

"Okay, now we're good to go."