"Are you ready," I asked Leo when I stopped by his house. My grandparents were taking us to their house on the lake for the day, and we were going to stay overnight.
"Yeah," he confirmed, pushing through the entrance with his luggage. It wasn't that much, just a black duffel bag and a sleeping bag. We held hands the entire drive even though it was only about half an hour. My face lit up when I saw how fascinated Leo seemed by the small house that quietly sat there. We brought our items into the bedroom with two beds, while my grandparents went for the bigger one with a queen sized mattress. The house was a bit stuffy, but it already felt better when they turned the air conditioner on in the living room.
"Do you want me to show you around before lunch," I asked Leo, since my grandpa was just about to fire up the grill.
"Yeah," Leo softly chuckled at my enthusiasm. I dragged him to the middle of the main room, beginning to explain everything.
"This is the living room, and right on the other side of that bar is the small kitchen, back here is the bathroom, then of course the bedrooms, so I guess there isn't much to see," I quietly giggled. "There's more outside though."
He carefully shut the screen door behind him as our feet touched the cement porch.
"There's a sandbox over there next to the swings, and then of course there's a whole lake. Do you want to go on the peddle boat later," I wondered.
"Alright," he agreed, us going over to the sandbox to uncover it. We had to clean out a few dead bugs, but then it was fine to use. We were literally bringing water from the hose to create a sand castle. I felt like a little kid again as we used sticks to decorate our towers, along with small rocks. Leo proudly wrapped a leaf around a stick for the flag, putting it at the very top.
"Well, that was fun, but I don't think the food's ready yet," I frowned.
"I can push you on the swings," Leo offered, us going over to the rusty play set. I smiled widely as he pushed on my lower back, me going higher each time. I tilted my head back and felt dizzy for a moment as I caught a glimpse of his ocean eyes. I could smell the smoke from the cooking food too, but it was wonderful.
"You want me to push you next," I asked, once I had him stop me.
"Alright," he lowly chuckled, purposely putting his long legs out at first.
"Leo... I can't push you with your feet on the ground like that," I laughed slightly.
"You can't?" He smirked back at me, causing a million butterflies to erupt in my tummy.
"No...," I whined as I pushed him harder, but he purposely made it difficult. "I hate you."
"Fine, I'll lift my feet," he caved, but it was still hard for me to get him going. He had to move his own legs back and forth to get better leverage. He was just so much taller than me, which automatically made him heavier. I screamed quietly when he suddenly jumped from his seat to land a fair distance away on his feet.
"Don't do that. I thought you were going to hurt yourself," I told him, getting more emotional than was necessary.
"I've done it a bunch of times. Tobey and I used to have contests."
"Well, I did it once and I landed flat on my face, and I broke my nose," I winced at the memory.
"Fuck, I'm sorry, Fern. I didn't realize that," he admitted.
"It's okay. I just didn't want the same thing to happen to you. I swear my heart dropped when I saw you jumping."
He wrapped me up in a hug and it erased the pain right away, my grandfather announcing it was time to eat. We all sat at the wooden table outdoors, Leo's plate filled with a hamburger and hotdog on a bun. I had settled for a cheeseburger with a hotdog by itself, since I wouldn't be able to eat that much bread.
