Life, Love & Cupcakes (Rewritten)

Life, Love & Cupcakes 15.

Once Sam and I reached the river, we surveyed the scene.

"Everyone's over there," Sam told me, pointing to the spot upstream where he had swam earlier.

"Do you want to go up there?" I asked him, and he shrugged.

"I'd actually found a nicer place for us to go, but if you want to hang out with Belle..." He sighed sadly.

"What?!" I cried. "No, take me to the nicer place!"

He grinned and took my hand. "Follow me."

He led me down a tree-covered dirt path, away from the rest of the group. After walking through some leafy trees and thick bushes, we emerged on the edge of the river. The drop down to the rushing water was about ten metres high.

"I'm not jumping, if that's what you're planning," I said worriedly.

Sam laughed. "Why would I make you jump? Look." He pointed to another rocky edge a bit further downstream, where a log bridge stretched from one side of the river to the other.

"Are we going to cross?" I asked, looking once again at the fast water.

"Yes," Sam smiled. "Don't worry, the bridge is safe."

I nodded and held his hand tighter. We quickly walked to the log, and Sam stood up on it. He shifted his weight a few times, then did a couple of little jumps. "It's strong enough to hold us both," he decided. "Do you trust me?"

I clenched my teeth and nodded again. Sam helped me up onto the thick log, and grabbed both of my hands. We started to walk across the bridge, ever so slowly, freezing every time the wind would blow lightly against us and make us wobble. Once we reached the other side, I tripped over a long tree root and landed in Sam's arms.

"Whoops," I giggled. "Lucky I didn't do that on the bridge, hey?"

Sam chuckled and lifted me back up. His expression was one of pure amusement.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he smiled. He took my hand again and pointed to a pile of large rocks in the distance. "See that? That's where we're going."

I had to admit, it didn't look very appealing. As interesting as rocks were, I'd seen much nicer ones in my lifetime. "Really?" I asked. I hoped he didn't hear the disappointment in my voice.

"Yes," he grinned. "Trust me, you'll love it."

I sighed. "Alright, I'll take your word for it."

We started to move slowly through the tall plants, watching where we stepped carefully, but it wasn't long before I found myself sprinting through the forest. I enjoyed every moment; the wind rushing past my face and through my hair, the feeling of the soft dirt and grass beneath my feet, and the happiness of being alone with Sam. I looked back, expecting to see him close behind me, but he was gone.

I stopped running and looked around. Between my heavy, deep breaths, I called out, "Sam?!"

"What's up?" Sam asked from behind me, and I jumped in surprise. I spun around and glared at him when he laughed.

"That's not funny! You could have given me a heart attack!" I cried.

"I wouldn't bet on that," he laughed.

I frowned and crossed my arms. "You know what? Since you're being such a meanie, I don't think I'll go to that special place now."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" Before I could say anything, he scooped me up into his arms and started to carry me towards the large rocks, which were very close by now.