Hamilton Road Trip

Hiking

(Hercules's POV)
I looked around, yawning. I had woken up a minute ago, and the sun was barely up. It was wayyy to early, but I couldn't go back to sleep! I hear Lafayette snoring in the bunk below me, and I smiled softly.
    In the aisle between the 2 rows of bunk beds, Angelica was pacing back and forth, checking her watch every 5 seconds. Yawning, I looked at my own watch. It was 5:59 am. And yet Angelica was dressed, packed, and completely ready to go hiking.
    Wow. I thought. Does she never get tired?
    "IT'S 6:00 AM PEOPLE LET'S GET MOVING WE HAVE HIKING COME ON GET UP!" I jumped as Angelica started yelling.
    "Whattttt...." Thomas murmured sleepily.
    "Shhh... more seep" John mumbled.
    "COME ON LET'S GO!" Angelica yelled, climbing into everyone's bunks and shaking them awake.

    A couple minutes later everyone was dressed, packed, and ready to go.
    "Alright! Which trail should we go on?" Angelica asked, pointing to the map of trails.
    Everyone shouted out different suggestions. Lafayette and I looked at each other.
    "Treetop Trail?" He asked me, and I nodded eagerly, checking the map. It was supposed to be a quiet, gentle trail. (A/n: there is no Treetop Trail in Yosemite I made this up)
    Exactly what I need, I thought.
    "Hey Angelica, Laf and I are going to split off from the group and go on Treetop trail, ok?" I asked her. She nodded. "Actually," she said, "I think everyone should go on different trails with their bunk partners."
    I nodded, and Lafayette and I exited the cabin. I smiled at him, trying to ignore my fast heartbeat.
    "Let's go?" I asked, and he nodded eagerly.

    We walked through the trail in silence, gazing at the beautiful green leaves and soft butterflies. Eventually we neared a tall, raging waterfall, which we stared at for a long time. Neither of us wanted to break the spell the silence was casting.  
    "Umm... which way does the trail go?" Lafayette asked, shattering the silence as if his voice was a sharp knife.
    I looked at where he was pointing. There was a fork in the trail, one way twisting and turning upwards through bushes and berries, and the other leading downward over a smooth dirt path. I checked the map.
    "I'm not sure.." I responded, "The map is really confusing- I can't tell" Lafayette looked at the map as well. He turned it sideways, then right side up again.
    "Im guessing...that way?" He finally said, pointing toward the upward trail.
    I looked at it in doubt. "Are you sure?" I said hesitantly. Lafayette rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not sure" He responded, "But I'm guessing"
    I laughed a little. We started upward, pushing through the bushes.
    "According to the map, we should take a right... here" I said, then looked right, with a sinking feeling starting to settle in my stomach.
    I stared at the line of bushes. There was no trail there.
    "It's okay" Lafayette said gently, taking my hand. "Well just go back" I smiled at him and turned around, before realizing I couldn't tell from where we came from. There was just bushes everywhere.
    "Is this even a trail at all?" I asked Lafayette. "I don't think so..." He said, frowning.
    "Okay, well just call someone and ask them to help us, right?" I asked Lafayette desperately.
    He looked down at his phone. "No service" He said flatly.
    "What are we going to do?!" I asked desperately, panicking.
    "We wait" He answered, then flopped down on the ground. "I'm not going to walk around getting even most lost and in potentially more dangerous situations. I'm going to sit down, wait for Angelica or anyone else to realize we are lost, then come looking for us. Someone will find us eventually"
    I sighed, then sat down beside him, opening up our backpack.
    "We have some protein bars and a water bottle" I said, "what about you?"
    "Only a couple of apples. No water, I thought this would be a short hike"
    "You can share mine" I said, handing it to him. A tingle ran through me as our fingers touched lightly.
    We sat there for a little bit, looking around. I took a deep breath. This was the time to ask him. Now or never.
    "Hey Lafayette" I asked him hesitantly. He looked up at me.
"Ya?"
"Umm... I just... I... never mind" I stammered finally. I couldn't do it. I couldn't ask him why in the world he chose Peggy- bright overly cheerful Peggy- over me. I mean I could see why, of course. But I doubted Peggy loved him the way I did.
"Look Hercules" Lafayette said, "I know you have a crush on me" I stared at him, shocked.
"But I have a girlfriend, and I cant...I wont..." He stammered, and I nodded in understanding.
"Why Peggy..." I whispered, then immediately hated myself for asking.
"She asked me out. I couldn't say no." He replied, and I nodded. Of course he couldn't. But did he actually like her? Was he saying that he never did? Or was he just trying to make me feel better.
The questions whirled around in my head over and over again, and I struggled to not say them aloud.
"Hercules..." Lafayette suddenly said to me again, and I stared into his soft brown eyes.
"I really do like you, you know" My heart froze. I stared at him, unable to comprehend what he just said. Then all of a sudden my heart started beating, so so fast. I took quick breaths.
"R-r-really?" I whispered, so soft I worried for a second he didn't hear.
He nodded. I leaned in closer to him, still staring into his beautiful eyes. He leaned into me. Closer, and closer, until we were an inch away from each other-
"HEY! LAFAYETTE! HERCULES! ARE YOU THERE!" We instantly broke apart at the yell.
Peggy dashed into the clearing, Angelica behind her.
"Did you guys get lost?" Peggy asked, staring at us. Unexpectedly I felt a surge of anger rush through me. If only she had waited one second before dashing in...
I let out a gasp as I realized what we had been so close to doing. I couldn't do that to Lafayette. He had a girlfriend. And Peggy was also my friend. I couldn't do that to her.
I got up quickly, brushing the dirt and leaves off my pants.
"Ya" I said, "thanks for finding us"
"Are you guys alright?" She asked, worried. "Did anything bad happen?"
I looked at Lafayette. I knew she meant bears or something like that, but still a cold chill ran through me. What was Lafayette going to say?
"No" He said flatly, not looking at me. "Nothing happened" He smiled at her, and she ran up to him.
    "I was so worried!" She giggled, then hugged him. I focused on gathering my things, trying to shove down the burning rage that was curling and twisting in my stomach, threatening to get out.
"Come on" Angelica said to us, "We should head back to the cabin"
I nodded and started following her, and Lafayette and Peggy followed suit. As we neared the cabin, I sidled up to Lafayette.
I started to open my mouth, but he shook his head.
"Nothing happened" He whispered angrily. "Nothing happened. I have Peggy. I can't be with you. Nothing happened."
I nodded, but I could feel the tears at the back of my eyes. But I knew. Lafayette had Peggy. It couldn't happen. Not now, not ever.

A/n: well ok so maybe this is the worst chapter I've written so far... but I liked writing it and I've been really bored. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.