hard | daniel seavey

chapter thirty-one

  Daniel and I hiked up the steep hill, so close to our destination. For whatever reason, he felt an early morning hike would be great to help get the day get started. Little did I know when he said 'early morning' he literally meant early. The sun wasn't even in the sky when he picked me up. Not to forget the hike he had planned was almost 4 miles long just to get there. This boys gonna kill me, literally.

  "Daniel, how much longer?" I whined and tugged on his hand, pulling him towards me. It was nearly 5:30 in the morning and I was ready to fall back asleep wherever I could.

  "For the hundredth time, we're almost there." He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

   "I don't feel like walking anymore," I complained and stopped walking. Daniel gave me a playfully annoyed look before turning around and crouching down.

   "C'mon, Pretty Girl."

   I carefully jumped on Daniel's back as he hooked his arms around my legs. I rested my head on his shoulder as he carried me, nearly falling asleep there. But about 5 minutes later, Daniel put me down. We were at the top of the trail that gave us the perfect view of Los Angeles. The sun was beginning to rise in the distance, making the sky turn shades of orange and pink.

   I stood, watching the sky change colors in awe. Daniel called my name from behind me. I turned around and saw his phone held up. I rolled my eyes and smiled at him before walking over to him and giving him a kiss. The video he had taken was him panning over the sky, then towards me when I had turned and smiled at him.

  "C-can I post it?" Daniel asked hesitantly. Daniel and I had agreed to keep our relationship to ourselves for a bit, but we've been dating for nearly a month now and I knew it was killing him not being able to tell his fans.

  "Of course you can," I wrapped my arms around him from the side, looking up at him. "I think we can start letting hints slip that we're together."

  "Really?" His face lit up. He quickly typed a caption on the video, having it say 'the perfect view' with a heart eyedemoji. He pressed the post button and exhaled deeply. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to at least say something about us. You and my fans both mean the world to me, and I want to be able to show you to them."

   "I know, Daniel. I just wanted to make sure the pressure of social media didn't get to the best of us. I've seen it happen to so many relationships, I didn't want it to happen to us." I said sadly, thinking about all of the relationships I've seen end over some stupid post on Instagram or Snapchat. What if that had been Daniel and me? The thought made me anxious and overwhelmed.

   Daniel's hands cupped my face as he looked into my eyes. With the subtle hint of the sun rising and the different shades of the sun, his eyes shone like diamonds. They relaxed me with just one look.

   "Nothing is ever going to change the way I feel about you. Especially something as dumb as an app." Daniel   rested his forehead against mine, not looking away from my eyes. "I love you. More than anything, Pretty Girl."

    "And I love you most, My Love." I stood on my toes, connecting our lips for a moment. He looked towards the sun, which had fully risen at this point. I looked over the city of Los Angeles, taking in everything. I closed my eyes, allowing the slight breeze to take me away with it. When I opened my eyes again, Daniel was looking down at me.

   "You're so beautiful. I hope you know that." He said, his tone different than what it normally is. It was more serious and genuine.

   "You're the reason I do," I said to him, matching his tone. Daniel never failed to make me feel beautiful, no matter the situation. We could be having the least intimate moment and he'd still find a way to slip the words in.

    "And I'll keep reminding you that until the day I die." Daniel's soft lips pressed against mine.

   Little did I know then, that he would do just that.