It took its time to arrive, but we were finally having our camping trip with our friends. Out of the two of us, I was the only one with anything remotely close to a true camping experience while Violet only knew what she had read and saw in the occasional movie or TV show.

I looked at her face a bit after we hopped on the bus. Her face as she read something on her phone perfectly encapsulated the dichotomy in her spirit.

One side of the face was showing how tired she was because she hadn’t had a wink of sleep due to how excited she felt last night for going camping with her girlfriend and friends, while the other, showed that enthusiasm.

“Erm, Abby? The spot we are going to be camping has trees, right?”

I moved a leg across hers and rested my face against her shoulder as I looked at her phone. She had been reading an article about what to do in case of a wild boar attach. She was at a part that said people should run if they couldn’t climb a tree to reduce the impact of the boar’s tusks.

“Babe, there are no wild boars around this area.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hehe, yeah,” I told her before hugging her arm. “Relax, will you? The only thing here that can even bite you are mosquitos. And me, of course.”

To further prove my point, I bit her exposed skin around her bicep, making her laugh and say that it might have been a good idea to bring Abby repellent. Like bell peppers would be enough to keep me away from her.

“Mosquitos, huh?” she muttered.

“As long as there’s a breeze, they won’t be bothering us too.”

“In that case, I hope the breeze that’s been blowing doesn’t die down until we are back. Dealing with the stale air would be bad enough.”

I laughed and started fanning her. After a few seconds, she began to stare at my hand, and after another short bit, she pressed her free hand against mine, entangling our fingers and resting our hands on our laps. Then, she began smooching my forehead and moving close to my eyelids.

“Babe, stop!” I giggled as I tried to muffle my sounds. “The bus driver might hear me!”.

Besides us, he was the only other person in the bus. That was probably why Violet got confident to get all touchy-feely and smoochy with me all of a sudden.

She apologised for the sudden pampering, but since we hadn’t had the time for any of that after we got up, and most likely wouldn’t until we got back home, she wanted to at least give me my dose of Violetium, kicking my neediness levels into overdrive.

“Gee, if you’re going to say stuff like that,” I whined as I tapped my lips with my index.

After our lips separated, she opened her eyes and saw mine, smiled, and gave me an even longer and sweeter kiss than before.

With my heart now singing full of happiness, I moved my other leg over her and buried my face in her armpit, wanting to be immersed in her until we had to get off.

I was feeling like telling her about my secret plan after hearing her sweet words but convinced myself to stay quiet. With Violet being Violet... it certainly would be something to remember.

Hehe! I can’t wait to see her reaction!

That was still a bit far away, unlike our stop.

Violet was leading the way, hopping off first. She turned and offered a hand for me to hold as I moved down the stairs. I thanked her, jokingly calling her a gentleman and, once I stood by her outside the bus, she changed our grip to entangled fingers again.

I was giggling like a moron and rubbing my face on her when I heard Mathew’s voice calling out to us.

He was on the other side of the road, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans and carrying a small freezer strapped to his shoulder.

“How’s the summer event grind?” I asked him.

“I gave up on that. The challenges needed to be completed are a huge pain in the ass and no fun at all. It’s just not worth the hassle.”

“What have you been up to then?”

“Squashing the poor suckers who are going through the challenges,” he said with a grin.

Good for him, but I still wondered what kind of unreasonable event that was.

I was going to ask him what exactly the event required, but Violet spoke before I could.

“Where are the others?” she asked, not being as interested as I was. Rather, she wasn’t interested at all. Not when it’s war games. Mathew once showed her a video of a games where you can build stuff with cubes and explore a procedurally generated world. She had no interest playing it because she didn’t feel like learning the skills needed to make sense of the mechanics involved, but occasionally, she’d watch more gameplay videos of builds or challenges in her downtime, amazed by the players’ creativity and artistry.

“They told me they were almost here, but I see that they were making an overstatement.”

“Are they coming together?”

“A-yup. Stephen spent the night at her place, so it’d be easier for us all to be on time.”

And yet, they were a bit late. Not by much then, only a minute or two.

We decided to sit down by the trail entrance, there being a nice fence for us to lean on. The top beam was at the perfect height for them to rest their bums, but in my case, it’d chew my back. Thankfully, I had Violet to rest against and be gently held.

We weren’t talking, we were listening to the sound of nature instead. Leaves rustling, birdies chirping and fluttering about. No cicadas yet, but from the previous times I had gone there, it’d be about half an hour until their racket would start.

From where we were, I saw a car pull over to the parking lot. Some time later, after hearing the doors being open and shut, I heard two female voices exchange words. One of them was awfully familiar, and I felt my stomach twist. Violet reacted too, tightening her grip around me.

“Really? This is where you decided to take me this early in the morning?” the voice that sounded just like mum said.

“You spend the whole day cooped up at the office! I think a bit of fresh air would only do you well.”

“Humph. As meddlesome as ever,” she answered, now coming into full view but not noticing me yet.

“It might help with your productivity too,” the other woman said, giving her a friendly smile.

My mum got quiet, not wanting to waste time answering and looked forward, now seeing me and Violet.

She stopped and stared at me, her eyes widening a bit and her mouth forming a small gap.

“...Good morning,” I said to break the horrible silence.

“Hmm... morning...” my mum answered, looking down and away.

Her companion looked at her and at me before stepping up and offering me a hand to shake.

“Hi! I’m Josefine, your mother’s friend. You must be her younger daughter, Abigail.”

“Y-yeah,” I said, awkwardly shaking her hand.

She then looked at Violet before offering her hand for a shake too.

“And you’re Violet, I assume,” she said, completely taking us by surprise.

My girlfriend staggered a yes, retrieving her hand and placing it back to resting over my stomach.

Without any reservations, the woman said that I was very cute and that I looked exactly like my mum did at my age, my mum barking Josephine’s name. She, however, was unfazed by mum. That, along with how tamed my mum’s annoyance was compared to when it was directed at me, was something out of this world.

Josephine simply looked back at my mum, still smiling, and asked if she was wrong.

“...How should I know? That was a lifetime ago,” mum grumbled.

“Oh, come on!” Josephine chuckled. “Can’t you at least try to say something nice to her?”

“...What use is there for me to do that now,” my mum spat before rushing into the trail. It almost sounded like she was about to cry, but that was impossible. Mum would never do such a thing.

Josephine looked back at me and placed a hand on my head, gently rubbing it.

“Sorry about that,” she told me. “It was still very nice to meet you, Abigail.”

I wanted to ask who she was and how were they related, but mum called out to her, asking Josephine if she was coming or not. The way she called for her was another source of strangeness, because my mum called Josefine simply by “Jo” instead of her full name. That was also something mum never did. For her, nicknames were stupid and used by stupid people, so she never used them. Seeing her make an exception was incredibly strange.

“...Are you ok honey?” Violet asked, slightly bending her torso to better embrace me.

“Yeah,” I told her. “I was nervous at the start, but by the end... what the hell was even that?”

She didn’t know either as we both stared off into the trail where the two had gone.

I was trying to make sense of it when Mathew said that my mum’s friend was pretty.

“That your type?” I asked, ready to return to normalcy.

“Wait, really?”

“What? Can’t I appreciate older women?”

No, we weren’t judging and that’s what we told him. We had never seen him showing any interest in girls, so that was why we were acting the way we were.

“Although, that explains it now,” Violet hummed after I finished talking.

“What’s your age range?” I asked.

“Hmm... I’d say... starting at thirty-five perhaps?” he hummed too, staring at his hands as he counted fingers. “Up to... maybe forty-five or fifty.”

I’d ask my sister about it, but so far, the two appeared to have similar tastes. The number of unexpected happenings was being staggering.

I jokingly said that until women that age started paying him attention would still take a while, but he told me he wasn’t bothered by it. He said that, if he only got with one when he too was that age, he’d probably be in a good financial position to settle down. In the meantime, if it happened, he’d gladly be a sugar baby.

“Don’t tell me a sexy senorita just passed by him,” Mathilda said as she finally appeared with Stephen following her. He appeared to be carrying his stuff and some of his girlfriend’s. Poor guy, having the expectation to carry her load without complaining.

“In my defence,” she said when she noticed me and Violet looking at what he was carrying. “I did tell him I’d carry it, but he just wouldn’t budge. Why do you think we are late?”

Mathew raised both hands, one with his fingers forming a circle while the other had the index pointing at the sky, his face in a dead-pan expression. He then used the latter to point at the ring and was going to insert it in the hoop when his cousin started slapping his arms and shoulders while calling him a pig and a swine on repeat with a very red face, Mathew laughing at her reaction.

Stephen simply shook his head, too tired and encumbered to intervene. He probably was also enjoying seeing his girlfriend so flustered. I know Violet and I were.

The gang was finally gathered, so we set out on our way, me taking the lead with Violet by my side, Mathilda in the middle, and the boys ending the procession, Mathew having taken some of the load off Stephen.

Since I didn’t need to look at the map and was already familiar with the trail, I looked at what for me was far more interesting.

Violet was looking around, clearly enjoying the views, sounds and scents. Her profile was looking so charming against the trees and nature. Having made two braids framing her face before pulling them back and forming a single braid where they met and falling over the rest of her loose hair made her look like an elf or fairy. She also had put on some of my shorts, a bit big on me, but in her case, a bit too short for her taste, but the alternative were jeans, and none that she had would afford much freedom of movement or cooling while mine didn’t fit her at all.

She noticed me staring at her and returned my gaze.

“Don’t just stare at me, you might trip,” she told me.

“You aren’t paying attention to where you place your feet either.”

She bobbed her head in acknowledgement that I was right, but before we could continue our back and forth, Mathilda moved to the middle of us, placing her arms around our shoulders.

“And how are my platonic girlfriends doing today?” she asked with cheer.

“Fine until you butted in,” Violet told her with a frown.

“So mean!” Mathilda wept while I snickered. “You can’t be so mean to me today, or else, I’ll start crying. Sniff, sniff.”

Violet sighed and tapped Mathilda’s back as she said she was sorry, not sounding like she meant it one bit.

Mathilda laughed and said it was all good before telling her that she looked very good in short, Violet turning a nice shade of red as she mumbled a thanks. It was my turn next to be complimented, Mathilda saying that my combination of shorts and Violet’s shirt was very huggable.

My girlfriend immediately told her not to even dare think about it but was disarmed when Mathilda hugged her from behind and asked if she was looking pretty too.

“W-what’s up with you?!” Violet asked.

“...I’m feeling bloated today,” Mathilda grumbled. “And when I showed Stephen my outfit, he didn’t make any compliment. I’m sure that it’s because there’s a bit of a love handle peeking over my shorts today.”

And she decided to have her female friends give her ego a boost, huh?

I asked what love handles she was on about, causing her to pinch her side while saying it were those. First of all, I started telling her that any girl with a healthy weight to their height would have that if they pinched their sides.

The second thing l told her was that she had more of that after the New Year and Stephen would still compliment her looks then.

The third and final was to let go off my wifey.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“You mean it?” she asked, moving to come hug me. “Violet, do you agree with her?”

“I do,” Violet said with a frown. “On all three accounts.”

I turned my head around and called out to the boys, shouting out for them to say who was the prettiest of the three.

“Mathy, of course!” Stephen immediately answered after I finished the question.

Mathew shrugged indifferently, but I was already expecting that even if I didn’t already know his tastes in women and didn’t care for his opinion in this case either.

Mathilda let go off me and stood still while we all kept walking, waiting for the boys to catch up to her.

“You’re just saying that,” Mathilda grumbled, trying to look cool but clearly sounding flustered.

He wrapped and arm around her waist, Mathilda looking at where he had placed his hand, worried that he’d notice her non-existent pudginess.

Mathew was looking to the side and I followed suit, facing forward. It was all the privacy we could give them on the trail besides leaving them behind, but since I was the only one who knew the place—more or less, since I hadn’t actually been there—that wasn’t a choice. Not if we wanted to be fully settled for lunch time.

“I already told you that you look very pretty today.”

“No, you didn’t!”

“I didn’t? I’m sure I did.”

“Oh yeah? When?”

“When we woke up for once, and I’m not too sure, but I think I said it again before we started bickering about the bags.”

As they concluded after talking it out, the first, she wasn’t awake yet. The second, he thought about saying it when she walked down the stairs, but then, when she saw him shouldering the heavier stuff that belonged to her, they started arguing about it until he finally persuaded her to let him carry it since he was a boy, her boyfriend, and his pride would be hurt if he didn’t do that. The worst consequence of the argument was him forgetting about telling her what he wanted.

As they smooched to make up despite not being mad at each other, Violet grabbed my hand. I thought she had gotten in the mood for smooching too, but no, she simply told me in a hushed tone so the others wouldn’t hear that she was thankful for me being a handful, but not the kind of handful that Mathilda was.

“Should I go pitch a tent for you two to get busy?” Mathew asked her cousin and friend.

“Pig! Swine!” Mathilda cried out as she slapped him again. “I’m on my period, so stop it already!”

“I didn’t need to know that!” Mathew cried out, that having made him stop laughing.

“We’ve known each other since forever! What do you mean you didn’t need to know!? How could you not know already!?”

Violet grumbled again that Mathilda was a huge pain, making me snicker.

“And why should I!? I bet even Stephen didn’t know that until recently.”

“Actually, I did. I was with her when she had her first. Come to think of it... you were there too. Remember when—”

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Stop right there, you idiot!” she shouted, sounding like she was now slapping him.

“Shut up about it already,” Violet grumbled. “And she’s on her period and she came camping?”

I looked at Violet as those three continued bickering amongst themselves. She chuckled once she noticed my stare and showed a mix of amused and annoyed as she pointed out how rowdy they were being with a smile, making me laugh and cling to her arm.

♥♥♥

Boys are curious things. At least, my friends are.

It had come once in conversation that they didn’t know how to cook. Not unexpected at all, right? However, somehow, they knew how to start a fire—”kindling the flame” they called it—dig a small trench to dump the coals to make a camping grill, skewered the meat and vegetables AND grilled the meat over the coal.

“Instinct?” Mathew asked Stephen, when I pointed that out during lunch.

“Instinct,” Stephen agreed.

And it was good too, before I forget. The meat they brought was fatty and had been slowly cooked, the smoky taste adding to it an extra flavour. Usually, I’d prefer a different meal for dinner, but after walking around so much in the woods, those juicy slices of protein were exactly what I needed. Abby even joked that I’d look like a cyclist after we got back home as a result of the exercise and meals.

As for the entertainment, after the sun started to set, that came to be an outdoor cinema mounted by Mathilda with the help of Stephen. They had brought from her place a projector with an integrated DVD player and battery that’d last for two movies and speakers. Granted, they were small speakers, but enough to be placed around us and they produced good quality sound too. The only problem was that the night became quite bright by the end. I could swear, the full moon shone so bright that I’d be able to read without turning on a light, but that also made it a bit hard to see the movie being projected on the white sheet we gad serving as a silver screen.

Ok, there actually was another problem, and that was the seating.

The small clearing where we set up camp had a small log that served as a seat for me and Stephen, Mathilda and Abby using us as their backrests as they sat on the half or roll that us, their partners, weren’t using to somewhat pad the bare tree bark. Mathew chose to lie down with his backpack propping his back at an angle, Mathilda’s knees being his headrest.

I wasn’t that much comfortable, but Abby... well, she had the inside of my thighs as a cheek rest, so you tell me if she was comfortable or not. I really doubt she was occasionally rubbing her face out of the need to find a better position anyway. She was also looking kinda sleepy, but that wasn’t a surprise. She had lots of fun, her belly was full, and she had her favourite part of my body to hug and use as a pillow.

“Should we go to bed?” Mathilda asked as the end credits of our second watch rolled.

“We should,” I said, burying my fingers in the fluffy hair of my girlfriend. “Some of us can barely stay awake, it seems.”

“But I’m not sleepy yet,” she retorted as she tightened her hold on me. “And I still would like to go on a walkie with you.”

“Hmm, I could use a walk,” I said.

My legs were a bit numb from staying in the same position and being sat on such an uncomfortable thing for so long. I had drunk a lot of water during the day. Only now that I thought about it did I realise that I hadn’t felt the need to go all day long. It was clearly because I sweated all the water I was drinking, but now that it cooled a bit, my bladder was starting to feel it.

“What’s that for?” I asked, curious to know why Abby was coming back from our tent with her gym bag.

“Toilet paper, two water bottles and stuff,” she told me with a casual shrug. “You know, stuff that we might need.”

“Snacks?”

“Aye, that too,” she said, rubbing her stomach. “We might work an appetite after all.”

She might, I was stuffed and doubting I’d even need breakfast on the next day.

Still, she had thought it out well, and I let her know it while offering her an arm for her to latch on to. I also offered to carry the bag, but she told me to simply enjoy our walk.

Walking out of the camp was like walking into a different world. It wasn’t much, but when we stepped out of its light, we had just left a bit of civilization. The final bit of civilization we had. Now, it was just us and the trees with their rustling leaves as a calm breeze passed through.

“...”

The breeze kinda sounded like running water.

“The leaves kinda sound like running water, don’t they?” Abby asked in a low tone.

I giggled as I told her that I was thinking exactly that. I giggled some more as I saw her rubbing her knees together.

After a short and much needed pit stop, we resumed our walk.

“No, babe, let’s go this way,” she told me with a light pull.

“...For any particular reason?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Hehe! You’ll see.”

Was there a spot she had discovered and wanted to show me? Had she found a nice place where we could... get intimate? Maybe a place for a midnight picknick? All the above? My mind was running wild with the possibilities to the point that, once she told me we were there, I had no idea where “there” was.

It looked like a dried-up river bed, the ground covered in small, smooth stones. More astonishing were the ruins that stood right by us, or rather, that we stood by.

“So, this is what you were hiding, huh? Is this an aqueduct?” I wondered out loud.

“What remains of it anyway,” Abby answered.

I was staring at the structure when I heard a familiar shuffle and muted thuds coming from behind me.

“A-Abby!? What are you doing!?” I cried out when I turned around and saw her removing the last bit of clothing she had.

“How else am I supposed to put on my swimsuit, silly?” she asked back nonchalantly.

I looked back to the front, where a bit of water was and that I hadn’t paid much attention before. The moon was reflected on its surface, some frogs singing as they rested around it. I was wondering if it was deep enough for bathing when Abby walked by me, still stark naked and got into the water.

“Aren’t you coming in?” she asked with a smile.

“A-Abby!’ What if the guys come this way?” I said in a hushed alarmed voice, my speech having finally returned.

“Hehe, I told Mathilda not to come this way before we set out on our walk,” she giggled. “Now, come here, you silly goof! The water feels nice.”

I wasn’t going to. Not naked, I wasn’t. It barely covered her hips, and it certainly wouldn’t cover mine at all!

I wouldn’t... Even if she looked more and more... magical as I stared.

She crouched down and dipped completely under water, inviting me again as she pulled her wet hair back once she stood back up.

“...”

She truly was looking magical under the full moon, its light and her wet skin making it look like she was shining. For how happy she was, she could very well be. And seeing her merrily swing side to side as she dragged her fingers over the surface, the water barely covering her waist tan line... she looked like a fairy.

“Won’t you please join me?” she asked very sweetly when she noticed my captivated stare.

“...Haah, the things you make me do,” I sighed as I started undressing.

“Hehe, funny that you say that,” she chirped with outstretched arms pointed towards me. “I can’t reach you there, so I don’t see how I’m making you.”

“...Shut up,” I grumbled to her great amusement.

The water was exactly like she said. A bit warm, but pleasantly so. Probably because the stones were slowly releasing the heat they absorbed after a whole day under the sun.

“Hehe, I can see your—” she started as she looked down towards me after I completely got into the water.

“Shush it,” I told her while covering her mouth. “Trust me, I’m aware what the water covers and doesn’t cover.”

“If you want me to shut up... there’s a better way, isn’t there?” she asked, placing my hand on her rear and her hands on my shoulders, leaning closer and pressing her body on mine.

“You really are a piece of work, you know?” I said before starting to kiss her. “You are so pretty too.”

“Hehe! What about me makes you say that?”

“Well... your mischievous smile, for starters,” I whispered as I rubbed a thumb on her lips. She started nibbling my finger and that led to me complementing her teeth.

I complemented a lot more things about her, but once we started making out, it got hard to let words out.

About an hour later, one of our phones rang.

“Hehe! Babe, stop!” Abby giggled as I kept nibbling her neck. “Ah! Hehe! No!”

“I love the taste of your skin too,” I said to her ear and making it as hard as possible for her to set one of her hands loose to answer the phone as she was pinned down under me. A bit of a payback from all her previous teasing.

“Babe, Mathilda and the guys will be worried,” she giggled as she tried to jiggle herself free. “haah, I knew I should have woken you up to make love before coming on this trip.”

“Yeah, maybe you should have,” I laughed, finally letting one of her hands free and letting Abby roll to the side before I tightly held her from behind.

“Hey-yo! Just wanted to make sure that you two are ok.”

“Yeah, we are peachy-fine,” Abby hummed.

“Yeah, we just found a very nice place to watch the moon and talk,” I added over Abby’s shoulder.

“That sounds nice,” Mathilda laughed. “Listen, Stephen says that he’ll leave a lantern on outside the camp until we go to sleep. If you see the camp completely dark, it’s because we all went to bed.”

“Ok, We’ll be quiet as mice if that’s the case.”

“All right then, see you two in a bit.”

She unceremoniously ended the call, perhaps having understood that she interrupted something by the way we sounded, or maybe because she and Stephen were having a moment of their own. Whatever the case, the call being short was a welcome thing.

“Can we do some of that moon-watching before continuing?” Abby asked. “Just so I can catch my breath before being topsies? Or would you prefer staying on top tonight?”

I was fine with her request, so I rolled us the way we were, so she’d be looking up without twisting. We could watch the moon, and she’d only have to turn around when she felt like it.

She asked if I was comfortable in that position. Honestly, the riverbed was a surprisingly good bed for me. I only had one of the towels Abby had brought between me and them and was perfectly fine with that. It was, in a way, massaging me, really.

“Come to think of it, have we ever laid like this?” she asked, bending her arms so her hands rested on my shoulders.

“I don’t think so,” I told her.

I grabbed her hands and crossed her arms over her chest and stomach in a loving embrace. It was a very nice position to relax that we just found out. It was kinda surprising that we only found it out now since we hugged like this a lot, plus all the time she spent sitting on my lap.

“I like that we can share the same view this way,” she said, turning her face so her lips would brush against my face as she spoke.

“It is nice, isn’t it?” I asked as an agreement before kissing her.

We giggled and set our sights on the celestial body that illuminated ours. It was reminding me of our first time, and I’m sure Abby was reminded of that too. Funny enough, it was precisely a month and a week until that particular anniversary.

...I’ll bring her here on that day, we’ll make love, and then... then I present her with the ring... or maybe the other way around?

As I planned the best way to go about it, another thought I’ve been having the whole day was rearing its ugly head once again.

—let. Violet? Hey, are you listening?”

“Sorry, did you say something?” I asked, realising she called my name a few times before I snapped back to reality.

“Gee, what got you so immersed in thought?” she asked, pouting a bit from feeling ignored.

“Sorry, I was thinking about your mum.”

“Hmm, that so?” she asked.

She lifted her body up to flip around to lay down one me with her stomach, her arms crossed at my shoulders and her chin resting on them.

“So, you sat living, sweet stuff to me, your dear girlfriend, make love to me, your cute lil’ bride, lay naked with me, the love of your life, and during all that, you’re thinking about my mum? I know we look alike, but still...”

“Eww, no! Abby, that’s gross!”

“Pfft, ah-haha! What’s with that reaction!” she asked with a very hearty laugh that lasted a long while. “So? What were you thinking exactly?”

I wasn’t sure I should be bringing that up until I saw Abby having such a great time. If she could joke like that, she was fine, wasn’t she?

“...I’m really proud of you right now,” I told her as I caressed her face.

“Me too Violet, me too,” she hummed as she kissed my hand. “So? What’s bugging you, my love?”

I voiced what had been on my mind the whole day.

It wasn’t a worry. Not majorly, at least. There was some of it, otherwise I'd have shaken it off already.

It was more of a burning curiosity I was feeling. I was burning to know what exactly that red-headed woman wanted her mum to say.

“Honestly, I think she wanted mum to tell me that I’m looking good or something,” Abby calmly said. “What else could it be?”

“I don’t know... personally, I felt like she wanted more than that.”

“Hmm... I agree with you, but that might be her endgame, not her objective for that time in particular.”

“...And her endgame?”

“...Having mum apologise to me...? maybe.”

“...Would you...?”

“Pfft, no. Not my mum,” she laughed as she uncrossed her arms and rested her ear on my chest. “Not my mum, but... the woman who’d say those words... maybe...”

For her mum to say she was sorry... that’d require for her to completely transform into a different person. That was what Abby meant, and it was also something I completely agreed with. What I didn’t agree with was Abby accepting said apology. For as long as I lived, I’d never forgive her for what she did to Abby.

“Violet? If she apologised and I accepted, it... would you...”

“...I won’t forgive her, but if you chose to accept her apology... I’d give you my full support.”

“Even if you wouldn’t agree with my decision?”

“Yeah... even if I wouldn’t agree with your decision.”

“...Hehe, you really love me, don’t you?”

“More than anything in the whole world.”

We started kissing again and I was waiting for Abby to initiate, but...

“I changed my mind,” she told me, sliding to the side. “I want you to be on top after all.”

“Really? How come?” I asked, a bit disappointed.

“This talk made me feel like letting you shower me with your love,” she said, rolling on her back. “I’ll be topsies when my heart is satisfied, don’t worry.”

So, we were going to do it more than once before going? Maybe the moon had an effect on her.

“...Pfft! Fufu!”

“Hehe, what? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

“I just imagined you sprouting cute wolf ears and tail due to the moon.”

“Pfft, hehe! Silly you!” she giggled as she pulled my face and licking my lips. “Woof, woof!”

♥♥♥

Everyone in our little group looked a bit tired apart from me and Violet. I personally felt very invigorated after making love until it was past midnight and having Violet once again show her unwavering support and understanding. And speaking of my love, I was wondering if her vigour was coming from me having whispered into her ear that I was in the mood of making love to her that morning, thinking that she was still asleep. The sad groan she let out as she asked me why I was telling her that when we couldn’t act upon it was priceless.

“Good morning young folks,” a voice called out when we came out of the trail. “How was the trail?”

A policeman was talking to us as he stood outside his patrol car.

“Hey uncle!” Mathilda greeted with a cheer as she rushed to give the man a hug. “Came to finally arrest your son?”

“What did he do this time?” the officer asked as he returned Mathilda’s hug.

“You mean, besides being a huge pain in the ass?”

“Your dad is a cop?” Violet asked, sounding surprised.

“What gave it away?” he answered.

His dad approached the rest of us, greeting Stephen and introduced himself to us as Ashton. Joshua Ashton. A name that I liked the sound of.

“Yeah, Mathew’s grandad is a bit of a poet,” he told me with a chuckle. “Now, I must ask... did you guys do any illegal drinking? Maybe smoke?”

“N-No sir!” Violet answered very flustered. “We didn’t even leave any litter behind!”

“haha! I’m only kidding... Violet, is it?”

“Y-yes, I’m Violet, and this is Abby.”

“The couple that’s going to get married soon, right? Congratulations!”

Violet was looking extra cute today, but maybe that was me still being a bit drunk on last night’s feelings. We might not have drunk, but we sure got a bit intoxicated. And come to think of it...

...what we did last night... that counted as indecent exposure, didn’t it?

That made last night feel a bit more thrilling and romantic. I was thinking whether I should bring that up to Violet or not while we finished up talking and biding farewells. I was still thinking about it when Violet cupped her hand to my ear and spoke.

“Didn’t we... didn’t we technically break the law last night?” she asked, red as a tomato. It’s been a while since I saw her that red.

“Wanna do it again?” I asked with a smile.

“N-No! We are never doing that again!” she cried out as she started walking, choosing to walk over taking the bus.

“Aww babe, come on! It was fun, wasn’t it!” I laughed as I caught up to her and hugged her arm.

“T-that’s beside the point!”

“Come on! You know you love it even more now that—”

“I-I don’t!”

“Pfft ah-haha!”

Who could say for sure?

Us being the way we are, we just might. One day that we get too caught up in our love for one another.

Yes, one day... for sure.