“Looks like I’m sharing with you.” She nudged her best friend’s foot with her own as Beth Ann sat down on one.
Beth Ann shook her head, wrapping the large comforter around herself. “No way. You hog the blankets.”
Lila’s mouth dropped open. “I do not! You just don’t like to share.”
She went to sit beside her, but Beth Ann flopped back, kicking both feet out to take up all the room.
“Seriously?” Lila rolled her eyes. “Someone’s gotta share. Move over.”
“No, go share with your boyfriend.”
Lila was sure her parents did not have that in mind when they set everything up for them. Tucking her hair back, she finally looked over to see Gavin smirking up at her from his own mattress. He slid over and patted the space beside him.
With a deep breath, she walked over and laid down.
“I promise I’ll behave,” he whispered, pulling the blankets up and scooting closer.
Even if they hadn’t been surrounded by friends, she knew he would. Taking his hand, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Look up,” he said.
She smiled up at the blinking stars. Someone turned on music—she assumed Dylan since he couldn’t go more than a couple minutes in silence. She heard Beth Ann and Kaley talking quietly about school and the future, but Lila drowned out everything but the boy lying beside her and the big, open sky above them.
“I’ll get to check off two more things from this.” She turned, curling up against Gavin’s side.
His arm went around her, holding her close. “That’s the idea.”
She chuckled. “Thank you, for all this. I never imagined—”
“Stop,” he said, turning to stone beneath her. “This isn’t a goodbye, Lila. We still have another full day together.”
Pushing herself onto her elbow, she looked down into his eyes, barely visible in the glow of the fire. “I know. I just wanted to say thank you for making this all possible. I’m sorry about last night.”
His hand lifted to her cheek, and he brushed a thumb across the corner of her mouth. “I love you, Lila. I’d do anything for you.”
Despite their earlier talk and their day together, she couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat. He’d said it before, and she could see the truth in his eyes, but it still scared her. She couldn’t return the words, but maybe she could show him. Shifting closer, she pressed her lips to his. His hand tightened at her waist as she moved to lie fully against him.
“All right, love birds,” Dylan called out. “Don’t forget you have an audience.”
The heat on Lila’s face had nothing to do with the fire burning a few feet away. She ducked her head down, resting against Gavin’s chest. He vibrated beneath her with a soft laugh. Before long, his breathing evened out, the quiet chatter died, and Lila fell asleep.
Gavin’s eyes flew open. He quickly reached over and turned off the alarm he set the night before. Looking down at the dark figure draped across him, he smiled. Waking up with Lila in his arms was something he could definitely get used to. He didn’t want to wake her and ruin the moment, but it was their last day, and he wasn’t going to waste it.
There were still two things left on her bucket list. The sun would rise in the next ten minutes, so that was easy to cross off. But he didn’t have any ideas on what fear she could conquer. He’d kept getting stuck on that one the past couple weeks. Lila always seemed so fearless. Other than her actual phobia of the dark, he couldn’t think of anything. And he wasn’t going to use the dark. It needed to be something that ended in happiness not a panic attack.
He gently rubbed a hand down her back. Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, “Lila, wake up.”
She stirred but only enough to curl up against him more. Stars, he loved that girl. “Lila, if you don’t get up, we’re going to miss it.”
“Miss what?” she mumbled against his neck without moving.
“The sunrise.”
With a sigh, she untangled her limbs from his and sat up. The fire had gone out, but the sky had just started to lighten, and he could see her rub at her eyes. She tried to fix her messy hair, but Gavin sat up and kissed her cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“I’m sure I look like a hot mess,” she said, getting to her feet.
He stood, pulling the comforter up with him to wrap around her shoulders. She held it tight with one hand while the other found his. He tilted his head toward the woods, and she nodded. They carefully stepped around their friends. When a hand reached out and grabbed his ankle, it took everything he had not to yell. Lila’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. He glared at her but knew it was still too dark for her to see him well.
“Where are you two sneaking off to?” Beth Ann asked mid-yawn.
Lila squatted down beside her friend. “We’re going to watch the sunrise. Go back to sleep.”
She leaned in close to whisper something before standing again. Beth Ann laughed as she rolled back over. Lila tugged on his hand, stopping him from asking what was said. He couldn’t stop his mind from spiraling through all the possibilities. Surely his sweet, innocent Lila hadn’t suggested they were going off for other reasons… His pulse quickened. He’d stopped things from going too far a couple days earlier, but he wasn’t sure he had the willpower to do it again. Not with the impending timeline hanging over them.
They walked in silence through the familiar woods and past their treehouse. Farther back, just beyond their property lines, the treeline broke at the edge of a cliff. It wasn’t much of a drop off—the ravine below was no more than fifteen feet down—but their parents always had a rule about staying away from the edge.
