"I don't think we should be here," Scarlett said, looking around as she walked with Isaac through the forest, their hands still interlaced.
"Relax, I'm not gonna bury you alive," Isaac laughed. She smiled softly, his laugh sounded foreign to her ears.
They arrived in a clearing near a lake, a dock stretched out to the waters. Floating near shore was a canoe with a couple of lifejackets.
"We're gonna go canoeing?" She asked, dazzled by the gesture.
Isaac laughed once more at her prediction, "If you want. That dress is pretty expensive."
She looked at him and smiled, tugging on his hand, "Let's go." She put on the lifejacket.
Her smile was bright and her puffy eyes went unnoticed by him as he smiled back, his stomach fluttering with warmth only the sun's core could give.
They pushed the boat on the water and got on, paddling slowly to the middle of the lake.
"So?" Scarlett said, turning around. They are now in the middle of the lake, the forest is as quiet as ever.
"So?" Isaac raised his eyebrow, his facial expression is back to his usual serious one.
"You must've brought me here to say something or push me off the canoe. Which one is it?" She said, her mood lightened from the fight not long ago.
Isaac looked at her gazingly. The moon and a simple lantern that they brought along were the only thing brightening up her face, even after crying, he thought of her beauty. How she looked under the moonlight was beyond comparison to him.
"Isaac?" His name rolled off her tongue like marble, so smooth and calming. He could listen to her all day and he wouldn't get bored.
"Yeah?" He said, as soft as silk and as tender as the moon shining on them this very night.
"What did you wanna tell me?" Their eyes locked, she couldn't help but feel vulnerable under his gaze, longing to touch his face as the moonlight reflected off it.
The moon couldn't be more helpful right now, highlighting every aspect of each other, making them feel as if they were both 15 again.
"I love you," Isaac whispered, the water pooling in his eyes, threatening to fall as Isaac blinked them back.
Scarlett's breathing hitched as she gulped. "C-can we even be like we were before? We fought so much, it made our friends scared to be around us."
"That's the thing, clair de lune, we don't have to be like we were," He said, barely above a whisper as his eyes searched hers for doubt. "We can be anything we wanna be."
A tear slipped out of Scarlett's eye as she smiled at the nickname. He hasn't called her that in years and it still felt so familiar to her, the erupted feelings in her stomach flying up to her chest every time he called her that.
"I love you too," She smiled with tears in her eyes, "I don't think I can not love you."
They sat there in silence, smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. The stars seemed to twinkle a little brighter and the moonlight reflecting on the water seemed far more beautiful but nothing and no one can be more beautiful than she is to him.
Isaac held her face in his hands, wiping every teardrop from her face. His hands were tangled in her black hair. His eyes wandered to her lips and back to her eyes. Those eyes, those sneaky green eyes that made him fall for her from the first time he saw them in kindergarten.
Time seemed to slow down as they leaned in, lips brushing against each other, the warmth in their stomachs burning hotter despite the cold surrounding them. Their eyes fluttered closed as they kissed, passion radiating around them like a cocoon of light.
Once they pulled back, Isaac leaned his forehead against hers, their noses still touching. The type of intimacy you could only feel with someone who you knew you would love forever, and that's exactly what Isaac felt Scarlett was.
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As Scarlett walked back to her room, her smile never faltered and the feeling in her stomach never-ending.
"You look happy," Caroline said as she opened her bedroom door. Scarlett noticed that all the girls are there, spread out across the room.
Moniqua was in her closet, looking at her clothes. Caroline was sitting on her vanity as she organized the different shades of Scarlett's lipstick. Angelique was playing with Boss, letting it roam around her arms and body. Natasha and Leonora were on her bed, previously talking before she walked in.
"Isaac and I made up," Scarlett shrugged.
"Made up or made out?" Moniqua teased, walking out of her closet.
Scarlett's smile seemed to brighten more as she said, "Maybe both. What's the big deal, anyway?"
Caroline stood up, raising an eyebrow, "What's the big deal? Scar, where have you been? We were worried sick!"
"I was at the lake with Isaac," Scarlett shrugged once more, taking a seat on her couch.
"At night?" Angelique asked from across the room.
"I don't know, Angelique. Is it day?" Scarlett rolled her eyes playfully, her smile never leaving her lips.
Natasha gasped in mock shock, "Don't tell me you did it in the middle of the woods, Scarlett!"
Scarlett laughed, "Of course not!"
"Well, what did you do there?" Leonora asked, sitting up.
"We went canoeing," Scarlett said brightly.
"In that dress?" Moniqua judged.
Everyone broke out in laughs as she said that. And for a moment, it feels as if they didn't just kill someone the night before.
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Isaac opened the door to his ice-cold room to see that it's not so cold as he left it. Right in front of him was Lucifer, hands crossed and eyebrow raised.
"Where have you been?" Lucifer said, turning around and puffing some smoke into the air, for dramatic effect, of course. They had all been discussing what to do when Isaac gets back.
"Out," Isaac walked in and sat on the edge of his bed, his friends around him, all of their arms crossed and standing up. "Have you been planning this?"
"Yes, we have," Kaiden deadpanned, putting his arms at his side.
Isaac laughed, "Nice. What?" Isaac saw the shocked and confused expressions on their faces.
"Did you just...laugh?" Zach asked, eyes googling at him like he's an alien or a new species.
Isaac's expression fell into the emotionless faze he keeps on day and night.
"No! It's great, Isaac," Lucifer said, smiling proudly at him. "I missed your laughs."
Isaac smiled softly at his friend, he didn't know that how he changed hurt his friends too, some he knew since childhood, and some he just met, but he's grateful for all of them.
"So, tell us everything," Dominique said in mock girliness as he took a seat beside Isaac.
"Alright, but first, turn the goddamn AC on, I'm burning here!" Isaac stood up, putting out his index finger as they all laughed.
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Caroline and Zach was taking a walk in the garden as they do every Saturday morning.
"Tell me," Zach said, walking beside her as she gazed at the flowers.
"Tell you what?"
"What happened with Scarlett yesterday?" Zach said, in a matter-of-fact tone.
Caroline giggled. "According to Scarlett, Isaac proposed on a canoe under the dazzling moonlight on the most beautiful lake behind the school," She said with a mock lovestruck expression, her smile as bright as the sun.
"He proposed, damn, he got bold," Zach laughed, his eyes twinkling unintendedly as he looked at her.
Caroline's laughs got louder, "Yeah, anyway, what did Isaac say?"
"She looked as soft as silk and as tender as moonlight. Her lips were as sweet as white lilies in May, her eyes as green as grass but as sneaky as a snake." He put the forehand to his forehead, swooning as he recited Isaac's words last night.
Their laughs filled the calm garden, making some pigeons jump and fly.
"Why does he need to use similes?" Caroline said between laughs.
Zach shrugged as he tried to calm down, his smile still not leaving his face as he watched her try to suppress her big smile.
They continued walking through the garden filled with flowers, a big fountain in the middle of it. Morning dew was covering the leaves and flowers around them and the air was clean and fresh.
"Hey, Care?" Zach stopped walking to walk.
"Yeah?" Caroline turned, a soft smile on her lips making her eyes wrinkle.
Zach looked in her eyes before continuing, "Do you think that you'll find someone as meaningful to you as Scarlett is to Isaac?"
Caroline thought, "Of course, yeah. We both will, someday." She looked at him, smiling once again.
He thought about it, how and when he'll fall in love. He knew people fall in love in all mysterious ways, simple glances at each other, talking all night, a simple touch of a hand. He wondered if Caroline had ever fallen in love before. But he knew her for almost half her life, so she probably doesn't right?
Zach shook his thoughts away, snapping back to reality, "Of course. Shall we continue, xiaohua?"
Caroline smiled at the nickname, "What does that mean?"
His eyes widened, realizing what he said, "Oh, sorry it just slipped out. It means 'little flower', I know you like flowers and all. And I just thought that nickname would suit you. I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Though, if you want me to call you that, it's okay but if you don't-" He rambled before Caroline cut him off.
"It's okay, Zach. It's cute. I do love flowers so I guess it fits," She said, a blush on her cheeks.
Time seemed to stop as Zach looked at her ocean eyes. His dark eyes couldn't even compare to how beautiful hers is but she could feel herself get lost in them and so could he. Her strawberry blonde hair carried by the slightest breeze, a beauty someone could get lost in as they die smiling.
As Zach gazed into her beauty, he felt his stomach flutter more and more as he did so. She felt blue eyes get lost in his ebony ones, like the sky clashing with the ground, her slightest green specks as the grass between them.
Zach smiled softly, pushing the thought to the back of his mind, "Well, let's finish our walk then."
"Yeah," Caroline said softly, her voice soft as silk and as tender as moonlight and at that moment he knew. He felt the same way about Caroline as Isaac felt about Scarlett, because only people in love could compare one's beauty to the most beautiful things in life and still think that they were more beautiful.
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