A Lantern's Light | A TMF Fanfic

Chapter Four | A Hammock, A Spider, And A Breakup

"Can you grab me the milk in the small blue freezer?" Hailey asked, still not wanting to move far from the stove.

"Sure!" Bethany answered, quickly grabbing the milk and handing it over.

Swiftly pouring the white liquid into the bowl, Hailey carefully placed in a plastic spoon, handing the small breakfast off over to the pig-tailed girl beside her. "And here is your cereal."

"Thank you!" Bethany beamed, grabbing to bowl, plunging her spoon in, and starting to messily gobble the food up.

Hailey then heard some quiet shuffling, and the sound of a tent unzipping. Directing her sight towards the noise's direction, she saw Luke and Zander exiting their tent, Luke still tiredly rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, you two," Hailey greeted.

"Hey, Hailey," Zander returned. Turning his head, noticing Bethany, he added on, "Hi, Bethany."

"Hi, Zander!"

"Well, good morning. Did you guys sleep well?" Hailey asked, making conversation.

"I slept pretty well," Luke hazily answered, still not seeming fully awake.

"Yeah, me too," Zander replied, before shooting a small look at his boyfriend, "But I would've been up earlier if someone hadn't decided to fall asleep half on top of me."

A small blush crossed Luke's face, and Hailey got the feeling this was something they had already discussed. "You could've moved me if you wanted to!"

"Well, I didn't want to wake you up," Zander reasoned, before awkwardly looking away and mumbling, "Plus, it's not like you were uncomfortable." A smile crossed Luke, his blush slightly deepening, but he seemed to be deciding to leave the topic at rest.

Noticing that, Hailey decided to transition the topic, "Luke, I know you're going to be having cereal, obviously, but Zander, are you going to be having eggs or cereal?"

"Um, eggs I guess," Zander answered, not seeming to care too much.

"Cool," Hailey acknowledged, "I think I'll start off by making enough for four people, and if people want more I can make more."

"Thanks for making all of this stuff. You don't have to do it all by yourself if you don't want to," Zander offered.

"It's not a problem," Hailey assured, actually enjoying doing the task solitarily.

"Well, I think Luke and I are going to go off to the hammocks," Zander informed.

A small look catching Luke, he confusedly questioned, "Wait, we are?"

"Yes," Zander firmly confirmed, giving his boyfriend a small look, "I'm forcing you to give them a shot."

"What do you mean by that?" Hailey asked, particularly confused by the "forcing" part of his statement.

Luke's face reddened, and stuffing his face into Zander's hair he just grumbled.

A small smirk crossed Zander, seeming to possibly take a little too much pleasure he started to explain, "Well, you know that Luke doesn't like heights, right?"

Taking a second to process the pianist's words, Hailey tried to confirm, "Wait, so let me get this straight. Your acrophobia makes you scared to go in a hammock?" the musician further elaborated, "A hammock that's a couple feet off the ground?"

"I know it's irrational," Luke groaned, still keeping his head placed in his boyfriend's violet locks.

"I think you'd actually really enjoy yourself once you're in there," Zander cooed, "But if you really don't want to, you don't have to," he added on, "I won't actually force you."