The Summit

It Begins

Ahhh perfect.

BEEP BEEP!

Finn, who was in the middle of sipping his coffee, flinched and nearly choked. Parked beside him was Griffin, who grinned and waved like a big stupid...head. The stupid head is an insult, after all, or at least to Finn's standards.

"Screw you." He mouthed through the glass, putting his coffee down and wiping his mouth. With that, he pulled out of the parking lot with Griffin in tow and began to drive again. It was somewhat early in the morning so they would have plenty of time to hike and climb to their camping spot. There was a large space safe for camping after a short climb. It wasn't a difficult climb either, but it was different than a rock wall in a gym. It was rougher and had less obvious pathways up. To say Finn was excited to see Griffin's expression when he saw the wall was an understatement. He hoped he'd need help up, that would be hilarious.

—-

Eventually, they arrived and Finn was exhausted from the drive. He didn't drive far often and when he did, he was on high alert which drained him like nothing else. Sarah was already there and waiting with a couple of others at some picnic tables. The hike started as soon as they entered the area.

Finn expected more people and was honestly disappointed that there weren't as many. Sarah did inform him that two others were coming together but had gone on this route before so the group didn't have to wait on them. He was thankful. He could've fallen asleep if he just sat around waiting. That would give Griffin too much teasing material and that was the last thing he needed.

"Why do you look so tired? You told me you went to bed at like 9:30 last night." Griffin asked, poking Finn's cheek just to bother him. He'd gotten used to the little pokes and persistent texting. It wasn't like Finnley hated it, especially when they started bickering. It was pretty amusing to push Griffin's buttons. Oh right, the hating Griffin thing, that's important, he reminded himself.

"Yeah, I did. Driving is stressful." He grabbed Griffin's finger and attempted to glare him down. However, Griffin already threw a hand to his forehead and gasped as if he was terribly offended and Finn couldn't seem to stay annoyed. He wished spending the week with Griffin didn't make his resolve to dislike him a little weaker, but it did and Finn felt stupid for allowing it to get that way. Maybe it was silly when he knew well that Griffin never actually did anything and even apologized several times for River's past actions if it ever came up in conversation. Finnley tended to joke about it because it helped him cope and Griffin always winced whenever he did and looked upset. Although he'd been getting used to it at this point, witnessing such straightforward emotional responses like that, really made it harder to hold a grudge. Finn hardly admitted that to himself, refusing to think about Griffin without adding some insult to the thought.

"Let's get going everyone!" Sarah was excited as ever as she began to jog to the shrouded path where the hike began. It was small and shaded and Finnley was glad because he forgot to put sunscreen on. Some were in his bag, but he couldn't get them out now. His pale, freckled skin could withstand the sun for longer than he thought made sense, but he knew to still take care of himself. Most of the time.

The trail they were taking to reach the mountain was beautiful, but mostly untouched by any human landscaping. Bird chirps and the trill of bugs could be heard around them, as well as the gentle breeze in the leaves. Finn stopped, inhaling deeply and letting his eyes flutter shut as he focused on the harmony of sounds that nature provided. When he opened his eyes, Griffin was beside him and staring at him quizzically. Finn ignored him and began walking again, trying to catch up to the rest of the group.

—-

After about an hour and a half, they were finally upon the wall they needed to climb. It had a steady incline, but it was still too steep to be called anything but climbing. Sarah immediately got to work, scaling the wall in just two minutes. Griffin followed her and Finnley went after him, making sure that all of his training meant something in a natural formation like this. It appeared to pay off because both of them made it to the top shortly.

"I feel cool." Griffin had a goofy smile on his face. Finn punched his arm, rolling his eyes at the boy. He was so easily impressed.

"Don't, you're not that cool." He smirked as Griffin's expression grew annoyed. It was almost possible that he would have tried insulting him back, that is if they weren't interrupted.

"Stop chatting, start setting up your tents. I didn't bring fuel for a fire so we need to find some sticks after we set up. It'll get a little chilly tonight and not having a fire will suck." Sarah was already getting straight to work on her tent after telling everyone to get motivated. The others in the group followed suit, including Finnley. As he turned to see if Griffin was setting up his, he noticed the frantic movements he made as he rummaged in his bag. It dawned on him that Griffin might have forgotten a tent.

"Hey idiot, forget something?" Finnley asked, a smirk on his lips as he held back his laughter.

"It's not funny, Finnley. I do not want to sleep out in the open on a mountain." He placed his hands against his temples as he realized a tent wouldn't magically appear in his bag. Sarah noticed the commotion and walked over, a hand on her hip.

"You okay?" She approached Griffin, who shook his head. "Finn, you do realize I'm not going to let him sleep out in the open right?" She cocked her head at him and Finn realized exactly what she meant.

"You cannot do that to me...can't he stay in someone else's tent?" He was practically begging. The last thing he wanted to do was share a tent with Griffin. He couldn't handle that after an entire week of being around him.

"No, you're the only other kid his age in this group. I promise I'll make it up to you." Sarah grabbed both of his shoulders and squeezed them lightly with a smile. She was such a wonderful person, Finn knew she wouldn't forget and that she wasn't trying to spite him by doing this.

"Fine...only because I don't want to stress you out, not because I want to." He gave in. It was like the universe was forcing them to spend so much unnecessary time together. Finn wholeheartedly believed he must've angered the universe for it to punish him like this.

___

Hahaha, it's me, I'm the universe. I love him, it's fine. Please keep enjoying this story :) Leave a vote if you did, I would appreciate it.

~Mey