Trigger

three • fires

"Is the boat set up yet?" Finn asks Levi.

"I just finished setting it up this morning. You planning on using it today?"

Finn shrugs, "Maybe. I'm a bit tired today, but I think my dad I are going to go fishing tomorrow morning. You up for it?"

"Getting up early to sit in the middle of a lake and watch you pretend you actually have a shot at catching something?" Levi teases, his lips tugging upward into a smile. "No thank you."

Finn shoots Levi a glare. "Hilarious, cuz. I'm going to catch something tomorrow morning, watch me."

"That's what you said the last time," Levi reminds Finn, walking backwards towards the cottage. "And the time before that, and the time before that..."

"Oh, shut up and go make me lunch, dumbass."

I know that he's only joking, though, because both Finn and Levi share a laugh before Levi shouts, "Bye, Kinsley!" and disappears inside the cottage.

"I should go unpack," Finn says with a slight smile. "It was nice meeting you, Kinsley. I'll see you later?"

"Sure," I smile, stepping back and allowing Finn to follow Levi's path inside. I stand there until he's gone, leaving me outside alone, again accompanied only by the sound of waves coming from the lake.

Sighing, I make my way over to around my cottage to the back. There's an area of open grass before the forest behind my house begins. An old wooden swing set, the same one that's been here ever since I could remember, sits in that space. I walk over, sitting down on the swing and leaning my head against one of the ropes that my hand is clutching onto. I don't know how long I sit there, just stuck in my own thoughts, but I find myself relaxing and realize that coming here for the summer may have been a really good idea.

x

I don't see Levi and Finn again for the rest of the day until nine in the evening, when Finn approaches me, interrupting me from my reading on the porch. He narrows his eyes, calling out, "How can you still see what you're reading? It's almost dark out."

I shrug, putting my book down. "Superpowers."

Finn snorts, "Right. Come on, Levi and I are doing a bonfire."

I skip down the steps of my porch and follow Finn over to where Levi is crouching down, hunter green sweater sleeves rolled up to the elbow as he works hard at lifting the firewood and positioning it properly over the fire pit. He looks up quickly to smile at me before ducking his head again as he tries to concentrate on the wood. I sit down on one of the logs set up around the pit, hugging my arms around my legs as I watch Finn crouch down beside Levi, helping him.

Levi looks to Finn, "Do you have the fuel in your car?"

Finn nods, standing up again, "Yeah, I'll go get it."

Finn leaves to grab the fuel from the car. Once he's gone, Levi inspects the wood- which are all balanced against each other- before standing back up. He points to a small bag of twigs and scraps of wood on the ground beside me, "Can you pass me that?"

I grab the plastic bag and hand it to him, continuing to watch as he takes the scraps out of the bag and placing it around the pit. I can't help but notice the way his eyes become completely focused on the task at hand. He puts all his concentration towards what he's doing- his mind is probably completely oblivious to the fact that I'm still sitting here.

Finally, when he's done, he throws the paper bag in a nearby garbage and sits down on the log to the right of me, pulling down his sleeves. Finn comes back with the fuel, pouring it all over the wood before grabbing a box of matches from his back pocket. He throws it to me with a word, but I just smile and lean forward as I rub the match with force against the rough side of the box, lighting it on fire before throwing it in the pit. The fire instantly comes to life, putting a proud grin on Finn's face as he sits down on the log to the left of me.

"Looks like you guys have done this before," I idly comment.

Levi chuckles slightly, "We've done this almost every night ever since we got this cottage."

Finn agrees, "My dad taught us."

I hum, watching the way the fire flickers and letting it warm me. Finn uses a twig to move some of the wood around, letting the fire grow even bigger. "Have you guys been hiking yet?" I ask.

Levi shakes his head. "Are there any good trails?"

"Yeah, a lot of amazing ones. My favourite one is one that takes you right up to the top of this giant hill. It's kind of hard but worth it." I cock an eyebrow at him, "It's better in the mornings, though."

Finn snorts, "Good luck getting him up before noon."

"Hey, I can get up before noon!" Levi counters. "Just not before eleven."

"A whole hour early, amazing Levi. Pass me the marshmallows, would you?"

Eventually, parents from both families join us, my mother's arm around my shoulders as we just watch the different colors of the fire and how it seems to rise and then quickly fall. I feel my eyes close as I allow the heat coming from the center of the circle of logs engulf me in a comforting embrace.

It's going to be a good summer, I foolishly decide.

xxx

Hey guys! This story is already #64 in Mystery/Thriller which is CRAZY, thank you all so so much! Also third day of updating in a row, yay! :D

I'm not sure how quick I can get out the next update just because I'm kind of iffy with the mystery of this story. I had an original plan but it leaned much more towards the thriller side, so I had to put it under this genre. I didn't want to put it under horror because it really didn't fit under there. There was a little mystery but it wasn't prominent- it was more like a mysterious feel to the story.

I'm still debating how I want the mystery to play into this story so just bear with me for a bit :) If you enjoyed this chapter, please be sure to COMMENT AND VOTE! I love you all so so much! (: xoxo