Undiscovered

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"What?" I chuckled lightly at the coy smile Averley was trying to hide.

                "Nothing," she looked away, but I still caught her growing grin.

                "Tell me or I'll tickle you," I threatened, holding up my hands.

                "Fine," Ava surrendered as I moved closer, "I was just thinking of when we were kids and we'd race up to the tree house."

                "Oh, well," I dramatically looked around, "no one's watching."

                "Danny, we're seventeen, not seven," she chuckled, "go!"

                "No fair," I called out as I chased after her. Over the years we'd spent apart Averley still hasn't gotten any better at running. She was always one of the slowest runners in our grade, but she was always first to the tree house.

~:~

                "Ready," I grinned, watching Averley change her stance, digging her foot further into the ground, "get set. Go!" Ava was off and running, her arms flailing a little wildly as she determinably raced towards our hideout. I jogged after her slowly, but never overtook her. She always beamed brightly when she realised she won, which she was doing now as she stood at the entrance to the tree house.

                "I win again Danny," she stepped back, letting me climb onto the platform.

                "You're way too fast for me," I pretended to huff and puff, collapsing into the mound of pillows.

                "Yup, I'm like the Fast," she grinned, panting a little herself.

                "You mean the Flash?" I chuckled, sitting up. I loved my comics but Ava couldn't care less about them, though she was always happy to let me talk her ear off for hours about them.

                "Whatever," she giggled, falling down beside me, "I still won."

                "You always do," I rolled my eyes, trying to conceal the grin creeping onto my lips.

~:~

                "I won!" Ava chuckled, leaning against the base of the tree that used to shelter us.

                "I don't think so," I grinned, falling next to her, "in case you have forgotten the finish line is up there."

                "I didn't forget," she smiled, "I'm just wearing a dress."

                "Oh," I felt the blush on my cheeks, "I win then." I pushed off from the tree and began my assent. Swiftly moving up the rungs nailed to the tree I was at the top in no time. I pulled up and quickly prepared the tree house for Ava's long awaited return.

                "Danny?" she called, I saw her hand slip over the top of the platform and made my way to the entrance to help her up. I lifted her with ease and made sure she was stable on her feet before I let go of her hand. I watched as she took in her surroundings. Her gorgeous puppy eyes went wide and her lips twitched into a smile filled with wonderment and surprise.

                "Danny," she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper, "this is beautiful."

I had cleaned up the tree house and filled it with candles, which I had busted my ass in ensuring they were all lit before Ava came up. The pillows were arranged around a picnic. I had set some caramel mud cake with rich velvety ganache in the middle of the scene.