Vanilla And Cocoa

Chapter 30 "Love"

Justin leaned down with a smile and pushed her slightly so she could slide down. Her giggles echoed through the tunnel and a smile placed itself on my lips. This was nice.

Justin sat down in the space by the slide and I raised an eyebrow. He opened the space between his knees and grinned at me. I rolled my eyes but sat there anyway.

Merissa came back up the tower and sat on the slide again. This time I pushed her down. I rested my head back against his shoulder and he pressed his cheek against my temple.

"I thought-"

"Shh, this is nice. I'm in a good mental space right now. We'll talk about it later." He whispered, squeezing his arms around my waist.

"Whatever you say." I sighed and listened to the tell tale stomps of Merissa's little feet.

She appeared into to view with a smile on her face as she tried to prance over to the slide. I placed my hands on her sides and she squealed. I felt Justin's chest rumble with silent laughter. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna slide!" She exclaimed through giggles.

"I don't think so. I'm gonna keep you right here." I teased, pulling her closed so I plant kisses on her face.

"But I wanna play!" She pouted.

"Well, I guess we can play tag but if I catch you, you have to stay with the boring old adults the entire day."

"That's boring." I could tell that she couldn't care either way. It was a win-win situation for her.

Justin shifted behind me and I moved so we could both get up. Her grin grew wider as Justin wiggles his fingers teasingly. "I guess you better run then."

She screamed in excitement as we chased after her for a good five minutes. The time was full of laughter, slipping in the dirt, tumbling, and gasping for air (for the out of shape teenagers) but Justin managed to catch her.

I watched as he lifted her up with a soft grunt and spun her around as she giggled with glee. I walked over and rested a hand on Justin's back seeing as he was nearly shaking from exhaustion. "Let's go eat."

I took her off his hands and we walked back towards the picnic area. Chris immediately shook his head as he spotted us and stood to guard the picnic spot. "No."

The rest of them looked up and Drew coughed out a laugh as Orlan stood up to stand beside Chris. "I say no as well."

Justin sighed. "What exactly are you saying no to?"

"You guys look like you fought a chicken in a barn." Izzy chuckled.

"Go wash your hands. No touching the food with dirty hands." Chris said, standing his ground.

"Yes, mom." Justin and I chorused sarcastically.

Zay gave us some stuff to clean our hands with and after we made sure we were clean enough to sit on the picnic cloth, we were ready to dig in.

Chris made a hum of approvement and I stuck my tongue out at him. He mimicked my action and we continued making silly faces at each other until Izzy intervened. "Alright, stop it, you two. You are literally toddlers."

"She started it." Chris muttered.

I scoffed. "As if."

"Well, I'm finishing it and if you two can't act your age, I'm banishing you both to the benches." Izzy threatened.

Chris and I turned to her in mock horror. "No, not the benches."

Drew snorted at the exchange through a mouthful of chicken breast. I didn't even have the motivation to give him a look for it.

We spent the afternoon bathing in the sunshine and eating good food, laughing and talking and enjoying ourselves. It felt like we had finally got a break. This was the break we needed.

I looked around again for the third time today as we were packing up and the sun was dipping below the skyline bathing the sky in red, orange, and purples.

I watched Chris and Orlan fold up the picnic cloth together (sometimes glancing at the other when they think the other doesn't notice), I watched Izzy and Drew belt out the lyrics to some overplayed pop song, I watched Zay roll his eyes at them and put some leftovers in the backseat of the car (he met my gaze and I gave him a small smile in return), and, of course, I watched as Justin picked Merissa up who was nodding off from a day full of excitement and gazed at her softly with love in his eyes.

I inhaled slowly and gazed up at the painted sky. Is this my perfect moment? Is this...

A slow, careful look around again.

...what love is?