euphoria // c.b

xxxiv. the hike

"i always knew it would take you longer to get ready,"

harlow was currently hanging off colby's bed, her head touching the floor and her legs holding her to the bed. she had been waiting for what felt like half an hour for colby to get ready when in reality it had been half that.

"i don't understand why you can't just let your hair air dry," harlow huffed, scrolling through her instagram feed once again.

harlow could hear colby chuckle from the bathroom. "if it takes you this long to do your makeup, i can take the time to do my hair."

before harlow could respond, colby turned the blow dryer back on, pausing their conversation. the two had been seeing each other for a few weeks now but had still been keeping it pretty low key. most of their time spent together was usually at their homes, or with a larger group in public. today was going to be their first official date out in the public eye, but only harlow and colby knew it was a date.

out of the two, it seemed that colby was more nervous about what the outing may bring. harlow really didn't care if anyone knew that they were seeing each other, but colby did, and harlow would respect that.

it still felt surreal that harlow was in this position in the first place. she had so many new friends, and even a potential relationship unfolding before her, all because of her brother. the only problem was that elton didn't know that there was anything going on between colby and harlow, and she needed to keep it that way, at least until she figured out a way to tell him herself. so harlow was willing to keep their relationship under wraps for elton's sake as well.

"okay, i'm ready!" colby announced, standing in the doorway.

harlow maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on the floor, "took ya long enough," she joked, grabbing her bag from the bed and standing up.

colby rolled his eyes at the sarcastic girl. "don't think i won't leave you stranded at the top of this stupid hike,"

now it was harlow's turn to roll her eyes. "don't think i won't ditch you and take kat on this hike instead," she retorted, arms crossed.

colby huffed in defeat, then moved to the side of the door to let harlow pass. "i hate cardio,"

"don't be such a baby, brock. it's not gonna kill you! plus there probably won't be a lot of people around."

colby followed the girl out of the room and down to her jeep. "you know, cardio has probably killed some people,"

harlow snorted, putting her vehicle in drive and starting off towards their destination. "i hate to break it to ya, but i'm sure anything can kill anyone."

the drive to where they would hike was only about half an hour in traffic, and most of the ride was colby switching songs in his playlist just as harlow would get into them. once at the spot, harlow grabbed her water bottle from the backseat and hopped out of the vehicle.

she was already making her way towards the trail's entry when colby got out of the jeep. "guess i'm beating you to the top!" she called out while picking up her pace.

harlow could hear colby laugh from behind her. "in your dreams, castee."

the hike surprisingly went smoother than harlow expected, although to anyone they passed the pair probably looked a little eccentric. they walked with their arms swinging wildly and randomly yelling out lyrics to their favorite songs. once the two actually got going, colby hardly whined about the stretch ahead of them. instead, he cracked joke after joke, causing harlow to double over in laughter at one point. to harlow, it was perfect. a perfect way to spend her day.