"Wow", I say, still panting from the climb, as I look at the beautiful landscape in front of me.
"Beautiful, isn't it?", I hear Brad say next to me, making me turn my head towards him, and realize he wasn't even looking at the view but was staring at me.
"The view is that way", I say with a laugh as I place my hand on his cheek and push it so that he actually looks at the view and not at me. That makes him laugh and he grabs my hand that was on his cheek a second ago before pulling me towards him, his hands quickly finding their way to my waist. I smile at his sudden action and wrap my arms around his neck while he moves one of his hands from my waist to my cheek, where he pushes a strand of hair that was glued on my forehead with a mix of sweat and humidity out of my face.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world", he says as he scans every inch of my face until his eyes stop on mine, his hand still on the side of my head, now softly brushing my cheek with his thumb.
"Because I accepted to come hike with you in this weather?", I ask playfully. "Yes you are", I add, making him laugh.
"God I love you, Em", he says before suddenly placing his lips on mine. I smile through our kiss and tighten my grip on his neck as he deepens it.
"Ok, you're officially freaking me out now", I say when he detaches himself from me. "Are you about to tell me you've got some kind of weird-ass disease and have like ten days to live or something? Why are you acting so weird?"
Brad laughs at my question, but before he can answer anything, a loud bang echoes in the sky, and rain starts pouring on us with no warning. Shit. I quickly pull the hood of my raincoat over my head just as Brad grabs my hand and starts dragging me back to the trail. It takes us another two hours to come down, almost sliding all the way down the mountain on our butts, the path turning into a river midway through our climb down. We finish by running the last few meters separating us from the car, Brad in front of me, still holding my hand tight, until I see him slide on yet another mud puddle only he doesn't keep his balance this time and he falls straight on his ass, dragging me with him in his fall until we're both lying in the mud, heavy rain pouring over us, our clothes beyond soaked at this point. We would be naked we wouldn't be any wetter. I hear Brad swear as he tries to get back up, only to fall back down while I stay on the floor, unable to move because of how hard I'm laughing. I simply can't stop, my abs already hurting at the sight of Brad trying to keep his balance in the mud.
"Oh you think that's funny?", he says as he gives up trying to stand up and turns towards me before dragging his body towards mine and lying on top of me, forcing my head to rest on the muddy ground, my hair now covered in brown dirt. I keep on laughing at the situation, all too familiar as I remember the day Brad and I had sex for the first time in Bali. Brad's drenched hair is dripping all over my face as he hovers over me, an amused smile on his lips. He stares at me again, his eyes moving from mine to my lips, until I can't take it anymore and break the small distance between us and connect our lips. He smiles through our kiss, and I place both my hands on either side of his face to deepen it. It isn't a pretty kiss, the rain making it quite soppy, but neither of us care. Another loud bang echoes in the sky, making both of us jump and detach ourselves from the other. I struggle to keep a straight face at the sight of Brad's face covered in mud because of my hands, but he doesn't seem to notice it as he gets off me and finally succeeds at standing up before extending his arm towards me and offering me a hand. I gladly accept it and grab his hand before he pulls me up and we finally reach the car, completely drenched and freezing. But before I can even open the door Brad stops me.
"Woah woah woah", he says as he places himself between me and the door. "Uh uh, you're not getting in looking like this. Strip down", he adds looking a little too serious for what just came out of his mouth.
"Strip down?", I repeat, thinking I misheard him. But judging by the fact that he starts removing his hoodie and shirt right here on the parking lot, I'd say he wasn't kidding. "Oh you're serious", I state before looking around to check if there's anyone around. Unsurprisingly, we're the only stupid ones going on a hike on such a crappy weather day, and the parking lot is empty apart from Brad's Range Rover.
"I just got it cleaned", he answers, emphasizing the word 'just', making me roll my eyes while Brad opens the trunk of his car to help cover us from the rain. He grabs a duffle bag and pulls out some workout clothes from it before putting his hoodie and shirt inside, and proceeds to get rid of his jeans before throwing them in the bag as well. He then grabs the pair of workout shorts he just pulled out of the bag and put them on while I get out of my raincoat and hand it to him to add to the pile of dirty clothes in his bag. I take another look around us to make sure we're indeed the only ones here before I remove my dirty leggings while Brad's drying his hair with a towel he found in his workout bag. I'm left shivering in my panties and soaked shirt and sweater, Brad's eyes quickly noticing my 'light' outfit, a smirk appearing on his lips at the sight.
"For the car, uh?" I say, starting to question the real reason he wanted us to undress. Brad laughs before taking a step towards me, his face now only inches from mine as he plants his irises into mine, his smirk still on his lips.
"Of course for the car, what else would it be for?", he answers, his hands trailing down to the hem of my sweater that he pulls over my head, pulling up my soak tee-shirt at the same time, and leaving me in only my bra and panties in a public park. Luckily the darkness that just fell over the city on this winter night provide us somewhat of a coverage. Brad doesn't seem to care about the possibility of being seen almost naked as his eyes wander down my chest, his hands quickly finding their way to my ass. My entire body is shivering and my teeth chattering at how cold and wet I am, and there's no doubt this time that I will end up getting sick.
"Brad", I say, trying to get him out of his staring trans. "I'm half-naked and freezing, can we move?", I add and he suddenly seems to come back to earth.
"Shit, sorry", he says before detaching himself from me and looking through his stuff in the trunk. He finds a blanket and quickly wraps it around me before handing me the towel he used for his hair. I quickly dry my hair with it, trying to get most of the mud out of it while Brad leaves to open the car door for me, and I hurry inside, careful not to make too much of a mess with my hair. Brad joins me inside the car a few seconds later and turns on the heat, blasting it on full strength. I place my hands in front of the fans, my fingers burning from the sudden difference in temperature.
"Remind me to never go hiking with you again", I say with a laugh, shaking my head at how the day turned out.
"You loved it, don't lie", Brad answers, a smirk on his lips again, making me laugh even more. But he's right, I did love it. I'm not going to forget about this anniversary. Even if he did.
"Our habit of rolling in the mud is worrying", I say, hoping he'd get the reference. He laughs, which makes me think he did get it.
"I'd roll in the dirt with you every day if I could", he answers, giving me a quick smirk before he turns his attention back to the road. Well, that was a fail.
"Can you believe we were rolling in the mud for the first time a year ago already?", I say, sure he'd get the hint this time.
"Are we still talking about mud here?", he answers with a grin, making me roll my eyes. "Yeah, time flies uh?", he answers, noticing my reaction to his comment. Clueless. That boy is just clueless. I decide to let it go, as clearly he has no idea of the date.
I wrap the blanket more tightly around me, and we make our way back to the house in a comfortable silence, Brad lost in his thoughts the entire way there.
TWO MORE CHAPTERS GUYS!!! I can't believe FRIENDS is ending in two weeks. That came by way too quickly, didn't it? I simply cannot wait for you to read the next chapter. It's by far my favourite chapter of the entire book and I really hope you guys love it as much as I do. I am so thankful for all of you who take the time to read this story week after week, and like and leave comments and support me and my stories. That really means the world to me!! I love you guys so much ❤️. Chloé
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FRIENDS - BWS
Fanfiction"Don't even try to deny it", she spat at me. "I see the way you look at Brad, the way you talk to him as if you two are the only ones in the room. You're constantly around him, craving his attention. It's pathetic". "Wow, I'm pathetic? Yet I'm not t...
46 | Into The Woods
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