Ellie was woken by an obnoxious but quiet beeping. She tried to move, but first she had to move a heavy arm and leg from her body. Brian was still fast asleep - understandably so. It was still too early to really be awake, but they had agreed they would take the first ferry, and that left at 8:25 a.m. The only had to drive onto the ferry, Brian didn't even necessarily have to get dressed, but they did have to be awake. And now at least Ellie was. She turned off the alarm - it was before 8 a.m. - and took a moment to breathe, squinting in the bright light of the day.
"Bri?" She questioned quietly, looking for her clothes. She didn't want to drive naked. "Bri, we have to get going," she added, shaking him gently.
Brian started to stir, groaning slightly. "You can drive on your own, can't you?"
Ellie chuckled. "Yes, but you're sleeping on my seat."
Brian sighed and sat up. "Alright, I see why that involves me. What do we need to do?" He asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes.
"Get the driver's seat back to normal and preferably get dressed. At least I will come home because I'm going to have to buy the ticket for the ferry."
"I was about to say no, don't get dressed, but if you're going to talk to people, then at least throw on some underwear."
"I'm working on it," she told him, finally locating her clothes. "Can you give me a hand with the seats?"
"Mhm," he muttered and got up. He got dressed as well before he helped Ellie with the seats.
When the van was drivable again, Ellie reached for her jacket and her wallet. "I'm going to try to be quick, okay?"
"Where are you going?" Brian asked confused. He still seemed to be partly asleep.
"I still have to get the ticket, remember?" Ellie said amused and kissed cheek. "I'm going to leave the key here so you can move the van if you have to, okay?"
"Mhm," Brian mumbled and yawned. "Alright."
Ellie smiled to herself. "Try to stay awake," she teased and got out of the van. It wasn't cold, but the wind added a little chill. It seemed to have rain during the night because the tarmac was wet.
It wasn't far to the little shop that sold tickets among various other things. There were few other people there who greeted Ellie with a nod. She had to wait a few minutes but when it was her turn, she bought the ferry tickets and a few other things.
With her hands full, she returned to the van and knocked clumsily with her elbow. It took a few moments before Brian open the door, looking a little confused before he saw everything she was carrying.
"I thought you just wanted to get the tickets?" He asked, taking a few things from her so she could get in.
"I did, but I also going to have breakfast. I thought some tea would be nice, and I got some croissants because they looked good. And some chocolate because I'm in the mood for that."
"Oh wow, that's sweet of you, thanks. I'm actually really hungry so the croissants are more than welcome." He helped her in and closed the door of the van. "Did they tell you where we have to be and when?"
"Yes, and we have to get going," she told him and got in the driver's seat. "We can brush our teeth and everything on the ferry, it takes 50 minutes."
Brian sat beside her with the tea and a croissant. "That sounds good to me." He just looked at her and smiled. "I like how... I don't know, I like how you're doing this."
Ellie looked at him confused for a second before she drove the van to where they had to be. "How I'm doing what?"
"How you're handling this. I don't know, I'm weird, but I like it. You take things in your own hands."
"I try, yeah," she confirmed with a smile. "No one else lives my life for me, I have to do things myself." She smiled at him and drove the van into the queue. There were a handful other cars waiting to get on the ferry. While they waited, Ellie ate her croissant, holding Brian's hand occasionally.
They discussed their plans for the day, where they wanted to go and how much time they had had. They still had quite a lot of distance they wanted to cover until the sun set, but they were determined to do what they could.
The ferry arrived at Mallaig a little later than it has been announced, but both Brian and Ellie weren't getting stressed because they weren't in a rush, despite their many plans.
When they were on the ferry, they went to brush their teeth, to get another cup of tea and to get ready for the day. What time they had left, they spent on the sun deck, enjoying the relatively nice weather and each other's company. Ellie was happy, and she was starting to show that. The conversation from the night before was still on her mind. She didn't want Brian to doubt their relationship, to constantly question himself. He had proven that he was absolutely serious about her, now she had to prove to him that she was absolutely serious about him. She knew he deserved that, and she wanted him to know that too.
"We should head back to the van," Brian said quietly , wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Mhm, yeah," Ellie agreed and leaned against him, glancing up at him. She smiled when she saw him squint in the wind. "On a different note, you look wonderful today."
Brian turned his head surprised and smiled. "I do?"
"Mhm, you do," she repeated and quickly kissed him. "Let's go." She reached for his hand and together they went downstairs to where they had parked. They got in and sorted themselves out, looking at a map again to remind themselves where they would drive. Brian was definitely getting better at being spontaneous.
They were among the first to get off the ferry, but both of them were captured by the view, so they pulled over again relatively soon. They decided to have a small second breakfast consisting of apples and a banana that they shared. Then they were on their way again, because there was a lot more beautiful landscape to be discovered.
"I think," Brian said, alternatingly looking at the map and the landscape. "We should get to the A87 soon. That's the one you said. Not there are many other options around," he said, sounding amused.
"That's true," she agreed and looked at him with a smile. He seemed so fascinated by everything around him, it was a good thing that Ellie had offered to drive. Yes, she was also basically new to this landscape, but she felt that Brian was the one who should get to enjoy this without distractions. She was the one showing him around her home country.
"Will we still be here for sunset?" He asked, his eyes glued to the landscape.
Ellie shrugged. "We'll have to see. I don't want to be driving much later than that. So we might be, because then we don't have to rush, and we can take our time with Loch Ness tomorrow."
"I think sunset here would be beautiful... and a little romantic too," he told her with a smile.
"Romantic?" Ellie chuckled. "I don't know, there can be a lot of tiny flies, that's not so romantic I'd say."
"Ellie, come on.. Do you have to ruin the mood like that?" Brian complained and looked at her. "You're not a fan of romantic things, are you?"
Ellie chuckled nervously and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I can judge that," she admitted. "I don't think I've ever done anything romantic."
"Not with your ex either?" Brian asked. It was quite obvious that Ellie wasn't exactly comfortable with this topic and he was planning to change that, no matter how long it would take.
Ellie scoffed a little when her ex was brought up. "I don't think he knows that word, Brian. You've met him. And on top of that we were 17, not exactly romantic age."
"Yes that's true... But... Don't you want to do romantic things?"
Ellie shrugged. "I don't know.. I don't think so. It.. It always seems so cheesy and unnecessary," she told him quietly. " If I'm honest, it .. thinking about things that freaks me out a little."
"It does? Why?"
"It seems so unnecessary somehow.." Ellie shrugged a little.
"Unnecessary? Really? You think that spending time with someone you care about about, doing something fun with them is unnecessary?"
Ellie hesitated. "No.. If you put it like that, it's not unnecessary. But that's exactly what we're doing now. Isn't it? This is fun, and.. You're someone I care about, but would you call this romantic?"
Now Brian wasn't sure what to say. "I don't know... No.. Maybe? Actually I think it is somehow yeah, just you and me, spending some quality time together. It's probably not the traditional definition, but I'd say it's romantic."
"So I am a fan of some romantic things, I'm just not sure if I'm a fan of cheesy romantic things like pink heart-shaped balloons or... gigantic flower bouquets. In the end that doesn't make a difference apart from the fact that I'm poorer and you'll have stuff to throw out."
"So.. You don't want me to get you flowers?"
Ellie chuckled. "I don't think I thought this through entirely. Actually you could get me flowers if you want. I'd think that's pretty cute. But .. isn't that different? If I get you flowers or chocolate, or whatever, I'd be doing that because I know it would make you happy, not because it's romantic."
"I think those things are romantic because you do them to make me happy, you know? That's what makes it romantic."
"Mhm," Ellie mumbled. "Yes, that actually makes sense. I can get on board with romantic things like that, but what I will always find unnecessary is doing ridiculous over the top 'romantic' things to show off your feelings to the world's. That's just..," she trailed off, shaking her head. "I always think that if you feel like you have to prove your feelings, something is very wrong. Sharing your feelings with who you have feelings for is good, it's important, but beyond that I think it's a little ridiculous. At least in my opinion."
"Mhm..," Brian mumbled. "I agree with you on that having to prove your feelings is wrong but I don't think I agree with the rest."
Ellie shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'll change my opinion someday and if you decide to do something like that I love it, but for now I think showcasing your feelings is just unnecessary, or at least not for me."