“Josh, slow down!” I yelled ahead of me to the boy that had stolen my heart long ago.

“Just come on! Hurry up!” He yelled over his shoulder, slowing down a bit.

“Come on, you know I’m not as fast as you!” I whined. I heard him chuckle, and looked up to see that he had stopped, and was waiting for me to catch up. I slowed down so I wouldn’t trip over the gigantic log that had fallen on the forest floor. Josh extended his hand and helped me over it, like any gentlemen would.

That’s what I loved about him. He acted all tough, which he really was, but he was a real sweetheart deep down. Most girls like the huge muscles, and tattoos, and bad-boy type. Not me. And he was completely the opposite of that. We both were part of the group in school that others called the ‘outcasts’ or ‘freaks’. But to us, they are the freaks. They are the outcasts, and we are the normal ones. We have a tight-knit group of friends, and we’ve all been friends since middle school. I had secretly had a crush on Josh since the 6th grade, but was too scared to tell him until I was 16, which was 2 years ago.

So, here we are now, running through this huge forest in the middle of fucking nowhere, because Josh has to show me something.

“Here, get on my back.” He bent over, so I could climb on top. I wrapped my arms around his neck and swung my legs around his middle, which he gripped onto tightly so I wouldn’t slide off his back.

“Where are we going anyways?” I wondered. I felt slightly uneasy about being in the woods. I kept looking around me, thinking that I would see something.

“Just wait.” He said, and laughed slightly. “Babe, you gotta quit looking around like that. You’re kinda freakin' me out.”

“I’m sorry! It’s just, I hate the woods and it’s starting to get dark. When will we be there?” I asked, getting impatient.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, baby. Just relax. It’s only a couple more minutes.” He sighed, ducking under a hanging branch.

I rested my head against his firm, but soft shoulder and closed my eyes. I wish that we could be back at home with all the guys. This is not how I pictured spending my last day with Josh before he left for tour. They would be gone for 6 months and I was staying home. I wasn’t sure how I would do it, since this is the longest I would go without him in five years. I guess I’d manage somehow.

“Josh?” I asked, raising my head from his shoulder. “Can we just, go home? Please?”

“We’re here.” He let me down from his back and grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers with mine.

I looked around and saw that we had come to a clearing in the thick forest. There was a pond, with rocks surrounding it and a river was running in the pond. The water was flowing off a rock that was on top a slight hill above the pond. There were several trees and shrubs that seemed to be strategically placed around the pond and surrounding area. In the distance, there was a breakage in the trees and the sunset was seeping in, and flooding the forest with its orange and pink glow. The light was reflecting off the water falling from the rock and made it shimmer. It was a breathtaking site.

I turned around to see Josh smiling, warmly, at me, all of his perfect teeth showing. I leaned up and kissed him gently. “It’s so pretty.” I whispered, leaning back into him. He sighed, and wrapped his arms securely around me.

“I knew you’d like it.” He whispered, and placed a loving kiss on the top of my head, before taking my hand in his and motioning me to follow him. I did, and he carefully guided me down the slope of the hill we we’re atop. We walked up and behind the waterfall before coming to a large oak tree. I looked at him confused. Then he smiled, and pointed to a side of the tree I couldn’t see.

I walked around and saw what he was pointing at. In the old bark of the tree was a child’s handwriting. I looked closer and could clearly read what it said.

‘Josh loves Samantha’.

I smiled and turned around to face him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, while placing my lips on his, and he eagerly kissed back, before pulling away.

“You know when I wrote that?” He asked. I shook my head, no.

“Second grade. That’s how long I have been crazy about you.” He laughed.

“Aww!” I cooed, placing another kiss on his adorable lips. “You’ve like me longer than I’ve liked you!”

“Hah, I know. I was always too afraid to tell you, so when you told me two years ago I was like FUCK YES!” He grinned, yelling the last part.

I giggled. “How come you didn’t show me this, earlier?” 

“I just wanted to wait for the right time.” He mumbled, cutely. 

“Well, I think we should write another one.” I told him, and he handed me the knife he kept on him at all times.

I walked up to the tree and carved into the hard bark, working, working, working into it, until letters formed. When I was done, I stepped back and let Josh see my work. 

Under ‘Josh loves Samantha’, I wrote: 

‘and Samantha loves Josh’.

He smiled and embraced me, tightly, sighing, happily. “I love you, Samantha, even though you have the same name as my brother’s dog.”

At this, I started laughing, before replying back: “I love you, too, Josh.” I leaned up, and kissed him, hard. “And I’ll miss you.”

This was defiantly the perfect way to spend our last day together.