ASHLEY

'I love you, ever since the day I saw you. You are everything I want. I want you to be mine. Completely.'
My heart is beating so fast. He comes nearer. I can feel his breath. I close my eyes. I'm waiting. It isn't long enough when I feel his lips against mine. He has passion. He loves me so much. I love him too. I have never felt like this before. I want him to be mine, too.

'I love you too'.

My eyes open as rays of sunlight hit my face. I saw a dream. A dream that blocked an incoming nightmare. I am pretty much convinced on the person in it. We were in love? I cover my face with both of my palms, revealing only my eyes. I look down.  People say that some dreams are meant to be true. What if...? No no no. I shake my head. I'm over thinking. He can never fall in love with someone so troubled like me.
I look around the tent and wonder how I ended up here. I was near the fireplace and remember falling asleep. Did he bring me here?

.

I open my tent after changing into a pink T Shirt and shorts. I braid my hair and put in front. People around are preparing something. They're tying ropes to tall trees. Are we going to do some sort of activity? Shawn spots me, waves and lip syncs a 'good morning'. I do the same. There are quite a lot who just woke up and is wondering like me. I move my gaze to Zayn, who's helping the others in setting up the ropes.

'Oh hey, good morning' he fairly shouts from the top, as I approach him. He immediately comes down.

'Good morning Zayn. What are these for?' I ask him, pointing towards the ropes.

'Oh, these. It's for the Survival challenge.' he tells me and I raise my eyebrows.

'Basically you have to walk the on that track. If you fall on the soft surface under the trail, then you're 'dead' and lose the challenge. It's basically an idea Shawn and his gang came up with' Zayn continues. I partly open my mouth but close them instantly. I shake my head because of Shawn. Does he not know that I'm, whole heartedly, scared of heights?

'No, I'm not going up there. It's way too high.' My hands are already shaking a bit.

'Don't worry. It's going to be fun. I will be in front of you, so that you can hold onto me' Zayn says and smiles. That's really sweet of him. However, I'm still fighting with myself whether
I should go or not.

-

Zayn and I basically hang out for a while. I am thinking about Harry. He's nowhere to be seen. I ask Zayn, but he shakes his head. We both eat meatballs that was made by some people. We sit beside the lake. We damp our legs into the cold, fresh water. Zayn hesitates, but I assure him that it's not that cold.
We basically sit there and get to know each other more. He's a family type of person and he revealed that he at least calls his mom five times a day, just to check up on her and his sisters. He's also pretty much unlucky in love, since all his past lovers left him.

'I don't ever want to feel that way again. I despise it.' He tells me. I can feel him. I've never found the love of my life either. Whilst everyone has someone, I'm always stuck in the single world. But why do I need love anyway? The consequences have always been the worst, for me.

Zayn holds my hand which brings me back from my thoughts. I give him a look of confusion, but he still doesn't let go of it.

'Are you okay Ash? I mean, I always see you upset about something. Lost' he continues. I only look at his brown eyes.

'No. I'm not okay. I never was. I don't know for how long this is going to last' I abruptly spill out. Zayn sighs, and finally releases my hand. He gets up and comes over to me. My eyes widen when our bodies connect in a hug. He doesn't say anything. Nor do I. We stand there for a solid minute, until he lets go. He smiles at me before walking away. My mind was circling with numerous thoughts. I sit because my knees feel weak. What just happened?

All I can do now is just think. In particular, about him. Where is he? I feel frustrated. I rest my head on my thighs.  I close my eyes, but I don't fall asleep though. At that very moment, I feel a soft sensation on my body.  I open my eyes. I turn around. There he is. His smile is similar to something that can fix me up in a heartbeat. Yes, he was the man in my dream last night.

HARRY

Standing behind a tree and witnessing all that is eating me alive. Honestly, why does Zayn have to get so close? Should I warn him? No. It's not a wise idea. For now at least.

I look over to her. She sits down and hides her face. God, she's beautiful. No, Harry. What are you thinking? I brush off my thoughts. I brought 2 cups of tea on my way back. I think it's time that we drink them now, before it gets cold.

I walk over to her. I place the cups carefully on the grass, making sure they don't spill. I wrap my arms around her and in seconds, she turns around and looks. I only smile.

'Good morning-'

'Where were you?' she cuts me off before I could continue.

'I was, um,  setting up some stuff and-'

'Well, do you have any idea how worried I was?' she continues with a raised voice. I nearly open my mouth. I feel a bit guilty for not informing her. At least a text message would've been great.

'Okay I'm sorry. Won't do that again.' I get nearer. She crosses her arms and sits down. Her reaction is understandable. She was definitely looking for me since the morning.

I sit down beside her and take the cups.

'Look Ash, I bought tea! It's your favorite thing in the morning, right?' she looks from the corner of her eye, but doesn't say anything. I pout.  However, an idea pops in my head. I take out of my phone. Thankfully, there's a good network connection. I decide to open some vine videos, in the hope that it'll make her anger cool down. She told me she loves watching them too. I hold my phone in a suitable position. I press play. The first one is already too funny for me to hold back the laughter. I look at her every now and then. She is looking at it from the corner of her eye. Soon, she puts both eyes on the screen and smiles broadly, trying not to laugh. But the environment around us soon fills up with the noises of our laughter. My plan worked and I am  more than relieved. 

'I caught you, didn't I?' I say in between laughs. 

'Yes you did!' she exclaims in between laughs. We decide to watch some more for another five minutes. 

-

We are currently laughing our heads off because we watched some of the most funniest vines and 'Try Not To Laugh' challenges. It's a great way to lift up the mood. I giver her the cup of tea I got. It got cold overtime. 

'Oh no it got cold' I say while touching the base of the cup.

'It's alright. I'll still drink mine. It's not good to waste food' she says and sips it. It's hard for her, I can clearly see that, but she still won't waste it. She has some good values. Therefore, I drink mine too, with lots of strength and patience. Cold tea is the last thing I'll ever drink. 

-

It gets cold when the evening arrives. At the main campsite, everyone's taking preparation for the the Survival Challenge. Ashley told me that she doesn't want to go and that she's scared of heights. I put my hands on both of her shoulders. She looks down, but I ask her to look at me. Those brown eyes. Filled with apprehension. But there is a spark. 

'Ash, I would've asked you to stay back. But I realize that it's better to fight your fears, no matter how worse they are. You're a brave person and I know you can bite the bullet. Just close your eyes when a shin of fear takes over. But remember, don't stop walking.'   She looks down and starts thinking. I know her mind is an ocean of thoughts right now. 

'I am going to stand behind you.' I tell her and she nods immediately, agreeing to it.

'YES! Please be. I have Zayn in front of me and you'll be behind, so that'll be a bonus' she sighs in relief. Zayn will be there, too. In front of her.  I am not liking this fact. But honestly, I could care less about him. All I care about right now is her. And her only. 

-

We begin putting on some protective clothing on our bodies. It is apparently a requirement, just in case if anything goes wrong. I adjust mine properly. Louis needed some help in the adjustments, so I volunteered.  Charlie whistles and asks everyone to stand in a line. I just realized that there are apparently 12 people in this camp. Zayn stood in front of me. He turns around to greet me and I greet him back. It is awkward. It is hard to believe that he is the same person I was once so close to.

Ashley paces towards the line, looking down. I think she's still unsure of coming along. To my surprise, she has no trace of nervousness and looks chilled. Zayn greets her and she casually says a 'hi' back. We fist pump and she pops a huge smile.

'I guess someone's fully ready' I shove her and she scoffs.

'Definitely not as ready as you are, Harry.' she replies and we chuckle. Zayn looks back for a slight second but quickly turns away.

'Look at my hands. They're really sweaty. I'm not sure if I can hold on to you, if they accidentally slip' she jokes, and I shake my head.

'They'll only slip away if I allow it to happen' I tell her and she looks at me deeply. The gaze breaks off as Charlie shouts again, telling everyone to get ready. With one final adjustment to my suit, I prepare myself to walk up that trail. This is going to be tough.

-

We're currently 15 meters above ground. We need to climb another five meters. Some people gave up and went back. We've been walking for an hour and half now. It's exhausting.

Ashley kept looking down and closing her eyes abruptly afterwards. She's murmuring  words like 'I can do this' 'Fight your fears' 'Remember what Ruby told you'. I guess Ruby filled her up with some inspiring words. She definitely needs to be thanked for that.
Ashley holds onto Zayn, who holds her hands tightly. Zayn whispers a few words to her, which are inaudible for me. I don't know why I just can't stand them being too close. I feel like a third wheel right now.

We're walking 20 feet above ground right now. This is so intense. I can hear a few squealing from the front. Some already lost the Survival challenge. I'm starting to freak out a bit. But the view is amazing from this angle. I take out my phone and capture a few pictures.
Ashley inhales and exhales heavily and my mind gets filled with concern. I look at her from the side. A shin of tear rolls down her cheek. I grab her hand and rub them.

'I....I don't think...I can do this, Harry' her voice shakes.

'Are you okay?' I ask, putting my palm on her forehead to check.

'My head. It feels heavy. And....I'm...too frightened.'

'Stand beside me. We'll walk together, side by side.' I tell her and she listens. She walks beside me and puts her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her. Zayn doesn't turn around, so there's apparently no one who has noticed us.

'Only a few more meters, Ash. We'll get down soon' I try and comfort her and she nods her head. Everyone starts pacing quickly, which clearly shows that they want to get rid of this challenge. Some already gave up and lost hope.

-

We're now going down the trail. In a few minutes, we'll be on the ground. Ashley is just holding my hand now. I constantly remind her that she doesn't need to be afraid of anything.
Zayn saw us holding hands, but he doesn't utter anything. He keeps his mouth shut, and continues walking normally.

'A few more' I exclaim.

'A few more' she repeats with an exhale. She's fighting her fears. I admire this so much.

We reach the ground in no time. People let out sighs of relief. Shawn comes running to Ashley, a look of concern on his face.

'You alright, sis? I'm so sorry. I didn't even meet you before the challenge. I've been a careless brothers. It won't happen again I pro-'

'Hey, it's okay. I'm okay. I did this to fight my fears. Besides, Harry and Zayn were there, so everything's cool, Shawn' she cuts him off and hugs him tightly. He kisses her forehead and compliments her bravery.
Ashley walks to Zayn and hugs him. My gut wrenches. She thanks him and they're both having a laugh. I decide to walk towards my tent and get changed. But she runs as I walk and grabs my arm.

'Harry! Are you um, free tonight?' she asks me, still holding my hand.

'Yeah. Yeah! I'm free. Why? Is everything okay?' I ask.

'No. I just wanted to spend some time' she tells me and I couldn't help but just look at her. She wants to hang out. With me.

'Okay. At my tent, alright?' I tell her and she nods.

'Okay! I'll see you tonight' she waves and runs excitedly towards her tent.

I don't know what to expect. I just hope everything turns out well.