Dappled sunlight plays upon my closed eyelids. Even though I'm awake, I don't want to open my eyes just yet. I've had one of the best night's sleep in a while and I'm happy staying here with my cheek nestling against a warm cushion, the blankets feeling pleasantly cosy and a warm, strong arm comfortably draped over my waist. My eyes snap open as I realise that this arm does not belong to me.

It takes me a couple of moments to remember my bearings, the panic attack, Levi and I leaving the tents behind and sleeping here out in the open field. I then become aware of how my legs are entangled in his and my own hand is resting against his chest.

I peer at his face, trying to keep my breathing quiet so as not to wake him up. Levi is snoring gently, his lips slightly parted. I smile faintly at the way his coffee brown hair has stuck up in places. I shift ever so slightly, stuck between wanting to stay here, lying beside him and getting up before anyone notices we're not there. They might even already have.

But then Levi's eyes flicker open and he greets me with a sleepy, "Good morning, Bug."

My heart squeezes in my chest as I think again: I've just spent the night with Levi Parker. My cheeks flood a warm pink.

I sit up, running my fingers through my hair, trying to tame what I assume has become wild and messy bed hair. I can't quite look at him in the eye as I'm nodding fervently. "Good morning."

He stays lying amongst the blankets and the cushions as I get up, looking towards the clump of tents not too far away. I can see no one outside them. Relief sweeps over me as I realise I've avoided a whole morning of teasing from Oliver and probably everyone else. They're not awake yet.

"We should probably head back," I say, nodding towards the tents.

Levi stretches and folds his arms behind his head, looking perfectly content with no intent to move. He grins lazily up at me.

"So early?"

"Yes. They'll notice we've gone," I say, feeling my face warm further as I imagine just what Oliver would say.

Levi yawns and leisurely looks towards the sky, watching the clouds drift through the early morning sky. As always, he's as calm and reassured as ever, as if we've woken up beside each other dozen times before. My heart strings tug as I realise I would like just that. 

I kneel back onto the blankets, collecting all the cushions in my arms. Levi finally sits up, staring at me quietly for a few moments before tugging one of the blankets towards him to fold up.

"Are you feeling better?" His voice is soft and careful, not intrusive in any way.

I glance up from a polka dot printed pillow, smiling briefly. "Yeah. Thanks, by the way." I look away in embarrassment. "For coming with me, I mean. It was so late-"

"It's nothing," Levi interrupts, his mouth tilting up in a reassuring smile. "Really."

We gather up the rest of the pillows and blankets and get back to the others just in time. We've barely managed to put them away before Imogen leaves her tent. She looks around frantically, her eyes roaming the perimeters of the tents before they find me and she lets out a loud of relief.

"Ruby! I woke up and saw you weren't there, I thought maybe you'd gone back to the cottage or something," she says, running over to me.

"I just, I got up early," I say, shrugging as I grin back at her. Technically, I'm not really lying.

Soon Max wakes up too, which makes everyone except Luke and Oliver out of their tents who I know aren't morning people. When Imogen pokes her head into their tent and threatens that she's going to pack up the tent and chuck it into a nearby river with them in it they finally get out, mumbling curses and grumbly asking why they have to be up so early.

Oliver emerges with his red hair resembling a Troll doll and Luke glares at everyone through bleary eyes. Breakfast is served, fried eggs or porridge, and soon we're on our way once everything is packed up.

I check my phone once or twice, finding it surprising that neither Mum nor Dad has called or even texted but then I remember about Mum telling me to have a good time and not to worry.

We spend the day searching the village. When we see how much there is to do, there's no reason why It's so touristy. We manage to catch a film showing at an outdoor cinema and visit a trendy-looking, small café which serves drinks that almost rival the ones at Gris-et-Crème. Oliver tries and fails to flirt with a girl selling ice creams at the village square, Max buys Imogen a bunch of flowers I recognise from the nearby woods and Luke nearly walks into a small horse tied up outside by a pub.

When we return to the cottage, a hundred tiny ceramic gnomes' smiles welcome us back.

Throughout the rest of the day everyone drifts away, off to do their own thing. Imogen and Max have left to check out a seaside restaurant for lunch, Oliver and Luke have left in pursuit of 'hot village babes' and then there's Levi and I. I get the funny feeling that the rest of them keep purposely trying to leave us alone together.

Before she leaves, Imogen warns us all that we've got to be back by five, here, for something 'amazingly special'. She won't tell any of us what it is when we ask.

I'm too busy getting trying to get my camera working to leave the cottage, it's started messing up lately, and I haven't seen Levi since arriving back here. We've only caught glimpses of each other and with each passing glance, I'm feeling more and more impatient and I don't even know what for.

When he finally arrives in the kitchen to have some late lunch and sits down opposite me, my pulse quickens. I remember what I thought yesterday, the last thought before I'd slipped into sleep.

I watch Levi take a drink from his glass and he stares at me right back, one eyebrow raised.

I struggle to swallow down the pasta I grabbed from the café earlier and set it down on the table.

The thought flashes through my mind again, persistent, terrifying and wonderful. I'm in love with Levi.

Suddenly I find it hard to say anything to him, not even a hello and I stare down at my camera with flushed cheeks. The thought makes me week in the knees, it makes my heart hammer and my breath fizzle to nothing.

"Are you alright, Bug?"

Bug. Wasn't there a time when that nickname used to annoy me?

It still does, I still hit him or scowl at him nearly every time he calls me it but there's something attached to it now, something endearing.

I look up and his warm eyes search mine. I notice a smile on his lips as he watches me. Butterflies flutter in my stomach.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" he repeats.

I'm too tongue-tied to reply.

How can I love him, this infuriating boy? I think of all the time he's pissed me off beyond belief, the amount of times he's made me speechless with anger. But then I think of everything else. The way he's always on my mind when he's not here, the way the mere mention of his name has my heart tripping faster, the way everything feels so easy to share with him, the way I feel safe when I'm in his arms.

The colour on my cheeks burns more deeply.

I finally nod. "Yep, yeah, I'm fine." I want to thud my head against the kitchen table at how high-pitched my voice has become. I definitely don't sound fine. Thankfully, for once, Levi ignores it.

"There's a shop in the town village," he says, nodding towards my camera. "Where you could get that fixed. I think I saw some sign about repairs."

I sigh in relief. "Really?" I look down at the small, black camera in my hand, annoyed that the bloody thing's already acting up only at the beginning of our stay.

He nods and we finish up and go.

The long walk there is full of the usual teasing and conversation, the name-calling and blushing but this time there's something at the back of my mind. A thought which has my heart lurching or stomach tightening every time Levi's fingertips brush mine or his laughter fills my ears.

The repairs shop we arrive at is dusty and quiet. The woman at the desk seems to know what's wrong but she tells me she'll need the evening to fix it and that I should collect it in the morning. When we leave, a large broken grandfather clock by the door strikes twelve. For a moment I jump, unable to believe that it's still midday when I check my watch and see that it's just turned four.

And then I really do jump.

I remember Imogen's reminder to get back by five. There's more than only a few miles between the village and the cottage. There's no way we're going to make it back in time.

"Imogen's going to kill us," I say, groaning quietly.

Levi notices the time too and seems to remember Imogen's insistent reminders. "Oh dear."

"Oh dear? She's actually, legitimately going to end our lives if we don't get back in time."

Levi doesn't look too worried. "I think I know a short cut."

"How on earth can you know a short cut? We've only been here a couple of days."

"I've been looking around." He shrugs. "But..."

"But?" I cross my arms.

"It may involve a tiny bit of trespassing."

"What?! When the hell have you been trespassing-"

"Look, do you want to get back in time?"

I sign resignedly. If I crossed my arms any tighter I wouldn't be able to unfold them. Glaring at Levi darkly, I mutter, "Fine."

He grins. "We'll be back before you know it."

The path Levi leads down us quickly grows unrulier and overgrown by the minute. Soon we're off any properly paved ground and down a dusty, foot-trodden road. After a short while, we leave behind the village town and head through a wilder, smaller looking wood than the ones near our cottage. It's full of low-lying, unkempt bushes that tug at my jeans as we walk through them.

When we advance a rickety locked gate between some bushes, I shift my weight between my feet nervously. "I swear to god, if we get arrested because of you Levi Parker-"

"We're not gonna get arrested," he interjects. He shoots me a confident smile. My glower softens but I still attempt to scowl at him. "We'll just walk across the back of this garden and before you know it we'll be practically home."

I sigh. "Give me a leg up." When Levi helps me over the gate, I try to ignore how his hand feels against my back, the skin there warming. He needs no help getting over and I'm left wondering how many times he's done this.

We land on a gravelly, dirt path which is lined by the dense green shrubbery we've emerged from. Distantly, you can make out a large, stone farm house and a blue truck parked outside it.

I try calling Imogen to warn her that we'll be late but there's no signal out here, which is kind of a relief.

"How's your first time trespassing going?" Levi asks, his expression clearly entertained as he walks leisurely along the path, my footsteps on the other hand, are rather hurried.

"Hhhm... Don't think I'm going to recommend it to my parents as something to do for some nice family time."

"Really? That's all we get up to when we go on vacation."

"Vacation?" I smirk at the word. "How un-British. Don't you mean holiday?"

Levi laughs and holds a hand to his chest. "I told you, Bug, I'm an American at heart."

"Well, don't forget about your allegiance to bangers and mash when you return to your homeland this summer," I say, stretching out my hand to run along the leaves belonging to the adjacent bushes.

"I don't know, it'll be hard when all the girls are falling for my British accent."

I laugh and roll my eyes, even as something twinges in my stomach. I imagine Levi arriving in New York, girls exclaiming and tittering at everything he has to say, batting their eyelashes, asking him to say the word 'trousers' in a ridiculously flirty way-

There's the sound of voices approaching us from beyond a curve in the path ahead.

Levi and I turn to look at each other, eyes wide, mine panicked and his gleaming with amusement.

Oh my god, we're going to get caught trespassing and the whole holiday's going to get cut short and we'll get sent to jail and-

The next thing I know Levi gives me a shove and I take a floundering step backwards, tripping and falling into a glade behind me with a muffled yell and pulling Levi after me. We topple onto the warm, baked earth that serves as the smallest of clearings amongst the dense, green undergrowth and wild flowers.

I barely have time to take in my surroundings because at once I'm distracted by Levi's weight on mine. He's leaning on one hand to steady himself on and the other still rests in mine, the one that pulled him through the bushes along with me.

He inclines his head to the side, golden brown eyes alert, mouth parted in a slight, playful smile as he listens out for the people we're hiding from.

Getting over the shock of being shoved into bloody shrubbery, I stare at him incredulously before asking breathlessly, "I don't see how chucking ourselves in some bushes is going to-"

"Do you want us to get caught?" Levi whispers, placing a finger against my lips. I glare at him but keep quiet as we wait for whoever it is to pass.

Here, you can hear the murmur of honey bees and distant bird song as well as the conversation of the passing couple we've barely just managed to avoid. They pass the road we were standing on a moment earlier, talking about dinner and taking their truck to the garage.

I remember the truck I'd seen and let out a slightly strained relief of breath. We've managed to avoid the bloody owners themselves.

Levi realises this too and as soon as they've left, he collapses onto me in a quietly laughing, relieved heap and even though I should be much more worried and probably a bit more level-headed, I'm laughing too, unable to believe we've gotten away with it.

"Bloody hell," Levi mutters propping himself again on his arms.

This shift in weight reminds me all over again of his body against mine. It feels lean and warm and strong and I hope the mottled sunlight filtering through the grass isn't enough for him to notice the colour creeping up my cheeks.

Levi looks down at me, slightly more serious too.

For a moment, silence weighs between us, brief and faltering as if neither of us are sure what to do next.

"Ruby..." Levi begins in a quiet voice. I notice the faintest hint of hesitation in his features. My fingers drift up as if to brush it away.

"Yes," I murmur, waiting. My heart is thudding hard in my chest and I'm reminded of that time at the party, Levi and me dancing, him about to tell me something. My pulse flutters beneath my skin as he inhales slightly.

He looks down at me, seriously, tenderly and my heart falters in my ribs. "I've been meaning to say something..." He tries again, trying to find the right words. His voice is just as soft as when the couple were passing even though we're no longer hiding.

Looking into his warm eyes I see everything I feel.

I don't know who makes the first move but in the next moment, my eyelids have fluttered shut and Levi's lips are against mine, warm and tempting and tasting of molten honey. I exhale the breath I've been holding and wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. At this, Levi tugs me closer, a sigh leaving his lips, one hand tangling in my hair and the other holding my waist tightly.

A flurry of heat spills from my chest and through my whole body when his mouth opens over mine and his tongue grazes my bottom lip.  I kiss him more fiercely. Sighs translate into fast-paced breath, kisses unravel from steady to untidy and what was once warm becomes aflame.

I have never kissed like this. I have never kissed so heatedly, like time is nothing but dying moments and each second could be our last.

Distantly, I realise all perfect moments must come to an end.

But kissing like the galaxy itself is on the brink of collapsing in a sunlit glade, listening to Levi's breathless moans and the pounding thud of his heart beat against mine, the idea of forever doesn't seem altogether too distant.

*          *          *

When we return to the cottage, everything seems oddly quiet inside. Dusk has fallen and the sun is disappearing behind the faraway hills, illuminating everything in a faded blue light. Outside the door, Levi presses one last kiss against my smiling lips. I'm aware of how we still don't know what this between us, but everything feels more certain than it was before.

When I turn the key and the door swings open, I realise something is wrong.

Everyone stares back at us with grave faces, they're all eerily quiet. And staring at me. Even Oliver, who doesn't know the meaning of quiet, is watching me horribly silent, his face white as he bites down on his lower lip.

Something cold and icy spikes my chest.

The smile rapidly fading on my face, I raise my eyebrows. "What's happened?" I ask. "You all look like someone's just died."

At this Imogen lets out a loud sniffle and she bursts into tears. My body freezes.

She rushes towards me, arms thrown open as she clutches me tightly towards her. "Where've you been? I tried your phone, I called so many times-"

I push her gently away from me, shaking my head. My fingers are trembling slightly. "What's happened?"

Her lip trembles and another tear slides down her pale face. "Ruby, I'm so sorry. It's your Granddad."