'You've never done this before?', he tried to mask his surprise, but failed miserably. A light blush spread across Juniper's cheekbones. 'Nope,' she replied. Grover sighed dramatically, the mop of curls cascading across his forehead bobbing up and down as he exhaled. 'There's a first time for everything,' he told her warmly.
'Look, you'll get the best results if you hold it like this,' Grover slid his hand over Junipers, gripping it tightly, he twisted her wrist gently and pulled her arm back at the elbow, bringing the stick closer the the edge of the flames.
Grover congratulated himself silently, this was the best date so far. It had taken some time to persuade Percy to let him borrow his step-dads beach hut, but if having to clean Percy's cabin for a month was all it took then it was so worth it. The house was in a perfect location, based along the shore of Long-Island sound, the homey beach hut provided warmth from the cool evening sea breeze. In the background, the soothing rhythm of the ocean lapping up on to the shore relaxed him, and the setting sun in ront of them was particularly stunning this evening, the orange glow producing soft shadows all around the couple, encasing them in an place of comfort.
Looking down, Grover saw the look of concentration her face, the determination to make her first ever s'more perfect obvious in her every feature. Her eyes focused on the gooey mixture of marshmallow, chocolate and cracker at the end of her stick as it gradually started to brown. Her mouth pulled tight into a white line, her teeth ever so slightly biting into her bottom lip.
'Like this?' she asked hopefully, her eyes darted quickly to make eye contact with him, but quickly returned to the delicious concoction she was so proud of.
'Just like that,' he murmured softly into her temple, his lips lingering there to plant a small kiss. 'Perfect, even', he laughed.
'Okay, Juni, I think it's done now sweetie, leave it to cool down though-' Juniper wasn't exactly listening, the thought of her first s'more overwhelmed her as she took it out of the flames and popped it right into her mouth. A look of satisfaction on her face as the taste hit her, only to be followed by the extreme heat. She stood up sharply, hitting Grover in the face as she went. Her hands frantically flapping air into her mouth, trying to cool the heatwave inside of her. She ran up the beach, tripping as she went, and tipped her head awkwardly under the tap in the hut; a moan of relief passing her lips.
Laughing, Grover followed her, leaning against the door frame to catch his breath, he watched as Juniper tried to clear up the mess she had made of herself. A dribble of chocolate down her chin and her blue top soaked with water, she dabbed persistently at the marshmallow stain on her trousers. Grover had never thought she looked cuter.
Sensing his presence, Juniper looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. 'Oh Gods, this is so embarrassing, I'm so sorry, I-' she was cut off by Grover laughing, 'No no no, it's fine really, it's the s'mores fault for being so damn delicious' Juniper huffed at him, obviously finding the jokes at her expense funny. Picking up on her feelings straight away, he tried to redeem himself. 'Seriously though, you should have seen the first time Annabeth made me a cheese enchilada,'
'What happened?' she asked.
'Cheese everywhere, even in places cheese as no right in being,'
'Oh Gods that's so gross, how do you let that even happen? '
'It's a long story,' he sighed, 'probably shouldn't tell such an explicit story on such a romantic evening'.