"I told you we should have taken a map."

Matt slumped down on a fallen tree. He was tired and sweaty, there were bugs everywhere, and Tai wasn't making things any easier. The brunette staggered toward him, cheeks flushed, hair stuck to his forehead.

"And I told you that I know these trails."

Matt scoffed and shook his head. "That's why we got lost. Because I was dumb enough to trust you."

Matt threw off his backpack, dug for his water bottle, and downed half of it in one go.

"Hey," Tai reached for it, "save me some."

Matt nudged his hand away, "Get your own!"

"I didn't bring any."

"Sucks to be you." Matt took another gulp.

"Come on, I'm dying. Sharing is caring!" Tai made his second attempt and tried to wrestle the bottle away from him. Matt shoved him off, then stood up, chugged the rest of the water and tossed the empty bottle at Tai's feet. The brunette kicked it. "Real nice."

Matt plopped down on the log again. "It's not my fault you don't have any common sense."

"Said the guy who litters." Tai snatched the empty bottle from the ground and stuffed it in his pack. Slinging it over his shoulder again, he leaned against the nearest tree and stared up into the sky. It was still light out, but the sun had dipped well below the tree line. It would be twilight soon, soon.

"What do you even have in that thing if you didn't bring water?"

"I dunno," Tai shrugged, "stuff."

Matt cocked an eyebrow at him. "Stuff?"

"Stuff."

"Stuff like what?"

"Just…stuff." Tai shrugged yet again.

Matt grimaced, pressing his lips into a half-frown. He was quiet for a few seconds, contemplating his next move, then without preamble he stood up and reached for Tai's pack.

"Hey!" Tai deflected him, but Matt persisted, undeterred.

"I wanna see this stuff you brought."

"No, man." Tai ducked away from another swipe of the arm, then broke into a jog. Matt went after him.

Moments later they were bounding up the trail at full sprint, but the pursuit was short lived. Tai had all the speed and endurance of a lifelong athlete, but it made no difference to the overgrown tree root that snagged his foot as he ran. He pitched forward and smacked the ground with a thud. Momentum carried him onward and he tumbled a few feet in a swirl of dirt a dead leaves.

"That's what you get for being an asshat." Matt shuffled to a stop behind him, and before he could protest, the backpack had been seized.

"Give it!" Tai surged to his feet and lunged for it.

Matt stopped him with an open palm to the face, then shoved him back a few feet.

"Now let's see what you're hiding." Matt unzipped the pack and emptied it's contents onto the dirt. There wasn't much: a wallet, a cellphone, the empty water bottle, Digivice一Tai never went anywhere without it一and a small brown package topped with a bow. Matt scooped the package it off the ground and examined it. "What's this?"

Grimacing, Tai tried to swipe the package away from him, but missed. He let his arm fall limp in defeat. Then with a resigned sigh, he said, "It's your anniversary present."

Matt glanced at him, brows raised, almost suspicious. "I'm guessing it was a surprise?"

"Yeah, was," said Tai, "but now you found it so…surprise!" He waggled his arms in the air with mock enthusiasm.

Matt shook his head and chortled a little.

"You might as well open it", Tai said.

Matt plucked off the bow, then peeled away a layer of brown paper to see what awaited him. It was a little black box. Matt looked over at Tai again and gestured to him. "This better not be what I think it is."

"Just open it, asshat."

Matt paused, examined the box as though it were hazardous matter, and then slowly, slowly, he opened it.

"Well?" Tai leaned a little closer. "You like it?"

Matt pulled a silver object from the box and held it up to the fading sunlight. "You got me a ring? Did you just to marry you?"

"No, dumb ass!" Tai snatched the ring and slipped it onto his own hand, then he stepped back, held his arms in front of him, and wiggled his fingers. It took Matt a few seconds before he recognized it as a poor attempt at air guitar. "It's a slide ring. See? For your guitar." After a few seconds he stopped and took off the ring. "I just thought it might be a cool thing for you to have." There was a pause. Tai looked down at the ring and frowned. "You don't like it."

"No一I mean I do! I like it! I just wasn't expecting一" Matt stopped himself and started over. "Thank you", he took the ring and put it on, then took a second to admire it, "I love it. That was real thoughtful of you."

Tai was still looking down. He shrugged, "Don't mention it."

"No, really," Matt pulled him into a gentle, half-headlock and kissed his cheek, "Thank you."