In the woods I feel calm, I always have. Sometimes I bring my painting equipment with me, so I can paint the woods- and bring them home with me. Today is one of those days. Finn came with me, when I asked him if he wanted to come with me, he was weird, he said yes, like he expected something huge to come out of it. I've just finished painting the branches on the trees, putting the tip of the brush in a deep green I paint a bunch of leaves, and then change to a different green, to make it look like the light is shining through the trees.

"You're good at that."

I look at Finn "What?"

"You're good at painting, and you get this focused- kind of distant look on your face."

I smile and continue painting "And what do you do with your spare time Finn?"

"I don't do much, run; swim, nothing like drawing, or painting."

"Well, I'm nearly finished the painting- we could go for a run." I suggest, still focused on the grass I'm now painting.

"You think you could keep up?"

"Oh, Finn; If only you didn't underestimate me. I could run laps around you my friend."

He laughs "I'm sure you could."

"I hunt Finn, I have to run- fast. I have to be quiet too."

"I've been training for every kind of sport since I was a six. You don't have a chance." He says with a smirk.

"And I've been learning to hunt since I was five. I need to be fast, agile and quiet."

He gently grasps a lock of my hair "We'll see."

I add the finishing touches to the painting and pack up. The wind blows my hair, and I step towards Finn.

"First we walk the track, so you know where you're going, okay?"

"Okay."

We walk the track I've been running since I was very young, Mum, Dad and I flattened the grass in this area. The wind picks up a little, so my hair is all over the place. I reach for my hair tie, and slip it on my hand. After pulling my hair together, I twist the hair tie around my hair, so it stays out of my way.

"Rue."

"Yeah?"

He hesitates then says "Never mind."

I really want to know what he was about to say, but I don't question him. We continue to walk through the woods. When we get back to the start of the track, we get ready to run.

"On three?" I ask

"Sounds good to me."

I start the count. "One."

"Two" he says

"THREE!"

I take off, as fast as I can, pushing my legs underneath me, the wind whips my hair back. I take the hair tie out as I run, so all of my hair will fly loose. Finn is behind me, I can hear his footsteps. I go around the corner speedily, with Finn right on my tail. I push myself harder, so I move faster; Finn does too. I am jerked backwards, and land on my butt. Then I see Finn running of into the distance, laughing. So I dash through a nest of trees that are not part of the track. When I come out of them I'm on the track again, I can hear that Finn is behind me.

When Finn sees me he shouts "How are you in front of me?"

I respond with a shout back "Easy."

I hear his feet hit the ground at a faster pace. So I too speed up, my lungs are burning. Then my leg goes out from under me, I put my arms out in front of me and land in a push up position, I throw my body forward and lunge at Finn, knocking him to the grassy earth. I put my hands on the ground and pull myself to my feet and I head for the end of the track. I'm almost there when I hear Finns footsteps getting closer to me, so as a last ditch effort I jump and land on my stomach across the line, we had made up earlier. He was about a step behind me. I roll onto my back and see him looking at me in a weird way.

"What?" I ask.

"You, you're different. Most girls hate running and sport, but you hunt, you run, climb, everything. "

"Yes, well spotted." I laugh.

He leans down and puts his hand out, "You're also very dirty."

I take his hand "How would you know?" I ask

"Look at your clothes," He points to my shirt "Dirt."

"Ohhh," I laugh "well, that's your fault now isn't it."

"Yes, and it's your fault, my shirt is torn." He says pointing to the large whole on the side of his shirt.

I laugh and take his hand.

"We should get back, Dad's cooking something for lunch."

"Okay."

We walk back through the green and brown of the woods, until we reach the fence. I climb under first and Finn follows. Before we get onto the path that leads to my house, Finn grabs my arm.

"Rue,"

"Yeah?"

He chuckles "You always answer like that."

"I know."

"I- uh…" He hesitates, then steps closer to me.

Finn puts his hands on my arms and looks at me, as if questioning what he's about to do, my heart speeds up. Then he leans down and presses his lips to mine. I stand up higher and press back. The kiss only lasts about 15 seconds, but it was amazing. I smile and laugh nervously, when we pull away.

"That's what I wanted. I was going to try and say it, but I think that gets the message across loud and clear." He says.

"Yeah. It does, now all you have to worry about it that happening and my Dad seeing… or just finding out. "

He smiles and tentatively takes my hand as we head back to the house. Things are going to get interesting.