Day 3 - Then

I never thought the day would arrive when Tommy Oliver and I would be friends again.

While I don't regret my decision, there is still something in the back of my mind gnawing at me to reconsider.

I know now that it was a warning. A warning I shouldn't have ignored.

"If you think this is nice then I have something to show you," Tommy says to me.

We've been standing at the lookout point for a little over ten minutes after we decided to call this truce between us. I don't know why but I can't seem to look away from the magnificent view before me.

I can't possibly imagine what he has in mind.

"Something better than this?" I extend my hand out into the horizon, pointing to the vastness of the ocean.

He gives me a cheeky grin, "Definitely."

Now I'm curious.

"It isn't close, though. And if we want a good look then we have to start the run now because we're racing the sun."

And with that, he speeds off ahead of me, leaving me without an opportunity to question this decision.

"You won't regret it," he hollers back at me and I have no choice but to chase after him this time.

Right. Left. Breath. Run.

That's all I can say to myself as I chase after him without another thought.

He doesn't slow down for me to catch up. Instead, I'm left having to pick up speed so that I don't get left behind. He has stamina.

I can still see him in the distance as I slowly start to creep up. I've been doing these runs for years but I never had something to chase after. I always kept a steady speed and finished my run at the exact same time because I'm as bland as unseasoned chicken. Every single day I would wake up at five twenty-five, throw on some spandex, and hit the road for an early morning run at the park near my house. By six-thirty, I was in the shower while my coffee machine was brewing something up for me. Day after day it was the exact same thing. It was perfect, it was predictable, it was safe.

Tommy made a quick left into some terrain. Oh, no. We've gone off-road. This is the part where he kills me, right? Follow some guy into the unknown and you're bound to be found in an alley, ditch, or shallow grave. Maybe I've been watching too much True Crime.

"Tommy?" I looked around and find no one. I was surrounded by green and dirt.

He's leading me to my death and I am not going to stick around to find out if I was right.

"Tommy?" I tried again.

What kind of a guide just runs off?

I turn around but I am met with a wall of muscle that smells a little too good. I would have surely fallen on my ass if he hadn't have caught me. His hands rested on my back to keep me in place. My bare back.

"I thought I almost lost you there."

It took everything inside me to remind myself to breathe.

I pushed at his chest in an attempt to have him release me and it was an immediate mistake.

Legs. Equal. Jelly.

"Lost me? Was that the plan?"

"I thought you could catch up," he grinned, " I guess I'm the only one that continued growing."

He was right there. He had grown in all the areas that I could visibly see… and because life isn't fair, I'm sure in areas that I couldn't.

"Puh-lease, you were trying to lure me into a death trap! Admit you were trying to get rid of me. What better place than an island?"

His effortless laugh was one thing I thought I hadn't missed, but hearing it now, especially directed at me reminded me just how much I had buried deep inside me. How many memories of him have I stored away that are waiting for me to rediscover?

"You think I'd do that to you, Kimmy?"

Oh, how I wish I had earrings to take off. He did NOT just call me that.

"Excuse me?" I scoffed to hide my smile. "Do you have a death wish?"

He shrugged nonchalantly as he took a few steps backwards. He did that last night too. I'm not sure how he can do that without stepping on a rock and twisting an ankle.

"I just love messing with you."

He could make that an Olympic sport and win gold in all categories.

I roll my eyes because I refuse to give him what he wants and I take a critical eye to my surroundings. What the hell is so special?

There are overgrown shrubs everywhere, blocking anything that may be in the distance. It's like Angel Grove in the spring. I ran for twenty minutes to see this?

"Is this it?" I said as I took in all there was.

"Not impressed?" He bit at his lip like he was suppressing an urge to smile.

The foundation to any friendship was honesty. Maybe you can add trust in there, but even that has a precursor. I was not about to restart my friendship with Tommy on a lie.

"No," I shook my head. "We ran twenty minutes for more of the same? We could have been shopping!"

"Ahh, shopping. The enemy of all men with a credit card."

"It never lets us down," I shrug.

"Maybe not…" he nods but quickly surprises me by taking my hand, "but it can't show you this."

He leads the way down a little path I hadn't seen before. It looked like it had been cleared some time ago.

I tried to ignore the gallop of my heart or the way that my hand still fit perfectly inside his larger one.

Breathe! I needed to remind myself. This is a friend. You wouldn't lose your mind if Rocky took your hand… although I can't seem to remember a time he had done that before.

It was like Tommy and I were testing how far we could go without crossing some line.

"Ready?"

I nod because I can't form another thought while his hand and mine are connected.

Two steps later and we make it into a clearance that blows me away. It's like I'm at the top of the world, overlooking all of mankind on this small little island. All I can do is cover my mouth with my hand as I take in this overload of reality. How is this life?

The water looked like it was still from this height. A picture-perfect image I wanted to engrain in my mind for all of eternity. The stark white buildings in the distance shined like diamonds as the sun was beginning to hit them. This is what Tommy meant by needing to race the sun. It was an image like nothing I had ever seen from the island. It was a side I don't think many people knew about.

I hadn't experienced a view like this in all of my life.

"I almost don't believe this," I told him. "How did you find this?"

"Met a few locals on my first day here. I checked it out one morning and I knew I had to come back."

"It's so beautiful," I beamed. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. It was like the entire island was radiating all of its energy into me.

"Do you want a picture?" He asked.

Yes!

"I didn't bring my camera. I was exactly planning on finding this beauty."

I'd have to come back tomorrow and take a few pictures myself. Then I'd bring Cole here and take a few more.

"What kind of tourist are you?" He teased.

"The worst, apparently," I sighed.

"I have mine," he offered, taking out the small camera, "I always carry it around."

I nodded and took a few steps back so that he could take one of the scenery. I wanted to remember Santorini like this.

"Do you want me to take one of you?"

He thought about it for a moment and then shrugged, "Sure."

I took his camera in my hand and took a few steps back to get more of the view into the lens. I had him positioned on the right side and the rest of the island decorating the background.

His tan was even more accentuated by the white buildings behind him. The sun was kissing his skin so beautifully that he even looked like he was sparkling.

I had lied earlier. This was the most beautiful thing I had seen and it was taking everything inside of me to not bite my lip. It was my tell.

I clicked the camera a few times to be sure that I snapped a good picture, not like he could ever take a bad one, and handed the camera right back to him. He looked through the takes I had done and nodded.

It was pretty windy with the higher elevation. Who would have thought? I folded my arms over my chest and roamed around a little. I wanted to paint every cloud, blade of grass, and pile of rocks into the canvas in my mind.

When Tommy looked up from his camera, he called out to me.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Your picture is next."

"What?" I suddenly felt self-conscious. I was in no state to take a picture. My hair was matted down and I was disgustingly sweaty. "No thanks!"

"Come on! How am I ever going to believe you were here if I don't have photographic evidence?"

"I think we can all remember our little trip. I don't need to be in a picture and ruin it."

He rolled his eyes but didn't push and clicked away at the view.

I walked forward a bit, being cautious not to get too close to the edge of the cliff, and peered over. With the little visibility I had, I could make out a secluded beach that was free from debris. Bright blue water hit the shore in peaceful little splashes. The water was calmer from what I had seen on the other side of the island and that brought a smile to my face.

Click.

"Aha, got it!" Tommy smiled as he looked into the screen of his digital camera.

"Did you take a picture of me?"

"The best one!"

"You better delete that," I demanded as I charged towards him.

"No way," he raised the camera high over his head and I nearly climbed him to get it. "This will be posted on my myspace page with the caption of 'my new best friend.'"

"Perfect! It can be next to my mugshot after I kill you for taking pictures of me!"

"Come on, Kimmy! You look great, I promise. I'm an amazing photographer."

Kimmy? That's it. He's dead.

"Tommy, give it up!" I chased after him as he ran with his camera in the air.

"No way," he hollered back, "You can't catch up to me or reach the camera anyway."

Dead and buried.

We practically ran in a circle, which I've come to realize was deadly dangerous, any second either one of us could have tumbled down the hundreds of feet down to the beach, but somehow that added to the excitement. I haven't felt this alive in a long time… and for the life of me, I can't help but compare this to my stagnant life with Cole.

I love him. He's good to me, but I can't seem to remember a time where we had this much fun… but maybe that's what friends are for? To offer that thrill that a significant other can't give you. Even I can't fool myself into believing that. Maybe being friends with Tommy will be a good thing for my relationship with Cole. It will allow me to open the door on the adventure I never took with him. We will find that we have much more in common than business.

I lunged myself to him when I was close enough. I'm not sure what my plan here was but it wasn't wrestling him in the dirt. I wasn't going to win. I was a retired gymnast with a bad knee and he was a fucking marine. He's probably tackled guys three times my size… but somehow we were left with him pinned underneath me while my thighs rested on either side of his body.

Yeah, I was fucking straddling him like some jockey at the Kentucky Derby. Not one of my prouder moments, but I did snag the camera. I couldn't have been on top of him for more than two seconds, but those two seconds felt like an eternity. Images of us in this position rushed into my mind and I immediately second guesses this whole friendship thing.

Confusion! This is the confusion I was talking about.

When I felt his hand glide up the curve of my hip, I shot up. My thighs burned a little, but nothing that a post-workout stretch can't remediate.

"Got it," I smirked as I held the camera close to my chest.

I did my best to pretend like what just happened didn't happen, and truth be told, I deserved a damn Academy Award for my performance.

"Yeah, yeah," he brushed himself off as he got back to his feet.

We created a little bit of distance between us with the facade that we were just catching our breaths. We both knew the truth but would die before admitting it.

I scrolled through the pictures he took until I found the one of me.

Carefree. Serenity. Genuine. All of that was captured with the flick of his finger.

I couldn't erase it.

"Fine," I sighed in defeat, "You can keep the picture."

I offered the camera back to him and he took it, although a bit apprehensive.

"Really?" He quirked a brow. "That easy?"

I shrugged, "What can I say? You captured my good side."

I caught the smirk from the corner of my eye before a few voices to my left grasped my attention.

I guess the locals had discussed this spot with a few more people.

"Bonjour," a woman greeted us.

"Good morning," Tommy and I returned with a nod.

Then tension that wanted to build up diminished between us as more people trickled into the hidden paradise. I was thankful for the company.

"Picture?" The woman that had greeted us asked. Her French accent was thick.

I nodded thinking that she meant she wanted me to take one of her, but she shook her head, "No. You."

She motioned her hands to me and Tommy, pointing to us and the view behind us.

"We have one. Thank you," I smiled back at her.

"Together," she nodded again and pointed to the camera in Tommy's hand. "I take it."

I was about to decline her kind offer once again but Tommy stepped forward and handed her his camera. He was beside me before I knew it.

"Smile for the camera," he smirked at me and brought his right hand around my waist.

Me and breathing just can't seem to get along these days.

Breathe. Smile. Look at the camera. Don't pass out. Breathe.

That became increasingly hard to do once he began stroking my skin with the pad of his thumb. Being on this hilltop has clearly messed with my brain because I didn't pull away from his touch. It could have been that I was a little too shocked by his actions, but for some unknown reason, I allowed this to happen.

That was when I first questioned if I could control my actions when I was with Tommy.

Author note: Hope you enjoy :)