Gil walked towards the tree, amazement written all over his face. He had seen a lot of trees in the forest, but none of them were as imposing as this one. He softly touched the tree trunk and looked up towards the top. All he could see were branches covered with green leaves and many bright red cherries. None of them hang low enough to pick while standing on the ground though.

"How do we get up?" Gil wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Jay answered, while he was already looking for a way to climb up. He then saw a branch, a little lower than the others, and he made some fast calculations in his head. He ran up towards the tree, climbed up against the tree trunk and then pushed himself towards the branch. He grabbed the branch, pushed himself up and was pleased with himself to recon it was actually easier than he expected. Gil on the other hand looked in awed, his mouth slightly open. Once more he was deeply impressed how things like that seem to be so easy to Jay.

"You can grab the berries, I'm never going to make that jump," Gil said apologetic.

"Of course you will," Jay immediately replied. "Come on, you can do it."

Gil's smile disappeared, while he started to worry. Scared to fail and to disappoint Jay he took a few steps back. He had to try at least once before giving up. He ran up, tried to get as high as possible, before grabbing the branch. But then the wood slipped through his fingers and he landed on his feet back on the ground. He failed. He didn't dare to look up, scared to be laughed at or to see a disapproving face.

"See, you almost made it. Try again!"

Gil looked up in surprise and saw Jay sitting far above him with the same charming smile he slowly got to know. Not a trace of mockery or disappointment was to be seen on his face, just a warm smile that somehow encouraged Gil. He took a few steps backwards again and ran towards the tree. This time he could grab the branch, but not tight enough to be able to hold onto it. Again he landed on the ground, but he wasn't planning on looking down again.

"Almost! Come on, one more time!"

Gil looked up at him and nodded. He tried again and this time he felt how he tightly grabbed the branch. He pushed himself up and finally sat beside Jay on the tree branch. It was definitely not as graceful as Jay, but he finally made it.

"Told you that you could do it," Jay said and patted his shoulder. A smile appeared back on Gil's face while Jay looked at him proudly. Gil then slowly stood up, grabbing other branches to keep his balance and looked for the first berries he could pick. He then noticed Jay had already a pair of them in his hand and reached it towards him.

"These are called cherries," Jay explained while Gil took the fruit in his hand.

"Cherries," Gil softly repeated for himself.

Jay was surprised to see that Gil did not immediately eat the fruit. For a moment he kept looking at it, a deep frown on his forehead. He then looked up to face Jay again, a questioning look on his face.

"I should not eat the green stem, right?" Jay chuckled, realizing that Gil learned from the strawberries.

"Only the red part," Jay confirmed, still smiling. "Oh, and you should also watch out for the pit. There's this huge pit inside the fruit. I actually broke my teeth on it when I first tried a cherry."

Gil picked one of the two cherries from the stem and brought it towards his mouth. He seemed to take Jays words to heart as he carefully bit a small part off the cherry. His face lit up once again by the taste of the new fruit. Jay had to try to hide his smile. He would never get tired of that sight. Gil then looked up in surprise.

"You were right, there is a pit inside." Gil looked at the pit in his hand, but then dropped it to let it fall onto the ground. Gil then reached the second cherry back towards Jay.

Jay didn't know how to react. He blinked with his eyes, as he saw how Gil offered him the second cherry, even though Gil clearly enjoyed the first one. A friendly smile was seen on Gil's face, while he patiently waited for Jay to take the cherry. With a racing heart Jay grabbed the red fruit, softly touching Gil's fingers while doing so, and put the cherry in his mouth.

"Wow, these are really good," he said with his mouth full.

"I know right," Gil responded and his smile grew even brighter.

"The best ones are on the top," Jay said with a challenging look on his face. Jay didn't need to say anything else. Gil accepted the challenge.

Together they climbed in the cherry tree, searching for the best cherries to pick. The view got better the higher they climbed, until they could look across the entire field. The branches were getting thinner, but the cherries seemed to be getting sweeter. Suddenly Jay saw two bright red cherries, which seemed to be calling him. He knew the cherries were out of his reach, but he wanted them. Not the other one, who was closer to him and just as red, he wanted those two cherries. Gil followed his glance and saw the same two cherries swaying in the wind.

"We can take them," he said, his voice sounded confident. Climbing in a tree wasn't easy, he had noticed. But his confidence had grown since he and Jay climbed higher, helping each other to reach certain branches or cherries. He could help Jay once more.

Jay took Gil's hand, as they had done a lot at that point, and slowly moved his feet towards the cherries. The branch was getting smaller and smaller near the end as Jay tried to keep his balance. He could feel how Gil kept a firm grip on his hand, knowing he would fall down if Gil would let go. Jay reached out his other hand to get the cherries. Just a little closer.

He moved his feet again, placing one foot on another even smaller branch. He leaned in again, determined to get the cherries, when a loud snap was to be heard and one of his feet tumbled down together with the stick it had been standing on. For second Jay thought he would fall all the way down, but a strong grip on his right hand pulled him back up and got him back on his feet. Jay grabbed the closest branch he could reach, while his other hand still held Gil's. He remained his balance once again. He laughed nervously as he turned towards Gil, as adrenaline was rushing through his body. That was a little bit to close.

"You're alright?" Gil asked, even though the smile on Jay's face already answered the question. He was just a little spooked.

"Yes, I'm alright," Jay answered. He let go of the branch and opened his hand to show Gil two bright red cherries. Gil smiled widely by the sight of the fruit and pulled Jay even closer to himself.

"You still got them," he said proudly as he picked one of them.

They enjoyed their small victory as they both ate one of the cherries. It was at that moment that Jay suddenly noticed they were still holding hands. He didn't mind at all. Jay knew he would not be falling down as long as he was holding Gil's hand. Not that he was afraid of falling, even though he just almost did, but holding this hand still made him feel safer.

Gil looked down at their hands as well, seeing how Jay softly ran his thump over his fingertips, the only part of his hand that wasn't gloved. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just stood there, trying to ignore his racing heartbeat. He looked up, looking at Jay's face, even though Jay himself was still looking down at their hands.

They were already standing pretty close to each other. Together high up in a tree, where nobody could see them, surrounded by firm branches and the many green leaves. Gil felt a weird sensation all over his body, as he wanted to move even closer to this other guy. He took one step, but the little space that was left on the branch made it hard. Jay looked up, Gil hesitated and they both pulled their hand away. The magic disappeared.

"Well," Gil quickly said, breaking the silence. He looked up, so he was breaking eye contact as well. "I don't know if we can get any higher. The branches are getting really thin up there."

Jay looked up as well. It indeed might not be a good idea to climb all the way to the top. So Jay sat down at the branch they were standing on and Gil went to sit beside him. Jay reached in his pocket and took the cherries he grabbed along the way.

"It's so beautiful here," Gil stated once more, while he looked at the mountains and trees in the distance. "I can't believe I've been missing this my whole life and I had no idea."

Jay watched how Gil took one of the cherries of his hand and once again bit small pieces of it, till only the pit was left.

"I can't believe it either," Jay said, making Gil look up in surprise. "Well, I've been here over a year now, but I've never climbed in a cherry tree or chased butterflies. I never stopped to look at a flower or listen to a bird before. I got used to Auradon and Auradon Prep by now, but somehow you make it all seem new to me." Jay looked up at Gil for a moment.

Those hazel eyes sparkled again as he shyly smiled and looked away. "I just hope I'm not a burden to you. I don't know anything. I already destroyed a rose bush. I don't even know how to eat a strawberry properly. I know I am a pain in the neck."

Jay softly shoved against Gil's arm in the hope he would stop talking like that. Gil looked back up at him and Jay was glad to see those hazel eyes once again. "You are not a pain in the neck. Who even told you that?"

"My dad." The quick answer didn't even surprise Jay that much.

"And my two brothers," Gil added. "They're all so much better than me, you should see them. I'm no good."

"I don't believe that," Jay said firm. "Why would Uma put you in her crew if you were no good. Besides, I've seen you fight and you're good. Uma and Harry should be very lucky to have you on their side."

A little smile appeared on Gil's face again. "Harry actually said that to me once," Gil said. "We were repairing the ship when I fell from the mast and I hurt my shoulder really bad. I could see how Harry immediately ran up to me. I tried to act like nothing happened, but I couldn't move my arm anymore. And I thought; this is it. I'm useless now. They're going to throw me overboard or they're going to give the useless son back to his father. But they didn't. Uma actually said I should take a rest until my shoulder was fully recovered. Harry took care of me. When I apologized for being a burden, he smiled and told me they were very lucky that I became part of the crew. I never understood."

Jay laughed softly at the story. "It never crossed your mind that maybe you are valuable to them?"

Gil looked back at Jay, a questioning but hopeful look on his face. "Am I?"

Jay was lost for words. This guy was so strong and handsome, how could he be insecure about anything. Jay wanted to tell the other guy that he was indeed valuable, at least to him. He wanted to hold his hand again, tell him he made every moment better and brighter. But the words seemed to be stuck in his throat, while Gil still looked at him with the same hopeful look in his eyes.

"Well, you should ask them," Jay quickly answered instead. "But I guess you are." It wasn't even near to what Jay really wanted to say, but Gil still seemed glad with the answer.

Then Gil looked back to the surroundings and suddenly pointed at a mountain in the distance. "Next time we should try to climb that! All the way to the top."

Jay immediately got an exciting grin on his face and nodded in agreement. From the inside Jay still tried to say the words which were actually going through his mind. The conversation drifted off as they laughed and shared the cherries together.

When the sun was starting to set, they decided to climb down and walk back to Auradon. On their way back Jay wished he was brave enough to grab Gil's hand again and hold it tightly, even though they were back on the ground and there was no risk of falling down. He just wanted to hold that hand, but he didn't.


I can't be the only one who gets very strong A Whole New World from Aladdin vibes with these two. Especially when they were talking about exploring the world together. I mean come on, where's the magic carpet? I tried to get those same vibes with these last two chapters. I hope I succeeded.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading my fanfiction. I hope you're all enjoying it so far. Also thank you for favouring and following my story. I appreciate it a lot. ^^