Day 15- July 15th: Hiking/Camping. Anything involving traversing the great outdoors hiking and camping style! You can mix up the hiking a bit and include climbing, spelunking, etc. Whether they're cooking out at a campground, or climbing a mountain trail, it's all welcome.

"Let's go hiking!"

Seemed harmless enough, especially when said by Alice's best friend, Amelia. So of course Alice agreed. Only upon arriving at Amelia's house in the morning of their hike, the girl had changed her tune. She still wanted to go hiking, only now she had called it "Extreme hiking".

"Amelia," Alice started with a sigh. "Why? What would be the point of this so-called 'extreme hiking'? You know we're both just city girls."

The girl turned with a wave of her hand, her hair bobbing on her shoulders. She was wearing little, to no clothes. This wasn't something new, especially in the summer when Amelia was more likely to walk around with just her bikini on rather than actual clothes. Alice was always slightly jealous that Amelia had that kind of self-confidence to present her body as well as she did. Then again, she had a body that looked good enough to show off.

"Just gonna go to the top of this hill, that's all!" Amelia, chipper as ever, loaded up the Jeep with the day's lunch. "Let's get going. We're losing daylight."

"It's not even eleven, Amelia." Still, Alice got in the Jeep. She smiled as Amelia slid in next to her.

The girls drove with the top open along the road that curved through the mountains. Amelia insisted on blasting music from the 80s, and whenever Alice protested, Amelia would immediately change to a country song to get back at her. Alice was having more of a challenge with her long hair. She tried putting it up into pigtails, but her blonde hair began to tangle up. Eventually she settled on a simple ponytail. She cursed the fact that it made her look unappealing. Then again, she never did feel as if she were on the same level of Amelia.

Upon reaching their destination, Alice's jaw fell open. "Amelia."

"Yeah?" The girl had hopped out of the Jeep. She paused to look over at Alice.

"This is not a hill."

The "hill" was indeed more like a small mountain. It had to be a good three or four miles high. It would take them hours to get even close to the top. And then there was the fact that the path didn't look exactly hiker friendly. At least not for Alice.

"Well, it's not a huge mountain. I thought I'd ease you into extreme hiking." Amelia offered a smile over at Alice as a way of soothing her. "It's not so bad. We'll get to the top before you know."

Before Alice knew it, she was dying of thirst and heat. For the fourth time in the past two hours, she had asked for Amelia to stop. The other girl had been trudging alone like she owned the place, while Alice strayed in the back. Amelia was patient enough in that she didn't voice her impatience. Instead she tapped her foot or jogged in place, watching and waiting for Alice to finish her break.

"You should drink some," Alice said, wiping her forehead. "You haven't had nearly enough for this hot of a day."

Amelia shrugged. "I guess." She paused for a moment, looking off into the distance. "Hey…when we get to the top, I wanna tell you something."

"Can't you tell me now?"

"No. It has to be at the top." Amelia turned, starting to walk again. "That's why we have to go now-WHOA!"

Alice bolted up. She lunged for Amelia as the girl slipped. Amelia had begun sliding down the side of a cliff, but thanks to Alice she was saved from a terrible fall. Alice held both of Amelia's arms, her heels digging into the ground. She grunted as she tried to pull Amelia back, but her hands were slipping. Amelia slowly began to walk back up the cliff. At the same time, Alice just yanked her up towards her arms.

They collided, chests bumping each other and heads knocking together. Both yelped out in pain, but paused when they noticed how close they were. Alice felt her heart begin to thump hard. She had always tried to ignore the fact she was heavily attracted to Amelia, but it was hard. Especially since the two were always together and Amelia was everything Alice wanted to be. Pretty, confident, popular. What Amelia saw in her as a friend, she'd never know. But then she didn't like to over analyze things.

"You should be more careful," Alice scolded. They released each other.

"Yeah, sorry." Amelia coughed as she collected herself. "We should, um, get going. This place is a little dangerous."

Alice didn't protest. They began hiking, this time Amelia stayed a little closer to the wall. The two were much quieter since their almost emergency. Alice wondered if it was because Amelia was still a little shaken up about it. She, on the other hand, was only thinking of how close their bodies had come when she pulled Amelia back up into her arms.

It wasn't the first time such an incident had happened. Their friendship was so close that once while Alice was on the toilet, Amelia burst in because she needed to change her clothes. Alice tried to give her a bit of privacy, but she couldn't help the fact she looked over a few times. Amelia had a wonderfully curvaceous body, and possibly the softest looking butt in all existence.

Remembering such a thing made Amelia flush. She reached for her metal canteen that had been hooked around her belt loop, only to find that it wasn't there. She stopped, and searched all around her body.

"Oh no!"

Amelia paused. "What's wrong?"

"My canteen! It's gone!" Alice sighed, running a hand over her sweaty forehead. Oh yes, she was exuding sexy today. "It must have fallen off back when you almost fell off the cliff."

Amelia sighed. "I guess we can just stop here."

"No, no." Alice turned with a sad expression. She was constantly holding up Amelia today. And if she wanted to say something at the top, then by golly they were getting to the top. "I can go on. Just give me some of yours."

Amelia handed it over. Their fingers brushed for a moment, but Alice ignored it. She drank as quickly as she could, then they resumed their hike. It took at least another hour to finally reach the top. Once there, Alice flopped herself down on the ground, her arms spread eagle around her. Amelia, however, had skipped over to the edge.

"Alice!" she called. "C'mere! You gotta see this view!"

With a groan, Alice heaved herself back up. She could feel her thighs and arms already starting to burn. It was agonizing just thinking about the fact she still had to go back down the hill. Pushing that aside she came up next to Amelia. It certainly was a brilliant view.

Greenery spread for miles with spots of brown or yellow here and there. Other hills, some larger, some smaller, weaved in and out like a quilt. In the distance was the faint blue from a nearby lake. Only the rustling of the wind caressed their ears. It was as if they were the only two human beings left on the planet.

Suddenly, Amelia took Alice's hand in hers. Alice gasped, but didn't pull it away. Her hand felt warm. And for that brief moment, everything was perfect.

"Alice," Amelia started. Her voice was unusually soft. "I wanted to tell you something."

"Oh? Yes, what is it?" Alice was surprised that her own voice came out so smoothly, despite the fact her heart was lodged in her ear. She couldn't think straight. Everything was shaping up to be something romantic; something she didn't think would ever transpire between her and her best friend.

"Um… I… I love you." Alice looked to her feet. Her face was alight with blush. "I've been in love with you since the sixth grade. I just… Well… I mean, if you don't love me th-then that's okay. But can we stay friends?"

"I don't want to be friends," Alice said sternly.

Amelia's face fell. She retracted her hand slowly. "Oh…That's okay then… I'm glad we got to have this last day together."

"I want to be your girlfriend," Alice said. She moved to cup Amelia's face, smiling at her. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that."

Amelia breathed a laugh. Then, she grabbed Alice around the waist in a hug, lifted her up, and laughed much louder. She spun Alice around for a moment, just laughing. Once done, she promptly put Alice back on the ground.

"But why me?" Alice had to ask. She hated that she was really going to question Amelia's feelings, but she couldn't help it. It was all too perfect, too romantic, too unlike them.

Amelia shrugged. "I could ask the same thing about you with me, but I won't. Because no matter how I'd explain it, it would only make sense to me. So let's just go with it, okay?"

She didn't wait for Alice to reply before kissing her. She cupped her hands behind Alice's ears. Alice closed her eyes, reaching out to grasp at Amelia's soft locks. It wasn't brief, but it wasn't passionate. Neither girl had really kissed another girl, so they weren't sure how things worked. Not yet.

As they headed back down the trail a little while later, they held hands. Amelia was practically skipping as she bounced along. Alice found that the trek down was much better this time around. And on the ride home, Alice didn't object to a single stupid 80s love song on the radio. If she could carry a tune she'd have joined in. Instead she sat back as she heard her girlfriend sing instead.

Hoshiko2's cents: Yeah… It was getting late and I needed to end this somehow. Sorry, it's a rather quick ending and such. Anyways, my first fully Nyotalia AU! How exciting! I must say it's a little more difficult doing a lesbian relationship, despite the fact I'm bisexual and have dated a few girls. Huh, I wonder why that is. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!