Long Time No See

Jon and Leslie had spent the first few weeks of summer together. Usually they watched movies at one anothers' house, or went out to the diner they had gone to the first time, catching up on each others' lives and sharing stories.

Today, Leslie had planned something a little different.

"I'm not going in there," Jon laughed. "Seriously."

Leslie grabbed his hand, which took him off guard enough that she could pull him in.

They fell into the ball pit and Leslie burst into laughter. They were at the Playplace, a kids indoor playground. They had snuck into the play area. There were no kids in the ball pit; they were all either outside or on the jungle gym.

"You didn't just do that," Jon said in mock disbelief.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Leslie teased, raising an eyebrow. Jon reached down and grabbed a ball, holding it above his head. Leslie squealed and ducked, just as the ball went sailing past her head.

"Oh, you're in for it now." She grabbed another ball and threw it at him. He jumped out of the way, and they continued like that for 15 minutes, running around, throwing balls at each other and laughing. Leslie finally raised her hands in surrender and Jon grinned.

"I win."

"Whatever." Leslie sat on the side of the ball pit, out of breath. Jon joined her, and shook his head.

"You're crazy."

"Did you have fun?" she asked. He nodded. "Exactly. So who cares if it's crazy? You deserve a bit of normal craziness in your life." Jon smiled and held her gaze.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Hey! You two! Only kids 12 and under allowed in there!" a stern voice called. Leslie and Jon tried not to laugh as they crawled out the tunnel and into the main area. They looked at the employee, who's name tag read Don Shaw, Manager. "Oh. You're Jonathan - I'm sorry, Mr. Toews," Mr. Shaw said, looking embarrassed. "Of course you're welcome here anytime you like."

Leslie looked at Jon, who nodded and said a quiet 'thank you' before turning to leave. Leslie followed him out the door and onto the sidewalk. She didn't say anything, just walked beside him in silence until he spoke up.

"That happens a lot. It's kind of annoying."

"Why? You can go anywhere and get anything you want." Leslie nudged him playfully.

"Because I play hockey? It's not that big a deal."

"You play incredible hockey," Leslie pointed out.

"Yeah, but still. You know how I am about attention."

Leslie nodded and linked arms with him as they walked to the car. They got in and he smirked over at her.

"I've got something for tomorrow." Leslie looked at him curiously. "I'm not telling," he said. Leslie was about to protest and he held his hand up. "Just be ready at any moment." Leslie raised an eyebrow.

"Kinda sounds like a secret mission or something."

Jon rolled his eyes and got out of the car. She followed him up to his front door and tried to convince him to tell her.

"Come on, Jon! Please tell me."

"I'll see you when I see you," he smiled, then pulled her in for a hug. Leslie wrapped her arms around him, and they stood like that under his porch light for a few minutes. Jon ran his fingers gently through her hair and Leslie realized how much she enjoyed being around him. It had only been a few days, and already she felt close to him again. It was almost as if they were little kids again; spending time together was all that mattered.

They pulled apart and Jon held on to her hand for a minute before opening his front door.

"Drive safe," he said before watching her walk to her car. She waved and drove away.

***
Leslie fumbled for her phone as it buzzed around 1:00 in the morning. She sighed as she opened her eyes and reached over for it. There were no lights on, except for the ones on the street outside. What the heck?

Look outside. - Jon

She felt the frustration at being woken up fade, and turn into excitement. She jumped out of bed, not caring that she was in her pajamas, and opened her window. She saw Jon leaning on his car, and he waved. She looked at him curiously and then ran back inside and grabbed her phone.

What the heck? She texted him back.

Are you coming? he replied in seconds.

She stared at her phone incredulously, and then debated whether or not to change and put on some makeup.

Can I get ready? She texted.

No, he said back. Leslie rolled her eyes and tiptoed down the stairs, throwing on a pair of flip flops. She opened the door slowly, closing it behind her silently. She ran towards him and slowed down as she got closer.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Come on," he said, opening her door and going around to the passenger side.

He refused to give her any details as he drove down the road, and Leslie had no idea where they were. He pulled off to the side of the road and they got out. Leslie leaned against the car, and Jon walked around the other side, smiling.

"You scared?" He asked quietly.

Leslie pretended to think about it. "It's pitch black, and you're taking me into a forest. Doesn't sound like a horror movie at all..."

Jon rolled his eyes and grabbed a plastic bag from the backseat. She followed him into the forest and onto the little path. She walked right behind him, and she kept looking around, paranoid; every little noise made her jump. Jonathan reached out behind him and Leslie grabbed his hand. They walked a bit further until they reached a clearing. They walked out of the forest and in front of them was flat rock that went out quite a bit, and then beyond that were mountains and trees everywhere. The sky was clear and the stars were sparkling. Leslie let go of Jon's hand, and walked forward, looking around in awe.

"Holy crap, Jon."

"Do you remember this?" he asked.

Leslie looked at him, confused. "No?"

"Our families used to come here and camp when we were little." he explained. Leslie stared at him happily, before turning around again, taking everything in.

"This is beautiful. I never knew these kinds of sights existed around here," she grinned. He smiled at her excitement and she followed him over to where there were a few logs grouped around what seemed to be a makeshift fire pit.

"Nice," she said, sitting down beside him on one of the logs. He grabbed a few pieces of wood from the ground around the fire, and placed them carefully in a little triangle. She watched him, smiling, as he stuck his tongue out slightly in concentration, then grabbed a match from the bag. With one try, he smoothly lit the fire and Leslie watched as it slowly got bigger, reaching towards the sky. She looked back at him and watched him stare at the fire. The flames shone light onto his face, and outlined his perfect eyelashes, nose and lips. He was hunched over so that his elbows were resting on his knees, and his arm muscles showed in the sleeves of the light sweater he was wearing. Leslie suddenly realized how much better he looked than her. He turned and caught her staring. She blushed and turned back to the fire.

"What?" he asked, clearly amused.

"Nothing, I'm just wondering why you wouldn't let me change. Did you REALLY have to see me like this?" she frowned at him and he shook his head, smiling.

"You look great in anything." he smiled at her then turned back to the bag before she could protest. "Marshmallows?" he offered, and Leslie nodded excitedly, grabbing the bag from his outstretched hands.

"Marshmallows are like my favorite thing in the-"

"I know," he replied, handing her a stick to roast the marshmallows over the fire, "I remember from when we were little." Leslie smiled to herself and kept silent as he took the bag back from her and put two marshmallows on her stick - her exact routine - then looked at her questioningly. "May I?" she nodded and he stuck the stick into the fire. They watched as it turned slightly brown, and Leslie was about to tell him to take it out when he did so just in time, then handed the stick back to her. She looked at the marshmallows, perfectly crisp, and grinned at Jonathan. He shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips as she devoured them in seconds. She grabbed Jon's stick before he could put it on the fire, and she let it get black on the top, then slightly brown on the edges, before handing it back to him proudly.

"You remembered!" he said, pleased. He ate it almost quicker than she had.

"Mm..." they said at the same time, then looked at each other and started to laugh. He put his arm around her and pulled her towards him. She was caught by surprise at first, but then she willingly leaned into his shoulder and he rested his head on top of hers.

"I actually think I remember this place," she said suddenly. "We always set up camp there," she pointed to her left, "and there should be..." she stood up and Jon followed her to their right and up to the first set of trees. He watched her curiously as she went around the back of one, and looked it up and down before exclaiming "ha!" Jonathan walked around the tree to join her, squinting in the dim light of the fire.

"Jonathan and Leslie," he read out loud, then shook his head in disbelief. The N's on Jonathan and the E's on Leslie were backwards, providing proof that they had been young when they wrote it. "I do not remember this at all," he admitted. Leslie giggled, then reached out and traced the carvings in the tree with her fingers. "That was so long ago," she said quietly.

Jon nodded. "Think we had crushes on each other back then?" he smiled, but Leslie's heart raced as he looked down at her. She could faintly see his eyes, staring at her intently, and she could pick out the beauty marks on his chin and neck. He started closing the distance between them and Leslie started to panic. A million things rushed through her head; she wanted to kiss him, so badly... but he was leaving at the end of the summer. What she was starting to feel for him was scaring her, and kissing him would just make it worse.

She stepped away and walked back to the campsite. He hesitated before following her. She was picking up the things and putting them back in the bag. She didn't look at him, but she saw his face change from confusion to sadness out of the corner of her eye. Her heart was breaking, but this just wasn't going to work.

"It's late," she said. "We should get going."

Jon looked like he had something to say, but he simply nodded, then led the way back out to the car.

***
Jonathan pulled up in front of her house and stopped. He turned off the engine and put his elbow on the edge of the window, and leaned his face in his hands. Leslie looked at him, pausing for a few seconds, looking at the tight line of his lips. She knew she had hurt him, but what else could she do? She wasn't going to risk hurting either of them when summer ended. When he didn't say anything, she opened the car door and started to get out.

"Did I do something wrong?" she heard him say from behind her. She turned back to face him and smiled slightly.

"No." she replied. She knew she was confusing him, but she couldn't help it. She didn't lie; he didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't his fault she was so terrified of falling for him. She gave him one last glance, but he wasn't looking back. She closed the door behind her and walked up to her front door.