Easy to Fall in Love

"Well...I'm beat." Nick feigned a yawn as we walked through Justin's front door. "I'm just...gonna go...to sleep." He awkwardly pointed to the guest room and when Justin wasn't looking, winked at me.

"I should probably get going. It's getting pretty late." I averted Justin's eyes and hugged my bag close to my body. I couldn't get what Nick said out of my head. I wasn't sure If I believed him 100%, though. I didn't think he was lying, but maybe he misunderstood.

"Are you sure you have to go now? I mean, can you stay for a little bit?" he asked. "It's still pretty hot out, so I thought maybe you'd like to go down to the river again, or something."

"Sure. For a little bit." I agreed. What harm could a half hour do? Maybe I could figure out what was real and what wasn't.

"Great." He smiled at me and grabbed some blankets and a flashlight from a cupboard. He led me through the back door and into the yard. It was dark out so he turned on the light and opened the gate. When we got to the edge of the trees he grabbed my hand. "This is where the path gets rocky, so hold tight." I followed closely behind him, watching my step and him at the same time. It the dim glow of the flashlight Justin looked really young. The soft light smoothed every feature on his face. He also looked genuinely happy. He wasn't smiling big, or anything, but his eyes were content. Like he was right were he wanted to be.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I tripped over a rock and almost yanked Justin down with me, but he quickly removed his hand from mine and caught my waist. He pulled me back up and I could hear him chuckling softly.

"It's not funny," I said with injured pride. I could see the water glittering about ten feet ahead and breathed a sigh of relief that we were almost out of the woods - literally.

When we got to the willow Justin laid down a blanket and sat, pulling me down beside him. At first I sat as far away as possible, staring off. I could tell he knew something was bothering me because out of the corner of my eye I saw his face. It was covered in dark shadows, but it was worried.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong? Or do I have to guess?"

"What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong," I lied. I tore pieces of grass and threw them towards the water. I watched them fall short when they realized they were too light to be carried all the way to the river.

"We both know that's bull shit. Was it something Nick said?" he scooted closer to me and touched my arm. I shirked away and straightened my body, going completely rigid. I looked behind me and instantly felt worse. He looked hurt. "You can be mean and moody, but don't lie to me. I know when something is bothering you. I know you." He paused. "I left for probably 15 minutes and you're like a whole different person. You were distracted and spent the whole time pushing food around your plate. You won't even let me touch you and have gone out of you way to say the minimum amount to me."

"You wanna go for a swim?" I suddenly asked. Talking was the last thing I wanted to do, so I needed a distraction.

"What?"

"A swim. In the river." I stood up and kicked off my shoes. I pulled off my socks and took my phone out of my pocket.

"You're not serious."

"I'm dead serious." I unbuttoned my shorts and pulled off my shirt, tossing them at his feet. I walked to the edge of the bank and jumped in the water. It was fucking freezing. But something about it felt so good. I popped my head out and looked at Justin. "Are you going to join me, or what?" He laughed like I was crazy, but before I knew it he was striped down to his boxers and about to jump in. He landed with a splash and then his head was above water too. His teeth started to chatter.

"Cold?"

"A little." He nodded and hugged himself.

"I can warm you up." I reached out my arms like I was going to hug him, but them pulled them back and splashed him. He wiped the water off his face and then smiled evilly.

"Oh, now you've done it." He retaliated with an attack of splashes. I yelped and laughed, blocking my face. He swam closer, trying to tickle my waist underwater. I jumped on top of him, trying to dunk his head under, but he grabbed me and threw me.

"Ahh!" I screamed. When I resurfaced I trudged through the water yelling, "You're such a jerk!" I wasn't really angry at him, but he was going to pay. "I'm going to kill you!" I pushed him and smacked his chest multiple times before he grabbed my wrists and made eye contact me. He wouldn't let me look away. He suddenly let go of my wrists, grabbed my face, and kissed me hard. At first I was too surprised to do anything, but before I knew it, I was kissing him back. I grasped his wet hair in my fingers and pressed my body into his.

Then the rain started.

The warm rain of a summer storm dropped onto our eyelashes and arms and hair, make us even more wet than before.

"Come on, let's go inside." He broke away. We climbed out of the river and onto the bank. He grabbed the blanket and threw it over our heads. The rain went from drops to a downpour in three seconds. Justin and I ran back to his house and surprisingly I didn't trip. When we got inside we were both soaking wet and out of breath. We collapsed in a heap on the floor, my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me. "You're gonna catch pneumonia if you stay in those wet clothes." He got up from under me and I followed him into his room. He went into his dresser and pulled out one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxers. "I'll let you get changed."

I peeled off my wet underclothes and threw them in the sink. I rolled over the waistband of the shorts and slipped Justin's old faded Ryan Adam's shirt over my head. There was a knock on the door and I opened it for Justin. He was wearing dry clothes too.

"I just did laundry. They were in the living room," he explained.

"Oh." He disappeared and returned with a towel in his hands.

"Your hair is still soaked." He was right. The shoulders of my shirt were a whole other color and the ends of my hair were dripping drops on the carpet. He smoothed my hair with the towel in an attempt to dry it. I giggled a little and he stopped. He dropped the towel and kissed me again. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist trying to bring him closer. He set me down gently on the bed and climbed on top of me. He kissed every inch of my exposed skin from my eyelids to collarbones to hands. When we came close to the next step I remembered Adam. I put a hand on Justin's chest to stop him. "Are you okay?"

"You know what it feels like to be cheated on better than anyone. I don't want to do that to someone else. Especially someone I care a lot about."

"You're right. I hate it, but you're right." He moved to lay beside me. he put his arms around me and I lay my cheek against his chest.

"Just give me a little time." He silently ran his fingers through my hair and pressed his lips to the tops of my head.

"It's hard. I love you," he mumbled into my hair.

"I love you too." I nuzzled against him. "But if you really love me, you'll just be my friend right now." I shut my eyes and let myself drift to sleep, content in his arms.