(18)

"SHE DID WHAT?" Kade shouts, widening his eyes at Aria.

"She burnt the tree down." Aria laughs, pointing at the girl who was sitting on the grass beside Luca.

"Almost, okay!" Adrianna scoffs, rolling her eyes at the pair.

"Yeah, she only left the leaves of the tree not burnt." Ellis snorts, amusingly staring at the brunette.

"Darling, you started the fire." Adrianna snorts, pointing her finger at an amused Ellis.

"But you made it even bigger." Ellis snorts, smirking at her new friend.

"You two are gonna burn the forest down soon. I can see it coming." Luca mutters under his breath, squinting his eyes at the two girls who had an evil aura surrounding them.

"I'll burn you first." Ellis hisses, scowling at the boy sitting next to her.

"I would love to see him on fire." Adrianna muses, slyly smiling at Luca.

"None of you are burning anything down when I'm here." Blake scoffs, narrowing his eyes at his friends while they all feign innocent smiles.

"Yes, Sir!" Ellis states, saluting at Blake with a wink.

"Blake, you know that they will still do something bad besides burning something down." Isabelle laughs, staring at the two gasping girls.

"They? Babe, it's we. You are included in this as well." Ellis scoffs, pulling Isabelle towards her.

"Why did I even bring you along?" Kade mutters, narrowing his eyes at his cousin.

"Cause you need emotional support," Adrianna smiles, winking at him and glancing at Aria.

"Adri!" Kade groans, glaring at daggers while she only winks at her.

"Gosh, you're such a drama queen, Kadey." Adrianna scoffs, staring at her cousin in amusement.

"So what should we do now?" Luca asks, staring at his friends.

"Ou! I know!" Isabelle squeals, grinning at us.

"What is it? Better not be something stupid." Blake sighs, glancing at her.

"How about we go explore the forest? Like in groups to test how brave we are." Isabelle smiles, looking at the group with hopeful eyes.

"No!" Kade and Blake reject the idea in chorus.

"There you go, the first group is Kade and Blake." Adrianna smiles, pointing towards the two boys while everyone laughs.

"Besides them, we're all in, right?" Isabelle asks and smiles once they all nod their heads with cheerful smiles.

"Great!" Isabelle grins, "Let's divide ourselves then."

"Can we also get put into new groups?" Kade mutters ever so slowly, making everyone laugh.

"Of course!" Isabelle giggled.

"I knew you would do that cause you wanna be with someone special." Ellis teases while Adrianna nudges Kade in a teasing manner.

"So shall we choose the teams now?" Blake asks while everyone squeals in response.

"Issy, Adri, and I will be a group." Ellis declares gaining uncertain looks from them.

"You three can't be together, I bet you'll burn the forest down." Blake scoffs, shaking his head at them.

"What? That's bullshit." Ellis groans, glaring at Blake.

"Dude, it's okay. You and I can go behind them." Luca states, patting Blake's shoulder.

"So that means..." Isabelle mutters as they all look at the remaining.

"Aria and Kade are the last group!" Adrianna announces, clasping her hands in excitement.

"Now that we're all grouped, let's get moving!" Issy cheers, grabbing Adrianna and Ellis' hands and jogging away.

"We better go after them before they burn something down," Blake mutters and Luca nods in agreement.

"See you later, you two." Luca salutes Kade and Aria before the pair also walk away, leaving just the two of them.

"So shall we get going?" Aria chuckles, glancing at Kade.

"Yeah," he mutters, nodding, before they start to slowly walk towards the forest, the moonlight guiding them.

"Hold my arm, you're scared, aren't you?" Kade muses, smiling at the girl.

Aria scoffs and narrows her eyes at him, "No, I'm not. I'm not scared of anyth—."

She halts midway her sentence to scream at the sound of a branch breaking.

"What were you saying?" Kade smirks, staring at Aria who had attached herself to him, holding onto his arm.

"Asshole," she mutters under her breath, still holding onto his arm.

"Yet you still can't live without me," he teases, grinning at her as they continue walking.

"You're such a scaredy-cat." Kade chuckles as Aria holds tighter onto his arm but he loved that feeling.

"No, I'm not. I'm just holding onto your arm so I don't trip." Aria mumbles, looking away from his gaze.

"Sure," he drawls out, continuing to smile at her.

"What? I can leave your arm if you want," she arches an eyebrow at him, slowly loosening her hold onto his arm.

"No, don't." He quickly mumbles, tightening her hold on his arm.

Aria glances up at him, staring into his grey orbs, and smiles, shaking her head at the boy.

"You're the one who can't live without me, Lennox." Aria teases, sending him a small grin, instantly making him smile.

"Maybe," he muses, making her look up at him.

"Just say that you can't live without me," Aria scoffs, staring at him.

He bits his lip and glances at her, "I can't live without you." Kade mutters, a small smile playing on his lips as she smiles back at him, butterflies dancing in both of their stomachs.

"Neither can I," she whispers and moves her hand from his arm to his hand, intervening their fingers together, a warm feeling blooming when they hold each other's hands.

"Aria, you know — what the fuck was that?" They both turn their heads at the sound of a screech.

"I think it's the girls," she replies, looking around the forest.

"I wonder what happened," she mumbles as she walks towards the huge tree, their hands still locked.

"They're probably fine, the boys are right behind them." Kade sighs as they stand under the tree, fireflies lighting the area around them.

"Ah, it's peaceful now," she sighs in peace, looking around the view around her.

"It is," he smiles, staring at her while she looked around them.

"They were probably screaming for no reason," she laughs and glances up at Kade, noticing him smiling at her.

"What's up with you?" She asks, arching an eyebrow at her.

He doesn't answer but he brings his hands towards her face, cupping her face with his hand, allowing the warmth of her cheek to grow onto his cold palm.

"Kade," she mumbles as they stare into each other eyes.

"Yes," he whispers, moving his other hand down to his waist.

Aria flinches at the loud noise and glances at Kade, "Were those just fireworks?"

"Yeah, they were." He mumbles as Aria looks behind him at the fireworks going off.

"It's definitely them, that's why they were screaming!" Aria laughs, stating at the colourful fireworks going off above.

"Aria," he says, gaining her attention.

"Yes?" She mumbles, still staring at the fireworks, her hands on his sculpted chest.

"I love you."

I might have taken 3 years to update this book but this update was worth it hehe.