Twenty years earlier

Yuri rolled over to her back, staring at the sky, now turning a pretty orange as the sun faded from the view.  She would miss this.  Even though they’d have more time to be together, she’d miss their quick trips out here.  She felt safe here.  Just the two of them – no outsiders, no distractions.

No one to come between them.

“What are you thinking about?”

Yuri turned her head, the thick grass and weeds poking through the blanket against her cheek.  She took a deep breath, then turned her gaze back to the sky.  “I was thinking how much I’m going to miss this when we leave for college next month.”

“What?  Sneaking off to my grandparents’ place?”

“Yes.”

Jessica laughed.  “I thought you hated having to sneak around.”

“The whole concept of it, yes.  But this, this is our spot.  That tree right there, it’s like it’s guarding us.”

“The fact that we’ve been coming out here for nearly two years and we’ve not gotten caught, yeah, it must be guarding us.”

Yuri rolled over to her side, pulling Jessica close against her.  “Why do you suppose we’ve never been caught?”

“Because we pull off the best friends thing very, very well.  And the super studious we want to go to college thing too.”

Yuri lowered her head, finding Jessica’s bare , loving the qu