Mark stared at the telly blankly, although his favorite series was on. He did not laugh when he was supposed to and his unconcern face was noticeable to Wendy that she looked at Mark once and raised her eyebrow, asking him why but he just smiled at her, assuring her everything was fine. He did not feel any tension either during the drama, he barely followed the plot and he did not have the eagerness in him to know what would happen next after the conflicts. The series was not able to catch his attention that day. It was not interesting like it used to for him, at all. He looked up and took a peek at Wendy's face from where he rested his head on her shoulder. Her skin was glowing radiantly and she had her eyes locked on the huge screen, while her lips parted slightly at time intervals to snack on some popcorns. What managed to tickle Mark's heart was when Wendy was so concentrating on the show, she did not realize that some of the popcorns fell off from her greedy hand.

“Wendy...” he said in a low voice, putting her hand in his. He intertwined his fingers with her and she did the same in return spontaneously, her eyes still focused on the telly. Mark remembered the first time they held each other hand; he had felt warm rushed into his veins, keeping him awake. And now, every time his skin touched hers, he felt like home. She was his home. She was who he belonged to. Mark breathed in the cold air in that huge room before mouthing a word again. “Hey...” he squeezed her hand a little, indirectly asking for her attention.

His demeanor caught Wendy's attention, and without turning her head towards Mark, she stood abruptly and took the remote control to turn the TV screen off. She then returned to the couch again, but this time seating in a different position, her back against the armrest so she could face Mark comfortably. She thought that looking at him in the eyes would help Mark in whatever he was going to say. She smiled softly, locking their eyes together before taking his hand and hold it tightly. “What is it? Tell me anything,” she said confidently. She was his confidante, and every little thing of Mark should be known to her.

Mark shrugged a little and sighed in confusion. “I don't know, sweetheart. Maybe I just don't like the show I guess,” he said before laughing awkwardly.

Wendy laughed lightly before cupping his warm cheeks. His lower jaw was sharp that it could potentially kill someone. She inhaled deeply, preparing for whatever consequence she would get from asking this question. “Perhaps...it reminds you of her? You told me it was your favorite series.”

“Maybe that's what it is. I miss her..." He held his breath before continuing. “I think I still love her, more than I could ever imagine.” he frowned, staring blankly at the couch. He then lifted his hand, holding the tiny hand that remained still on his cheeks. He rubbed the back of her hand, and bravely looked into her eyes again. “I'm sorry, I should not-”

“Shh- It's alright,” she said in a low voice, assuring Mark it was fine. “I'm not hurt at all, it's alright to think of her,” she continued. True, she did not mind that he was suddenly reminded of his late lover, but no she felt a part of her broke. There was no way to not to feel a bit discouraged by those honest words. It hit her that Mark felt bored, because she was not there and this time it was her. It was as if Mark was insensibly telling her she was not her, not like her. Even so, she tried to maintain her expression and gave him a small smile.

“Wendy...” he held her arms tightly before leaning in to look into her eyes closer. “I know you're hurt, I can tell from your eyes. They're crying...desperately,” Mark said softly yet it a serious tone. “Don't lie.”

It took her a lot of strength in her to hold herself together, preventing the tears from spilling. But she failed when Mark's pleading eyes whispered to her that she should gave up. “I’m sorry, Mark. I can't be her, I will never be her and even if I can try, I wouldn't.”

“Don't” he said firmly.

“What?” Wendy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, if that was not what Mark wanted, then what did he want from her?

“I said don't. No one asked you to.” He said, and an impish smile coming to his face. “Wendy...It was a white lie, I wanted to test you, but now that your actions are hurting yourself and it's hurting me as well, I should stop.” He explained nervously, knowing that he had made a mistake. “Yes, this show was my favorite but it was never hers. We never watched it together, we never did. And yes I do miss her, but I loved her, Wendy. Sweetheart, it's over. In my heart, there’s only you now. Only you. I love you,” he confessed. “I never wanted you to change, I want you to be you, and I love you for you are you.” He pulled her slowly and embraced her tightly, rubbing her back with his thumb. “I'm sorry; I should have known you better.”

She yelled at him, slightly taken aback by his actions. “You jerk!” she exclaimed, jerking back against the armrest, putting some space between them. “I'm sensitive about these things! I hate you!” she joked, punching Mark in his stomach lightly. Mark silently thanked the God for Wendy did not take it too seriously, or else he would be in a huge trouble.

“Ow!” he exclaimed, teasing Wendy back. “But still, there's something I want to tell you,” his face changed into an expression she could not tell. Wendy nodded anxiously, waiting for Mark to speak.

“This show, it's still boring to me.” Upon hearing his answer, Wendy exhaled a sigh of relief. “Can we do something else? Something fun?” he pleaded, his lower lip protruded in a sulky pout. He looked somewhat cute, too cute to be real. Wendy smiled at the grown up man before her, who looked like a ten years old kid asking his mum for an ice cream.

“Sure, but... what should we do? I can't think of anything,” she said bluntly. There was no need to lie; she really thought they were just going to spend the day watching dramas and movies.

Mark gave her a mischievous smile, before pulling her into a hug. “That, you leave it to me.”

***

“Mark! Where are we going?” she asked worriedly, her small face slackened; her brows furrowed together - eyes darting about in concern as if they were going to be in a huge problem. Mark did not tell her beforehand on what they were going to do, he told her it was a little secret of his, a surprise for her. He went out for a while before coming back with two bicycles, a red one and the other was blue. Those were their favorite colors, whether it was on purpose or it was not, she could not tell. Wendy was puzzled with thoughts at first, but he asked her to believe in him and do whatever he asked her to. She fiddled with the hem of her blouse for a moment before finally agreeing. She was asked to pack some foods, drinks, some warm blankets and some essential things needed to ‘survive’ a night. The word ‘survive’ gave her goose bumps all over her skin, she almost wanted to say no to whatever they were going to do. She was also told to bring a tent. What was a tent for?

She refused to agree with the idea but that was until Mark assured her it was going to be fun so here they were cycling down a hill side by side with Mark slightly faster than her, directing the way. Her hair whipped back as she let her feet off the pedals of the rented bike. They were both flying down the hill at a speed that could rival a speed car or perhaps a cheetah. Mark told her that the bike costed him only ten bucks for as long as they want to use it, she almost thought it was not going to do a good job at carrying their weight but so far, it had not been anything but amazing.

As far as she knew, Mark was new to this small town, so what was the thing he was going to surprise her with? She had lived here far longer than Mark had, yet she had no idea where he was bringing her to. The road was not familiar to her at all. Tall green trees were planted by the side of the road, the branches intertwined; they were bending into a huge arch. The trees shielded them from the hot, golden sun.

As they reached the end of the hill, Mark halted his bicycle and turned his head towards Wendy. “We’re going on a great wonders!” he exclaimed with a meaningful smirk on his face. Wendy was about to ask him again, but she knew there was no way to dig out the secret he was hiding when he started cycling again. “Mark! Wait up!” she put her feet on the pedals again, cycling as fast as she could to catch up with Mark’s speed. Unfortunately, it was too bad that she had short legs, they were not helping her at all.

But Mark was not a bad guy, he was a gentleman. He waited for Wendy after all.

It took them ten minutes of cycling before they both walked into the woods, hand in hand. Being the gentleman he was, Mark carried the heavy bag they had brought with them by himself. It was his idea after all. What Wendy had imagined about the woods was its creepy noise and dark atmosphere. She had far too much on her mind, thanks to the horror movies she had watched before. Thankfully, it was nothing close to her expectations. Instead, it was beautiful. There were bunch of colorful wild flowers growing healthily by themselves, it was like a paradise to her. She stopped and stared for a while, inhaling the natural scents of the flowers.

“It’s beautiful,” she muttered softly. Mark gave her a tiny smile, before taking her hand and walked deep into the forest. They both continued to stagger, both covered with sweat until they reached the land by the river, a few steps away from the waterfall. The scenery was breathtaking.

“We need to hurry and set the campfire, it’s going to be dark soon,” he reminded her. “You don’t want to sleep in the dark, do you?” he teased, looking up at the orange-painted horizon.

“Of course I don’t!”

***

They both sat side by side on a blanket before the campfire Mark had set up to keep themselves warm. Luckily, Mark had been taught to make a campfire when he was in high school. Wendy had only brought two blankets along; another one was wrapped around her petite frame. Mark gave in his for their little picnic, though it was not a picnic at all, as the sky had turned pitch black. They both ate quietly and chewed on the packed dinner Wendy had made for themselves at home. There were bottles of soda as well as her favorite green tea. Mark had also requested her for some snacks, as he always preferred unhealthy foods. He was quite different from Wendy, as Wendy loved salads and she barely touched junk foods.

The heat from the campfire seemed to be into the frigid; cold air around them before ever reaching their frozen hands. The night became colder as time passed by so Mark quickly added more wood he had collected earlier and poked it with long sticks. It seemed to die a little at first as if unsure of itself, unready to devour the new offerings; the new logs. The fire greedily at the new logs like a hungry tiger and sent orange sparks to die in the air. Mark had a feeling that the cold air would definitely creep in tonight, so the flame would have to last through the night. He would stay up to make sure it would not die, for he did not want Wendy to catch a cold.

He loved Wendy. He would do anything for her. He would die, for her.

He stared at the burning flames and he almost got lost in his thoughts when a soft voice reached his eardrums. It was a concerned voice – a loving melody. “Mark, aren’t you cold?”

“I’m alright sweetheart, it’s fine,” he gave her an assuring smile, shaking his head slightly. He slightly cursed himself for lying. He should have not worn that short-sleeved shirt if he knew it was going to be super cold tonight.

“We can share you know, the blanket is enough for two,” she uttered softly, her eyes pleading Mark to accept her offer. Wendy knew he was cold, as he had been unconsciously crossed his hands to rub his arms.

“Is it because the blanket is big or...you want me to be close to you?” he smirked, lifting his eyebrows in such teasing manner.

“No!” she yelled. “What makes you think of that?” Mark always loved to . Always.

“Because you love me, and you love my warmth?” he again.

“Whatever, I’m not going to share anymore,” she frowned, wrapping herself with the blanket twice. “You stink anyway,” she gave him a light laugh, her eyes lit up like sparks in the sky.

“What? You stink too you-” Mark could not finish his sentence when he heard noise coming up from the bushes behind them. Strange at first, but when the noise got louder and louder, shivers went down his spine. When he looked over Wendy, she was already running towards him before firmly grabbing his bare arm. When Mark gave her a ‘are you scared?’ face she enthusiastically shook her head. “I’m n- not scared! I am not!” she exclaimed fiercely. She repeated those words again and again but Mark could see her body movements were tighter and her appetite reduced when the sandwich that was in her hand fell onto the ground. Her smiles were shorter and she looked very anxious.

“Did you bring anything that I can use to kill? Like a knife or-” Before Mark could even explained, Wendy pinched his arms angrily.

“A knife? What? You did not tell me to bring anything that could kill, Mark. What was that noise?” she asked frantically.

“I don’t know Wendy, it could be a wild boar or-”

“What?!” she screamed in his ears, it was so loud he felt a slight stinging pain in his earlobes. Wendy was panicking, she surely did not look very happy with this.

“Look, I told you to bring things we need to survive didn’t I?” he said, rummaging through the bag for something useful. There was nothing, but a frying pan. What on earth? Out of all things, why did Wendy decided to bring along a ing frying pan? He could not help but to laugh and shook his head at the pan that was in his hand.

“The frying pan! That can be used, right?” Wendy asked, her eyes were glowing nervously. She was always good at hiding her emotions, but that night the fear controlled her mind.

“Well, it could help...but what makes you think that this is a thing we need to survive?” he chuckled, controlling his laughter.

“Well it’s important to me!” she exclaimed.

Frying pan is important to Wendy - especially for survival. Noted that. “Okay, stay here. I’m going to check on the noise.” He patted lightly on Wendy’s head before quickened his pace towards the moving bushes. He leaned in to look closer but just as he lifted the frying pan in the air, a squirrel jumped onto his face. He fell on his and the pan flew away from his grip. The squirrel ran towards their dinner, crashing onto the foods before running away with a piece of bread in his mouth.

“Great, thanks to your friend, we lost our food,” he teased, as he rubbed off the dust from the back of his pants. The fall had given him a little sore on his hips, but otherwise he was perfect. The pain lasted a few seconds, but at least it was not a wild boar or a bear attacking them.

“Whose friend? Geez, I’m not a squirrel,” she said, jabbing him lightly in his stomach.

“Well, you look like one,” he winked. “Very, very cute squirrel.”

Wendy left Mark to tidy up the ruined dinner date of theirs. She took a plastic bag, shoving the dirty sandwiches angrily. Great, my dinner is ruined. There was nothing left to eat, except the unhealthy snacks she never favored of. She felt upset at the squirrel but thankful at the same time, for that she had been given another chance to live. Well, at least for now. After she had done with the cleaning, she sat down on the blanket again, facing her cold palms directly towards the flames. Surprisingly, Mark had been completely silent for a few minutes. She wondered on what he was doing, but she was too upset to care. She began to feel some weight on her eyes, and when her eyes were about to close, a strong hand shook her body slightly to wake her up.

“Sweetheart, come with me, you should see this,” Mark uttered softly, asking her to take his hand. “What? Another friend of mine?” she joked. Mark lifted her up, and they walked a few steps away from their camp. He leaned in closer towards her left ear and whispered in a low, hush voice. “Look up.”

The view before her was absolutely breathtaking. The sky was gorgeous. The moon was glowing, giving the speckle of stars a guide light. She could not count the amount of stars decorating the sky that night; it was a lot than usual. She had never been able to see this before, perhaps because she never really left her house at night. And when she came back home from work, she never looked up the sky and when she did, the sky was never as beautiful as this was.

“Mark, is this the purpose of you bringing me here?” she turned her head towards Mark, her face lit up in that dark night as the moon shone its light against her pale skin.

“That’s one of the reasons. I wanted to show you the flowers... and the sky,” he said, pulling her into a hug. He kissed her lightly on the forehead before embracing her tightly. “I actually want to remind you that you’re beautiful as you are, and you don’t have to change.”

“I want to thank you too for accepting me as who I am, and for giving me so much love that I never deserve,” he uttered softly, Wendy could feel his moving lips on her head and his hot breath against her skin.

“You deserve them,” she said, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. “I love you. Thank you, for everything.” Tears began to well in her eyes, and without a warning, they rolled down her cheeks before falling onto the earth.

“Don’t cry,” Mark said as he rubbed his thumb against the wet skin under her eyes. “Come on, let’s go back to our tent, we need enough energy to cycle back home,” he laughed.

Mark held her hand tightly, and they walked side by side towards the tent. Wendy loved his surprise. It was nothing fancy, but he surely knew how to show his affection towards her. His effort in making her smile was indescribably heartwarming. He always told her that he was never good with words, but he did excellently at actions. It was rather unique of Mark to think of something to do in order to tell her what his heart said. She glanced at the tall man lying down beside her, he had fast fallen asleep, his face looked tired. She leaned closer, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Goodnight.”