Midnight Sun

“I didn’t bring mine either.” Admittedly, she’d been expecting him to use that as a thinly veiled segue into both of them getting mostly undressed. No matter how much things had changed, she knew exactly where things would go. There was always something magnetic like that between them and time hadn’t changed that. Even though she was trying to be cautious and take things slow, she still couldn’t stop reaching out for him. Her hand now in his. 

“That sounds good,” she smiled pleasantly surprised at his choice instead. She tugged him along gently, leading the way to the water before finding a place for them to sit. Erin took off her shoes and socks and put her feet in the water. She smiled as she looked out at the view. It was a nice to be there and to be there with Xander. A dream come true, one she never really believed would happen.

“You should get one eventually you know,” Erin continued their previous conversation, “there’s some really beautiful beaches. Not exactly close but not too far either. Can’t miss out on those. That’s why most people come to Australia in the first place.”

“You mean venomous. And yes, there are but there’s a lot of things around here that could hurt you. Me included.” Erin grinned and was about to joke around with him a little more but she could see he seemed a little concerned about it. 

“Snake bites are pretty rare and you have time to be treated. I know exactly what to do and where to go even if it does happen. But it won’t. We’re making enough noise kicking around out here that they’ll stay away and we’re not going to go poking around looking for them.” 

She reached out and gently gave his hand a squeeze. “Xander, I promise that I won’t take you anywhere that’s not safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I know you didn’t get a chance to really see it before but you’re safe out here with me.”

Erin looked down at his hand at her side and then turned a little to look at him. The genuine concern for her safety on his part made her smile. The small affection making her heart skip. “I’m safe, don’t worry. I do this all the time.” 

For his sake, she stepped back a little from the edge, closer to him. “Do you not like heights?” Erin realised she’d never really had the chance to explore those kinds of things with him in their previous urban setting. All the normal fears, heights, water, snakes.

She laughed a little, “I hate to tell you but there’s probably about a dozen of those snakes around us right now. But there won’t be any in the water. It’s safe, no crocodiles either,” Erin assured with a grin. “We can go have a sit at the edge or get in if you want.” 

A pang of guilt coursed through her at the mention of Gareth. Wrestling for a silent few moments about whether or not she wanted to talk about the topic, she finally spoke, “I feel bad about what happened with him,” she admitted softly. “I tried to apologise but I don’t really think I could ever make it right. I really do hope he’s okay now.”

Erin nodded, “Almost untouched by people. Here you still occasionally will run into some adventurous tourists or sometimes some locals. Our property is further out. No one goes out there except us. There’s some places that I don’t think have even been explored properly over the years. Real solitude and isolation. Places not many people get to see.” 

Knowing they were getting closer, she enthusiastically skipped a few steps ahead, gesturing for him to come get a look. She stood right at the edge of the rocks, taking in the beautiful view of the falls. “Amazing, isn’t it?” Erin said as she smiled back at him. Being able to share this with him, especially now after all that had changed, meant the world to her. 

“You’ll love this then,” she insisted as she released his hand to shift and park, “c’mon, it’s not too far of a walk.” Erin shot him a smile as she climbed out and retrieved her bag from the back. She was happy and comfortable and she knew it was dangerous, part of her screaming for caution but she couldn’t help but embrace the carefree feeling. It was something she hadn’t felt in awhile. 

She looked around as she led Xander towards down the trail, pleased that there seemed to be no one else attempting to enjoy the falls that day. The only sounds were the crunching of rocks under their feet, the soft rush of water somewhere in the distance carried through the trees with the breeze. She smiled as she looked around it was all so familiar yet everything seemed new and different all at once.

“I love this,” she mused as she looked at him, “remember the apartment? How noisy it always was? Either from outside or other people in the building. It never stopped.” Erin extended her arms out gesturing to everything around them, “out here it’s just you and your thoughts. If you can ever get a little time off I can take you somewhere really remote. That’s a whole different feeling too.”