181 Out of Breath

Amelia got a call from her friends early Friday morning. Some of the other girls in their friend group had arranged an overnight camping trip and they had invited Amelia to come along.

Since the filming had just started, and it had started with some of the smaller scenes first, her schedule left Amelia quite free. She was tempted to ask if Adam would be coming but she knew better. It was a Friday but it was still a working day. Even on the weekends Adam was often found in his office. It wasn't likely that he'd leave work to join in on their group's shenanigans.

At first she felt disappointment but after considering it for a while Amelia decided that it might do her some good to just be with her friends even if Adam wouldn't be there. She had been wound up too tight in recent days, so she happily agreed to go.

It was later that afternoon that Amelia pulled into the parking lot where they had all agreed to meet. The spot was at the base of a large, rocky hill that they would hike up. At the top was a flattened area with the camping grounds they would stay at for the night.

Amelia glanced around at the friends who had gathered so far. As she suspected Adam wasn't amongst the crowd.

"I hope I'm not late." Amelia said as she joined the others.

"Not at all. We're still waiting on a few."

It was only a minute or two later that Amelia watched in surprise as Adam's car pulled up. It was still too early for him to have left work and yet there he was, stepping out of his car looking handsome in his casual wear.

For a selfish moment Amelia hoped that he had come alone. How nice it would have been to spend an evening under the stars with just themselves and their closest friends. But sure enough Adam crossed around the car, opened the passenger side door, and extended his hand to help Elle out of the car.

"You made it!" Marcus said excitedly. "We're all here now, shall we head up?"

Adam glanced at the steep incline of the path up the hill. "Are you sure you're not too tired?" Adam whispered to Elle, his fingers brushing down her lower back.

Elle did her best to not to react despite the flush she felt. "I'm fine." She said calmly. "Let's go."

The group began their ascent up the rugged path, casually talking and joking around with each other as they went.

Elle walked a bit slower then the rest. After a while she began to lag behind the rest of the group. Adam had been matching his pace to hers the entire way. Noticing that she was slowing down he called out to the rest of the group, "You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up later."

"Are you sure?"

"It's not that much further to the top, we'll be fine." Adam reassured. So the rest of the group went on ahead, leaving the two stragglers behind.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked once the others were out of sight.

Adam sat down next to her. "You're right. If we were facing the other side I think we could see our home from here."

'Our home.' Elle smiled to herself. She could have never guessed before how happy those words would make her feel one day.

"It's our home but I still haven't moved my things out of my condo." Elle sighed.

"We've been too busy to bring everything over." Adam agreed. "We should do it soon, if not we might end up not doing it until the production of your novel is over."

"Mhmm." Elle hummed her agreement.

A few minutes passed as the couple leisurely enjoyed the view of the city. After a while the shadows began to shift as the sun lowered in the sky.

"We should join the others soon. Should I give you a piggy back ride the rest of the way?" Adam teased.

"No." Elle said stubbornly. "I have a better idea; race you."

~~~

Amelia had felt anxious ever since Adam and Elle split from the group. She didn't like seeing them together, but she liked the idea of them being alone together worse.

In an effort to make herself feel better Amelia took smug satisfaction out of the fact that her endurance was better than Elle's. Without being conscious of it, but she used the opportunity to put Elle down to the rest of their friends.

"Should I go back for them?" Amelia commented aloud as the group reached the camping site. "I didn't realize Elle had a weak constitution, I'm a bit worried. The hike must have been too much for her."

"She seemed fine to me." One of the other girls said with a shrug.

"Besides, Adam's with her. I'm sure they were purposely lagging behind." Marcus added.

"I don't know. She seemed a bit pale to me." Amelia insisted.

The others frowned as they contemplated, but before they could agree or disagree they heard fast footsteps quickly approaching the site.

Adam sprinted into the camp first, coming to a graceful slow before stopping and taking long huffs to catch his breath. Elle came in behind him.

"That's not fair." She accused while panting, leaning forward to rest her hands on her knees. "You cheated."

"Did I?"

"I had an unfair handicap from this morning." She complained.

"In that case you should have listened to me from the beginning." Adam laughed.

"You're right Amelia," One of the guys said sarcastically with a laugh. "She was definitely out of breath."

"Did you run all that way?" A girl asked as she handed them both some water. "Adam shouldn't you purposely let yourself lose to your girlfriend?"

"But that would be no fun." Adam teased with his usual stern face.

"Yes, and since he won his prize can be to help us set up camp." The guys called out for him.

"Yes, yes." Adam left to go join the others, he ruffled Elle's hair lightly as he passed by her. "Don't push yourself too hard." He whispered for just her to hear.