184 Our Home

A moment's silence fell over the two girls until Elle eventually let out a light sigh.

"I'll head back first then. Sorry for intruding on your run." Elle turned around to head back towards the tents when Amelia suddenly called out to her.

"You know I really did like you." She confessed. "At the beginning I really thought you would become a dear friend of mine. That's why I hope you're right. I hope your confidence isn't misplaced."

Elle heard the hidden meaning in those words. 'I hope your confidence isn't misplaced' but in other words 'I'm going to try to steal him away'.

But if it was an attempt to unnerve her it was futile.Elle trusted Adam. In the past year he had never given her a reason not to.

Elle didn't bother replying to Amelia, she simply continued on her way back to the campsite. Back to where Adam was waiting for her.Elle smirked to herself as she wandered back. She felt empowered. She felt confident. Maybe it was a rude thing to do but it felt satisfying to have taken Amelia down a peg.

Elle was so busy marvelling in satisfaction that she wasn't paying proper attention to the uneven surface of the wooded ground. The next thing she knew, she suddenly tripped and was falling hard onto her hands and knees.

Elle stared at a tree root that was sticking out of the dirt as realization of what had just happened settled on her. She quickly glanced around to make sure no one else had seen her fall, and then she began to laugh.

"Karma sure works fast." She laughed at her own clumsiness as she stood up and dusted the dirt from her pants. She took a step forward and suddenly her laughter stopped.

A dull pain shot through her ankle. Elle paused, rested her hand against the tree's trunk and tested her foot by rolling her ankle this way and that. Fortunately the pain wasn't bad and it didn't seem too serious. Once she was satisfied that nothing was bruised or broken Elle quickened her pace back to camp.

When she finally approached the tents she saw that Adam was indeed waiting for her. In the time that she had been gone he had woken up and was now watching her approach with his arms crossed and a tight smile spread across his face.

'Oh, he's very angry.' Elle thought to herself.

She had been able to sneak out of the tent unnoticed but she hadn't considered the consequence of not being able to sneak back in.

As she got closer the smile disappeared from Adam's face. In an instant it was replaced by worry and anxiousness.

"You're limping." He noticed. His voice was full of concern."No I'm not." Elle said, shifting her weight so that she could walk more evenly.

"Don't lie to me." He grumbled. "Sit down, let me see."

Nonetheless she took a seat before him. Adam went through the same motions she had gone through earlier; poking and prodding at her ankle and was only satisfied after thoroughly ensuring that it wasn't swelling or causing her any real pain.

"You should have said something before you left in the morning. I was worried." Adam grumbled once he was sure she wasn't severely injured.

"You're right." Elle said softly. "I'm sorry."

It seemed it was her good fortune to have fallen down. It saved her from what she assumed would have been a very long lecture.

~

The gang of friends hung out a little bit longer that morning. They made breakfast and enjoyed it together before starting to take down camp.

Adam refused to let Elle help in anyway that caused her to be on her feet so she ended up mostly sitting idly as he helped the others pack up.

On their way back down they once again lagged behind everyone else. This time none of the friends questioned it and simply went on ahead.

Elle had refused a piggy back down the hill and so she and Adam had come to the mutual agreement of a slow pace back down to the lot.

"You know it really barely hurts at all." Elle commented on the way down. "I think you're exaggerating a little."

"I don't care." Adam said firmly. "I'd rather exaggerate than overlook your discomfort. No matter how small it is, if it's about you it's huge to me."

Elle couldn't fault him for that. Instead she snuck her hand into his and enjoyed their leisurely walk and the brisk morning air.

Once they reached the bottom all the friends said their goodbyes and the couple got in Adam's car. After a few minutes Elle noticed they were going in the opposite direction of Adam's condo.

"Where are we going?" Elle asked curiously.

"To run an errand." Adam replied.

Eventually they pulled up to Elle's condo. "Why are we here?"

"We agreed to move in together but you still haven't moved your stuff out. I want to do it before we become 'busy' again."

For the second time that day Elle was moved by his simple words. And for the second time that day Elle sat around idly while Adam did all the heavy lifting. He only allowed her to do the things she could do while sitting.

"I feel really powerful." Elle commented and she gazed hungrily at the sight of Adam with his sleeves rolled up. His strong arms and strong back put on a marvellous display for her. "I feel a bit guilty but the view from here is also very satisfying."

Adam chuckled. "It's only fair. Every day I'm greeted by a beautiful view."

Luckily there wasn't a need to move any of the large furniture pieces since Adam's place was already well furnished. Over the course of their relationship Elle had also moved most of her clothes over. So all there was to do was to do was pack a few boxes of miscellaneous things and her suitcases with the remaining clothes and load them up.

Soon the packing was done and they returned to Adam's condo. While Adam took a few trips to bring up the boxes Elle put together a nice dinner for them.

"That's the last of it." Adam sighed as he put down a final box and fell back onto the sofa.

Elle brought him a glass of cold water. "Thanks for all your hard work."

"It's worth it for the reward."

"The reward?" Elle asked.

"Yes. This is now officially our home." Adam said, causing Elle's ears to turn red.

Even though she had agreed to move in with him she supposed that she had still thought of it as Adam's home. Now this condo that she loved was her own home. It was her place to return to.

"Welcome home." Elle whispered.

"Yes, welcome home."