"And when you get all sorted, Australia is high on my list of places to visit. At the top since I met a certain someone charming. I'd be happy to spend time in..." I looked at Caleb.

"Cardwell," he said.

"Cardwell, if it meant getting to see you again." I pulled out my phone and searched his town on Maps, putting a little favourite icon on it so I wouldn't forget. As I opened an image of the town out of curiosity, my jaw dropped. "Holy shit, that place is gorgeous, and here I am showing you my province's best attempt at a coast."

Caleb chuckled for the first time today, which warmed my spirit. "We have more coast than we'll ever appreciate, but remnants of enormous glacial lakes are in short supply. Plus, Cardwell doesn't have you."

I soaked up his words like the warming summer sun that reflected in the lake before us. "The great thing about people is we fit very well on airplanes and in vehicles."

An adorable smile played on his lips. "I'd love to visit you in Indonesia too, but I doubt I can soon."

That was understandable. He couldn't leave Lily again.

"I'm ready for a change. You can only dive so many times with manta rays before their charm wears off."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ya sure?"

"Nah, they're amazing." We both smiled and laughed, our gazes not leaving each other. "But I have someone cooler than a manta ray to see. Although one day, you'll have to visit it."

Caleb smiled. "I will, or we will."

His words combined with those mesmerizing eyes of his sent my stomach dancing the Red River Jig. I reached out for his hand and entwined our fingers, then laid my head on his shoulder.

"Thanks for sharing your pain with me. I know you didn't want to talk about it, and I was too stubborn and stuck in my head to not stress you out."

He caressed my hand and squeezed it. "Can't run from it forever."

I raised his hand to my lips and kissed it softly, like he'd done for me. It brought an almost full smile to his lips, and I set myself a goal of getting a complete one on them before the end of the day.

"You're not running, not if you're taking this trip for her. Who's to say that she isn't with you for the ride? Maybe she's got some spiritual mobility and said to hell with this shitty hospital. I'm tagging along with Caleb because polar bears are amazing, and he's awesome."

He smiled while his eyes glistened with unshed tears. "That would be something."

"My aunt passed younger than she should have, and she always loved adventures and travelling. When I'm out exploring, I think of her, and hope that somehow it brings her to these places she would have adored."

"That's sweet."

"Where would Lily hang out here? Is she a beach gal, a water critter, hitting up beach volleyball, or running somewhere down those nature paths after you?"

Caleb looked around, considering each spot. "With friends, she'd be at volleyball, but on her own, walking the beach."

I nodded toward the pebbly beach and the frothy white bubbles on its border with the water, and called out, "Enjoy the beach, Lily."

He chuckled, his smile slightly broader than earlier. "What about your aunt?"

"In a kayak on the lake."

"Did she come with us yesterday?"

"Nah, I was too much of a mental mess then."

His cheerful expression faded. "I'm sorry."

"If I'd just listened to you on the other beach, I'd have spared myself the pain. But always stubborn as a mule over here, creating my misery."

He let go of my hand to stroke my back. "I shouldn't have made it sound like we were a sure thing when it's more complicated than that. And until this morning, I wasn't ready to bring it up. I was ashamed of being away from her and not supporting her like I should. But it's a relief that you know. It's exhausting to hide and to worry about how you'd see me." He ran his palms over his shorts.

I wasn't sure how anyone would believe this kind man was anything but a saint.

"No need to be ashamed. You're an amazing brother, human being." I reached to entwine our hands. "And temporary boyfriend."

He gave a half-hearted chuckle and shook his head.

"I'm serious. You've been supportive the entire time we've been together. You keep putting my needs over your own, which you shouldn't be yet you are, and you're fun, adorable, and incredibly interesting. I could listen to you all day."

"Be careful. That's what you're heading for on this trip."

I chuckled because I would take every minute possible, knowing they were limited. I longed for the other moments too: snuggles, hand-holding, kissing, but had we taken those off the table?

From now until his plane left the tarmac, we both wanted the same thing and could have it. If I would keep our friendship going and pine after him from a distance post-trip, didn't we owe it to ourselves to try dating even if the window was super short? Then we'd know how compatible we were, and I wouldn't be building it up in my head.

"Would you..." I pressed my free hand into the cool granite of our boulder seat. "Would you still want us to be an... us while we can be?"

I internally groaned, as that could have been so much better phrased or at least semi-romantic instead of awkward. His tender touch erased some of my nerves. His eyes widened as he studied me with a smile.

"You mean until we leave Canada?"

I nodded.

"Won't that make the goodbye much harder?"

"I'd rather hurt from wishing something amazing lasted longer than miss the opportunity to experience it."

"Me too," he whispered. "As long as you're sure. I hate hurting you."

His words warmed my heart. "I do too. But I want this, and you, no matter how rough it'll be to walk away. Only if you're okay with it too."

"Of course."

We drew closer until our foreheads pressed together. He looked down at me through beautifully long lashes, those green eyes, with golden roots weaving through them, closer than they'd ever been.

"You have cool eyes," he whispered.

My face broke into a wide grin. "So do you." I matched his volume as giddiness simmered up in my chest and rose to my warm cheeks.

We both let out nervous laughs, and I licked my lips. He brought a hand up to caress my cheek while the other rested on my hip.

"Audrey." The way my name flowed off his tongue made pleasant shivers travel down my spine.

"Caleb."

His grin stretched and his thumb tickled the corner of my lip, intensifying the excitement running through my veins. His breath warmed my lips. The ghost of a kiss.

"Can I... Would you like me to..." He swallowed and bit his bottom lip.

"Yes."

"Yes?" His eyes widened.

To spare us his adorably awkward hesitation, I pressed my lips against his for a brief kiss. The way we fit together felt as natural as the waves rocking behind us.

"Yes." I'd hardly even finished the last sound when Caleb's hand slid to cradle the base of my skull, and he pulled me toward him. His kisses, like his touches and actions, were slow yet deliberate and intense. I clung to his shirt, losing myself in the softness of his embrace. My body was suspended like I was mid-dive, floating effortlessly at just the right spot. Bubbles of happiness and affection rose from my chest to the crown of my head.

"Audrey." His whispers were the sun melting every fibre of me.

"Caleb." My lips brushed his as I spoke, sending tingles up the back of my neck.

His smile turned into another slow kiss. "Can we stay in this moment forever?"

He was as beautiful and soft as sunlight during golden hour. My heart wanted to shut out the rest of the world too. Our pain and our problems all faded in his embrace. I reached to stroke his cheek. 

"I'd like that."

He nuzzled his nose against mine, and we did just that. Cohabiting the same space and moment, letting our affection, hope and energy pour through each snuggle and touch. I was both charged and soothed by his presence, almost overwhelmed, but in the best way. It was impossible to contemplate that this would end or that it ever could. He was the anemone to my clownfish, and I never wanted to leave his embrace, despite knowing it was inevitable.

Top left photo in mood board by Aaron Burden (accessed from Unsplash), others by the author, and map photo in the banner accessed via CanvaPro.

Thanks again for reading! Your comments, votes and reads always keep me motivated to keep writing. You helped the story reach 2k reads. I also keep forgetting to mention it, but I was also very fortunate to be featured on the Romance profile's "Slow Burn" and "Fake and Arranged Relations" reading lists last month. It always warms my heart when I can get ace stories up on that profile (and for them to stay up for more than a week XD) :) 

I hope you enjoyed a bit of closeness between our no longer fake couple as they get no closer to Churchill (we will get there, just a few fun detours along the way :)