Some time passed in which you scratched samples of the crystals from the walls and made rough drawings of the surroundings. You wondered why you had never noticed this place before, even though it was so close to your own home, barely a thirty minute walk away.

But at the same time, it didn't surprise you. It was really rare that you ventured into the outside world.

JD, on the other hand, did nothing but explore the area around the COG settlement. He should have noticed the strange crystals earlier.

Frowning, you put everything away and turned to him.
Bored, he pushed some stones into the lake and watched them sink into the depths to disappear.

"I shouldn't have brought you here.", he joked, turning to you with a grin. "I should have known you were just doing science stuff."

He laughed.

With a grin, you sat down next to him on the shore and put down your backpack. You gave him a nudge with your shoulder.

"You say that as if you are jealous that I don't deal with you and rather with stones.", you teased him.

He rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide his charming grin.

"You got me. Actually, I was thinking of something else when I found the place."

You raised an eyebrow.

"For example?"

With a quick glance at the lake, he leaned back with a sigh. His hand shifted to your back.

Immediately, you tensed up. Whenever he acted like this, he was up to something. You just didn't know what yet.
Playfully offended, he looked at you and ran his free hand through his short, blond hair.

"What? Don't you trust me?", he asked with a vulnerable expression.

You pulled a face.

"Do you want me to be honest?", you grinned.

"Shut up!"

With a mighty shove, he yanked you from your seat.

Helplessly, you toppled forward and hit the water surface with full force. Holding your breath, you squint your eyes.

The touch of the water felt strange, less wet and more sticky. It smelled different, too, sweetish, as if fragrance had been mixed into it.

With a disgusted look on your face, you returned to the surface and took a deep breath.

"JD!", you shouted and threw the strange water at him.

Laughing, he raised his hands, but still got wet from top to bottom. His blond hair became darker.

"What? You can swim!", he argued and took off his boots. "Watch out!"

With a laugh, he jumped in too. Like a stone, he hit the water. A wave splashed up.

You were dragged into the depths. Surprised, you wanted to gasp, but pressed both hands to your mouth as his face appeared in front of you.

Wiggling his eyebrows, he grinned.

You had to fight back a laugh, pushing him off you and wanting to push him further into the depths.

But he held you by the leg and pulled you along with him. Fighting with each other, you two let bubbles dance through the water.

You gave him a push on the shoulder.

He grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him. Grinning, you tried to resist, but he held you so tightly that there was no escape.

Immediately your hands rested on his chest to keep at least a little distance between you. He felt as hard as stone under your fingers. No wonder, JD was well built even for a man of this world. In the end, he did take after his father a bit.

With wide eyes you stared at him. It felt as if your cheeks were glowing.

Thankfully the deep shade of the water made it hard for him to notice.

Smiling softly, JD leaned towards you and let the tip of his nose brush against yours. His lips were barely a fingers width away from you.

A shiver crawled down your spine. Your grip on his chest tightened.

Ashamed, you avoided his gaze and titled your head to the side to rest it on his shoulder.

His arms wrapped around you tighter, pulling you into a hug.

Your heart was beating wildly inside your chest. You two were friends for as long as you could remember, very close both emotionally and physically. But sometimes you wondered if he expressed his friendship for you in this way or if he had something to tell you.

As for your part, the closeness was nothing you weren't used to. But sometimes it made you have thoughts that seemed a little inappropriate to have. At least if he didn't share them.

But for a moment you allowed yourself to enjoy his body pressed against yours. Closing your eyes, you wrapped your arms around him too and pulled him as close as possible. In that moment it felt like letting him go would make you loose him for eternity.

As the air began to burn inside your lungs, you parted from him, grabbed his hand and pulled the two of you back to the surface.

Taking a deep breath in, he turned to you to give you a gentle nudge to the shoulder.

"Don't make a face like that.", he chuckled. "You look like I tied to drown you."

Blushing, you turned away to swim towards the shore. Panting and wiping water off your face you pulled yourself back on land. All of a sudden it made you nervous to look at him.

"(Y/N)?", with a hint of guilt shimmering in his eyes, he placed a hand on your knee. "Is everything all right?"

You nodded, clearing your throat.

"Uh, yeah... it's just... I'm cold. We should get back."

He frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes?"

"If I did something that bothers you just tell me."

"No! I mean, no, you didn't...", a deep sigh escaped your lips. "I- I'm sorry, JD. I just don't know what to make of... this friendship..."

Now fear lit up on his face.

"I- I don't want to push you into anything.", he said, gently letting his thumb rub over your knee. "I just... how do I say this?"

"We grew up. I get it. We're adults now. We have adult feelings. But... it's been so long. You know I'm not good with humans."

He snorted amused.

"I do know that. But... maybe give me a chance? If you feel the same, that is."

Smiling softly, you stroked through his wet hair.

"Give me some time?", you asked.

"Of course I will. For you, always."