The first half of the morning was spent with Percy complaining about his face and me telling him that it was his fault. He still hasn't told me why, but I know I'll find out when I need to.

I get my bag from inside the closet and open it. The clothes lay in a messy ball inside the suitcase. Why wasn't I more organised? I take everything out throwing it on the bed "We better start packing we almost have to leave." I say to Percy. He's still lying on the bed holding the wet cloth, which was filled with ice, against his purple bruised cheek. "We still have today and tomorrow. There is plenty of time." I laugh folding the clothing before neatly packing the bag again. "If you say so. Luckily mine is done so I won't have any problems tomorrow finding things."

He lets out a groan "Yeah, yeah. That's tomorrow's problem." He sits upright his eyes close at the motion. "Are you sure you're fine with going to the carnival tonight? He slowly nods his head "Yeah I'll be fine." I look at the clock it's only 5 in the afternoon. The sun is still bright over the ocean and streaming through our window. "We'll probably only go after the sun has set. So all the lights are bright and there are fewer people." I grab the phone seeing a text from Isabella.

Isabella: Hey I think we should probably go at 8 it gives us enough time to do what we want.

Me: Sure thing see you later.

"Okay, Isabella says we'll see them at 8 so we have a little time to chill." Percy lays back down "Fantastic, if you need me I'll be taking a nap." He says throwing the cold towel next to him. I throw my bag onto the ground and take a seat on my bed wondering what I could do with my time. I turn towards the bedside table seeing the copy of the Great Gatsby. I grab it lying down and start reading.

***

The lights turn on the Ferris wheel as we enter the carnival. I hear the music playing and the kids running around. "Isabella." I squeal as I see her at the candy floss stall. "Where's Grayson?" I ask her. "He said he wasn't feeling well. So I came alone, I didn't think it was going to be this busy. They've been here forever and tonight everyone decides to come." She laughs looking around "Oh, okay well I'm glad that you're joining us. It's pretty busy, but the lines don't look that long. What do you want to do first?" I ask "Well first off I want some of that candy floss and then we can look around." She replies making me laugh. "Sounds like a good idea."

I pay for a bucket filled with candy floss and walk next to Isabella through the stalls. "So what's going on with you and Percy?" She asks. I take a piece of candy floss stuffing it into my mouth. "Well nothing mainly, why?" She smiles at me "Well I mean... did you see what happened last night." My brows furrow in confusion. "Yes, but he doesn't want to tell me why he did it." She shakes her head "Well Jackson was talking shit about you and Percy kind of lost it." My eyes grow wide. "What?" She nods her head. "Yeah, Grayson told me last night. Just after you left Jackson's we decided to leave and he told me on the way home."

"I had no idea. Percy told me it was because of the alcohol and things just got too much." Isabella shakes her head. "Nope. That wasn't it." We walk through the last stall. "So when are you going to tell him." I look at her confused. "Tell him what?" She gives me a blank expression. "Natalie I love you, but you can't play dumb with me. I meant when are you going to tell him that you're in love with him?" I shake my head, looking behind us to Percy who just walked over to a stall with corndogs. "I can't do that." I feel my mood sink as I walk. "Listen Natalie I don't know what your problem is. I don't understand why you won't just give it a shot. If I were you I would walk up to him right now and just blurt it right out." I begin to panic. "I can't! What if I lose his friendship?" She stops me. "So you're telling me that you'd rather have him as a friend than anything else?" I nod "I'd rather have him as a friend than lose him as everything." She gives me a sad look "Oh Natalie I know, but that would never happen." I shake my head in frustration "How do you?" She gives me a small smile "I don't, but how would you if you don't try?"

I look away thinking about what she just said. I don't want to mess up our friendship. We've known each other for almost 10 years. That's a lot of years to have to go to waste just because of one mistake. "So what are you going to do?" Isabella asks. I look back at her "I think I'll just wait it out for a little while." She smiles at me. "Okay well let me know how it goes."

"Hey what did I miss?" Percy asks from behind us making me jump. "What's up with you?" He asks me "Nothing you just kind of caught me off guard." He gives me a concerned look "Alright then. What are we going to do first?" Isabella starts looking around "How about a roller coaster?" I instantly agree. We make our way to the line.

We get onto the roller coaster waiting anxiously for it to start. I feel my pulse quicken as we wait. I hear a light click and a sudden shove forward as we move. Zooming through the air in what feels like seconds. Went around and around and dipped into a tunnel before moving above ground and instantly coming to a stop.

We climb off of the roller coaster. "I think I'm going to be sick!" Percy yells passing us, going straight to the trash can and diving in headfirst.

"Well he took that very well..." Isabella says staring at him. "Yeah." I laugh. "He doesn't exactly do well with roller coasters." He walks back to us looking paler than he was a few moments ago. "Are you okay?" He looks at me lifting his index finger and gesturing for me to wait. He takes in a deep breath "Pro-tip. Don't eat 5 corndogs before going on a roller coaster." I look at him shocked "You ate 5! Why did you go on the roller coaster if you ate 5" He shakes his head "I don't know it seemed like a good idea at that stage?" I let my head fall into my hands "Okay Percy, let's go get you water or something." I look at him making sure he's okay. He takes another deep breath "Can we not do that again." I snort at his remark "Yes, we don't have to... well you don't have to." We make our way towards the nearest stall. "I didn't expect it to be that fast if I'm being totally honest." I let out a laugh as he chuckles "Do you want anything else?" I ask "No just water please." I turn towards the cashier asking for water and a cup of popcorn. I give her the money before turning back to Percy and handing him his water.

We try to find Isabella, but lose her in the crowd. "Where are we going next?" He asks looking at me. I find the first thing that catches my eye. "How about the hall of mirrors?" He nods "Alright let's go." We walk into the dimly lit building. Looking at all the mirrors with their different shapes. Percy stands in the middle of a tall mirror. His body morphed into a tall figure with a short face. "Oh my ..." I laugh at him. "What are you laughing at, look at you." I turn towards my mirror letting out a gasp as I'm greeted with a short figure almost shaped like a beach ball. I snort at the scene making Percy laugh even harder. We make our way through every mirror. My stomach hurt from all the giggling. "This is the best night of my life!" I tell Percy as we walk over to the Ferris wheel. "Mine too." He smiles as he looks up at the Ferris wheel. "Let's hope I don't get sick on this." He chuckles. "If you get sick on this we are going home because then something is wrong with you." I give him a cheeky grin making him roll his eyes. We get onto the big wheel and take our seats. "Why do you always insist on going on this thing?" He asks staring at the view. "Because it makes me feel like I'm on top of the world," I explain. "And the view obviously," I add. He gives me a half-smile "That makes sense." Not long after our short, little conversation did we reach the top. "If you could do one thing differently. And I mean anything. What would you do?" He suddenly asks.

His question catches me off guard. The first thing to pop into my head is how I would have loved him sooner and told him sooner and for everything to be a little different. Of course, I can't just blurt that out.

"I would've had more courage to say the things I wanted to. Probably done a lot more things than I have." I turn to face him. His eyes were already set on mine. "And what would you have said?" curiosity fills his eyes

"Well... um... a lot... Percy, I don't know. Just a lot of confessions." His eyes don't move from my face. "And what about you? What would you do?"

He looks away for a moment "The same I guess." I nod. "It makes sense." The wheel comes to a stop. I'm still staring straight into his eyes. "Excuse me but your turn is over." I take my eyes off of him starting at the person who just said that and once I turn back at him he's still looking at me "Let's go."

We walk through the carnival "Is there anything else you might want to do?" He asks. "Not really no. I think Isabella left so what would you like to do?"

He looks towards the exit "I have an idea." He grabs my hand and we walk through the exit. He leads me through an alley. "Where are we going?" I ask. "Wait and see." He replies.

We move through a few roads and end up in front of a small house. Rose bushes cover the front yard and a little sign sits on the front porch. "Isabella told me about this place a while ago. She said it was amazing so I figured why not come here before we go."

We walk inside and I'm stunned by its vintage look. The old fitted globes hanging from the ceiling give it a warm summer glow, every table is covered in clock gears and the walls are full of poetry.

"Good evening, is it a table for two?" The waiter asks. "Yes please," Percy says. The waiter leads us to our table. Handing us our menus as we take our seats.

"You two seem nervous. First date?" The waiter asks "Oh no." We say simultaneously. "We're just friends..." Percy says. I know that shouldn't hurt me, but it does. My heart feels like it's sinking into my feet. "Yeah, just friends..."

"Oh... I apologize. What can I get you two?" The waiter asks. I look through the menu. "I'll have a chocolate milkshake," I say. "I'll have a bubble-gum milkshake and we'll have one pepperoni pizza to share." The waiter writes down our order "Perfect I'll be back in a few minutes."

There hangs a silence in the air. I look down fiddling with my fingers as we sit. "What's wrong?" Percy asks. I shake my head "Nothing, I just don't have much to say." I feel his gaze still on me and slowly lift my head to meet his eyes. "Is there something you want to say?" He shakes his head "Nothing at all..." I don't question the change in his tone and just accept it "I know we haven't talked about this, but what are your plans for next year?" I ask. His eyes grow more comprehensive, and he seems hesitant before speaking. "I. Well. I have no idea." He finally mutters with a sigh. "How about you?" I cross my arms leaning back in the chair. "I just want to do too much. Maybe just travel if I can." He nods smiling "Seems like a great idea." The waiter stops in front of us giving us our milkshakes and putting the plate between the two of us "Alright you guys, enjoy it." We give a quick thanks and each grabs a slice of pizza.

"Are you up for a challenge?" I ask him curiously. "Bring it on!" He challenges.

***

"Percy I'm on my fourth milkshake I can't anymore. I'm going to puke." I giggle keeping my hand in front of my mouth. "No. You were the one that said you wanted to challenge me to a milkshake-drinking challenge. So drink up." I push the chocolate milkshake forward. "And what will happen if I don't drink it?" I ask challenging him. "Well, then I guess I'll just have to kiss you."

A deafening silence falls between us. A blush creeps onto my cheeks warming me from head to toe. A few seconds go by and we just stare at each other in shock. "Ha...ha very funny." He lets out a small chuckle "Yeah I got you there." He finishes his bubblegum milkshake. "Well, I guess I win." He says licking off his lips. "So since there are no rewards, let's just say if I never see a bubble-gum milkshake ever again it will be too soon." I laugh at his words. He lies back in the chair, his head hanging back and his arms clutching his stomach. "Yeah, okay. This was a bad idea. I think I'm going to die." I roll my eyes at his dramatic demeanour "I told you, but you never listen to me..." I warn.

I look around us to see a very empty restaurant. We must be the last ones here. "Well if you're done being dramatic. I think you should look around you." He lifts his head and looks around. "Oh shit, we should probably go." I give him a nod "You think?" I say sarcastically.

We pay the bill and thank the waiter for his time. Laughing as we make our way down the road