CHAPTER 429: CHAPTER 429: CAMPING (2)

[Edward POV]

Inside the hot spring, Alex was aghast as I made the wish to have Enid as my true love.

"Come on, Alex. You have to make me regret it. That is the game," I said casually.

Alex splashed some water on me angrily and said, "You set me up! You bitch."

Enid begged her, "Alex! Please!"

"Okay! Fine. I will grant it." Alex’s eyes flashed with determination. "Enid will be your true love."

"Yeayyy!" Enid cheered.

"But you would already have married someone else when you found out," Alex added.

Enid screamed a heart-wrenching cry, "NOOOOO!!!!!"

"I can just divorce them and marry her. You need to add more to make me regret it." I propped my head lazily and looked at her.

A few locks of my hair fell over my eyes. Alex’s eyes accidentally checked out my body.

Alex blushed a bit, her heart beating quicker. "Fine. I will make sure you regret it."

"Why– why are you trying to stand against me and happiness?" Enid scolded her.

"Enid, it’s just a game!" Alex argued. "Now, I need to make sure Edward regrets having you as his true love."

"HEY!" Enid jumped on Alex, grabbed her head, and stopped her from doing so. Enid said urgently, "What’s that, Alex? Eddy wins?! Yeay Edward! YOU WON! I am your true love now!"

"Mmmff–" Alex was muffled by Enid, and she had to forfeit the game.

She finally let her go as Alex tapped out. Alex breathed heavily and said, "You almost choked me with your breasts."

"What breasts?" Jenna added sarcastically. Enid glared at her.

"I want to play too!" Jacob said. Jenna’s eyes lit up.

"I’ll be the monkey’s paw," she said excitedly.

Jacob grinned and said, "I wish Edward would find true happiness like I did with Elsa."

"Aww, babe." Elsa swooned.

Jenna giggled and said, "That’s really easy. Your wish is granted. Now Edward will find true happiness with Elsa."

"HEY!" Jacob was flabbergasted.

I laughed and said, "Elsa, come here. You’re mine now."

Elsa slowly moved towards me, teasing Jacob at the same time. "Sorry, babe. You wished for this."

"No! I take the wish back!" Jacob said urgently. Everyone laughed except for him.

After playing and drinking beer in the hot spring, it was time to get back to the camp.

"Okay, so who’s going to go out first?" Finneas asked nervously. "Let me remind you that the first person who gets out will be the object of everyone’s attention."

Elsa added, "Also, they have the responsibility to hand over the towels to everyone else."

Everyone went silent for a while. I offered, "I’ll do it then."

"Babe, don’t look." Jacob covered Elsa’s eyes. Elsa protested by removing his hand away, but he forced her to close her eyes again.

As I got out of the hot spring, Jenna whistled. Enid bit her lower lip. Alex was the only one who looked away among the girls.

"Ayy, mama. Let me get some fries with all that meat–"

Alex quickly covered Enid’s mouth before she could finish.

We changed our clothes at the campsite and then gathered around the bonfire.

Finneas took out the instruments — the drums, the keyboard, and the acoustic guitar.

I played a soft melody as we hung out by the fire. Enid placed her hands underneath her chin and looked at me intently from right across me.

Jenna brought me a beer.

"Thanks, Jen." I stopped playing and cracked it open. Alex grimaced and said, "Does no one else feel weird about drinking beer while we’re not even out of school yet?"

"It would be even weirder if a bunch of teenagers didn’t fall to peer pressure and never tried beer before the legal age to drink," Finneas argued with her.

"Like you. You weirdo," he added teasingly as he drank his beer. Alex grimaced and retorted, "Hey! I’m not a weirdo!"

"Fine. Goody-two-shoes. Whatever," Finneas rolled his eyes and said mockingly.

Alex seethed in anger and grabbed a beer can for herself. She popped the lid open and took large gulps of it.

"Edward, I want to hear 7 Years," Enid requested.

"That will be $1.99 per song," I said teasingly.

She blinked slowly, taken aback by the charge. She batted her eyes at me and said, "Um, I don’t have any money now, so how about we make a deal?"

She pulled her collar to show her cleavage to me.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Really? Your price is only $1.99?"

"You can get me for free, but you don’t seem interested in that," Enid teased.

Jenna laughed and interjected into the conversation, "Edward, come on. Sing for us."

"Alright, alright." I waved to stop them as all of them were throwing their requests at me.

Then, I picked the guitar and sang 7 Years by the bonfire. The girls swooned, and Finneas stared at Alex’s face intently while she was looking at me.

Jacob and Elsa kept whispering. As the song ended, Jacob slapped his legs and said, "Well, that was great. But Elsa and I... we’re going to go rest... our eyes... and mouths..."

He trailed off, and Elsa hit his arm to snap him out of it.

Finneas groaned and said playfully, "Just say you’re going to go have sex."

I laughed and said, "Jacob, you aren’t going to let your bro out to dry alone, are you?"

Jacob became flustered and said whiningly, "Well, you always have girls back at your place. My place has my parents in it, so we never got to do it there."

Jenna rolled her eyes and said, "Don’t lie. Elsa told me everything."

"Babe!" Jacob looked at Elsa with frustration.

"What?! She’s my best friend. I told her everything." Elsa giggled.

"That meant size, stamina, girth–" I added, which made Jacob stand up panicky.

"Stop– stop it!" he begged.

I shrugged and said, "But we do need to go to bed soon if we’re going to catch the sunrise."

"That’s in four hours," Alex checked her watch. "We better be going now."

"Come on. Just one last song," Enid begged. Jenna also did the same, "One more! Please!"

The girls begged with their hands. I sighed and said, "Alright. One more. Is there any request?"

Finneas interjected, "I saw you were working on a new song, Edward. What’s that about?"

Everyone’s eyes lit up in intrigue.

"Oh! Edward has another new song?!" Jenna was excited.

Alex rolled her eyes and said, "That makes it what number song this year—thirty new songs? You’re really insane."

"I’m just fiddling with it. I don’t think I’m supposed to sing this now, ’cause it will ruin the mood," I said casually.

"No! Edward, there’s no way your song is going to ruin any of my mood," Enid said.

"Just sing it," Jenna added.

"I don’t know... I need an incentive to sing it. It’s a new song, after all," I said flirtatiously.

"What kind of incentive?" Alex asked warily.

"Like, Enid making out with Alex for about a minute kind of incentive," I said with a shrug.

Enid became excited, but Alex groaned. "I’m not going to do that," Alex replied decisively.

"I will!" Jenna grabbed Enid’s head and gave her a kiss. Enid widened her eyes in shock, and everyone clamored at the sight.

"Pu-haa..." Jenna took a deep breath afterward. "Now, will you sing it?" she asked.

"Alright. I will," I replied while laughing. Enid suddenly asked, "That’s the third time already, Jen. Do you love me or something?"

Jenna shrugged and said, "I don’t. But your lips are quite soft, so you should be proud of that."

Enid paused in shock. Then she turned to me with a smirk. "Edward, you hear that? My lips are soft. You should try it sometime."

Alex rubbed her face in frustration and said, "Enid, stop throwing yourself at him. You look really pathetic."

Enid was still smiling and said, "It’s okay. I’m fine with it."

She didn’t even look at Alex as she said that, which made Alex groan again.

"Sing it Edward." Jacob said gleefully. "Then, I can finally... go to sleep." He raised his eyebrows up a few times hintingly.

I sighed and said, "Alright then. You all asked for it."

I began to pick the guitar softly. The firewood in the bonfire crackled. The soft night breeze blew by. The stars and the moon shone brighter than ever.

[Benson Boone– In the Stars]

"♫♪ Sunday mornings were your favorite...♫♪ " I sang with a deep, melancholic voice.

Everyone was stunned as they heard it.

"♫♪ I used to meet you down on one creek road ♫♪"

"♫♪ You did your hair up like you were famous

Even though it’s only church where we were goin’ ♫♪"

I smiled slightly as I reminisced. The image of my grandma combing his hair and mustache bubbled into my mind.

My tone became heavier, "♫♪ Now, Sunday mornings, I just sleep in

It’s like I buried my faith with you ♫♪"

"♫♪ I’m screamin’ at a God I don’t know if I believe in ♫♪ "

"♫♪ ’Cause I don’t know what else I can do ♫♪"

Enid’s eyes became glossy. Jacob leaned forward and listened intently to the song while Elsa hugged him.

I closed my eyes slightly. Then, I sang with all of my heart, "♫♪ I’m still holdin’ on to everything that’s dead and gone ♫♪"

"♫♪ I don’t wanna say goodbye, ’cause this one means forever ♫♪"

Finneas turned to the left and secretly wiped his eyes.

"♫♪ And now you’re in the stars and six-feet’s never felt so far ♫♪"

"♫♪ Here I am alone between the heavens and the embers ♫♪"

"♫♪ Oh, it hurts so hard ♫♪"

"♫♪ For a million different reasons♫♪"

"♫♪ You took the best of my heart

And left the rest in pieces ♫♪"

Enid’s chin quivered and she wiped both of her eyes at the same time. Jenna mumbled, "Oh Eddy," as she wiped her own tears.

"♫♪ Diggin’ through your old birthday letters... A crumpled 20 still in the box ♫♪"

I smiled slightly, showing my friends that I was fine.

"♫♪ I don’t think that I could ever find a way to spend it...

Even if it’s the last 20 that I’ve got, oh ♫♪"

"Join me." I told everyone. And we all sang the next verse together.

"♫♪ I’m still holdin’ on to everything that’s dead and gone

I don’t wanna say goodbye, ’cause this one means forever ♫♪"

"♫♪ And now you’re in the stars and six-feet’s never felt so far

Here I am alone between the heavens and the embers ♫♪"

I smiled softly and sang alone, "♫♪ Oh, it hurts so hard... For a million different reasons. You took the best of my heart... And left the rest in pieces."

I strummed the guitar string roughly and sang, " "♫♪ I’m still holdin’, holdin’, holdin’ on ♫♪

"♫♪ I’m still holdin’ , holdin’ ,holdin’ on

I’m still holdin’ , holdin’ , I’m still holdin’ on

I’m still, ooh, still holdin’ on♫♪"

Then, I looked up at the sky and smiled slightly, my eyes becoming teary, " I’m still holdin’ on to everything that’s dead and gone.

"♫♪ I don’t wanna say goodbye!!!! ’cause this one means forever OOH! ♫♪" I sang my heart out, venting out my frustrations.

"♫♪ Now you’re in the stars and six-feet’s never felt so far.

Here I am alone between the heavens and the embers ♫♪"

"♫♪ Oh, it hurts so hard!! For a million different reasons!! ♫♪"

I slowed down the tempo and sang gently, "♫♪ You took the best of my heart. Left the rest in pieces ♫♪"

The soft guitar melody filled the night air till the song ended.

I looked at my friends, still holding the guitar and said, "How is it?"

No one was speaking. All of them were just staring at me in a daze.

Jacob spoke first, "What the hell is even that dude!!? How am I going to have sex after I heard that!?"

Elsa quickly wiped her tears and said, "Yeah Edward. That’s very calculative of you. You did that on purpose to make sure we can’t do that today."

"I’ll take that as a win." I said with a gleeful smile.

"If you’ll excuse me. I’m going to go to sleep now, and definitely not going to cry on the bed." Enid said as she stood up and rushed to the tent.

"Yeah Edward. You can come in after an hour." Jenna said and followed Enid along.

Alex stood up and walked towards me. She patted me on my shoulder and said, "Good job Edward. Let it all out. It’s not good to hold all of the feelings inside–"

I brushed her hands away with a scowl. "Get off me."

Alex smiled and said, "You have totally killed the mood for Jacob and Elsa. Thank god. Otherwise, we will be hearing animalistic mating sounds when we’re going to go to sleep."

"Just cover your ears for three minutes." Finneas smiled and joined the conversation.

Alex rolled her eyes and ran away to the tent. I looked at Finneas with pity and said, "Wow. She can’t even stay around you huh?"

Finneas sighed and said, "Sometimes, I felt like I was able to make her put her guard down, but she quickly fortified the wall afterward."

" I wonder how she’s going to feel when she knows you want to get together with her." I muttered.

Finneas flashed a look of determination in his eyes and said, "I’m going to talk to her tonight. So, just pretend you don’t see anything."

"Alright." I said casually.

I didn’t wait an hour and went back to the house size tent. I had a separate section for me anyway.

It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep, but not before I heard a slapping sound coming from beside the tent.

I opened my eyes and saw Finneas and Alex’s shadows on the tent wall. Then, Alex’s shadow moved, while Finneas reached his hands out to grab her but couldn’t.

I heard everything, but for now, I’m going to pretend that I didn’t.

...

A few minutes till sunrise.

"Hey, wake up." I shook Jenna’s shoulder as she was in the closet. Alex and Enid were cuddling with one another for some reason.

Jenna groaned and then opened one of her eyes. As she saw me, she smiled and said half-asleep, "Edward. You came. I’ve been waiting all night–"

"It’s time for the sunrise, Jen." I spoke clearly. Jenna pushed herself up, her hands shivering as she was too sleepy, and then she gave up and laid down again.

"Five more minutes." She whined. I did the same thing with Alex and Enid. They whined, but since Enid got up, everyone slowly got up too.

I went to wake Finneas up and saw he wasn’t asleep at all. He was still sitting at the log seat even though the fire had gone out.

As I got to Jacob’s tent, I hesitated to get inside.

"AHH! A BEAR IS HERE! IT’S GOING TO EAT ENID!" I yelled as I shook Jacob’s tent roughly.

Finneas gave me a weird look from afar. I heard Jacob panic inside the tent.

"Babe! WAKE UP THERE’S A BEAR!" Jacob shouted.

"BEAR?!" Elsa woke up abruptly.

Both of them quickly rushed out of the tent, only covering themselves with blankets to hide their naked bodies.

"HEY!" Enid called to me from our tent. As I turned, I saw her dissatisfied look.

"Why am I the victim?!"

I laughed at her remarks. All of us sat by the cliff and watched the sunrise together.

As we took in the breathtaking beauty of the sunrise, Enid whispered to me.

"Did you hear about last night?"

I whispered back, "About Finneas and Alex?"

"Yup. He shouldn’t have done that. Now it’s going to make the camping trip awkward." Enid added.

I looked at Alex and Finneas before sighing and then just turned to watch the land being illuminated by the light of the sun.

Jacob suddenly used his deep voice and spoke to me, "Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

I immediately joined in the roleplay and said with a childish voice, "Wow."

"A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king."

I gasped and said, "And this’ll all be mine?"

Jacob begins to stride along the edge of the cliff.

"Everything."

I gasped again and said with wonder, "Everything the light touches."

Then, I turned to Alex and pointed at her. "What about that shadowy brat?"

Alex was flabbergasted.

Jacob continued, "That’s beyond our borders. You must never go there, Simba. A vengeful ex lives there."

"Hey!" Alex retorted.

The sunrise was over, and everyone went to have breakfast together. I brought bread and jam. Jacob made some eggs.

Jenna mixed the waffle batter and Enid made the waffle using the electric waffle maker hooked up to the RV.

"So, are we going to talk about last night or what?" Jenna asked as we started to eat.

"What happened last night– Nothing happened last night." Finneas stammered.

"Everyone went to sleep. Nothing happened." He added.

I narrowed my eyes on him. "What?" He looked at me.

"In all the places you could’ve talked to her, why did you pick next to my bed? I even saw the shadow drama of you reaching out to her but she left in a hurry."

"HEY!" Alex blushed hard. "You saw that?!" She stammered.

"Saw. Heard. Judged." I muttered casually.

(Thank you for the ones who had donated to me. I’ve raised around 90 bucks now.

90/500 to fix the flood damage in my house.

If you want to donate, you can do so via patreon.

Patreon.com/relifewithkarmicgacha )