“I will always go on the adventures with you. I just need time to get excited about them, is all. Let me dream about it for a bit before pulling me into the deep end. I’m an energetic panda, but I’m also a deep-feeling panda. Sometimes small things are big to me, and what we started? Babe, that wasn’t small. I needed time to know I was going to be okay.”
I nod.
Korie’s fingers brush my cheeks, wiping away tears. “And trust me, I have some pretty scary dreams for us too. You’re going to need to process them when I tell you.”
I finally choke on a laugh. “Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hmm.” Korie closes the gap, standing directly in front of me. “I’m sorry for hurting you. You’ve always been my best friend—”
I lean in but Korie stops me.
“I’m asking if you still want to be my boyfriend too. Because I’d really like that.”
This time I do kiss them. Deeply. Korie hugs me tight, body trembling with relief and quiet sobs.
“Does this mean I don’t have to sleep with the bears?” Korie murmurs.
I laugh softly, lifting them in a hug. “No, hon. Definitely not.”
I pull back, searching their face. “I love you.”
Korie smiles so big it touches their eyes. “I love you too.”
I hold them close, unwilling to let them go now that they’re finally here. “Have you spent the last week rethinking every tiny detail of our life too?”
Korie snorts. “Maybe.” They kiss me swiftly before saying, “I have a surprise for you. But you’ll need to wait to see it until tomorrow.”
“Oh?”
“It’s… um, well, since we need to break the news to our families, I kind of came up with a plan.”
“Does it involve confetti? Because you know I hate that shit.”
Korie loops an arm around my back. “No confetti. Just trust me.”
I kiss their hair. “Always.”
We walk around the far end of the pasture toward the picnic table for Korie’s bags, then head toward our tent. Korie pauses, noticing how far away it is from the others. “You gave us privacy.”
I shrug. “Took some duct tape to get it up, but, you know. Should hold.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Probably not.”
It takes ten minutes to flatten out Korie’s mattress and unroll the sleeping bag. Korie doesn’t hesitate to unzip them so we can sleep together.
As soon as they lie down, I pull them against me. Korie stifles a giggle as I roll into them, halfway pinning them to the ground and kissing them everywhere.
I laugh against their neck and they writhe, trying to push me away.
“I missed you,” I say.
They relax instantly, their arms going around me. “You too.”
I lift my face to kiss them, sliding a hand up their side. It pulls their shirt up, my palm grazing bare skin. Korie flinches and breaks the kiss, turning away.
I pause. “Did I hurt you?”
