🎯 Aaaaaah!!
It was quite the shock to Peter that he'd been invited out by none other than Hilda of all people. On top of her just generally being a hermit who never went out (let alone invited people out), her own issues regarding her connectivity had continued going on rather strong. Nonetheless, he found himself excited for a little excursion- even a bit hopeful.
The drive to the somewhat small hiking trail was relatively silent. It made even Hilda feel uncomfortable- or maybe it was just guilt from having not been around for so long, and now that they were together, she just couldn't find the words.
Finally parked, she hopped out of the car, waiting for Peter to get out. With a small smile, he spoke up:
"Say... this is quite nice. Thank you for inviting me out."
For a few moments, she was silent. The connectivity issues would occasionally leave her in a bit of a daze as if she weren't completely there. Though, she looked away almost sheepishly for a few moments before looking back over to him. "It is no problem... thank you very much for coming along." In a sense, it was a way of thanking him for the outing he'd invited her to not long ago.
Then, without another word, she just began to walk. She only looked back to gesture Peter to follow her. In response, he did, and while with enthusiasm he did so without really thinking to say anything.
It didn't take very long, maybe around twenty minutes max, but soon they arrived at an opening in the trees- and in the middle was a scenic waterfall with sun pouring down on it.
Stopping in her tracks, Hilda then turned to look at Peter, who found himself staring at the scene with somewhat wide eyes. "This is actually quite nice...!"
"...I'm glad to hear that." A faint smile came from Hilda, and she made her way to a rather large rock, perching herself on it and tossing her shoes off to the side. "I've actually been coming here a lot as of late. It's a very nice place to think... and hang out with friends."
Flashing her a large grin at her words, Peter gladly followed suit, sitting next to Hilda and dangling his feet just over the water. "Thank you for inviting me, again." Leaning over, he picked up a few smaller rocks and tossed them into the water. Noticing this, Hilda followed along, eyes rather wide with amusement.
Despite the rather relaxed and casual nature of the get together, it was still rather... quiet with hardly a word being spoken between them. Regardless, it was a nice silence- although, surprisingly, it was Hilda who broke the silence.
"Peter... you do know that I love you, right? You are one of my greatest friends."
These words surprised Peter to say the least. They were rather abrupt, and he looked over to Hilda whose expression was overall neutral as ever. Yet, she meant every word of it, as she was one to say what she was truly thinking.
Reaching over, he took her hand into his. "Yeah... I love you too. I promise you that we'll be friends for many years to come."
"I hold you to that promise."
A little bit of laughter and some playful jabs were exchanged between the two, and eventually they were just laying side by side on the rock, watching the sky and trees as light breezes came through.
To Hilda, these moments were worth reconnecting for.