For the next two days Lucy saw very little of Blue. Just as they had on the first day, one of them would be back in the hotel room already sleeping before the other got there. On the third night in country, Lucy fell asleep in the chair reading again, but this time she made sure she had pajamas on before she got too comfortable. As he had the first night Blue gently lifted her into the bed and covered her up.

Lucy spent her days around the city seeing churches and museums and other sites of interest with her extended family. Blue and his crew spent their days on adventures outside of the city. Lucy loved the idea of the adventures and anywhere else in the world she would rather be doing that, but getting to know her family was a dream come true and being able to spend time with Abuelita was the highlight of the trip. She was quiet and reserved, for the most part sitting back and presiding over whatever situation they happened to be in, her 90 years giving her the authority to decide which conversations and interactions she wanted to be a part of and which she would rather just observe. Though her stooped and troubled stature and wrinkled face gave her the appearance of age and perhaps slowness, quick wit came out on her tongue once in a while.

Yes, with family was where Lucy wanted to be rather than mountain biking and exploring Machu Picchu and whatever else Blue and his crew were doing. The one drawback was she really missed Blue. And the real bummer was they would be going back to their separate states in a couple days, and she’d have to wait even more time before being with him. And every long distance relationship she'd seen among her friends, they never worked out. One or other of the pair lost interest, or got distracted, or just couldn't deal with being so far away.

It was way too early to know if she and Blue were any different; if what they had was something as real as she felt it was. Way too early to know if this wasn’t just typical early relationship infatuation that everybody experienced. Lucy knew she had never experienced anything like it before.

Thoughts of being away from Blue and how much more time they would spend apart tended to bring her down, so instead she focused on the good times they had and the good times they would certainly have over the coming days, weeks, and months.

The last full day of the trip arrived, which in and of itself was a sad thing, but it was finally time to go visit the nearby Sacsayhuaman Ruins. She was going with the Blue’s Clues, and the best part was that Abuelita was coming along, as well as Lucy’s Aunt, Santa. The best of both worlds. She woke up, jumped in the shower, and started doing her hair while Blue was still snoozing away. She didn't know what time it had been when he got back to the room and carried her to her bed. When Lucy came out of the bathroom she saw him sitting on the edge of his bed stretching, all rumpled from sleep and natural looking. He looked so yummy she wanted to climb right on his lap and have a little taste.

“Morning,” she told him.

He replied, half in a yawn, “Morning, yourself.”

Instead of jumping on him, she exhibited some self-restraint and went to her bag to tuck dirty clothes away. “How was Machu Picchu?” It was the one thing on the trip she regretted most not being able to see. Not that she would trade it for the time with her family, but still.

“It was okay.” Blue stood and stretched and she only watched him out of the corner of her eye. Man, oh man it was a good thing they didn't have a lot of time together alone in this room. “It would have been better with you there.”

She could tell he wasn't just saying that. That he felt a little bit of what she felt about being apart. It made her feel a little bit giddy about their future. “Yeah, sorry to keep ditching you guys –”

“No,” he interrupted. “I knew all along what your plans were. And besides, Machu Picchu will be there for another thousand years. I doubt Abuelita will last that long.”

“She might just surprise you.”

“Actually I wouldn't be that surprised," Blue said with a smile. “She is one tough woman. Hey how about some room service this morning?”

Lucy's first impression was to refuse it. This world of living in a fancy hotel and having a car provided and all the amenities of an adventure trip versus spending time in a tiny two bedroom home with hand-rolled tortillas and people carpooling on a scooter because it was cheaper than driving the car—all of that made her have reservations.

He picked up on it and said, “It's included in the trip package. Certain number of in-hotel meals.”

Turning down free food, well, paid for food, wasn't smart or thrifty so she said, “That sounds awesome.”

They looked through the menu together and ordered a few items to share, then Blue jumped in the shower while Lucy put on some makeup and got herself ready for the day.

Room service arrived at the same time Blue came out of the bathroom with a white t-shirt on. It didn’t hide much of what was going on with all that muscle underneath, but at least she was able to concentrate a little on eating and catching up on what he’d been up to for the last couple of days. They had to rush a bit so they could meet up with his guys then with Abuelita and Tia Santa.

As Lucy went to the door to leave, Blue pulled out a jersey and put it on.

“Oh no. You can’t wear that.” She knew he’d been to see a soccer game but didn’t realize he was a fan of the Cienciano team. Even a girl from New Mexico knew that Deportivo Garcilaso was the only team in Cuzco to root for.

“Cienciano is my team,” said Blue. “You should have seen them yesterday.”

“If I wanted to puke maybe.” Were they destined to end up on the wrong side of rivalries their entire life? “I only hate those guys mildly, say 25% of how I feel about New Mexico State Aggies—present company excluded—but Abuelita is likely to stroke out if she sees you wearing that.”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating,” said Blue, opening the door. “Without competition and rivalry, what good would sports be?”

Lucy stayed put. There had to be some way to convince him to change.

“We’re going to be late,” he said, “and I’m no Peru expert, but I’m pretty sure this is a free country.” He was smiling as he said it but Lucy was picking up a touch of that competitive wedge that had come between them back at Pineapple’s.

She didn’t want that. While she really did feel strongly about her university allegiance, the weeks that it had taken to get over that with Blue hadn’t been worth it. She could like him and love UNM at the same time. Abuelita, however, might feel differently.

As she walked past him she said, “Don’t be surprised if you see a 90-year-old woman take down a 250-pound fireman today.”

“Abuelita loves me.” Blue followed her into the hall and next door to the guys’ room. “She might tease me, but it’ll be all in fun.”

“Oh, poor, innocent little Blue. Compared to South American fútbol rivalries, college football is a playground spat.” She put one hand on his immense bicep and patted it in as patronizing a manner as possible. “It’s been nice knowing you.”

He laughed. “I seriously doubt Abuelita is going to forbid me from dating you just because I disagree with her choice of soccer team.”

“Forbid me from dating you? No. She’s more likely to rip your head off and plant it on a stake at the top of the Sacsayhuaman Ruins.”

That got Blue looking more serious and she hoped he was ready to abandon the hideous jersey. No such luck. His back straightened and he said, “She’ll have to reach my head before she can rip it off.”

That wouldn’t be a problem. “Do you remember Yoda, in the Star Wars prequels? He goes all Jedi on the bad guys and all of us just watched with our mouths hanging open? It’s gonna be like that.”

Nikola led the guys out of the room with Stone bringing up the rear. Lucy stared. Stone had a Deportivo Garcilaso jersey on!

Blue saw her notice; he’d obviously been waiting for it. Lucy wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of a reaction so she walked down the hallway hoping he couldn’t tell she was shaking her head and clenching her jaw.