"And the danger is that in this move toward new horizons and far directions, that I may lose what I have now, and not find anything except loneliness."

-Sylvia Plath

AS SOON AS Ember and Wrench were busy focusing on themselves, Levi and Iris tiptoed out of their not-so-clever hiding spot and scuttled away, both with wide, open mouths; faces the epitome of shock itself.

"Well that was a plot twist." Levi said loudly as soon as they were far away. It was fully dark outside now, only the fairy lights that were above could help them find their way back. They had to be quick, however – there was a curfew, and once the curfew was in place, the lights would be switched off and they would be stranded in the dark.

Iris tried thinking about what they had just witnessed and not the fact that Levi's hand was still in hers. "What do we do? Are you going to tell Chase?"

"Nah." Levi pulled a pained face, shadowed and dimly lit. "I can't tell someone else's secret. It's not right."

"Even if Chase hates you for it?"

He hesitated. "Yes."

They carried on walking in silence, fingers intertwined, with nothing but the occasional sounds of chatter from within the tents. After a long pause, Levi chuckled. "Also, do you really think I'd involve myself in that shitshow of a relationship?"

"You would be crazy to." Iris agreed, laughing too.

Eventually they reached Levi and Chase's tent, which was the closest out of the two. Neither Iris or Levi had spoken about their near-kiss earlier on, but perhaps it was due to the newer, more shocking bombshell that had recently exploded in front of their faces. Levi stopped, but then shook his head and carried on walking past their tent.

Iris frowned. "Where are you going?"

"Walking you back to you tent." Levi turned to smile at her, his eyes holding hers.

"I'm a gang leader." Iris dropped her hand, despite her heart lurching at his comment. She was still the girl she had been back in London; it wasn't like she couldn't fend for herself in any environment. "I can walk myself, you know."

They had stopped now. "I know," Levi admitted. "But I just wanted to be like people in real life. You know, to remind us that we aren't juvenile idiots living in a cheesy camp in the middle of nowhere."

Iris reached out and squeezed his hand. "I'm fine, honestly."

"Nope." He refused, pulling her along in the direction of her tent. He knew that she was putting on a front; that although they both knew she could walk alone, they also knew she wanted his company more than anything.

By the time they reached her tent, Iris was beginning to get more and more tired. She yawned, before looking up into Levi's eyes.

He really was something else. She was genuinely glad that she had met him. Although he was annoying at first, he was one of those people that you had to get to know in order to really understand him. To like everything about him.

Iris had figured out her developing crush when they were tangled in each others arms – but now, she didn't really know what to do with that information; how to process it fully. It was almost awkward, standing opposite Levi and looking into his eyes, knowing that she desperately wanted to kiss his face off if she was given the chance.

Slow down. Iris thought. Slow the fuck down, Iris.

Levi tucked a strand of hair away from her face. "Well, goodnight, sunshine."

Just as he started to walk away, Iris called out: "Hey, what happened to calling me Klutz?"

"I don't know." Levi shrugged, smiling. "Klutz was when I thought you were clumsy. That was underestimating you. I'd say sunshine suits better."

"Sunshine is unoriginal."

"I don't mean it in a 'ooh you light up my life' kinda way. Nah, I see it as the sun is like, the strongest star. That's why I think it works for you."

"Whatever." Laughing, Iris watched him leave, her eyes sparkling with the fuel he had ignited her body with. "Run, idiot, before the lights switch off!"

And then he was gone. Which was good, because he didn't get to see the huge, cheesy grin that she conveyed to the empty air around her, seeming to adorn every single feature on her once hopeless face.

♥♥♥

She didn't wait up for Ember.

Well, she tried to. But her eyes were drooping, her mouth was drooling, and she eventually made the half-conscious decision to speak to her in the morning, when she had the strength to drill into her what the hell had happened.

Which was exactly what she did.

As soon as both of their eyes were open the next morning, Iris bolted upright and glared at the sleepy, blissfully unaware juvenile on the opposite bed. "Where were you last night?"

Ember rubbed her eyes. "Huh."

"I said where were you last night?"

"Doing errands." Ember sat up, pulling her dark strands of hair into a loose bun on the top of her head. She looked extra tired today, and of course Iris knew exactly why: because she'd trudged back at some ridiculous hour in the morning, after having made-out with the guy that drove a knife into Iris' ribs. How she managed to find their tent without any lights after the curfew, was a complete other matter.

"Like what?" Iris was using the questioning tactic. Yes, she could get to the point and ask her why she was with Wrench, why she found him attractive, and so forth. Yes, really, she knew exactly where Ember had been that night, and yes, just plainly jumping into it would be a lot quicker, but she wanted to have fun. She also wanted to see if Ember would lie to her; whether she'd make up some excuse.

Ember frowned, staring at Iris. She was beginning to get suspicious. "Stuff. Since when do we get into each other's businesses?"

"Since now, because I want you to tell me the truth."

She had pissed Ember off, clearly. Ember threw off her bed covers and pulled her socks on, her eyebrows pulled low into a glare as she stared straight at Iris. Then she stood up, and said, "I was outside, making out with Wrench. There, are you fucking happy?"

"I know you were." Iris also stood so that they were at the same height. She was beginning to get déjà vu from their fight a while back. "I saw you. Why the hell did you do that?"

Ember reeled away, shoving her feet into her shoes and walking out of the tent. "Because he's hot, and because I fucking can."

Iris followed her. "You have a boyfriend, Ember. How is Chase going to feel about it? You'd better tell him, you know."

"We broke up, last night." Ember hissed, trying to avoid the stares from the other Campmates as they all walked in the direction of the breakfast hall. It was still the weekend, so daily activities wouldn't resume until Monday. At least Iris had that to rely on – having no time restraints meant that she could piss Ember off as much as possible.

"You broke up with him and then went straight to Wrench?" Iris shook her head in disbelief. "Wow."

Ember stopped in her step, shaking her head. Then, as her face warped into a look of sadness, she pushed past Iris and shouted, "Just – fuck off and leave me alone, would you?"

Sometimes Iris found it impossible to understand Ember. Not to know what she was thinking, but to actually comprehend Ember has a person. She was both inherently complex and ridiculously simple: a driving and consistent paradox that served to confuse Iris. Watching Ember flee to the lake, she sighed and headed to breakfast, feeling a tight knot in her chest. It reminded her of when she was younger, and the feeling she got whenever her and Matteo argued.

"You never see me anymore, Matteo," Iris had said to him once. "It's like you forget you even have a sister."

Matteo replied with a groan and a standard roll of his eyes. He had lost the thrill and excitement that used to sit comfortably on his features; making his expression softer and more approachable. Now he resembled her father more than anything – his dark, bushy eyebrows, his strong, jutting jaw and his constantly pursed lips, all helping to make her resent him. "Stop being so needy, Ris. You're fourteen years old, do you really need someone to play with?"

And then he shook his head as if he had lost all interest in her, not even noticing the life that had drained out of his own body, or the heartbroken look in his little sister's eyes.

"Iris."

Suddenly broken out of her daze, she turned to see Chase, standing next to her in the breakfast line. He looked tired: the bags under his eyes were darker than usual, and he seemed to have a permanent grimace stuck on his face. Chase didn't look like someone who would actively show his emotions, and his expression now clearly showed that – as if he didn't want to cry in front of anyone; instead he chose to bottle it in, locking it away so that it was buried, stowed, deep down in the pits of his heart.

"You're eating with us today, right?" He asked. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact, but his eyes briefly flitted across to her direction as he picked up his breakfast and walked towards their usual table.

Iris followed him, tight on his heels. Why had he asked her that? It wasn't like he normally took an interest in her presence. "Sure." She managed to mumble in reply, but it was lost within the chatter of the camp. Not that it mattered: Chase clearly hadn't been listening, anyway.

Sitting opposite him, she waited for a reasoning for his strange behaviour, but instead he sat eating his porridge, looking around as if expecting someone.

When Levi sat down around two minutes later, he eventually sighed, breaking his silence. "Iris I'm guessing you know, but Levi, I thought I'd tell you what's going on. Ember broke it off yesterday."

Levi shared a quick glance at Iris who looked away. She didn't want Chase to think that they knew more. She didn't want him to ask questions, and she didn't want him to get hurt even more by the events that occurred after their traumatic break up. She wanted him to be happy. But even that seemed like a lifetime away.

"Shit, man." Levi patted his friend on the shoulder. "She doesn't deserve you, you know."

Chase shook him off. "Yeah. But that's not it." He finished his mouthful and put down his spoon with  a clatter, rubbing some sleep from his left eye. "I've decided to go home. Home home."

Levi looked as if his whole world had come crashing down. Frozen, he stared at Chase, squinting his eyes, desperately analysing him as if he hoped something – anything would stop him from going. "Are you kidding?"

"Nah." Chase cleared his throat, avoiding his gaze. "I can't be here any more man. I talked to the camp tutors and they said I was due to leave soon anyway: I have enough points."

An uneasy silence seemed to have taken a seat beside them, settling so that they were avidly aware of the situation. It stared at them pervasively in their faces, daring them to oppose it – to try and push it away.

"But if you stay," Iris winced at her attempt to keep him there, "you can show her how much you care about her, you know?"

"I don't care about her anymore." Chase snapped.

Levi shook his head. "You do, man. I can tell you do."

"I don't. In fact, I never want to fucking see her again." He stood up, glaring at his two campmates and their concerned faces. Then he bit his lip, looking up into the sky as if preventing any tears from falling down his cheeks. After a few seconds, he blinked, and then spoke with a croaked voice. "So I'd appreciate it if you let me leave. Just - just don't try and stop me, okay?"

♥♥♥

Later that day, Chase had packed his bags, hugging them briefly and ignoring Ember's stare from the other side of camp. He nodded at Levi and Iris once, as well as a few of the other juveniles waving him goodbye, before getting in the car so that Lisa could drive him to the airport.

Within seconds, he was gone.

Iris and Levi, deciding subconsciously to ignore Ember, settled by their spot at the lake, leaning against the rocks. They chatted to each other softly, but neither of them could really comprehend everything that had happened.

"I can't believe both Hunter and Chase have gone." Levi said quietly. He had picked up a pebble from beneath him and was stroking it in his right hand, placing his finger over each dent and marking that was carved into its greyish face.

Iris gazed at him, trying to fathom his feelings. "It is weird. Like, how have they left so close within each other?"

Levi turned his head, craning his neck to look at Ember and Wrench as they sat together by a tree, oblivious to their surroundings. "Don't even get me started on those two."

"Why did she dump Chase for that-"

"Hey," Levi cocked his head, his eyes still glued to the monstrous juvenile with tattoos infecting his neck. "Didn't you say that Wrench was a gang leader?"

Iris frowned. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, someone with that much power and influence wouldn't just turn up out of the blue for no reason."

"I did." Iris pointed out.

"No, but you said your parents forced you to go because they didn't want you to do community service."

He was right; Wrench didn't have any reason to go to Camp Juvy. In fact, although he had been in trouble with the police back in London before, he had a track record for avoiding them and not getting caught. His arrival was certainly a shock, to say the least.

"I just find it weird that he's here." Levi scratched his pebble against another rock, finally breaking his eyes away from the scandalous couple and staring at Iris. "And he happened to arrive just as my brother suddenly decided to leave. And now Chase? Whether or not Chase and Hunter know it, I feel like he has something to do with it."

"You think Hunter didn't just leave, then?"

Levi shrugged. "I think he might be in danger, but I need more proof."

Iris tucked some loose strands of hair back behind her ear that were blowing across her face. Then it was her turn to settle her eyes on Wrench: watching him now, not with an air of disgust but with an air of suspicion.

He had done something, she was sure of it. Wrench had brought down a change in Camp Juvy, and it was time to figure out just exactly why.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

AUTHORS NOTE: Halloooooo!!!! Sorry for the delay, I've been on holiday for a week so I couldn't exactly access my computer!

This is a long (ish) chapter so hopefully I didn't bore you all!!!!

What did you think?

Are you suspicious of Wrench?

And Chase leaving!!!! Damn. It's all beginning to get juicy guys, stay tuned :)