August 20

Loon Call Island, Lake Rosseau, Muskoka

Reaching behind me, I grab Elle's hand, hauling her up the last rocky portion of the cliff. "Last bit. That is if Brodie ever decides we've reached whatever destination he had in mind."

Brodie's deep chuckle echoes lightly through the trees as he helps Tess up the next small ledge ahead of us. "Stop complaining, G. Or is the hockey team making you soft? Maybe you should pick up a second sport, like football, toughen you up a bit."

I flip Brodie a good-natured middle finger, used to his teasing about my only managing one varsity sport, compared to his star record for both football and hockey.

"Honestly, someone please just tell me we're nearly there. Wherever there is. I need a break, I need a swim, and I need something to eat." Tess throws her arm over Elle's shoulders, leaning on her exaggeratedly when we catch up to them, and I can see the twinkle in her eyes.

I can also see how happy Elle is to have Tess back, Steph too, but Steph'd had no interest whatsoever in joining us this afternoon, so we'd left her with Hud and Theo. They'd agreed to pick us up on the other side of the island later this afternoon.

"We're close, Tess, I'll feed you soon. How 'bout you walk up with me for a bit Ellie? Brodie tips her ball cap down over her eyes before walking ahead, pulling her with him as he wraps an arm over her shoulders...

When Elle throws a desperate glance back at me, sharing a pained look with Tess, I grin and wave at her. "Nice knowing you, babe."

We've been hiking for nearly two hours already, with no breaks. Brodie's six and a half foot frame, and the legs that go with it, set a brutal pace for Elle. But she's a trooper, and I know she wouldn't miss this day with him and Tess for anything. I watch as she trails behind him, laughing at something he's said, before she jumps up, and onto his back, clinging even as he tries to shake her loose.

"I don't know how he does it. God, baby bro, you might be carrying me home. Cause I know he won't. Or, well, maybe you can shove me down a hill, I can pretend to sprain my ankle. Then he might consider it."

Laughing, I shove my sister lightly. "Missed you. Because I did, I'll carry you home, with or without a sprained ankle."

"Oh yeah? Is that why you stopped answering my calls? Because you missed me too much? Why you aren't living at our cottage, even though I'm back?"

When I move to step away, to walk ahead, she grabs the fabric of my shirt. "Not so fast baby bro, walk with me. Talk with me."

When her arm slides around my ribs, I wait for the familiar prickle of discomfort to enter my body, and am a little shocked when it doesn't, so I let her keep her grip on me, sliding my arm over her shoulders to find a balance. It feels... nice.

If Tess is surprised, she doesn't say anything, but I feel her fingers clench on my t-shirt.

"I'm staying with Theo for a bit."

"Dad's not there, you know. He picked me up at the airport, we had dinner, then he dropped me off here. He gave me some things to think about."

"What things?"

"He wants me to live with him, between breaks at school, I mean. After the divorce."

Tightness squeezes my chest. I know Tess is moving to school, but the thought of her having a different home than me fills me with dread. "What did you say?"

She looks up at me, her big, brown eyes sad. "I asked him where you decided to live, or if you had decided." She shakes her head, looking away. "He told me you chose Mom. How could you choose, without at least talking to me? I'm not surprised, I would have supported you, but how could you just make that choice without me?"

"He never asked me if I wanted to come with him, Tess. I don't think he will."

Her shocked gasp catches in her throat as she stumbles over an upturned root. I grab her arm, steadying her, then turn to her. "What?"

I stare down at her, trying to decide how to tell her what I feel. "It doesn't matter, I wouldn't go, anyway. This is selfish, but I want you to live with Mom and me, when you're back from school for breaks. Hell, we can even live with Grandpa for all I care, or we can get a small place, just for us. I'll be eighteen in January, I can do that. I don't want to have a different home from you, even if you're only there a few weeks a year."

Tess smiles up at me, tears shining in her eyes. "You've gone soft, baby bro. But I like it. You're my home. I would never choose a home that didn't have you in it. How can you doubt that? It's you and me, always. I'll stay with Mom for now, we can talk about the long term later."

I hug her hard, blinking back the swarm of emotions inside. Her muffled laughter against my chest, followed by her squirming makes me step back, makes me release her with a cautious smile. "I love you, Tess." The words feel funny in my mouth, in my mind, and I blush, feeling the heat creep up my neck when she just stares at me.

When she says nothing, I grab her wrist, tugging her back along the path, wondering idly where Brodie and Elle might have hiked to. After a few steps, Tess stops me, pulling back hard on my grip, then launching into my arms. The force of her colliding with me sends me staggering back a few steps, but I catch myself, then hug her tight, relief, contentment, love surrounding me as her arms do.

"I love you too you big jerk. I'll always love you."

A short hike later, where we'd had to detour back twice to find Brodie and Elle leaves me frustrated, and Tess laughing. I eventually hear her musical laughter, using it like a beacon to her.

"Took you two long enough. What did you get lost?" Brodie tosses me a bottle of Gatorade, and I take it, moving to sit by Elle, happy when she settles herself between my legs and leans into me.

Tess stomps over to Brodie, dumping her small backpack on the ground then flopping down on his lap. "Not everyone has a mile-wide step, love. Plus, we had some family stuff to talk about."

"Figured." When Brodie kisses my sister, but says nothing else, I relax. I can always count on Brodie to be silently supportive. He never pushes, or I've never seen him push, felt him push. Sometimes, Brodie and I just sit for hours, neither one of us speaking, but somehow it doesn't feel weird. Other times, we can battle it out on the field, or the ice, our competitive sides taking over. But at the end of the day, no matter what's between us, we can shake it off.

"Why did you pick this spot? We haven't been here in ages." Tess looks around as she sips on her drink, munching on the grapes she'd packed before handing those around.

Brodie grins mischievously at her. "I'm surprised you don't remember. What was it, five, six years ago? You were eleven, Elle, right?"

I tighten my arm around her as I take in the vaguely familiar surroundings, my eyes coming to rest on the old stone barn cellar. Even though I haven't been back here since, I'll never forget that cellar.

"I was twelve, it was only four years ago, you were both my age now." Elle's voice is soft, like she isn't fully with us as she stares at the old stone barn.

Tess looks over at Elle and I, her hand flying up to her mouth. "I can't believe I forgot! That was the only thing anyone talked about for weeks, after."

Looking back at the barn, I shudder, pulling Elle closer to me, just because. When we'd hiked here last time, the entrance had been overgrown with weeds, and as Brodie chased Elle through the field, pretending to be a monster, she'd tripped and fallen right through the entrance, down into the dark cellar beneath, where the stairs had long since rotted, and it had been too far to pull her back out. Fortunately, she'd only been winded, and not seriously hurt, aside from a few bumps and bruises.

"I'll never forget the sounds you made, Elle, when you realized there were mice and or snakes or whatever down there." His laugh makes Elle sit up, glaring at him.

"That's not funny, Brodie, I was terrified. I was even starting to think there might be bodies down there. And you both, you just stood there."

"Well, there wasn't much we could do, you were too far down to reach, we had no rope, there was no way down, not that we would be able to get back out, anyway."

"Didn't stop my baby bro, though, did it?" Tess eyes me as she sips her drink.

I look down at Elle, smiling to myself when she repositions herself closer to me, cuddling into me, winding her fingers through mine.

"What were you thinking, when you jumped in after her? Even after we realized there was no way back up without a ladder or rope?" Tess smiles over at me, and I know she knows the answer, she's asked me this before. For some reason, she wants me to say it now. For her? For Elle? I don't know, but I resign myself to telling the group.

"I was thinking it's easy to be scared when you're alone, so I jumped in, that way she wouldn't be. If I could even take some of her fear, it seemed like a good idea." I smirk at Brodie, "Even if we were down there for over an hour, while you ran your slow, soft football ass home."

"Fuck you, Grey. It was over three kilometers, until those fucking walkie talkies were back in range, and I could tag Hudson to get Geordie to boat around with a ladder, then I had to run back."

"I think we all got cell phones the next day, if I remember correctly," Tess laughs, tossing me an apple from the bag. I grab my pocket knife, slicing it in half and handing a piece to Elle.

Elle's silence draws my attention to her, and I tip her chin up to meet my eyes. I'm surprised by what I see there. Love, yes, always, but this time, it feels like so much more.

She finally speaks, looking up at me, but I know the story is for everyone. "I don't even remember how long we were down there. I'm not sure it would have mattered. As soon as you were there, as soon as you picked me up, you never put me down. Even when I felt you getting tired, you refused to put me down, so I didn't have to think about the snakes, the bugs, or the mice. You told me not to worry about the dark, to close my eyes and listen to your heart, to pretend we were sleeping on the boathouse roof, like we'd done a hundred times before, that you would worry about the rest."

She whispers so softly, that only I can hear her. "That's when I knew I loved you, would probably always love you. Even though I didn't really know what love was."

I tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, away from her face with the tip of my index finger. I can't look away from her, from the love I see, from the trust in her eyes, from the memories. From everything I'd hoped to see there at the beginning of the summer, when I'd been so unsure of my way back.

Brodie clears his throat, jolting me back into reality, and I watch as Elle flushes, blinking quickly, turning her attention back to him and Tess. "That sure was some hero move, Grey. But, it looks like it got you the girl in the end, so I'd say well played. That's what I call playing the long game."

Tess shoves Brodie, making him laugh. "You're about as romantic as a bullfrog, Brodie." She turns her attention back to me, "I, for one, think it was romantic, brave. I think it shows that you can do anything, get over anything if you have someone you love with you."

Staring at my sister, I nearly groan, realizing she probably set this whole thing up. I realize as she looks at me with a smug smile on her face that she's used my own experiences against me, to teach me her twisted lesson.

Even as I realize it, I find I don't care. I'd jump back in that damned pit a hundred times to save her from her fear, from her loneliness.

I wonder if there is anything I wouldn't do to have her look at me the way she's looking at me now; like I'm the only hero she'll ever need.

- - -

brb, crying over here.

This is one of my favourite memories of Greyson, and Elle. I've been struggling to save this unitlt he end, because I think it says so much about his uncertain love for her.

No matter how he feels or thinks he feels, it is clear in his actions, in how he's always treated her, except for when he paniced and walked away.

I hope you're enjoying Elle and Greyson's story, and I hope you'll let me know what you love in the comments, or what I can improve! Don't forget to vote if you love them ;)

Xx Toria