The party is marked with a huge bonfire at the center of a cleared area around the desert bushes. Not the best idea to have a fire of that size so close to dry bushes, but I'm trying to stay positive about this party. A group of Originals teenagers and adults dance around the fire to music strummed from an acoustic guitar. Nina's. Flynn O'Brien finally has his audience, and they listen and celebrate as he plays some upbeat song from before the blast about how life is good.

Some of the adults my dad usually hunts with caught a few snakes, which they've skewered and now cook on the outer, less intense curls of flame from the fire.

The rest of the Originals undress down to their underwear, and wade in the water, letting their bodies adjust to the cold gradually. Personally I think it's a bit too cool, even in the desert, to go swimming, but the blazing fire warms the area, and if I can't enjoy all my adolescence like these idiots, then at least I can enjoy what I have left this evening. With my jumpsuit on at all times, of course. None of the Originals need to see me in my underwear.

Dressed only in his boxer shorts, Julian finds us and trudges from where he's been playing in the water to greet us. Celia waves, then turns back to whisper, "Do you see his abs?"

I'm trying not to, but yes, they're there and easy to spot. Daniel has always been prone to jealousy, so I take his hand and squeeze his fingers between mine. But instead of staying silent, he smiles at Celia and says, "Try not to get too distracted." She laughs and turns back around as Julian approaches.

"Hey guys. Welcome to the party," he says. "Have you ever been to an Original party before?"

Daniel shakes his head, as does Celia, but I can't help but let a little bitterness slip out. "Nope, every time I'm around Originals, I'm either working to make inventions for them, fighting to protect them, or being held prisoner."

Celia forces a laugh. "Isla," she sighs to Julian, who looks like he's mostly just confused about my comment. "She's so funny."

"Oh okay," he says, letting out a delayed, fake laugh to match Celia's, then he lets his eyes linger on Celia's face for a little longer than is comfortable for me to witness.

"So, time to swim?" I ask.

"Yes," Julian says to me and Daniel. He looks back to Celia. "Bueno. Te gustaría nadar conmigo?"

Whatever he said has caught Celia off guard. She blushes. "I, uh, can't swim. I never learned."

Julian waves her concern away. "I'm a fantastic swimmer, I'll teach you. C'mon," he says, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the lake.

Daniel and I stand back, watching our little sister run off with a boy who seems just as bubbly as her. From our safe distance, we watch Julian try his best not to stare at Celia as she tentatively removes the fabric from around her body. I laugh to myself, until I realize that Daniel is staring at me with the same longing eyes Julian has for Celia.

"What?" I ask.

He laughs. "Can't I look at you?" he asks, and then, just like Julian's focus on Celia, Daniel's gaze stops on my lips longer than is normal. He leans toward me and kisses me gently, much less impassioned than he had when I found him, but no less loving. "Our first lake party," he says.

I turn my head slightly to see Julian leading Celia down the diving board. "Our first double date."

Daniel straightens up, and, taking my hand, leads me to the place on the shore where the swimming Originals have left their clothes. He begins to undress.

"You're going in with just your boxers?"

He shivers, and goose pimples cover his skin. "Now I'm rethinking it, but I'd rather be warm later."

He pulls down the pants of his jumpsuit, but before I pull a Julian and look away with blushed cheeks, I notice him remove a small drawstring bag from his pocket. He wraps the bag in his jumpsuit and sets them down carefully onto the sand.

I look away, even though it's Daniel. From across the lake, I see a group of older Originals including Dr. Guzman coming from camp with bottles of wine.

"Well?" Daniel asks, and I turn to see him in his boxers. "Are you going in?"

"Yeah," I say, making eye contact. "I'm going in in my jumpsuit, though."

He shrugs. "Suit yourself." He stretches his hand out to me, and I take it. Together we make our way into the line for the diving board.

A shivering Celia comes up behind us. "That was so fun," she says through chattering teeth. Julian appears beside her with a blanket he must have brought, and wraps it around her, even though he's shivering too.

"Yeah?" I ask, smiling at the two of them. "Fun enough to freeze afterward like you two are?"

Julian laughs the question away. "That's what bonfires are for."

"True," I concede. I turn back around to give the kids their space, but I still keep my ears open to eaves drop.

We take a step forward as an Original boy races to the end of the diving board, which actually looks more like a Pirate's plank now that I'm about to walk it, and flips into the belly of the lake. Ooo's and ahh's circulate through the crowd, followed by cheers when he resurfaces smiling.

"Bueno," Julian says after the cheers for the boy settle. "¿Qué debo saber sobre ti?"

Note to self: Learn Spanish.

"I don't know. What do you want to know?" Celia asks.

"Whatever you want to tell me. Like... I don't know, how long were you at Cooper's estate?" he asks.

"Only a month or so," Celia says, lying as convincingly as she did to Cooper when he asked us what we were up to in the bathroom at night.

"That's really lucky. I heard there were girls who were there for years."

I hear her insincerity when she says, "No, that would have been terrible." If only Julian knew she wasn't just one of the girls there for years. She was the girl.

Why did she lie?

I turn around. "Hey Julian, before I forget, can you ask your dad about the project he's working on for me. I don't want to lose my place in line. I checked in with him earlier, but I'm curious if they made any more progress after I left."

"Oh sure," he agrees willingly. He rubs his hands over the tops of Celia's arms to warm her up a bit before he leaves, and runs over to the bonfire where Dr. Guzman is drinking wine with the others.

Celia watches him run off, but once Julian is out of earshot, I tap her on the arm. She's still smiling, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Hey, I didn't mean to be listening in on your conversation," I lie, making my next question hypocritical, "but why did you lie back there?"

"When?" she asks.

Um, like the one big time you lied, I think, but she's my friend, so I approach it more gently. "He asked how long you were at Cooper's estate. You said a month."

"Isla...." Daniel says, keeping his back to Celia so only I can hear him.

Celia's eyes widen, and she's caught in my gaze. "I... I don't know."

"Sure you do. Why did you lie?" I ask. "It's not important, I'm not mad or anything, but you seem to like him so... why not tell him the truth?"

"I don't know, it just slipped out."

"That's fine. It's okay," Daniel says, turning around to stop the conversation just in time for Julian to return.

"He said they'll be testing the liquid out tomorrow once we're packed up and on the road," Julian reports back.

"That's awesome," I say, waving back to Dr. Guzman. "Well... thanks for checking on that. I feel a lot better."

"Yeah, no problem," Julian replies.

He and Celia continue talking, only now exclusively in Spanish. I feel bad. I shouldn't have been so nosy, and I know Daniel agrees. It's our turn, so we step onto the plank together, inching our way into the lake. We're a couple of feet away from shore where Celia and Julian wait their turn when he whispers, "Sometimes people don't want to talk about things Isla, and that's okay."

"Yeah, but friends share stories," I say.

"Some stories are private." He pauses and checks over his shoulder to make sure Celia and Julian are still busy in conversation. "He doesn't need to know what Cooper and all of those assholes did to her. Celia is lucky to be so positive and grounded. Let her lie about her past. What difference does it make?"

I can't think of a single answer. "You're right," I say.

"Hurry up," someone from the shore yells at us.

"Yeah, okay, let's go," Daniel says, and tightens his grip around my hand, ready to sprint down the narrow plank.

"What if we fall?" I ask.

"Then we fall. It's only water," he says.

Without giving me a moment to consider it, he pulls me with him as we run down the plank. I'm losing my balance, feeling the rickety posts wobbling in the lake beneath us, but Daniel keeps my momentum going. Faster and faster down the wobbling wood, and then, I trip over the next plank, nailed at such an angle that it juts out above the others. Daniel tries to run a bit farther, but I instinctually grip him with my other hand, and together, we fall backwards into the lake.

The impact of the cold water against my skin shocks my eyes open. Beneath the water's surface, the rays of setting sunlight pierce through the lake with golden beams, illuminating wreckage from before the blast. A school bus, a small yacht.

Once the bubbles disappear from around us, Daniel and I release each other's hands, and paddle ourselves up to the surface.

The fall air freezes my face, and I wipe the water from my eyes, laughing. My teeth chatter, which only makes my laugh sound more choppy and ridiculous. Daniel and I both burst into hysterical laughter, and I kick my legs up to float on my back until I catch my breath. Daniel does the same, and like sleeping river otters, we interlace our arms.

From where we float, I see Celia and Julian run past us into the water, and after them, a train of Original teens run to the end of the plank, jumping in. The waves from their cannonball jumps send water over my face, and I cough to get it out of my nose. Then I feel someone on my leg.

"Hey," I shout, tilting my head up to see who is touching me, when I see Celia laughing.

"My very own life preserver," she jokes, still gripping my leg.

Until the sky turns purple with night, I backstroke around the shallows of the lake, pulling Celia behind me by my feet. Daniel helps by doggie paddling behind us, occasionally moving Celia's feet so she's kicking in the water. Julian bobs beside her, cheering her on, and telling her she looks like various sea creatures. First a dolphin, then a shark when she let her face dip into my water, and finally a mermaid. "They're real!" he calls. "Mermaids are real, we caught one right here! Don't let her go!"

Celia laughs hysterically.

I've never seen her so happy. This may be the best night of her life so far, and once my body adjusts to the temperature, I have to admit, it's one of my best nights in a long while too. In the water, I can forget blood and death and war. With my ears submerged beneath the surface, all I can hear is muffled laughter and soothing white noise. As long as I ignore the spoiled Originals who share the lake with us, I can allow my heart to swell with joy.

Once it becomes dark, we decide to get out of the water, and race to the bonfire to warm up. Everyone at the lake party now sits around the fire, and I finally see why they made it to be so huge. One of the older Originals throws wood into it to feed the growing flames, while the other older Originals pass around the last few bottles of wine. The younger Originals laugh, chat, and play hand games. Julian brings Celia around to meet them all, even though they won't be coming with us.

After Daniel gets dressed and places the pouch back in his pocket, we take seats on a piece of driftwood beside Flynn. Nina's guitar is propped up on the driftwood behind him, and now he keeps his hands from being idle by cupping them around a bottle of wine all his own.

When he sees it's us who have sat beside him, he greets us with a wide purple smile and open arms. I laugh as I return the hug, patting him twice on the back.

"Care for a sip?" he asks us, offering the bottle to us.

"No thanks, Flynn," I say. I've tried wine before. Ben used to collect bottles he found in his basement, and last Christmas, our parents finally shared a glass with us. I'm not sure why I expected it to taste sweeter, but the wine was so bitter that I nearly spit it out. Ben laughed and said, "Don't waste sixty-year-old Merlot." Daniel drank it in one gulp, but made a disgusted sound and stuck out his tongue when he had finished. Our parents laughed at us, and then Ben promised we wouldn't have to try it again.

I suspect that maybe this question could be a trigger for Daniel, since his dad was a collector. I anticipate Daniel's happiness deflating, and a premature departure. But Daniel smiles at Flynn, and accepts the bottle. "Thanks," he says. He takes a swig, and again, swallows it down. But just like the last time, he sticks his tongue out in disgust.

Flynn laughs like our parents did. "Didn't you like it?"

Daniel returns the bottle to Flynn and wipes off his mouth. "No," he coughs. "My dad was a collector, though."

"Ah," Flynn grunts. "Reminds you of him then, does it?"

Daniel reaches into his pocket where the locket and the ring are. "Yeah, it does." He smiles a bit to himself. "Thanks for sharing with me."

"Anything for you, Danny Boy."

Danny Boy. I want to laugh at Flynn's drunkenness. He retrieves Nina's guitar, and, as he readies it on his lap, shouts, "Hey! Hey! A song for Danny Boy."

The party goers around our side of the fire at least quiet down, and Flynn begins to play a slow song that seems to be written for his accent. The first line, "Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling." Daniel and I laugh at the repetition of the silly nickname, until we see that the smile has escaped Flynn's face and that many of the older Originals listen seriously. As he continues, I hear why: "But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying. If I am dead, as dead I well may be, ye'll come and find the place where I am lying, and kneel and say anave there for me."

For a moment, Flynn squints his eyes and I think he may cry, but then he remembers his drunkenness. "Oh shit," he says, "that song's too bloody sad for a party. How about this one?" A smile lights up his face, as he begins some peppy song about not worrying.

As the older Originals begin clapping and singing along, Dr. Guzman among the loudest of them, Daniel asks if I want to take a walk with him. I nod, and we excuse ourselves from the sing along. There's a torch dug into the dirt for extra light, and Daniel steals it. He puts his finger to his lips and whispers, "We only need it for a bit."

Daniel leads me through a nearby brush, past the dried bushes I had noticed earlier and into a sunken part of the area, the full moon and the torch lighting our path. We climb up a slight hill to a formation of rocks, where the torch illuminates a cave in the rocks.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask him.

"You'll see. We're almost there." We climb up a few more slight ridges until we are at the mouth of the cave. "In here," he says, lighting the way.

We walk into the darkness together, and once we are a good distance into the cave, Daniel holds the torch to the cavern walls. There, in the glowing light, I see pictures drawn on the walls. There are many human figures drawn with large torsos, short limbs, and rounded heads. Around them are animals. Cows, buffalo maybe, dogs? Four legged creatures. Still, as Daniel pass the light over the wall, it seems to tell a sort of story.

"Petroglyphs," Daniel explains. "I found them the other day, so I asked about them. They are over 5,000 years old."

"Wow," I say to myself, trying to figure out the story on the wall. "I never thought I'd see these in person."

"I know, they're incredible. I found this cave earlier today when I was taking a walk on my break. Seeing these petroglyphs made me realize that everything becomes a story. Every single thing we experience, even the boring stuff... all the hardships we go through, it all becomes part of our story. And even if no one cares, or even if you think your story is pointless, you have to own it. You have to record your story on stones, on pages of a journal, in song, or even just in the memories of your friends. Whatever you do, you just get this one story to write, this one wall to fill, and you have to love it. You have to appreciate it."

"Yeah," I say, still in awe of the cave drawings. I touch my fingertips to the cool stone walls and think about all the people who must have touched this wall before me.

"I don't keep a journal and I don't write music or paint. All I've ever done was survive, experiment, and love you. You have always been part of my story, and I want to continue writing my life with you."

The tone has shifted. We're not talking about history anymore, we're talking about us, and Daniel is twitching his fingers like he's nervous. I pull away from the petroglyphs as he swallows hard, sets the torch against the opposite wall so it doesn't harm the cave walls, and removes the drawstring bag from his pocket. A nervous, excited energy starts coursing within me.

Daniel takes a deep breath and removes a ring. "My mom gave me this when we were back home. Apparently it was my great grandmother's ring. These stones here are sapphires, her birthstone. This ring was part of her story, but now I want it to be part of ours. You deserve a ring you can wear."

He kneels to the ground.

"So I'm just going to pick up where I left off before I was collected." He clears his throat. "I already asked you this, but this time, I wanted to do it right. Isla Rebecca Blume, will you, after all this time, finally, officially agree to marry me one day? After we fight, and after some time passes, of course. So... if you want," he says with a hint of the same anxiety he had the first time he asked in the safe room, "we can make new stories as new people together."

The nerves ignite inside me, shooting fireworks of white hot joy into my cheeks. I burst with a giddy laugh. "Like I said the first time, yes."

His lips widen into a smile and in the glow of the torch light, his eyes burn as bright as the sun. He stands up and pulls me into a kiss.

With his lips pressed to mine, I can almost forget I'm in a cave in Arizona. Instead, I imagine we're back in the safe room the night he first asked me, and nothing at all has changed except that I have kissed him like I wish I would have. We are all still together, safe beneath the blankets. I rewrite history in my mind. A history where Daniel and I don't worry how our mothers will react to our news, and we just tell them the next morning. Our fathers aren't in the field for privacy, because we are all celebrating together, hidden in the safe room. Ben is there for his son's wedding. We continue our simple life of survival, clueless of government conspiracies, spaceships, and rebel scientists. An entire war wages without our knowing.

But our real history played out differently, all because I wasted time being afraid to love Daniel openly. I'll never waste any more time not loving him again.

Daniel and I kiss until the torch burns out.