It was only weeks ago, a morning hijINKs update would have been about fluffy bunnies or glitter bombs, yet it felt more like years. Instead of exciting everyone, the update turned into subdued little worker bees, floating through their work in a cloud of smoke.

Hours later, while fish sent from the Dell was being prepped for dinner, Dean and his friends trudged back into camp, each carrying armfuls of firewood. There was no verbal apology, but they dropped their hauls off at my feet, before skulking off to help with something that wasn't their job. It was a better apology than a word.

Full for the first time in nights, I sat by one of the fires after dinner. As I peered into the pit and the dancing flame within it, I was thankful for the respite from complaints and tension. But if we didn't get phase two going soon, it would return.

Kellen and Jackson were coming to join me, having just finished eating. Kellen—and his gun—had disappeared after running Dean out of camp and resurfaced only as dinner was wrapping up. His injuries hadn't been looked at, nor would he let anyone do it. I watched as he swatted a medic away from him in annoyance as he approached, I shook my head and gestured for the bag.

Kellen stretched out on the ground and rested his head on the rock I sat on, leaving the other available seat to Jackson. Within two minutes, everyone who sat with us was made uncomfortable enough by our broody silence to leave. When the medic's bag dropped at my side, I pulled Kellen's head into my lap offering him no way out. Jackson chuckled but made no comment.

"A gun, Kels, what were you thinking?" I sighed.

He grunted in pain as I dabbed at the wound that Dean's attack had opened up. I examined it carefully, but I didn't think it would need stitches. In any case, they wouldn't be done in the dark if he did need them, so it would wait till morning. It did however need a good cleaning with alcohol. He didn't answer my question, so focused on gritting his teeth and digging his nails into his palms as the alcohol stung the gash.

"Kels?"

"Katie gave it to me before we left the academy. I figured it would be safer to have it, just in case."

"To use against our classmates?! Why did she even have it? And what if someone else found it?"

"Nicole," he sighed, a rare time he called me by my actual name. "They were past listening. I just needed to scare them." I would have protested but he opened his eyes and held my gaze. "Or would you rather me let them break you again?"

I sucked in a breath and averted my eyes from the look he was giving me. I couldn't formulate a response for all the somersaults my stomach was doing.

Jackson took my discomfort as a cue for him to speak. "So, we've got to do something, yeah?"

"That's what our meeting with the others tomorrow night at the Dell is about," I said. "Brian, Robert and Emma will be in charge here while we're gone."

Kellen pried his head out of my grip to sit up, and relocated himself to a vacated rock across the fire from me. "Good. Let's figure out who we could send to town."

"Where's Jess?" Jackson looked around as if he wouldn't start without her. "Wasn't she coming tonight?"

"I thought she was, but no," I grumbled; she'd sent a note with the fish.

"Is your side of the cabin too cold and lonely?" Kellen teased.

The blinds were all tiny, barely big enough for three bodies squeezed together. There were some complaints over it, but the proximity to others kept us warmer.

"So you two are planning to cuddle to keep warm?" I snickered. "Is that what you're telling me?"

Kellen, appalled by my suggestion, mumbled, "With how small the place is..."

"You can join us if you'd like, Nic!" Jackson snorted, "We can keep you warm!"

"As if I'd touch that with a 30 foot pole, Jacks! Anyway, brainstorm!" I commanded.

Our strategizing didn't last long. We called it quits after the third interruption from Jackson's flavour of the day coming over to repeatedly check on how he was doing. I hoped we'd fare better with the others tomorrow. We needed a crew on it's way to civilization and aid two days ago!

-.-

There was a giggle from the other side of my cabin. I pulled my hat low so it covered even my eyes, as if that would somehow limit the interruption. No such luck. Apparently the people on the other side of my room had not seen the afternoon's hijINKs memo: 

Soon there was shuffling on my side, and I yanked my hat off and sat to examine my space in the moonlight. A sleeping bag dragged along the floor till it settled beside mine and I trailed my eyes up it to its owner.

"Sorry." Kellen whispered as he crawled into the bag. "Looks like I'm joining you tonight."

I wanted to be annoyed at him, but as more giggling and swishing sounded from his side, I let him stay.

"See?" He chuckled mildly and laid down. "Doesn't matter that Jess isn't here, you still got someone to keep you warm!"

"Did you forget I can punch you, Kels?"

"Sorry. I forget you're not Jackson and..."

"And what?" I sniped.

"And... well... we're not really friends, are we?"

I stared at his sleeping bag, shock and irritation fighting for a stronghold over my emotions.

"Not friends?" My whisper was so quiet, Kellen sat up to peer at me as if he was unsure I'd said it.

After all the time we'd spent together, just him and I, I thought we were becoming friends. Besides, Katia had implied―what did she know, anyway? She was as much a part of his inner circle as I apparently was, despite her suspicions.

"Cole?"

"Goodnight, Kellen."

I tried to lay back down and turn away before he could see my hurt, but his arm shot out in front of me, turning me back to him. He peered into my face, his expression apologetic and concerned.

I shoved my hair back as I stared him down. "What does your joke have to do with me not being Jackson, and us not being friends, Kellen?"

"I can say dumb inappropriate shit to Jackson and it doesn't matter. And a friend would have laughed and not threatened to punch me."

"Yeah, well, inappropriate jokes with friends never work so well for me. People always end up thinking―"

"Can you guys just shut up and bone already? You're killing the mood!" The girl sighed dramatically.

"You need a mood?" I sniped at Jackson's plaything through the wall and Kellen stifled a laugh. The girl grumbled some choice things about me being a bitch, but never once did the mood actually seem to be killed.

"Ew!" I mouthed to Kellen. "See? That's what happens, people say shit like that."

"Okay, so no jokes," he whispered again. "Only deep touchy feel-y talks."

I tried unsuccessfully to hold back a tiny smile, not being able to help where my mind went at that moment. "Take back touchy feel-y and we have a deal."

"But then all we have is sitting in the dark and that's no fun! I like tou―"

"Say it and you'll be sleeping outside, Kels."

"Fine. Fine." He swatted my hand away from his mouth. "No touchy feel-y talks, just deep-"

"Ew!" I was blushing, why was I blushing? "Stop that!" 

"Hey, I'm just talking. You're the one whose mind is in the gutter!"

"Whatever. Can we just agree not to use the words deep or touchy feel-y tonight?"

Despite what I'd just said, I undid my sleeping bag so it was one layer and spread it out. The space was so tight that the ends curled over on both sides of the room. Kellen watched me cautiously as if he thought I was testing him, before settling down on it and helping me smooth it down. We undid his sleeping bag silently and laid down under it.

It was how Jess and I sometimes slept. Friends. I told myself as I tucked a corner of the blanket under me. We were doing 'friends.' Kellen's arm curled around my middle and pulled me against him, not that there was much space between us anyways given the limited room.

My heart began to pound from the proximity and then with a grin I could hear, he whispered in my ear, "I like touchy feel-y!"

He sounded so proud of outsmarting me and finishing his earlier sentence, so despite the rush of heat that surged through my body, I elbowed him. "Oof!"

"Hey, what happened to all the dirty talk guys? It was really doing it for us!"

"Jackson!" I growled as Kellen laughed outright.

I seriously debated crossing sides to bludgeon his face, but really didn't want to see any body parts. It was bad enough that I had to hear what was happening. The giggles, the rhythmic swishes of fabric, the heavy breaths and the giggles. The damned giggles.

This was going to be a long night.

But all noise stopped abruptly, a feminine "Wha?" alerting us to the fact that it had been Jackson's doing.

"Wait. You guys aren't doing what she said, are you?"

"No." Kellen's tone was even, despite that he struggled to hold me back as I lunged for the partition.

I would murder that idiot, naked body parts or not!

"Good. Because I'd have to kill you."

I almost laughed at Jackson's overprotective tone, but then the noises started up once more.

"Kels? Please, please, please burn my ears off."