-Troy-

Later that evening, Sky lit up the campfire so we could eat something. We'd brought a huge amount of different kinds of food and marshmallows and sodas with us, so we weren't going to run out of things to eat that day.

I knew I was probably being really lame, since I found it exciting to stab a sausage with a stick and dangle it over the fire for a couple of minutes. I had never been camping before, so everything was new to me. The rest of us were being pretty loud and having fun, but Luke was silent most of the time. He let out a chuckle now and then, so I assumed he was having fun.

Once we all had our stomachs full, he suddenly started getting up from the ground.

"I'll go take Bella for a short walk."

I turned to look at him, now up on his feet. "Why?" I asked before I could stop myself. The second that question slipped out of my mouth, I realized that Luke probably needed some time alone.

"I don't want to step in her shit," Luke shrugged, and grabbed Bella's leash. "She'll do it here if I don't take her for a walk."

"O-Oh..." I chuckled and stood up, too. "Do you want company?"

"If it's only you, then yes," Luke said with a smile.

"Rude," Max retorted, but he seemed way too comfortable sitting next to the log, leaning on Sky's shoulder, to actually want to come with us.

"He's too hyper," Luke said, pointing at Sky, "I need a break."

Sky just laughed at his words. I couldn't understand why Sky never got offended by the things Luke occasionally blurted out.

"What's so funny?" Max asked.

"That was exactly what a wolf would say," Sky grinned, and I could tell Max and Luke were just as lost as I was.

"And how would you know what a wolf would say?" I asked. I really was curious because Sky knew so much about animals, and I knew he had a logical answer.

"Have you ever seen dogs playing, and then, all of a sudden, the other one bites his mate harder to make them stop and go away?" Sky asked.

"I don't bite!" Luke exclaimed.

"It's their way of saying, you are being too hyper, and I need a break," Sky continued. "It's also a way for older dogs – for all animals – to inform the younger ones that they are crossing boundaries."

"Could you please inform him I'm not a wolf?" Luke asked me before he started walking toward the forest. "Or do I need to bite?" He added with a raised voice.

"Don't worry – he likes being referred to as a wolf," I whispered to Sky, before I ran after Luke.

Bella barked at me in excitement when I caught up with them. Luke looked at me with squinted eyes, but I just petted his head. He shoved my hand away with an annoyed grunt.

"Are you making fun of me?" he asked.

"Please – like there's anyone who has the guts to make fun of Luke Frost," I smirked.

"But you have the guts to treat me like a dog," he spoke.

"Well, sometimes I like living on the edge," I told him, and grabbed a stick from the ground. "Want to play fetch?"

"I'm not a dog!"

"I was talking to Bella," I chuckled, and threw the stick when Bella realized I had it. She sprinted after it, and we watched her go in silence. Then I took a deep breath. "You're edgy."

"Am not..."

"I know why," I said quietly, thinking about the hill. That hill.

"I'm not edgy," he replied.

"And you're tired," I said and took the stick from Bella, who had returned to us.

"I'm not tired."

I stopped and laughed a moment before I managed to smother it. "This is such a mature conversation we're having," I noted.

He stayed silent and glared at me for a moment, before he continued walking deeper into the forest. It was already dark, so I decided to follow him and make sure he didn't go too far and get lost. I barely saw our campfire behind the dark silhouettes of the trees.

"Dude, talk to me," I sighed, and he slowed down.

"There's nothing to talk about," he grunted.

"Yeah, right," I mumbled.

He looked at me shortly and stopped with a sigh. He didn't say anything at first, and he turned to look up at the sky. I stopped next to him, keeping my mouth shut and giving him all the time he needed. Eventually, he turned to look at me.

"Every time someone mentions this place, I see the hill. It's just a short moment and I usually just ignore it, but it does cross my mind every time. I am fine. I was fine when I agreed to come here with you guys. I was fine standing on that hill, and I am fine now. But... I won't forget it. I can't just act like this place doesn't mean anything to me either, but I don't need to talk about it."

"Are you–"

"End that sentence and I will bite you," Luke said, and I slapped my hands over my mouth. "Good. That's really annoying."

I lowered my hands and hesitated for a moment, before I decided to say what was on my mind. "I just wish I could help."

"This isn't something I need help with," he shrugged. "All I need right now is company."

"That's why I'm here," I said, and patted his arm.

"Yeah," he uttered, grabbed my hand when I tried to move it away, and pulled me into a hug.

I hugged him tightly and buried my head in his shoulder. "Did I ever tell you I like hugs, too?"

He chuckled and squeezed me as hard as a guy that big possibly could. I could hear my back letting out small cracks, but I just smiled. We stayed like that for a moment until Luke finally let go of me.

"We should probably get back. Bella should be ready by now," he spoke, and whistled to get her attention.

We returned to the campsite in silence, and I had to admit that Max was right when he said that we would get sleepy earlier than usual. I was so happy we had the tents and beds ready, because I was suddenly getting really tired.

It took us a few moments to get ready for bed – we all were yawning like crazy – but soon we crawled into our tents. I slept with Luke and Bella, who had a blanket of her own by the door. I started getting undressed as soon as Luke had zipped up the tent, and I saw him peering at me a couple of times. Otherwise he was being a gentleman, and tried to avoid looking at me, which I found funny.

"Dude, you've seen me countless times in the shower," I chuckled, and even in the dim light of our electronic lantern, I could see him blush.

"Uhh... Actually, it's just a few times..." he mumbled.

"How's that possible?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, you may have not noticed, but I don't take showers at the same time as you..." he spoke even more quietly.

"What? Why not?" I asked, and I suddenly realized he was right. He always hurried into the shower before anyone else, or waited until the rest of us were done.

"Why not, he asks..." Luke chuckled, and took off his jacket.

"O-Oh..." I spoke, and rubbed the back of my neck. "But I've seen you many times."

"Pervert," he replied, making me laugh. "Peeking at naked guys in the shower..."

"I wasn't checking you out or anything!" I explained.

"That's too bad," he said, and pulled the rest of his shirts off. While flexing his muscles.

"How do you even look like that?" I asked, feeling a faint hint of red creeping up on my cheeks as well. "Mr. Steroid?"

"Good genes and hell of a lot of working out. Ma – Gwen – used to be into bodybuilding. I guess it was her way to deal with her gender dysphoria. I started working out in hopes to sleep better, and I think it worked. Then I got really into it – although some people think I may have gone too far..." he spoke, bringing his balled fists together, flexing his whole upper body.

I opened my mouth a couple of times before I coughed. "I may be gayer than I thought..."

He gave me a smirk, looking at me under his thick eyebrows.

"Put a shirt on! I'm freezing just by looking at you!" I chuckled, grabbed his abandoned hoodie, and tossed it at him.

"Yeah. Freezing. Got it," he said with a playful wink, but he fished a clean, long-sleeved shirt from his bag and put it on.

I continued changing my clothes as well, and just a moment later, I lay down on my mattress and turned off the light. Bella circled around us for a moment before she found her spot by our feet.

"It's quite cold out here," I spoke out loud, pulling the blanket tighter around myself.

I probably should have guessed that Luke wouldn't just agree with me and leave it at that. I felt him grabbing my mattress with two hands and pulling it right next to his. I laughed lightly when he moved closer to me and placed his blanket on me before lying down so close to me I could feel his breath on my face. I expected him to put his arm around me, but he didn't. I supposed he was still too shy to do such audacious things to me. I smiled, rested my hand on his side, and only a moment later, I felt his hand landing on mine.

"Goodnight," I whispered.

"Goodnight," he replied, pulling me gently closer.

-Luke-

I thought I wouldn't get any sleep that night. The hard mattress, the chilly air and the sounds of the surrounding forest should've made falling asleep nearly impossible for me. But I slept like a baby. Well, I did wake up a couple of times, but I still slept better than usual.

When I woke up in the morning, my body was aching a bit, but at least it was warm under the blankets. Troy was still asleep next to me, and Bella was warming up our feet – she had snuck under our covers almost immediately – and all I could hear was the wind and thousands of birds around us. There had to be thousands of them. It was so noisy. And yet, I hadn't woken up until now. The sun was already up, but no matter how long I listened, I didn't hear anything from the other tent. It was only seven in the morning, so I doubted Max and Sky were awake yet.

I turned my attention back to Troy. Then I remembered the hill. It was odd to be so close to that one place where I had made the worst decision of my life. It really was a miracle I was still alive. I had almost forgotten how big of a drop it was from the ledge. Even the tallest trees couldn't reach that high. And here I was, with only a bad knee reminding me of what I had done.

I had told Troy the truth when I said I was fine. Being on the hill for the first time after the accident hadn't changed anything in me. I wasn't afraid of that place, and standing there didn't pull me back into the darkness. I couldn't say it didn't affect me at all, but it was more like finding peace rather than being disturbed by it.

It was the biggest mistake I had ever made, but I had survived. I could see the light now. I had a long way to go before I would get my head back together, but I could see the light.

To be honest, at that moment, I felt so positive I started to think that things between me and Troy could actually work out. It was a nice feeling. I was so tired of living in doubt all the time. I wanted to trust in my odds. I had wanted to kill myself and I survived. Troy was sleeping in my arms. I had friends who, against all odds, still tolerated me. Scratch that, they had asked me to come camping with them, so they probably even liked me.

I nearly freaked myself out when I realized I was smiling. For some reason, Max had always tried to be friends with me, no matter how badly I treated everyone. Sky, that massive brainfart, thought I was a nice guy, even after I had smashed him against a wall in my anger. He had to be crazy for still wanting me to be his friend. I didn't deserve that. I didn't deserve a friend like that.

But... I wanted him to be my friend. And Max. Even though they were a bit younger than me, and much more energetic – some more than others – I liked hanging out with them. I liked the fact that I didn't need to be overly cautious about how I acted around them. Sky just deflected every rude thing I said and started going on about how wolves behaved. It always made me feel ashamed of my behavior, and I wanted to do better. Sky really was a great guy and didn't deserve anything bad in his way.

Bella realized I was awake and practically flew out of the bed to come greet me. Of course, Troy woke up as well when she stepped on him.

"Ughh...." he groaned, and started laughing sleepily. "Good morning to you too."

Bella left me alone to start licking Troy's face. Troy hid under the blankets, so that damned dog was forced to stop for a moment. But the second Troy moved, she probably thought he was in trouble or something, and tried to start digging into the blanket like it was dirt. When that didn't work, she started jumping on him with her front paws, letting out playful growls.

"Get your ass off my face!" I laughed and pushed her away, giving Troy some space.

"We can hear you guys," I heard Max's voice coming from somewhere, and Troy started laughing as well.

"I think it's you who has been hanging out with Troy too much," Sky spoke quietly, and Troy snorted loudly when he tried to stop himself from laughing harder.