"You know? When we landed on this island, my first thought was that my life had gone to shit. I thought that there would be nothing on the other side, that Oxford would not wait for me, that I would never see my grandmother again, mostly because I had the thought that we would never be rescued. It was too crazy to be happening, but here we are. If there's one reason I haven't given up on yet, it's you. We didn't know each other at all, but we all felt a kind of sisterhood, something that prevented us from separating from each other because we knew that we would not survive if we were not all together.

>> I knew that I had to stay strong, because I had seen the devastated and deeply frightened expressions of some of the girls, and that I couldn't show the fear I felt because someone had to convey to them that everything was going to be fine, even if I didn't have that conviction. But you know? You helped me especially. When you helped Martha in such a selfless way, when you didn't confess that it was Toni who gave you that head injury —you lie awfully bad, Shelby— when you always suggested games to keep us busy so we wouldn't think. You always have a smile on your face for all of us, helping us without knowing it and when we need it most, even when the rest of us put you aside.

And yes, I know that we all have our problems, our bad behaviours, our attitudes that few people would agree with, but that is no excuse to leave you alone, and even less knowing what you are going through. You've helped me here a lot more than you think, Shelby, and not just by encouraging the situation with words or a simple smile, but you've made me rethink a lot of things and I don't want you to sink right now. You are a pure person, Shelby, genuine, always positive and with a good attitude.

You do not deserve to go through what you are going through, nobody deserves it, but I know that you are much more than what you appear and what you let see. I don't want to see your light go out little by little, Shelby. And I know that this will not be a consolation for you, because you will think that you will return to your house, I will to mine, and some day we will forget all this, but I want you to know that I am here, whenever you need it, no matter the distance.

Damn, I've just poured my soul, haven't I?"

Lydia looked away from Shelby, who was lying next to her, staring blankly, and looked up at the sky again, suddenly speechless. In the absence of a response from the Texan, Lydia felt that she had been too sincere, or that perhaps this was not the right moment, so she stared at the stars, uncomfortable in her position.

"I think what I wanted to say with all of that is that you matter, Shelby. Don't listen to those who won't accept you for who you are, those who try to disregard your feelings just because they're not what they expected from you. You are valid, you are accepted, you are loved. Maybe you can't see it now, but you will over time, I assure you."

The British girl blushed at Shelby's silence. She felt that she was crossing the line that united them, that perhaps she was being too intrusive in her affairs, but she couldn't let the Texan sink little by little, she had to do something for her. She felt movement in the sand near her hand, and she looked down as Shelby's fingers interlocked with her own gently.

"Thank you," the blonde whispered. "You are very eloquent. I like the way you speak. You do it so freely, as if nothing is holding you back. I like that you are brave enough to express yourself that way."

"You are, too. You just have to get used to it."

Lydia didn't say anything else, just turned back when she heard footsteps near them. She tried to release Shelby's hand gently, knowing she was not yet ready for such physical contact, but her surprise was enormous when the Texan clung even tighter to her hand. However, if Leah saw that gesture, she said nothing, just sat on the sand.

"Hey," Lydia returned the greeting with a small voice and glanced at Shelby sideways, expecting any kind of reaction from her, but it didn't come. "So... everybody thought I went insane yesterday and you were like: 'hold my beer,'" Lydia pursed her lips at Leah's unfortunate comment. "Sorry, I didn't just come to crack cringing meme jokes. I, um, I wanted to apologize for all that. And to tell you, as somebody who's already gone pretty much off the rails, you should try to go easy on yourself. I know we can't blame it all on where we are, but this place, this situation, it makes you go crazy. For sixteen days actual death has been hanging over our heads, and yet the only thing I seem to give a shit about is love. Total fucking psychosis, right?"

Lydia suddenly tensed a bit, knowing that this would be an especially sensitive subject for Shelby, so she stroked the back of the girl's hand with her thumb. "Isn't that what we're all afraid of? That we won't be loved? And then we'll be all alone."

Leah left shortly after that, not knowing what to say, and flashed a weak smile at Lydia, who returned it and nodded, almost as if thanking her for apologizing for her attitude to Shelby. The Texan stopped looking at the horizon and turned her green eyes on Lydia.

"You know my deepest fear now. What are you afraid of?"

"Uncertainty. Failure. Rejection."

"Who in their right mind would reject you? You are everything parents would ask of their child, you're brilliant, you're kind, you're beautiful," Shelby whispered for only Lydia to hear.

"I'm not who you think I am, Shelby."

"You're only saying that because you feel sorry for me. You remind me of someone I had back at home. You're sweet and nice, always coming to my rescue if something happens. She was too good for this world, just like you are. And I hurt her, I hurt her so badly," Shelby's voice trembled. "I don't want to hurt you."

Lydia squeezed the Texan's hand tighter, and she responded to the contact. "You won't hurt me. Everything's going to be fine."

Against all odds, Lydia heard a giggle come from Shelby's lips, and she turned to see what amused her, but the girl's delicate hand kept her looking away. "You have a tattoo. I hadn't even seen it until now."

"Oh, yes," Lydia giggled. "You've probably seen it more times than me, now. It's a night sky with a full moon, small stars around it."

"Do you have any more of them?" Lydia shook her head. "My father used to say whoever had tattoos would never go to heaven, as God thinks they make you unworthy. That's what he said to me when I got a fake tattoo during one of my childhood friends' birthday. He made me erase it until my skin got red."

Lydia whispered. "I'm sure your fake was pretty."

"Why do you have that tattoo?"

"Because it'll remind me forever of what I've done and who I am."

"Rise and shine," Lydia muttered to herself the next day.

She woke up with a slight headache, as if she had gone to bed thinking about things that were hurting her. And it didn't take her long to realize that this had happened, that Shelby had asked about the tattoo that decorated the back of her neck and that Lydia had been about to confess the story of why she did it, why that night she couldn't stop look at the sky and why she decided that, instead of turning the page, it was best to have the turning point of her life tattooed on her skin.

Some of the other girls were still sleeping when she got up from the sand and stretched her legs, except for Shelby and Fatin, who weren't exactly chatting like friends but weren't ignoring each other either. Lydia narrowed her eyes to see what Fatin was teaching her, but realized she wouldn't see much else without her glasses. She opened her backpack, where she always rested her head to sleep, and put on her glasses, her eyes grateful for that clear sight at last. She had not worn her glasses in more than two weeks, and her eyesight had deteriorated considerably.

Suddenly, Lydia remembered everything that had happened the day before: how the plane had flown over the island, letting them understand that she had seen them, and how they had waved their arms in the air like excited little girls. Everything returned to her head, and an inevitable smile played on her lips: they were going home, perhaps a little later than they would have liked, but they were going home. And although she was not expecting anything in California, she had learned too much those days to miss this opportunity.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty," Fatin greeted her, and Lydia gave her a smile.

"No one has woken up yet?"

Fatin smiled sarcastically. "Let them enjoy our last hours here."

The British girl smiled again at the cellist's words, but her smile faded when she realized Shelby's discomfort. The Texan changed the subject completely and got up, claiming she wanted to go for a swim in the lake. Lydia and Fatin watched the girl go and disappear into the undergrowth, and shared a knowing look.

"Did I say something?" Fatin frowned. "I thought she was better after her... incident yesterday."

Lydia shrugged to try to dismiss it in front of Fatin, but really worried because she knew what was going through Shelby's head. "Maybe she just needs to be alone after that. Yesterday was a day of strong emotions."

The cellist simply nodded, and went back to her chores —though Lydia detected that she was just making a pacifier to distract herself from the loneliness. However, the blonde's mind kept traveling to the words she had shared with the Texan the night before, and she thought that despite not having confessed the whole truth that made up her life, it was the first time she had opened up in that way, and not just to comfort Shelby, but because she really trusted her.

So for the next hour, when the girls were waking up one by one, their mood reviving every time they looked at each other and discovered that that same day they could get out of there, there was fun again, although this time more controlled than the day before. Taking advantage of the fact that none of them would fault Lydia wanting to wander the island one more time before she left, the British slipped away from the scene as quickly as she could, Shelby's bleak expression never leaving her mind for a moment.

She followed the path Shelby had first created, and it almost struck her as ironic. The first day she had been there she had gone into the forest without hesitation, knowing that the situation was about to overtake her and that she would not last much longer without frightening and scaring the others; and now that they were hours away from leaving, she was back into the forest, but now in search of another person, in search of the person who had come to find her in the first place. It seemed to her that so much time had passed since then, despite only a few weeks, that she almost thought it was a different person than the Lydia who had entered that island.

The passion red color that Fatin had used days ago to navigate the undergrowth was very useful, because now she had reached the lake in no time. Sure enough, Shelby was swimming in the clear water, drifting away with the tide that rose from the waterfall that fed the lake. She did not want to disturb her silence, so she sat on the highest rock, where she had shown her new discovery to the others, and again it seemed that too much time had passed.

"We know that our time with you is over, and that you have specifically asked to see it before sharing anything with us, but there is something that escapes us that we think is important enough to come see you. Do you think you could do that for all of us?"

Shelby rolled over in bed, her cold green eyes meeting Faber's gentle attempt to get her to cooperate. She detected a sheet in his hand, so she sat up and tried to see the contents of the document. The agent showed her the sheet, and Shelby's heart raced so that she stood up and glared at the agent. "Why are you showing me this? What happened to her?"

"I guess it's a really good portrait, then, because I also recognized Lydia instantly. It's Nora's, the drawing has her signature and from what you've all told us, she was the only one who would draw. She even drew her scar."

"Why are you asking me about her? Is something wrong with Lydia?"

"I just heard you were really close on the island, everyone agreed you hit it off quickly. So I guessed I would ask you about her, as you know her better than anyone else there, I assume."

Shelby scoffed a bit. "You could ask Fatin or Leah. They were close to her, too."

Faber shook his head. "They said it was better to ask you," Shelby clenched her jaw, not believing that Leah or Fatin had pointed their fingers at her: they were too loyal to Lydia to betray her like that. "Some of you have been telling odd things about Lydia, how she was always calm, as if she knew nothing could go wrong, or the way she used to behave on your last days there."

The Texan gave another threatening look at the agent. "Please, ask specifically."

"How did she get that scar?"

"She fell and hit her head on a rock."

"Why was it?"

"Probably because she slipped?"

"Taking into account everything that's been said to us, it sounds as if she was losing her mind, as if she was imagining some... bizarre things. Do you think she was capable of doing that to herself?"

"What? No. She was fine, just a bit scared like the rest of us. The rescue never came, so I guess we all started to feel a little discouraged, but none of us turned crazy, as you're trying to say."

The agent knew he would get nothing out of this conversation, because Shelby was too determined to defend Lydia, whatever the cost was. So he decided to push her a little more. "Some of you might have slipped things about how tense were things between you all and Lydia during a few days. Was it because you didn't trust her, because she had done something that scared you away?"

Shelby thought: what Faber said was true, so some of the other girls would have confessed. "We had some disagreements, if that's the accurate word. Some accused her of something, she never defended herself, so those of us who were neutral at first didn't know what to think about it."

"Why did you believe her?"

"Because Lydia's too good of a person to do anything like that, and as time passes, I'm more convinced of it," Shelby leaned on her elbows, moving closer to Faber, who looked somewhat hesitant, and the girl simply smiled. "That will be everything."

The agent sighed, convinced, this time, that this would really be it and that Shelby wouldn't say anything else, at least not until she was allowed to leave the room and see Leah. As he was about to open the door, Faber turned to see Shelby lie back on the bed. "You know, Shelby, the world doesn't end with Lydia."

Faber got the reaction he had expected from Shelby, the one Gretchen had assured him would happen. "Mine does."

Shelby stopped splashing in the water, sinking into it and resurfacing seconds later, brushing her wet hair back. She made a grimace on her face when her fingers got tangled in the longest part of her hair that hadn't been cut, and she looked down at the shorter blonde locks, mentally scolding herself for letting herself lose her mind like that.

"It suits you!" She heard someone shouting from above, and she turned quickly only to see Lydia sitting on the rock, her legs dangling childishly due to the height that separated them. Lydia smiled a little at Shelby's puzzled expression.

The Texan flushed a little at the discovery, and swam to the lower stones to get closer to Lydia. "How did you find me?"

"You did say where you were going, after all."

"Right, sorry," Shelby said quietly, almost embarrassed.

"Want me to leave? The rest of them are awake now, so I figured I'd come and check on you, but I can leave if you want."

Shelby shook her head, not daring to speak out loud for fear that her voice would betray her. The truth was that if the day before yesterday she thought of Lydia as someone more than a friend, the night of the previous day had only reaffirmed her feelings for the British girl. She hadn't been separated from her all night, silently staring at the midnight sky, their fingers intertwined and hundreds of thoughts racing through her head.

"It's okay. I was about to leave, anyway. Wouldn't want you to think I'm mental," Shelby tried to ease the mood, and while Lydia had found it too serious to laugh about it, she managed a small smile so as not to make her feel guilty. Lydia held out her hand and helped her out of the water, turning around to be polite as Shelby changed her clothes, and when she turned she saw the blush on the Texan's cheeks, so Lydia smiled to herself. "I didn't know you had to wear glasses."

"Not everyone can be as cool as you, some of us have to settle for glasses, dentures girl," Lydia was the one who joked this time, and in response she got a slight push from Shelby, who was following her closely. "Oh, feisty!"

"Isn't it weird?" Shelby spoke after a few seconds, and in response was met with a look from Lydia. "We've been here for weeks, and now suddenly people are coming to our rescue. And our lives will continue in our homes, and yeah, the first weeks, months, we well remember about this as a nightmare, but years will pass and everything will be just a faint memory. It's strange how strongly we bonded here, but how fast it will be to forget all about this for some."

"Do you really think so? I think this will change us forever. I know I won't be able to forget any of this, any of you," Lydia murmured as she pushed the lower branches aside so the two girls could pass.

"Do you know what's weirder? We've been here for weeks and I don't even know your full names, your ages, your favorite colors..."

Lydia nodded to herself, agreeing with Shelby's words. Suddenly she turned around and the Texan almost collided with her given the speed, and she gave a dubious smile as she saw Lydia's eyes light up with a childish touch.

"Hello there, stranger. My name is Lydia Winston —well, actually it isn't. My actual name is Lydia Danielle Winston. My parents couldn't decide, so they mixed them up and the result was me. I was born during a rainy night in Birmingham, on July 4th, seventeen years ago. My absolute favourite colour is green, but not green like grass or traffic lights, a much lighter green. Maybe like your eyes, hm!" Lydia reached out her hand, pretending not to see the flushed cheeks of the girl in front of her, and waited for Shelby to play along and shake it. "Nice to meet you."

Shelby laughed. "Are we really doing this?"

"Don't be a party pooper, dude!" Lydia scolded her without barely moving her lips.

"Okay, alright, um. I'm Shelby Goodkind, I was born in ol' boring Dallas, Texas, on February 17th. I'm the eldest of three siblings, and my favorite color is red."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "That's it? No middle name, no hobbies? Come on, I gave you a middle name."

"If I tell you, you will laugh."

"I promise I won't."

"Shelby Mary Goodkind," Shelby whispered, and an inevitable smile crept up to Lydia's lips, who covered her face to keep from laughing. "I told you you would laugh!"

"No, no! It's just I should've imagined. But it's nice, really. Now a hobby: do you like reading, painting, something like that?"

"I think art is not my thing. I'm not very creative nor imaginative. I prefer helping others. I enrolled myself in some clubs in high school, such as a religious group or helping new students find their way around. During the weekends I used to teach younger students and helping them with their homework. I find it fulfilling."

"That's lovely," Lydia acknowledged with a small smile. "You know, I know today we might leave and everything, but I meant it when I said you could come and visit me in LA. Actually, I would very much appreciate it if you came by sometime," the Brit pulled Shelby close to her, holding her hand, and was surprised to see that the Texan this time didn't blush at the sudden contact. However, her breath did catch in her throat as Lydia's hands went to her waist. "I'd like to do something before leaving."

"Lydia, I—"

The British girl's fingers sank deeper into Shelby's skin through her shirt, so the girl let out a soft sigh. "Don't say anything, please," Lydia urged. "Just let me..."

The two girls gulped, not knowing that the other was doing the same. Lydia didn't understand if the heat she felt was from the sun covering them or if it was from being close to the Texan, and Shelby's heart raced so badly as her forehead brushed against Lydia's skin that she panicked at the thought of the girl from California could hear how hard it was beating. Shelby's thumbs lightly stroked the other girl's cheekbones, who closed her eyes briefly at the sensation and only opened them again to make sure Shelby was nodding against her.

So she kissed her gently, bringing her lips together against Shelby's and letting herself be carried away by the situation. An uncontrollable fire ignited within her, occupying her entire chest and mind, but she knew she had to take things slowly with Shelby if she didn't want to scare her. She drew her closer still without leaving her when she felt the Texan's hands bring her face closer to her lips.

Lydia suppressed the urge to touch her lips once they parted, wanting to feel the warm sensation the Texan had left on her. She stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, almost as if she expected Shelby to run away like the last time, but her heart skipped a beat as Shelby stared at her with the same intensity, inches from her this time. She found herself thinking of how different it had been to kiss Shelby compared to other people; the sweetness, the affection, but also the passion, and she realized that it was the first time she had wanted to repeat it again.

So she did it again, this time surprising Shelby, who returned the kiss anyway. A feeling of concern settled in the Texan's chest as she realized that Lydia probably wouldn't settle for so little and would want to take it further, but she was pleasantly surprised when Lydia simply leaned her forehead against hers, enjoying the short but intense moment they had shared.

Shelby was not aware to what extent Lydia was as rapt as she was thanks to that moment, she did not know how nervous she was just to feel her breath on her lips. Finally Lydia broke the silence, muttering. "That can stay here if you want... Or we can take it with us."