"Lydia?" Fatin giggled, pushing the branches out of her way so she could see better. The night had already fallen long ago, so it was very difficult to see in the forest, the only thing that illuminated the way was the moon. Obtaining no response, Fatin swallowed hard. "Where are you?"

The cellist looked down, trying not to make too much noise so as not to attract things that she did not want to know existed. She deftly avoided a large trunk, but was not as successful with the smaller branches and dry leaves around her, and a noticeable crunch sounded under her feet, causing her to shudder despite knowing that it was her who had originated. She turned abruptly when she heard some being hooting, as if it were an owl, and turned with the same force forward when more branches creaked, and not under her feet.

"It's too dark and I cannot see you," Fatin whimpered, leaning against the trees to guide herself. "Lydia, this is not funny, I swear to God."

Once again she got no response from the other girl, so the concern began to grow more noticeable. The cellist walked faster despite not even knowing where she was going: her only goal was to find Lydia and get out of there as soon as possible. This place did not give her a good feeling, it was too big, she was too tired and there was no visibility.

"Got you!" A voice behind her screamed, and she felt Lydia's hands on her ribs, causing Fatin to jump up and let out a high-pitched cry. Lydia laughed when she saw Fatin's contorted face, and she began to hit her.

"Don't do that ever again!" Fatin exclaimed, concern and anger visible on her face. "Stay with me, this is fucking scary."

Fatin clung to Lydia's arm, who did the same to the other. Despite having wandered around alone to scare Fatin, she had heard sounds that had not inspired her much safety, so the mere presence of Fatin made things seem safer. It reminded Lydia of those nights when she'd watched horror movies with and without her grandmother, and the difference had been enormous. For although Helen would not have been able to eliminate her nightmares, at least she reduced them.

They walked together to a somewhat more deserted area, because if they wanted to camp there that night they had to find a somewhat safer place. Lydia was convinced that if Fatin saw a creature he would scream, no matter the size.

"I still can't believe you've convinced me to do this," Lydia whispered. She didn't need to raise her voice, as Fatin was just inches away from her.

"I didn't do anything! You knew I wasn't going to sleep in the same place as them, so you were a good samaritan and came with me."

"I don't even believe in God," Lydia giggled and Fatin gasped.

"Shelby's so not gonna like that."

"Shut up. Hey, will this place do?" Lydia rolled her eyes to see better, and Fatin followed suit. Seeing her nod beside her, Lydia took off the jacket that was wrapped around her waist and spread it on the ground near the tree where they would lean to sleep. Lydia turned when she saw that Fatin was unresponsive and shot her a look. "Are you sure about this? We could always try to find the way back..."

"No, no," Fatin shook her head. "It's pretty late and too dark. We'd only get ourselves lost out here."

Lydia said a soft okay and dropped onto her part of the jacket. The British patted the spot beside her for Fatin to take a seat. "What? You don't like campings?" Lydia snorted and Fatin frowned. "People do fun things at campings. Sit by the bonfire —okay, we do not have that; get drunk while a guy plays guitar —that's also crossed out. We can play games. What about 'would you rather'?"

Typically Lydia wouldn't behave like this. She was not someone with a bubbly personality, nor a permanent smile on her lips, but she did tend to worry about those around her, and Fatin, apart from being tired, looked genuinely scared. So she patted her on the arm and thought questions to distract her.

"Would you rather... be married to a super hot guy but him being nasty as fuck, or be married to a regular-looking guy and him being so nice to you?"

"The first, duh. I marry him, fuck him and divorce him. Easy," Fatin's voice sounded distant, as if she was falling asleep.

"You're so full of shit!" Lydia giggled. "Okay, your turn."

"Would you rather travel to your future or to your past?"

Lydia's smile froze on her lips, memories of what had happened haunting her mind. Luckily, Fatin's eyes were already closed and she couldn't see her facial expression. "Past, for sure. There's so many things I would change—" she was interrupted by a soft snore, and turned to see that Fatin was already sleeping peacefully on her shoulder. She decided to stay awake in case something happened. "Good night, then."

It was surprisingly easy for her to stay up all night. It was not the first time that she pulled an all nighter, as nightmares had been more frequent years ago. She stared at the moonlit sky, and this time she succeeded in finding a star. She snuggled closer to Fatin at times, for it was cold in the forest and her only form of shelter had been the jacket on which the two girls were sitting.

"Just because we don't have eyes on them, it doesn't mean disaster. They're probably on the western side, where our cameras aren't working."

However, Gretchen wasn't too sure. This is how things always used to happen; every time something went wrong, something that did not go according to her plans, she got nervous, she blamed others for mistakes that she should have predicted herself.

"Well, among other reasons," Gretchen spoke to one of the boys, who had protested because they weren't looking for the girls. "This is Fatin and Lydia we're talking about. They're not some delicate flower. They're much steelier than you think."

After saying that, she went to her office, accompanied by the other woman. She closed the door behind her even though the walls were transparent glass, she just didn't want the others to overhear her conversation.

"You seem oddly fine with Lydia and Fatin being missing. Is there something I should know about?"

"You know Fatin's patterns. She doesn't run away when provoked, but I have the feeling both girls are together. I mean, they were before they disappeared from our tech. However, Fatin was right: Lydia hasn't been following her usual pattern, she is calm, she seems even relaxed."

The dark-skinned woman bowed her head seriously. "Does that mean...? You haven't told me who were your fellow chosen ones."

Gretchen gave her a long look. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."

Against all odds, Lydia fell asleep soon after, when the rays of the sun had been there for a while. Fatin awoke after an hour, which left Lydia somewhat taken aback when she was shaken as if there were some fire. There were slight dark circles under her eyes, and they were bloodshot, but when she saw that Fatin was at her side, that nothing had happened during the night, she smiled and raised her thumb in victory.

"You pulled an all nighter for me? How chivalrous," Fatin mocked her. Then she ripped off part of her pants, which surprised Lydia deeply: she did not have Fatin as a person who mistreated her brand clothes.

"What are you doing?" Lydia asked, rubbing her eyes to slowly get used to the sun.

"We have to leave hints now that there's light in case we get lost. Look, I've been hanging pieces of my clothing and painting the trees with nail polish for us to get back whenever we want."

Lydia stood up, gently stroking the red cross Fatin had painted on the log. "That's really smart. Where have you been going?"

"Just walking around, hoping you'd wake up any minute now. It might be daylight but I'm still not going anywhere without you."

The blonde picked up the jacket the two of them had been leaning on, tying it back around her waist, and they went out looking for God knows what. Lydia did not stop and think that they had separated from the group, or what the others were thinking now, because she did not even remember it. She was in a beautiful place, surrounded by plants, greenery, nature, and that calmed her, one way or another. Her brain didn't want to remember that yards —maybe miles— away was her base camp, where the other seven girls were probably worrying about their absence.

They walked a little further, Lydia behind Fatin to point out where she should paint and hang more pieces from her pants, and the cellist obeyed. They complemented each other well —after all, they had spent one night alone in the woods and hadn't killed one another, that was enough for Fatin— they made small talk to entertain themselves, they even went back to the 'would you rather' game, although Lydia knew that Fatin no longer even remembered her answer yesterday.

Lydia was terrified that one of the girls might uncover her dark past, but especially Fatin. She had developed a connection with the cellist that she didn't want to let go of so easily, and she was convinced that if she told her the truth, their fleeting friendship would simply be written in the wind. She didn't want her to think she was a bad person, or that she was mean. She just wanted her to see that she could be normal again.

"You're quiet today," Fatin commented.

"I had to stay up all night to protect you from bad, wild things," Lydia replied sarcastically, shaking the earlier thought from her head. "I'm just tired."

"We can go back if you want to. Swallow our pride just like that."

"Don't go all soft on me," Lydia smirked, painting one more tree. She heard a familiar sound far away, and motioned for Fatin to be quiet so he could hear it well. "Do you hear that?"

Fatin obeyed and tried to sharpen her senses to detect where a sound was coming from. She ran after Lydia when she did first, trying not to trip over any of the fallen branches. Lydia came to a halt, a surprised look in her eyes, and Fatin collided with her immediately. She opened her mouth to protest, but said nothing at what was in front of her.

A great waterfall descended into a wide lake, the water clearer even than that of the sea on good tide days. Fatin gave a little cry and hugged Lydia tightly, excited by the discovery they had just made. Lydia smiled and pointed to the wound on the cellist's thigh. "You can dive in. It will wash the blood off."

Lydia didn't have to say it twice. Fatin clapped, excited by the waterfall, and removed her jacket, leaving it in Lydia's charge. The girl's body collided with the water, the sound reminding Lydia of the times she'd bathed on California beaches, and she smiled a little at the memory. Fatin screamed again as she resurfaced, completely wet but content, and greeted her from a distance like a little girl.

Lydia was tempted to follow in the cellist's footsteps, but shouts in the distance altered her senses. "Fatin, I'll be right back!"

"Oh, yeah, get me a martini, baby!" Fatin laughed and lay down on the surface of the water, floating and closing her eyes as the sun hit her face.

Lydia flipped her off, but the cellist couldn't see it. The British followed the route they had left with the nail polish and the strips of cloth that Fatin had attached to the trees, as well as the thread of voice that was heard closer and closer.

"Lydia! Fatin!" She recognized the voices of the other girls, especially Leah's.

Lydia realized that the girl would probably feel guilty for scaring the shit out of Fatin the night before, causing her to leave the shelter, and that the next morning she had not shown up because of her. The British girl suddenly appeared before Leah, her hands raised in welcome. More than angry she looked worried and now relieved, so Lydia took that as a good sign.

"Leah, hey! What's up?" She looked curiously at the dirt on the girl's clothes and wrinkled her nose. "What the hell happened to you?"

The others were appearing little by little, the weariness evident on their faces and the same dirt all over their bodies. Shelby appeared behind Rachel, and her eyes widened when she found Lydia in front of her. She pushed the athlete's body away and advanced towards Lydia with speed, only to clasp her in her arms under the watchful eyes of the others. "We were worried sick about you! Don't do that again," Shelby scolded her while still embracing her. "Where is Fatin?"

"Did you kill her?" Toni held up a piece of purple cloth, now more crimson from the blood that stained it. She spoke seriously, but Lydia heard a sarcastic edge in her voice.

"Is that nail polish?" Rachel asked bluntly. Lydia looked at the small pot in her hands, and realized that it was impossible to deny it. "Is this what you've been doing? Painting your fucking gel tips?"

"We've been out of our skulls looking for you," Dot chimed in.

"And all this time you've been treating yourself to a goddamn mani-pedi?"

"What? No! That's not what happened!" Lydia excused herself upon the angry looks of the other girls. "Just follow me. I have something to show you."

Lydia painted a cross on the nearest tree and glanced at the other girls, realizing that Nora was not among them, and hoped they understood what she was doing. The others followed her, observing Fatin's purple cloths on the trees and the other red nail polish marks on the way.

They climbed the familiar short hill she and Fatin had traversed to reach the waterfall. Lydia stood atop the rocks, spreading her arms to show them what lay in front of them. The six of them marveled at the scenery, their mouths open and their eyes hopeful, murmuring surprised and relieved —they had finally found water that was not the salty one.

"Fatin, we have guests!" Lydia informed her fellow companion, who was still in the same position as when Lydia had left.

"Treat yourselves, ladies!" The cellist screamed from the water.

The remaining six screamed with excitement, surprised by the discovery that the two missing girls had made. They walked carefully down the rocks, careful not to trip over any steps because of the joy they felt at that moment. They all jumped into the water right away, enjoying the warm but refreshing feeling of the lake.

"Is that what you went looking for? The water, I mean," Leah asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't know," Fatin shrugged. "Yeah, no. We were just trying to find something useful, considering we fled like that."

"Good hustle," Dot pointed out. "Marking the path like you did."

"Yeah, well. What good would the water have done if we couldn't find it again? And you're always telling us how easy it is to get lost, so," Fatin smiled at Dot.

She clapped her hands and laughed aloud. "And you know what? I've never been prouder!"

Lydia splashed Fatin, making her laugh, as it had been her idea, and after the others made her feel so guilty last night, the blonde thought she deserved some cheer. "You're raising some cunning kids there, Dot!" Lydia smiled. "It's time you have your rest time, too."

Dot gave her a smile and dropped to the bottom of the water, coming out with wet hair. Lydia's face eating grin got smaller when she saw that Toni was a little further away from the group, Shelby and Martha splashing each other and Rachel just relaxing in the water, her stage. Lydia swam to Toni, who quickly detected her presence.

"People are easier than you think, you know?" Lydia whispered near Toni. "And even easier if you're you," Toni frowned upon this. "I'll show you. Splash water my direction, try to drown me, anything." Toni tried to hide her smirk when she did the second thing Lydia suggested, dragging the blonde into the depths of the lake. When Lydia resurfaced, she gasped for air and pushed her hair back from her face, laughing. "There you go, now they're looking at us. And besides, that was fun to you, right?"

"They know you took the can, just to give you a heads up."

"How I handle my shit is my problem, right?" Lydia chuckled. "I was just trying to be a good person. We're together in this," Lydia kept looking at Toni, who just nodded. "Feeling better about what happened yesterday?"

"I've been meaning to apologize for it. You're the only one who's willingly talked to me today, so, yeah."

"It's no problem. Our shelter wouldn't have been better than the other, anyway. Dot's a fucking beast, I swear," Lydia laughed, and Toni laughed with her. "You know Martha's anger will pass, right?"

"It's just not anger anymore, it's disappointment. This is not the first time I've done this shit and she's always there to clean up the mess. I'd understand if she's gotten tired of it, really."

"I doubt Martha would've told you that seriously. The rage of the moment must've spoken for her. She's a good person, I can see that, and she's still your friend. This is just a bad place for us, so we exaggerate our problems even more. She'll come around, Toni."

"Thanks," Toni said softly. "It's easy to talk to you. And yeah, you found water, so I guess you're my favorite now."

"Wow, that's big coming from you. I'm flattered."

"Yeah, don't get used to it."

"Guys, we should head back now. It's about to get dark and we wouldn't want to be lost around here in the wee hours," Dot shouted from her and Fatin's position, as she already got out to dry herself.

The girls were slowly getting out of the water, reluctantly. That discovery had brightened their day, at least now they had something to drink —they just needed to find something to eat. They discussed it on the way back, Fatin and Lydia making sure the painting was still visible and the canvas hung where it could be easily seen.

Lydia watched from a distance as Toni looked at Martha, but Martha avoided finding her. She knew the girl was sorry for her anger yesterday, but she also understood that Martha was disappointed: building this shelter would have been a good chance to sleep safely, not to mention that they would've taken the takis. Lydia understood that Martha was tired, because even in a life and death situation —literally— hadn't Toni been able to control her anger, or at least channel it into other things.

The blonde took Shelby's hand when she saw Shelby approach Martha. The Texan looked down at her hands and her cheeks took on an unfamiliar shade of crimson. "I think we should give them space," Lydia whispered to her, pulling Shelby to her in an attempt for Toni to talk to Martha.

Shelby's mouth opened a little, understanding what Lydia was asking her, but becoming a little disappointed in herself for expecting another reason for Lydia to even graze her skin. However, her heart jumped a bit when Lydia didn't let go of her hand the rest of the way, keeping Shelby close to her, causing her to spin on some occasion, as if she were dancing.

The Texan knew that she shouldn't be feeling this way, that she shouldn't feel that her skin warmed every time the other blonde gave her one of her characteristic wide smiles, that her stomach shouldn't jump every time their hands touched, or that she mustn't feel her heart skip this instant, when Lydia pulled her, their fingers still intertwined, to help her jump over one of the fallen branches. Shelby gave her a sheepish smile when Lydia turned to see if everything had gone well.

But she felt too free. Here on the island, at least she didn't have to explain anything to anyone. Each girl had her own problems, too important to judge Shelby's feelings. Here she was not accountable to anyone, she could do whatever she wanted, not like in Texas. Thinking of her home made her flinch slightly, so she was grateful that Lydia kept her grip on her.

Maybe the island wasn't so bad, maybe that's why she didn't miss her home as much as she had hoped at first.

"Lydia," Shelby called, her mouth being braver than her own brain.

The British girl turned around, waiting for the girl's words. "Yes?"

Suddenly Shelby realized that this was never going to happen. That it was all imaginations in her head, that, as her father said, if she confessed to Lydia all this, who she really was and what she made her feel, she would be alone. Lydia would run away and be alone, like in those therapies her father performed every weekend. She thought of Andrew too, convincing herself that she wanted to be with him, and with him and his father on her mind, she pursed her lips.

"Nevermind."