POV: Rowan

"Soo.." Blake mutters, crouching beside me behind the infirmary. "You wanna talk about why you were crying?" They ask, clasping their hands together. I close my eyes tightly, hoping that Frankie would be quick with her apology to Taylor. 

"Not exactly," I reply, the hint of a laugh decorating my voice. Blake nods, an uncomfortable silence falling between us. I hadn't really spent that much time with Blake, and if it were any other time, I'd be hoping to make a good impression. But all I could think about was Malik. I could practically feel the way his fingers inched up my leg last summer. Uninvited, undesirable, and utterly unbelievable. I shudder, shaking the thought away.

"Did Frankie tell you I thought you were super hot when we first got here?" Blake breaks the silence, flopping their head towards me. I can't help but let out a surprised laugh, shocked at Blake's complete disregard for.. uh, typical conversation standards, I guess?

"No, she didn't," I chuckle, shaking my head. I could see why Frankie liked Blake so much-- it was impossible not to smile with them around. 

"Seriously though," Blake rolls back on their haunches, animatedly speaking. "I was so pissed that Frankie got to be your CIT-- like, come on, throw me a bone right?" They exclaim, giving me a devilish grin to let me know that they were half-joking. 

"Okaaay, I get it-- I'm a snack," I wink, feeling myself blush at the cockiness. "But come on, Blake, if you'd been my CIT you may never have gotten to know Dylan," I absently fold my sweater sleeves over my fingers, the cold finally starting to penetrate my body. Finally, some feeling.

"Oh totally. I mean, you're hot and all, Rowan, but I'm pretty pleased with how things worked out," They joke, elbowing me gently in the ribs like I'd seen them do to Frankie so many times. Does this mean I'm in? I elbow them right back in the arm. 

"Ow, dude. I'm not as tough as I look!" Blake mutters, grabbing at their upper arm. "And neither is Frankie, by the way. Go easy on her," Their voice drops and they search my eyes.

"You might not know this, but... Frankie's an orphan.." They whisper. 

"Oh my god," I snort, rolling my eyes and feeling my body become overwhelmed with laughter. 

"Hey-- being an orphan is nothing to laugh about!" Blake smiles smugly, clearly proud to have broken the ice. I rest my head back on the wall, catching my breath. 

"I see why Frankie loves you so much," I mutter, gazing wistfully in the direction Frankie had walked. Blake laughs. 

"Don't flatter me-- she nearly tolerates me. You, on the other hand.." They click their tongue. "I dunno, Ro, you could be the one," 

My breath catches in my throat, and I try to keep my wicked grin to myself. With their single ounce of politeness, Blake pretends not to see as I smile at my feet. 

Before I can find the words to reply, Frankie and Taylor round the corner. Frankie has her hands stuffed in her pockets, a tense expression on her face. Taylor looks calm. I guess that means she accepted her apology? 

Blake and I stand up, regarding them with raised eyebrows. Taylor glances at Frankie, who gives a close-lipped smile and shrugs. 

"We worked it out!" She says, her voice dripping with faux-excitement. I know that she doesn't really care for Taylor, but, damn, the girl could benefit from some acting lessons. 

"That's great, ladies. We love to see women uplifting women!" Blake claps, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders and pulling them each in close. Even after hearing that Taylor and Blake used to be friends, I'm surprised to see how forgiving Blake could be-- especially with their mouthy exterior. Taylor beams, but Frankie shrugs them off. 

"It's late. It's been a long night of apologizing. I think I'm going to go to bed," She mutters, nervously running a hand through her messy hair. I gaze at her, concerned. 

"You wanna come?" She asks me, holding out her hand. I nod, grabbing it, and waving goodbye to Blake and Taylor. As we start walking back to our cabin, Taylor cheerily calls after us:

"Remember what I said, Frank!" And I feel Frankie's grip on my hand tighten ever-so-slightly. 

"Is everything ok?" I ask as soon as we're out of earshot. The path is dark, and the only audible sound besides our footsteps was the chirping of the late-night cicadas. Frankie sighs and closes her eyes as we walk. 

"Yeah, uh. Just not the easiest conversation.." She mutters distractedly. I'm sure there's a lot of shit between the two of them, and I didn't want to force her to rehash any of it. 

"Well, I'm really proud of you. You did the right thing, and now we can just focus on us," I whisper, leaning into her as we take leisurely steps. She lets go of my hand to put her arm around my waist, squeezing me tight. I bury my face in her shoulder, breathing in the stark smell of pine. Her body was hot to the touch, warming me up instantly-- and all at once I forgot completely that I'd ever been cold. 

"Hold on," I murmur, stopping abruptly just before we reach the row of cabins. "I'm not ready to go to sleep yet," I say as she stares at me quizzically. I still couldn't shake the feeling of Malik's eyes and Malik's words and Malik's hands... I just wanted her to make me forget.

I lean in and kiss her softly, catching her by surprise. She grabs me boldly by the waist and pulls me in towards her, quickly taking control. I can feel the stress emanating off of her, and all I want is to take it away. I want to be her sense of relief, her painkiller of choice, the face that appears when she hears the word joy-- and I want her to be mine. 

Taking a note from her book, I draw my hands up the length of her body and cup her chin as our kiss gets deeper and deeper and deeper. I push myself against her, wanting to feel her skin as she burned her heart into mine. Slowly, she drags her tongue across my bottom lip, threatening me with a bite, before pulling away abruptly. I stare at her, wide-eyed and pucker-lipped, just wanting more. She regards me for a second, then picks me up around my torso, prompting me to wrap my legs around her. As quietly as she can, she slams my back against the nearest cabin wall,  kissing me over, and over, and over again. 

We disappear into each other, no words needed. I run my fingertips across her scalp, further messing up her hair. She finally tires of holding me, and helps me down, pressing the length of my body up against the wall, her hands finding their way down to my hips, and then around to my ass. I feel my breath catch against her lips, all at once nervous and unsure. She pauses for a moment to brush a lock of hair behind my ear, staring into my eyes. 

"I really like you," She whispers, holding so still that I think for a moment I'm lost in a memory. I blink, forcing myself back to life. 

"I really, really, like you," I mumble back, leaning in to kiss her again. She stops me, holding me at a distance, her eyes full of worry. 

"Will you always?" She asks. 

"Always." I reply, firmly, grabbing her hands and giving them an intense squeeze. I want her to believe it-- and to feel it resonating through her whole body. And someday, I will promise my love the exact same way. 

In the morning, Frankie enjoys sleeping in the extra hour a little too much. I couldn't seem to wake her up no matter what I did-- and that including siccing a jumble of screaming little girls on her. 

Finally, as Briclyn went in to suffocate Frankie with one of her silken pillows, she flung the blanket off, earning a cheer from the cabin. 

"Jeez-- I'm up!" She mumbles, rolling her eyes and pushing down the short strands of hair that made up the rats nest on top of her head. The girls giggled, and I urged them all to head off towards the showers if they were planning to take one. Finally, they went off running, and the room was silent. 

"You know what I miss?" Frankie groans after a moment of silence. I stare at her, smiling, with my hands on my hips from across the room. 

"What?" I ask, indulging her. She closes her eyes and smiles dreamily. 

"Coffee.." Her voice sounds damn near orgasmic. I let out a laugh. Darlene had a coffee machine in her office, but she didn't allow any of the campers-- or counselors, for that matter, use it.. which, in my opinion, should be considered an abuse of power. 

"Coffee, huh?" I smirk, walking towards her and sitting on the end of her cot.

"What would you say if I could make that happen?" I find her bare foot under the blanket and tickle it slightly. She nearly kicks me in the face, giggling despite herself. 

"I would say... marry me?" She mumbles, stuffing her head in the pillow as I blush. 

"What if I said no?" I reply. She let's out an over-dramatic sigh, the pillow on her head rising and falling with her chest. 

"Well, at least I'd have my coffee..." She groans. 

While Frankie leads the girls into the mess hall, I sneak around back to see if I can find the groundskeeper, Lorenzo. He only came by a couple times a week, but I'd been catching rides on his bright-green truck since before I can remember and always made a point to help him out whenever I could.

"Lorenzo!" I call out to him, just barely noticing him bent over in a patch of flowers, planting rows of hibiscus flowers in alternating colors. Startled, he looks up, nearly knocking off his sunhat. I give him a wave and a wide grin breaks out across his face. 

"Ah, is that my beautiful Rowena?" He confidently calls back, his thick Italian accent coming through. I grin, running up to him and giving him a hug. "I haven't seen you all summer!" He exclaims, laughing as he squeezes me tightly. 

"I've been a bit busier than usual," I admit, blushing slightly. He laughs. 

"You are making sure that Darlene doesn't run this place into the ground?" He asks, stretching his back and squinting through the sunlight. I chuckle slightly. 

"Ah, you know nobody controls that woman," I joke. He rolls his eyes, still beaming. "I was actually wondering..." I smile smugly at him as he raises his thick eyebrows, already knowing what was coming next. "Could I take your truck out?" I ask, putting on my sweetest puppy-dog expression. He glares at me for a second before dropping into a deep belly laugh. 

"Of course bella!" He roots around in his pocket for his keys. Before he drops them in my hand, he pulls them away quickly. "Ah! Do me the courtesy, Rowena-- if you ding it, don't tell me. I'd prefer not to know," He gives me a wink, dropping the keys into my waiting hand as I nod. 

"You know I'm a perfect driver," I remark, referring to the dozens of times I'd taken his truck out to run errands in town for Darlene. He shrugs. 

"A teenage girl is a teenage girl," He winks again to let me know he is only joking. I roll my eyes.

"Aye aye captain, what happens between me and the truck-- stays between me and her," I toss him a smile, and a wave, before heading off to find Frankie. 

Coffee, here we come.