I came back to the Gallagher Academy a few weeks after I woke up in the Alps. Coming back this year was different. First of all, it was the end of October, and second of all, I didn't want to be seen. I crept in through the few secret passageways that I was absolutely sure no one knew about. It took me longer than I would have liked because my body still wasn't back to its full capacity yet: I was still much thinner and weaker than usual. It was around 2AM when I finally got into the school, through a dark and remote passageway that had me climbing up walls half the time. I came to a little corner going out of the passageway and decided to set my stuff down there and spend the night. It was secluded, which was good, because I didn't feel ready to just jump back into my Gallagher life just yet. I missed my friends, but I knew that going back wouldn't be easy. Besides, it was too early to do that now. So I sat down, ate some of the food I had brought with me and started to re-tape my ankle. I hadn't had the time or opportunity to see a doctor since the Alps, so I had to make do with what I had. Luckily, my only lasting injuries were my ankle and that bump on my head.

I was just finishing wrapping up my ankle when I heard someone. They were about 200 meters away, I guessed. Panicking, I tried to look for a way out. There wasn't one. I hadn't expected anyone to know about this passageway or to come here so late at night, so I hadn't planned out what I would do if someone came. Grabbing the nearest potential weapon I could find (my stainless steel water bottle) I stood at the corner of the entrance to my hiding place, remaining out of sight of the incoming person but close enough that I could see them first. They were getting closer by the second. Exactly 2.7 seconds later, I dropped by water bottle on the stone floor, making a loud noise, because I recognized who was coming. It was Zach.

I hadn't seen him since June, when I decided to run away without him. I didn't know if he would be happy to see me, or angry that I put myself in danger. I was betting he would be pretty angry with me. Unfortunately, my cover was blown. He turned towards me, eyes wide, and whispered: "Gallagher Girl?"

I backed away, looking at the floor, afraid of what I would see if I looked into his eyes. He didn't let me get away though. He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. I tried not to wince when he did that, because I was still pretty sore from, well, whatever I did during the summer. (I still couldn't remember the details.)

Slowly, I brought myself to look at him. His face was almost expressionless. He was staring at me, just like I was staring at him. We were looking at each other, standing only an arm's length apart, trying to piece together what we wanted to say without talking. Seeing him after so long was hard. I loved him, and I thought of him almost the whole time I was making my way back to the Gallagher Academy, wondering what I would say to him when I saw him, and what he would say to me. Out of all the people I had left, he was the only one whose reaction I couldn't predict. We stared at each other, just standing there, for what seemed like forever (but was really only four minutes and thirty-seven seconds) until I suddenly found myself in his arms. I wasn't sure if I had moved or if he had, but it felt so good to be there that I didn't really care how it happened. Neither of us said anything, we just stood there, hugging. Being in his arms again made me think about how it was before I left, and how much easier it seemed back then. Tears started rolling down my face and I hoped he wouldn't notice my shoulders shaking slightly with silent sobs. Unfortunately, he did notice, and he pulled away from me, still keeping his arms around my waist.

He was looking at me so weirdly it was almost funny. I couldn't understand why he was so confused until he asked: "Are you crying?" And I realized he had never seen me cry before. I laughed and wiped my eyes. "I'm fine. I just-"I said, before he interrupted me.

"No, you aren't fine. Look at you. You're so thin, you're covered in bruises-that's why you winced when I grabbed you, isn't it? Plus, it looks like your ankle is broken. What happened to you, Cam?"

My eyes were wide and scared when I whispered "I don't know."

He looked alarmed, and he started running his fingers through my hair, almost as though he was looking for something. I yelped with pain when his fingers came across the bump on my head. He looked sorry, but that didn't stop him from scanning my body for any other potential injuries that I might have failed to mention.

"What are you doing, Zach?"

"They caught you, didn't they?" he murmured, running his hands down my arms and waist, checking for injuries.

"I told you Zach, I'm fine. You can stop acting like a doctor. And what do you mean, they caught me?"

He stopped suddenly and looked at me with such intensity that I pulled back a little. "You know what I mean, Cam. Be serious, please. What happened to you this summer?"

"Zach, I am serious. I don't know. I've been trying to remember, but all I know is that I woke up a couple of weeks ago with a broken ankle and this bump on my head, and I couldn't remember anything else. I honestly…don't know." I winced slightly because my ankle was starting to hurt again, so I slide down the wall until I was sitting down. Zach, probably noticing my wince, was quick to do the same, and he sat down next to me, taking my foot in his lap. He checked the bone to see if it was set properly, and then he started to undo the tape I had put on it.

"What are you doing?"

"You did this wrong, Gallagher Girl. That's why it hurts when you stand for too long."

"It doesn't hurt!" I protested, but he silenced me with a knowing look. I sighed and put my head on his shoulder while he fixed my ankle. It felt nice to rest and be taken care after so many weeks of fending for myself. We were both quite for a while until he touched my ankle in the wrong place and I flinched in pain, taking my head off his shoulder.

"Sorry Gallagher Girl." He murmured, quickly setting my ankle back into place and putting the tape around it again.

"It's okay." I grunted through clenched teeth- what he did had really hurt, but I was trying not to show him.

He looked at me worriedly, studying my face, trying to see through my façade and detect how much pain I was in. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding with a gasp and his eyebrows furrowed. He turned his attention back to my ankle, rubbing his hands around it, trying to make my pain go away.

"Better?" He asked hopefully, still applying pressure to my ankle.

"Much." I sighed, relaxing and leaning against the wall again. I reached down and gripped his hand, squeezing it tightly. He squeezed back, and gave me a weak smile. He finished with my foot and looked at me. "Everyone was upset when you left, Gallagher Girl."

"I know. I'm sorry." I whispered. I didn't like thinking about how much pain I had caused. I looked away from Zach and choked back the tears that threatened to come back. I knew this was the part where he would yell at me for how stupid I had been. But I was wrong. He only sighed and said: "Why would you do this me? And not only me, but your friends, your mom…"

I wasn't really successful in holding back the tears. They ran down my face slowly, the only things that showed how I was really feeling. Zach met my eyes and I saw that he was apologetic. "I know why you left, Gallagher Girl. But realizing you were gone, that was the hardest part. And knowing that you might not come back… It killed me. Please don't cry. Please." He stroked my face, calming me.

"Zach, why can't I remember anything? What's wrong with me?" I asked, even though I knew he couldn't answer me.

"I don't know Gallagher Girl. I don't know." He reached towards the bump on my head. "But I think that this is the reason you can't remember anything."

He looked so sad, sitting there with me in the passage, trying to help me uncover the mysteries of my summer. I realized how hard it must have been for him during the whole time I was gone, and how thankful I was that he was here, and that he wasn't angry with me. I leaned towards him, separating the space between us, looked right into his eyes and said: "I'm so, so, sorry I left you Zach. I'm sorry."

He put his hands around my face and kissed me. It felt different than any of our other kisses. This time, it was full of different emotions. It was happy, because we were finally reunited after so many months, but also sad, because of the situation. When it was over he looked at me, at the tears still running down my face, and said "I know, Cam. I know."

I leaned into him again, my head on his shoulder, his hand stroking my hair. We sat in silence comfortably for a while, until I surprised both of us by letting out a yawn.

"Sorry." I muttered, embarrassed. He smirked at me, the first smirk of his I had seen in a while, and leaned down to kiss me. I came up onto my knees so I could reach him better and he did the same. His arms were around my waist and my hands were gripping his hair, tangling it with my fingers. He broke away, giving both of us a chance to catch our breath. He started to pull away, but I pulled him closer, kissing him again with a passion that surprised even me. His hands started running around my body, moving up around my shoulders into my hair, wrapping his fingers around it, all the while being careful not to touch the bump on my head. I pushed myself even closer to him, gripping his neck with my arms. Suddenly, he stood up, picking me up with him, never breaking his lips from mine. I wrapped my legs around him and he turned me so I was pressed against the wall. This time I broke away for air, but he kept kissing my neck and pulling me closer to him. Impatiently, I pressed my lips back to his with a moan. I felt his lips turn up into a smirk as he kissed me, changing the kiss to a gentler one. I unwrapped my legs from him, instead letting him hold me in the air, a couple of inches above the ground so I wouldn't have to stand on my sore ankle. I placed my hands around his neck and he slowly broke away from me, still smiling. I was panting, and he smirked at me. He was out of breath too, but I don't think he was as dazed as I was.

"Well, well, Gallagher Girl. I didn't know you had it in you." Zach teased me. I rolled my eyes at him, but nevertheless rested my head against his chest, sighing with happiness. He lowered me to the ground slowly, and I tried not the put too much weight on my ankle. We stood together for a few minutes, until I decided to sit down again, because standing on one foot wasn't really the most comfortable thing in the world. Zach sat down next to me, immediately looking at me with concern, wondering if I was in pain. I shook my head at him.

"I'm just tired." I told him. I was starting to get cold, so I grabbed my jacket from my bag and put it on. Zach started rubbing my arms, noticing I was cold, to warm me up. I grabbed his hands to make him stop, to let him know I was fine, and rested my head against his shoulder. He put his arms around me and brought me closer to him. I sighed with content and felt my eyes start to close.

"Goodnight Gallagher Girl." Zach whispered in my ear.

"Goodnight." I sighed, before falling asleep in his arms.