The fire crackled in the center of the campsite. Three people were sitting around the fire. One was dressed in a pair of tan pants and white shoes. He wore a white T-Shirt under his unzipped orange and white striped jacket. He had blonde hair and a green scarf. The only girl in the group sat, hands folded in her lap. She wore a red skirt that ended above her knees and black socks that sat on her knees, Pink boots sat just below them. She wore a red scarf over her pink coat. A white hat rested on her head a single black ponytail was under her hat. She looked up and saw the third person and he woreGray Hiking Boots, Black Jeans, a Black T-Shirt, a Blue Jacket and a Red Hat with some of his brown hair poking out past it.

They sat in silence that only unnerved the girl more. Her heart was beating quickly inside her chest at the very thought of making her crush into much more. "Hey Dawn, what're you thinking about?" one of her friends asked she looked and saw that Barry spoke.

"Nothing important." she lied to her friend and the other person stood up and walked toward the edge of the forest, until he was out of ear shot.

"Hey go talk to him, tell him how you feel." Barry said to her and she nodded getting up slowly. "I'm sure he'll feel the same way." He muttered to himself. 'When you fell for him you fell hard.' Barry thought shaking his head.

"Um...Hi Lucas," Dawn said catching up to him. He continued walking until he stopped in the middle of a clearing. She walked into it looking around she saw the roots were whitish in the moonlight. 'He actually found a place like this beautiful this quickly?' she thought to herself.

"I've been coming to this clearing for a few days since we first set up camp." Lucas said to no one in particular. He looked up at the moon, and a smile crept onto his lips. Dawn took a step into the clearing and Lucas turned around and smiled at her. Dawn's heart sped up again.

"Lucas there's something I've got to tell you." she said squeezing her eyes closed, tears still escaping her closed eyes.

"What?" he asked walking up next to her and she opened her eyes. He wiped the tears away and made her blush slightly. "Why are you crying?" he asked a hint of concern in his voice.

"I've been at war with myself for a while now. And my heart says yes but my head says no." She said more tears flowing down her face. She shook her head and more emotions flowed with her tears.

"In the end always go with what you feel is right." Barry once told her when she first found herself in love with Lucas.

"What?" Lucas said slightly confused. He looked at Dawn like she was a confused little girl, but what happened next surprised them both. Dawn kissed Lucas like she had no future. She pulled away and realized what she did.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized before running into the forest. Lucas just stood there and tried to figure out what just happened.

"Dawn! Wait!" He called, running after her. She didn't stop running until her lungs screamed at her. She hid in a hollow part of a tree and replayed that moment over and over again. She felt different feelings, before she acted like an idiot but now she was just an idiot. She heard Lucas' foot falls and expected him to find her... But he didn't. He just ran past and Dawn crawled out of her hiding place and she ran back to camp. She ran into Barry who toppled over the log he was sitting on.

"Dawn what happened?" Barry asked looking concerned. And Dawn explained everything that happened looking over her shoulder.

She finished up by saying, "I still can't believe I did that." She started crying again. "He's mad at me I know he is." she said Barry looked up at the stars and shook his head.

"No just the opposite. I've known Lucas long enough to assume that he's not upset. In fact you could say he even might've enjoyed that." he said standing up and walking over to his tent. Dawn followed his lead and left for her tent when Lucas entered the campsite. He was panting and smiling.

"I'm glad you found your way back." he said after he caught his breath. He sat down on a log in front of the tents. Barry passed him as he walked into his tent. Dawn stopped in front of the log and looked at Lucas. "Dawn can you tell me why you kissed me?" he asked but she ignored him and walked into her tent.

Dawn thought about what Barry said after laying down in her sleeping bag. She also thought about her friendship with Lucas. 'Why did it have to be one of them? Why did I have to fall in love with one of my closest friends? And why did my body act like that? I mean I wanted to tell him that I loved him but I didn't want to kiss him. I guess I have no willpower.' She thought drifting into a fitful sleep.

Dawn awoke and saw Lucas sitting outside of her tent holding his head. "He must've fallen asleep waiting for you." Barry said stretching, he walked over and started building another fire and flames soon engulfed the logs. Dawn glanced at him sadness washing her over facial features. "I'm going to get breakfast started." he told her as she left for the woods. Soon she stood in the clearing which seemed so different and not just because of the different light either. She walked to the center and fell on her knees she leaned forward placing her hands on the grass.

"Why...Why did I do something so stupid and to someone I care about!?" she yelled at herself. "I mean he's been my friend since we were six years old. And these feeling sprouted up in just four years." she sobbed more tears flowing down her cheeks. She heard soft footsteps behind and saw Lucas standing there watching her. She turned and he knelt beside her. He helped her up and she embraced him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Why are you beating yourself up over something like that?" Lucas asked ending the embrace.

"Because I... Because I acted on impulse and I thought you would be mad at Me." she said, voice and shoulders shaking. He leaned in close and kissed her. He pulled away and smiled

"Why would I be mad at you? I mean you followed your heart and proved that you aren't afraid." he said hugging her again. "That and because you're safe." he finished leading her back to camp.

By the time they got back Barry had breakfast ready and the three ate in silence. The three of went back inside their tents and Lucas fell asleep, so did Barry. Dawn was in her tent thinking about the first time they met.

"Dawn wake up, someone's here to see you." my mom said from the kitchen of our house. I climbed out of bed a few minutes later and finally opened the door. A boy was standing wearing a white shirt and jeans, despite it being the middle of summer. I invited him in and he entered without saying a word.

"Miss Jillian do you mind if I stay here for a while, my mom and dad got into another fight." he asked explaining he reason. My mom smiled nodding. He walked up the stairs and came down a few minutes later.

"So Barry when's your birthday?" my mom asked trying to start a conversation.

"I turned eight a few months ago." he said scratching the back of his head.

"Well good for you!" she said before picking up her keys. "I'm going to the store for some milk." she told us before opening and closing the door.

She was gone for a couple of hours when Barry accidently switched the T.V to news. A brown haired woman was reporting another car accident. Barry was about to change the channel back when she said my mom's name.

"... Jillian Peters was taken to the hospital where she passed away from her injuries..." I couldn't hear the rest of the report because Barry turned the T.V off. I didn't say anything during the following months, and I turned six in the orphanage I lived in after my mother's death.

I climbed out the window during the late hours of the night one year after my mother's death. I hid in the trees just behind the orphanage and I walked until I was in a clearing. Another kid was standing in the center looking at the stars. He was singing something in a foreign language, it sounded Japanese. He wore a black T-Shirt and shorts, he stopped singing and knelt down to a grave I didn't notice before and said "Just like you told me dad, just follow your heart."

Dawn felt more tears running down her face as she remembered her mother. She got up and opened her tent door and walked back to the clearing and started singing. It was her mom's favorite song and she sang it every year on the day she left this world to be with dad. She pulled a picture out of her pocket, it was her and her mom the day she turned five and it was also the day when she was lost forever. Dawn closed her eyes and clutched the picture close to her heart a steady stream of tears falling on the drying grass. A snowflake fell on her face and melted, reminding her of the time when she realized she was in love with Lucas.

"No, no, no!" I heard someone yell from across the other end of Barry's family's mansion. Barry's mom and step-father left for dinner in the town leaving the now thirteen year-old Barry in charge of the house.

"What's going on?" Barry asked his hair messy and his jacket was abandoned on the floor of his room. Together we ran up the stairs to the house's library where we saw a much shaken looking Lucas sitting in a chair his head on the desk he was reading at.

"Lucas what's wrong?" I asked putting my hand on his shoulder and felt butterflies fluttering inside me. 'What was that just now?' I asked myself as Lucas started hitting his head on the desk.

"Wrong... I was wrong... She wasn't the murderer." he groaned making both Barry and me looked each other, with confused looks on our faces. And before either of us could ask he answered our unspoken questions. "Marie Clover wasn't the murderer unlike the title suggests." he said sitting back up. I glanced at the book's title and it was The Dark Secrets of Marie Clover by Emily Jackson, but I found myself transfixed on his face. I heard Barry chuckle at my different behavior. He said good night to Lucas and left taking me with him. He dragged me into his room and closed the door behind him.

"What?" I asked sharper than I intended looking irritated.

"You've seemed to be a little different, to say the least, when you were around Lucas just now and the last couple days." Barry said and I looked at the floor ashamed.

"Yeah I did notice I was being like, how do I explain it, one of those girls at school that stare at you dreamily, just transfixed by your presence." I said tapping my chin.

"And I know why," he said and I looked at him confused. "You've fallen for Lucas haven't you?" he asked and I stared at him blank faced. "As I always say 'In the end always go with what you feel is right.'" He said wagging his finger in front of his face. I mentally kicked myself for not realizing it before.

End