Thank you everyone for your generous response. South of Nowhere fans are the best!

Chapter One

(Five days ago)
"Cabo?" Spencer asked, staring at the paper in her hands in confusion.

"Well, actually, I can afford that entire area of Mexico, if you want," Ashley stated with a goofy smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"The inheritance money came in," the older girl explained quietly, "and I thought what better way to spend it than on a trip for us. No pressure, no expectations. Just you and me on the beach drinking margaritas."

Spencer's stare hardened slightly. "You were with Aiden last night." It wasn't a question.

Ashley's smile faded. "Like I said: no expectations."

"Then what's the point?"

"Okay fine, then expectations," the brunette amended. "Spencer…I don't want to leave this at what it is. I've made mistakes, I know. Big huge mistakes that I'll probably never be able to fix, but I have to try." Spencer was silent. "Please, Spence? I want to be able to talk to you and-and grovel and work through this with you without being distracted and interrupted all the time. You know, by school, family—"

"Ex boyfriends?" Spencer added coldly.

Ashley cringed. "…yeah…"

The blonde shook her head. "Seeing you with Aiden…I really want to hate you for what you did, Ash." She sighed. "…but I can't hate you because I still love you."

Ashley's eyes lit up with hope. "Does this mean we're going to Cabo?"

"No." The brunette's face fell once again. "I can't go to Cabo with you, Ash, but…if you're serious about this…" Spencer took in a deep breath. "If we go somewhere, it has to be somewhere a whole lot less…sexy and stuff than Mexico," she finished with a small grin.

Ashley pouted before returning the smile. "So…what would you consider an acceptable vacation spot, Ms. Carlin?"

"Let me think on it, okay?"

Ashley gave a brilliant smile. "Just don't take too long. Labor Day weekend starts Friday. Perfect time to get away. And Spence?"

"Yeah?"

The brunette's voice dropped to a soft whisper. "I'm never going to stop trying."

"Okay," the younger girl nodded neutrally. "Goodnight, Ash."

"'night, Spence." After the door closed, the brunette whispered against the wood, "I love you."

"Canada."

"Canada?"

"Yes, Ms. Davies, Canada."

Ashley blinked. "Well, congratulations, Ms. Carlin, I think you just decided on the least sexy location in the world."

"Shut up. And besides, isn't that kinda the point?"

"What the hell is in Canada that could surpass drinking margaritas on the beaches of Mexico while naked?" At Spencer's raised brow, Ashley confirmed her previous statement. "Oh yes, I'd be naked."

The blonde gave a spectacular roll of her eyes, then answered her friend's question. "Nature."

The brunette looked puzzled. "What's not natural about being naked on a beach?"

"Camping, Ashley. Camping in the Canadian wilderness."

"Ah." A beat. "Naked camping?"

"Ashley!"

"What?"

"That's not what this trip is about. Remember? You, me, just friends?"

Ashley snorted and muttered under her breath. "Yeah, naked friends."

To the brunette's delight, Spencer laughed. "You're incorrigible."

Ashley shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, it's why you love me. And hey, I was just joking. You know, teasing? Like friends do?"

Spencer sent her a look that was far too suggestive to be just friendly. "Don't even get me started on your 'teasing.'"

Okay, Ashley thought to herself, been way too long since I've seen that look. Down girl. Breathe.

Though elated that the playful banter hadn't disappeared from their relationship in light of recent events, she was now being reminded of just how turned on she could get from a mere look from Spencer. It could prove difficult when alone with her secluded in the woods.

Now who's incorrigible? She reverted back to the original topic. "So camping, huh? Isn't your mom going to, like, freak out? Try to keep you locked in your room or something?"

"No more than if we were going to Cabo," the blonde shrugged. "I'll talk to my dad about it. Then we'll have to figure out what we'll need to bring."

The older girl looked up as though in deep thought. "Hmm…food…tent…sleeping bags…food…"

"You said food already."

Ashley went on as if not hearing Spencer. "…cooking utensils, passports, and…um…"

"Clothes?"

"No, that's not it…." Smack. "Ow! What was that for?"

Spencer merely shook her head with a fond chuckle. She looked up to see Ashley grinning brilliantly, her nose crinkling adorably. The blonde couldn't help but smile back, head tilted to the side.

"Look, I should get inside. I have homework to do, but call me later?"

"Always." Ashley watched as Spencer climbed out of the convertible. "Later, Spence."

"Bye, Ash."

"I still can't believe you booked us a private jet."

"Just testament to the wonder that is me."

"More like the wonder that is your twelve million dollar inheritance."

"Twelve point five, thank you."

"Ooo, I'm terribly sorry."

The two girls stood on the landing strip next to the small white and red jet that would be carrying them north into Canada. Their camping gear and supplies were being loaded into the cargo hold by two airport personnel.

Ashley adjusted her sunglasses. "So what did your mom say?"

"Um…"

"You did tell her didn't you?"

"Well…"

"Spencer Carlin, I'm shocked."

The blonde shifted nervously. "Dad said he'd tell her once we were in the air. That way Mom couldn't drive out and park in front of the plane or something.

"You're so going to be grounded when you get back."

"'til Kingdom come. You will write to me, won't you?"

"Yes, but I'll probably have to have Glen deliver the letters."

"Yeah."

The two shared a smile. Spencer turned her attention back to the plane, but Ashley kept her eyes trained on the beautiful blonde for a few prolonged moments before also looking away.

"So what province are we going to again?" Spencer wondered.

Ashley's forehead creased. "Wait…Canada has provinces? I thought it was just, you know…" she gestured vaguely with her hands, "Canada."

"Ashley," Spencer groaned, drawing the girl's name out.

The brunette smirked. "Ontario. Some national park I can't remember the name of." She bounced on the balls of her feet. "Are they done yet?"

"Someone's impatient."

"Spencer, it's six in the morning. We've already been here an hour."

"Aw, are you sleepy?"

"Damn straight!"

Ashley's will must have been divine law because a middle-aged man in a pilot uniform walked over to them. "Ms. Davies and Ms. Carlin?" Both girls looked at him expectantly. "I'm Jason. I'll be your pilot today. We're ready for you whenever you are."

"About damn time."

Spencer put a hand on Ashley's shoulder. "I think what my friend means is that we're good to go."

"Great. Now, there's just a few things I need to go over with you, standard procedure and all…"

Ashley zoned out while Jason spoke, whether from boredom or the tingling sensation Spencer's hand left, she didn't know. Probably both. She knew she should be listening. It was most likely important, so she tried focusing on what the pilot was saying. She caught something about safety belts and a survival kit, but then Spencer's hand brushed against hers as the blonde shifted her stance, and her mind floated off again. It was certainly going to be an interesting weekend.

As the two girls took their seats in the small aircraft, Spencer gave her friend a playful poke in the arm. "Were you even listening to him at all?"

"I was trying," Ashley nearly whined. "I swear!" When the blonde rolled her eyes, the brunette smirked slyly. "Such is the influence you hold over my senses."

"Uh huh."

Once they were in the air, Spencer reached into her jeans pocket. She frowned, and she checked the other front pocket. When both turned up empty, she checked her back pockets.

"Crap," she murmured.

"What?"

"I think I left my cell at home."

"Relax. It's not like you'd get a signal up there anyways. Besides, I have mine, so we're good."

Spencer sat back in her seat. Then she squirmed. "Mom is so going to kill me."

Completely on cue, Ashley's phone gave out a chime signaling an incoming text message.

"Speak of the she-devil herself," the brunette muttered, digging the phone out of her pocket. She flipped it open. "Oh look, it's from you, Spence," she said dryly.

Spencer took the phone from Ashley and read the text out loud. "'Mom is going to kill you both.'" The brunette beside her tried unsuccessfully to cover a snort. "Wonderful. Thank you, Glen." After sending a response to her brother, she snapped the cell shut and handed it back to a grinning Ashley. "Shut up, it's not funny."

Ashley waved it off with a hand gesture before concealing her mouth with her fingers. "Of course not."

After a few moments of silence, Spencer spoke again. "So, your mom would adopt me, right?"

The brunette didn't miss a beat. "She'd probably like you better than me, so I don't see why not."

Even though her tone was lighthearted, Ashley knew Spencer would see right through to the bitterness. Sure enough, she felt a soft hand squeeze hers, however briefly. She smiled but didn't look back at the blonde. Spencer had always been good at that. Seeing past the smiles and laughs and sarcasm. It was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with the Ohio native.

"Spence?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For coming with me."

Ashley could tell Spencer wanted to say something but merely settled for a nod. With that said, the older girl took out her iPod, popped the earpieces into her ears, leaned back, and closed her eyes.

Hours later, Ashley awoke with a start as the plane lurched. "What the f—"

"Hang on ladies," the pilot nearly shouted back to them over the engine noise. "We're hitting a bit of turbulence."

The plane rocked again, and Ashley tore the earpieces out of her ears. "A bit? Jesus fucking Christ!"

"Ash…"

Looking over at Spencer, Ashley saw that she was paler than usual. "Sorry. You okay over there?" The girl didn't answer. "Hey, just so we're clear, is this the I'm-scared-out-of-my-f-ing-mind kind of not okay, or the I'm-going-to-vomit-all-over-you kind of not okay?"

"Not sure…maybe a little of both."

"Oh." The brunette noticed a ring of frost forming around the window beside Spencer. Beyond it, she saw nothing but gray haze. "Hey, look at the pretty ice."

Just as the words left her mouth, both girls heard the pilot speaking into his headset. Most of his words could not be heard over the engine's drone, which seemed to have changed pitch from what they remembered, but they did pick out a few: turbulence; freezing; change; course. They exchanged glances when the plane began to turn.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ashley asked.

"We're changing course to go around this cold front," Jason replied as the plane jerked yet again. "Just a precautionary measure."

The brunette looked to Spencer, who shook her head. He wasn't telling them something. As though to prove that very point, the engine sputtered and spat. Jason immediately worked his hands over the controls of the console while speaking into the headset once again. The first word the girls caught clearly was the only they needed to hear. Mayday. The jet bucked violently in another bout of turbulence.

"Are you both strapped in back there?" Jason yelled.

"Yeah!"

"Stay that way. We're making an emergency landing, and it's not going to be gentle."

The sputter of the engine suddenly stopped altogether, and the propellers began to slow. Spencer and Ashley watched in shocked enthrallment as Jason worked to keep the plane in a controlled descent. They came out of the clouds and into blue sky, but time would not turn back. The engine had died, stalled by the frozen precipitation of a Canadian cold front.

Neither girl had to be told.

Save for the endless speech into the pilot's radio, the cabin was eerily quiet. A vicious downdraft slammed into the plane, and Jason's words were cut short as his head collided with his side window. The plane swerved as the now limp pilot inadvertently pressed down one rudder and turned the wheel.

Ashley, eyes wide, looked over to Spencer. The blonde was staring out the window at the blue sky, only turning to her friend when she felt a hand cover of her own…