Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews! They made my day (which hasn't been going too well...history essay due tomorrow). I'm really glad (and surprised) that the Cameron/Bianca scene was liked. I'm not really a funny writer, so that was different, lol. And I'm really glad that I'm not getting bad reviews about being in character. That really worried me in the beginning; I'm nowhere near as witty as Patrick or Kat. But anyway, this chapter is marginally longer than the first two. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned 10 Things I Hate About You, the entire show would just be Kat and Patrick locked in a room together.

MY OASIS

CHAPTER THREE

"You're lost."

"No. I'm not lost."

"Then you're very good at pretending to be lost."

"Why didn't I bring my taser?"

Patrick looked at her sideways. Kat shook her head and continued down the natural path between a row of dried bushes and a fallen tree. The hike was really starting to get to her. Fatigue, dizziness and dehydration were setting in.

"Maybe we should take a break," Patrick said.

Kat turned to him. "What, tired already?"

"I figured your feet were getting sore or something," Patrick quipped. Kat narrowed her eyes. She wanted badly to be stubborn, to tough it out and just keep walking so she could prove a point. But her body wasn't going to let her. "Look, there's a stream over there. We can sit in the shade and cool off for a bit. Don't want you to overheat."

The stream did look inviting. And it would have been good to at least try and regain their bearings. Kat followed Patrick to the water reluctantly, glaring at the back of his head as she did so. But as they reached the stream, they found it was much more than that.

A river. Wide, and with a strong flow. Not the nice, relaxing watering hole she'd been hoping for, but a dangerous rocky ravine. They must have been close to the ocean. It didn't matter. It was a cool place to sit and rest and replenish.

"Oh man," Kat groaned as she spread out the map on a boulder between them. "We are way off track."

"How do you figure? We don't even know where we are."

Kat pointed at the map. "This is the bus stop, and here's the camp site. We're not meant to be anywhere near a river. Look!" The closest river to the campsite had to be several hours off course. They were further out than Kat had originally thought.

"Cell phone?" Patrick suggested.

"We weren't meant to bring them. Weekend in the wild, remember? No technology."

Patrick smiled at her, pulling out his phone. "And you actually followed the rules?"

Instinctively, Kat's fingers tightened around her compass, imagining it was her taser. She shouldn't let him get to her.

"No signal."

"Give me that." Kat snatched the phone up with her free hand and rose to her feet in a single, but graceless motion. Holding the cell phone up high, she walked around to catch a signal. She could hear Patrick snicker behind her and turned to give him a sharp glance. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

He held up his hands: it's all yours.

The signal meter blinked and Kat stretched her arm higher, moving closer to the river. The blinking slowed and she took another step. Almost…

And the next second, the world fell from under her. It was so sudden that all Kat had really registered was Patrick calling out her name.

--

"Cameron, this is hopeless," Bianca moaned. They had been trudging along for hours. Her feet were aching, her head pounded, and her throat was dry. Bianca took a sip of water, and silent alarm ran through her when she saw how little she had left.

"I'm pretty sure I've got us on the right track," Cameron said with flimsy hope in his voice. He was always the optimist.

"Can we take a little break?" She looked up at him wearily. "I'm not feeling so great." And immediately, concern filled him. He agreed with gusto and the two sat on a large flat rock. Bianca's body had never hurt as much and in so many places as it did now. Her own optimism was wearing thin and she was sure that if one more bad thing happened she'd be in tears.

"What're we gonna do, Cameron?" She leaned against his shoulder, closing her eyes. Bianca could hear her voice becoming whiny. It would be now that Kat would intervene and tell her to toughen up, to throw in some quip that no one understood. Funny the things you missed.

"It'll be okay," he said patiently. Bianca felt lucky to have him there. If she'd been paired with Chastity, she'd already be in tears. Or worse, if she'd been stuck with Joey, they would probably be in Santa Monica by now. "Here, look."

Cameron held the map out and Bianca opened her eyes. He pointed out where they were. She frowned, glancing down at the map and then up to check their surroundings. For several minutes, Bianca looked up and down, from the map to the woods. It didn't look right.

"Cameron…" Up. Down. "Shouldn't there be a path across there?" She pointed a finger at a cluster of small trees. Definitely not a path. Cameron followed her hand, and then consulted the map.

"Oh." Optimism gone.

--

Patrick hadn't been watching her feet. Who would have? He'd been watching her face. Kat wasn't facing him, and he couldn't only see half of her. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and her cheek was lifted in an almost triumphant smile. And then she slipped.

"Kat!"

She'd been on the edge of the river bank, on the uneven stones. One minute she was there, the next she was in the river. She was clinging to the bank with both hands, her face contorted in pain and panic.

Patrick shot forward. The river's pull was strong and for a second he didn't think he'd make it. But she was strong. He shouldn't have been surprised. Reaching down, he wrapped his arms under her shoulders and heaved her up.

Both exhausted from the effort of the rescue, Patrick and Kat laid on the bank of the river, breathing heavily. A safe distance from the water, he shifted to look at her. She was pale and panting.

He pulled himself up and sat by her. "Are you okay?" All the mock antagonism and sarcastic quips were gone. She could've been hurt.

Kat swallowed, sitting up as well. She nodded. Her clothes were soaked through and she shivered slightly. At least she wouldn't overheat. Looking down at her hands, she frowned. "Your phone."

Patrick shook his head: it didn't matter.

"And the compass."

Perhaps the two devices they had that would save them from roaming the woodlands for the entire weekend, gone. Well that did matter.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please review...because reviews are like Patrick Verona to the rescue.