Autumn Leaves

Chapter 3

"This sucks."

"Oh, lighten up, Jake. Could be worse. Remember the year we went and it was raining? Remember that? That sucked. This is fun," Steven said as he and Eli pulled the ice chest out of the back of the truck. "Besides, at least you got the long weekend off from work, huh?"

It was then that Joseph pulled up in his truck, Karen quickly stepping out before moving to get the kids out. I had ridden with Eli, Jake, and Steven, a decision at the time I thought was a good one, considering I wouldn't have to put up with my little sister and Vinny for the two hour drive, but I quickly realized what I had to deal with instead; Steven and Jake Stock.

"We're here, we're here, we're here," Thisbe chanted as she got out of the truck and made a beeline for me. "Auden, we're here!"

"I know."

"Thisbe ain't ever been campin' before," Vinny reminded me as he too got out of the truck. "You know, 'cause she's a girl."

"No," Thisbe protested as she clutched my leg. "No, that's not true. Your granny is a girl and she goes camping."

"Granny is not a girl, Thisbe," Vinny said as Joseph let Ralph out of the bed of the truck. "Granny is a woman. Just like you, Auden," he added, smiling at me before heading over to Ralph. "Like how I'm a man. You're just a little, whiny, girl though, Thisbe."

"No!"

"Guys, knock it off," Eli told them as he and his older brother continued to take things out of the bed of his truck. "I mean it."

"Can we go fishing, Grandpa?" Vinny asked then. "And then can I pee in the woods like a doggy?"

"All in due time, boy," Joseph told him, going to help his sons unload. "Gotta set up camp first."

Karen just sighed, going to take a seat on top of the ice chest. "Remind me why we like this, Joey."

"Because we get to be together as a family."

"Mmmm…nope." She shook her head at him, but he just sent her a look over his shoulder.

"Well, I'mma go pee now," Vinny announced. The he pointed. "Over there. In the trees. Like a dog. 'cause that's fun. You know that, Thisbe?"

"What?"

"You gotta pee outside. Like animals. Come on!"

"No," I said, grabbing Thisbe's hand as the two of them ran passed. "You stay here, Thisbe."

"Fine!" Vinny stuck his tongue out at me before heading off. Karen nodded at Jake.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Go with him," his mother told him.

"Why me?"

"You're not helping anything."

"Neither is Auden."

"Go, Jake. I mean it."

He grumbled as he passed, calling out that Vinny better not get out too far ahead of him, because then a big mean bear would eat him. I just shook my head as I went to sit next to Karen on the ice chest.

Why did I decide to go camping with the Stocks? Mainly because when Eli asked, I thought it was just the two of us. We were going to bring beer and get drunk together and do all sorts of fun, couple things. Well, sex mainly, but lots of versions of it. Or at least that's what Eli was hoping to get out of it, I'm sure.

The issue occurred when Eli asked his father for one of their tents, saying that he and I were just going to go camping alone. Of course, Joseph couldn't resist the urge to make it a family outing. Of course. And how could Eli say no? His parents did do a lot for us after all. And Thisbe and Vinny had another long weekend for some reason, which gave them a reason to go. And of course, Jake and Steven were never ones to turn down fishing and drinking. So, needless to say, very little sex will be had this weekend. At least I hope…

"Auden," Thisbe whined, coming over to me. "Is there really a bear?"

"Shhh," I sighed, pulling her closer to me. "Jake's just being a butt."

"Ain't that the truth," Eli mumbled to me as he and Steven went to work on one of the tents. He had been in a bad mood which was understandable considering his family had ruined his sex and alcohol filled weekend. I just smiled at him before shaking my head.

"It's kind of cold, Joey," Karen told him, rubbing her arms. He immediately stopped what he was doing to get his jacket out of the truck for her.

"Here you go," he said, smiling at her. She let him kiss her head before slipping the jacket on. I looked to Eli to see if he would take into consideration that I was probably cold too, but he was too focused on tying his shoe to care.

When all was said and done, Jake, Joseph, Karen, and the two little ones went to go fish, Steven claiming he was going to collect firewood for later that night. Eli and I stayed behind at camp, trying to spend that alone time we planned together.

"Three tents. How is this going to work?"

Eli glanced at me. We were both sitting on opposite ends of camp, me still on the ice chest while he was on the ground, near the tents.

"Well," he said slowly. "Mom and Dad together."

"Right."

"Me and you together."

"Sure."

"And Jake and Steven."

"Alright."

"Then Vinny and Thisbe can sleep wherever they want. Vinny likes to sleep outside the tent, in his sleeping bag, but Mom only lets him if one of us sleeps out there with him. She's always worried about him running out."

"He is very adventurous."

"That is he," he agreed.

I paused for a moment before asking, "Don't you think it would have been fun?"

"What, Aud?" He looked up from the ground, which he had been picking at. "What would be fun?"

I was self-conscious now as I wrapped my arms around myself. Karen was right. Autumn had begun and it was chilly.

"If we had a boy."

The wind picked up a little bit as Eli and I both stared at each other, neither of us sure where to go.

"You mean instead of-"

"What I mean is if we had a son, it would have been fun. I mean nothing more than that."

He blinked before tossing his head to the side. He did this sometimes, I think because he had a hard time remembering that he no longer had long hair, that he could see just fine, that there was no hair in his eyes. Whatever the reason, it usually was funny and kind of cute. Now it was just annoying.

"I never thought about it. I mean, after we found out that Clayton was a girl, I just never… She would have been fun too, Auden."

"I didn't say she wouldn't."

"I know, I just-"

"God, Eli, you twist everything."

Frowning, he said, "I'm not trying to twist anything, Aud. Honest. I just meant-"

"I just said that I would have liked to have a son. Or would still like, I guess."

He just stared for a moment. "Did you…want to try again? Or something? 'cause I was thinking, you know, we could wait until you were out of school and stuff. You know, when you had a good job and, maybe, if I had a better job and we had a house and were married or whatever. You know? But, if you want, I mean I don't…"

"Eli…"

"Aud, I just want you to know that-"

A bark cut him off, making us both look up. It was just Steven and Ralph though. I had forgotten that the dog had gone with him to find firewood.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting much," the oldest Stock boy said as he came into the clearing. He sat the wood in his arms down quickly before coming over to me. "Gotta get a drink, Auden."

"Oh," I said, standing up before going over to Eli, quickly taking my place on the ground in between his legs. Eli just kissed my neck, pulling me closer.

"You guys hungry?" Steven went over to the truck, reaching in there before pulling out the half eaten bag of chips we had left in there from the car ride down. "I am."

"We were kind of liking our alone time," Eli told him as I curled back into him.

"Ha. Enjoy it while you're young, kids."

Letting out a hard sigh, Eli stood, pulling me along with him. "We'll be back later, around sundown. Come on, Aud."

I followed along behind him while Steven just continued eating his chips, watching us walk away.

"Where are we going, Eli?"

"Somewhere where we can be alone," he told me simply.

"Just don't get us lost."

"Me? Get us lost? Never."

We ended up by a little stream that no doubt ran to the lake Joseph and the others were fishing at. Taking a seat by the stream, Eli quickly pulled me into his lap once more.

"Mmmm," I sighed, leaning back into him. "This is nice."

"It'd be nicer if they didn't come along," he mumbled to me. "We could be in our tent right now, drinking and having sex."

"At the same time? You sure are talented."

"Ha ha, Auden. You're so funny." He ran a hand up my stomach. "So…did you want to try again?"

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. "I don't even know if I want to ever try again."

He paused. "Ever?"

"Ever."

"Auden-"

"What if I can't, Eli?"

"Can't what? You can get pregnant."

"No, stupid, I know I can get pregnant."

Now that I had called him stupid, he wasn't as receptive towards me. "Then what? Huh? What can't you do?"

"…Actually have one."

"What?"

"I know that I can conceive, Eli, but I'm afraid that…what if I can't actually give birth? Like that's why Clayton-"

"Auden, it was one time. It's not like we wanted it that way. It just happened."

"Yeah," I sighed. "I know. I just mean, if we tried again and I couldn't…get to the end. Like I couldn't give birth. What if I miscarry? Or have a stillbirth? Or-"

"What are the chances of that? Huh?"

"Any chance of it is too high for me."

"Auden-"

"We could always, like, adopt. Later. If we wanted. Instead of having another."

Eli kissed my neck. "Later though. No matter what."

"No matter what."

"So…are we going to start using-"

I hung my head as I said, "I don't know. Can we…I…we never use protection. Ever."

"We could though. Or you could go on the-"

"I don't want to."

He sighed. "Then later very well could be now, Auden."

"Eli, can we…can we not do this now?" I glanced back at him. He just captured my lips though.

"We can do whatever you want, baby."

I didn't correct him as I turned to face the stream once more. "We won't be having sex this weekend anyways."

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I know."

Laughing slightly, I ran a hand down his knee. "Even if we never have another kid, Eli, I do love you.'

"I know you do," he told me. "I've always known."

"Ghost stories," Vinny responded to his grandfather's question of what to do next. It was night now and we were roasting hotdogs over the fire. Well, everyone else was. I was half asleep leaning up against Eli's arm, not really one up for this whole camping thing.

"You wanna hear a ghost story, huh?" Joseph smiled over at the boy who was sitting in his father's lap, clearly excited about being able to stay up so late. Really, it was only about eight, but that was apparently late for Vinny on a Friday night.

"Yes," Vinny said, nodding his head. "Thisbe can't listen though 'cause she's a baby."

"Hey!"

Eli, who was really focusing on sneaking another beer by drinking mine, told his nephew to knock it off before he made him go to bed.

"You're not my dad! You can't tell me what to do, Eli! That's why I hate you."

That got him hit in the head by his father. "Knock it off, Vinny."

"Granny!"

"Don't hit him," Karen said, frowning at her oldest. "Honestly, Steven. Do you know how rare it was for us to strike you?"

Sighing, I started to get up, thinking that my day with the Stocks was over. I was ready to finally go to bed. As I stood though, Jake suddenly made his reappearance. He had been gone most of the evening, disappearing around sundown, claiming that he wanted to spend some time alone.

"Welp," he announced himself as he made it back to the clearing. "I think you should all know that I'm in love."

Karen, who was now eating a hotdog, just rolled her eyes. "Gracie. We know."

"What?" He filled my place quickly. "Oh. Her. No. I think that's over. I've met someone. Here."

"What?" His father frowned over at this as Karen leaned into his arm.

"Yep. She's camping with some of her friends. All hot. I think I'mma crash there tonight." Then he looked at his brother. "You can tag along, Steven. You too, Eli. If you want."

"Jake," I complained, stopping at Eli and my tent. "Are you serious right now?"

"…I don't like your tone. As one of the only non-Stocks here, I think you should apologize."

This time, it was Eli who hit someone in the back of the head and it was his brother. Joseph just sighed, telling Jake something then that I didn't hear as I went into the tent and immediately huddled into one of the sleeping bags.

"Auden?"

I was mostly asleep at that point and hardly opened my eyes as someone crawled into the tent with me. I knew it was Vinny from his voice and from the fact when he was close enough, he quickly huddled against my back.

"Hmmm?"

"I'm scared. I wanna sleep in here with you. Not Daddy and Jake. Okay?"

"Mmmhmm."

"They're mean. They're laughing at me. For being scared. Called me a baby."

"Mmmm."

"It's not fair. Grandpa is scary."

"Mmmm."

He yawned then as he got into the sleeping bag with me. "Night, Auden."

"Mmmm."

"We gotta say our prayers."

Sighing, I finally spoke.

"Vinny, I don't-"

"You have to, Auden. Don't you wanna go to Heaven?"

I rolled over to face him now, taking in his childish face and voice of faith. I thought of what the Stocks would do to me if I even so much as told Vinny Heaven might not be real and knew that was not an option.

"You say it," I told him as I nestled down into the sleeping bag. "And get in the other sleeping bag."

He giggled, doing so. "Okay."

I was laying there for some time after Vinny said his prayers, just watching him sleep. I don't care what Eli thinks; having a son would have been fun.

"Waiting up for me?"

I was still laying there in the dark when Eli came into the tent. He stank of beer, but I knew he wasn't drunk. He had only had a few after all.

"Mmm," I moaned. "Vinny woke me up."

Elli, on his knees, pulled his shirt off before getting into the sleeping bag with his nephew. "Oh."

"What'd you guys do to him?"

"Nothing. He just kept making fun of Thisbe and then when he got scared and started to get upset, he thought we should baby him. He needs to learn the consequences of his actions."

"So let me guess, Karen was in bed already."

"Well, duh."

Sighing, I shifted slightly before asking, "Where's my sister?"

"With Mom and Dad, I think. Either that or with Jake and Steven."

"Oh, that narrows it down. Thanks."

"She's fine," he told me, settled down for the night. "You think I'd leave her out there alone? That's my best friend, you know."

"Yeah," I sighed, closing my eyes. "I know."

I woke up early the next morning, my boyfriend and his nephew both choosing to sleep in. What else was new though? So with a slight sigh, I headed out of the tent, changing my clothes before doing so.

"Up so soon?"

"Yeah," I sighed when I found Karen already up, my sister with her. They were walking back to camp, clearly having gone somewhere. To the bathroom, maybe. Or a hike. Something. "The boys are all still asleep?"

She smiled at me. "Joey and the boys stayed up late last night."

"Not Vinny," Thisbe told her. "He went to sleep with Auden 'cause Jake and Mr. Steven were mean to him."

"I've heard. I'll have to talk to them about that, huh?" To me, she added, "I'm sorry about Vinny, Auden. He just…likes you for some reason."

"Yeah," I sighed as I went to sit down on the ice chest. "I've noticed."

"Not as much as me. I'm his best friend," Thisbe interceded, clearly thinking I was trying to take that title from her.

"Trust me, I couldn't care less," I told her, shaking my head slightly. "Besides, Eli and I are going back tomorrow morning."

"What?" Thisbe frowned. "How come?"

"I have work, Thisbe. Not to mention school."

"How come I don't got school?"

That was actually an interesting question. To me it seemed that Colby gave them too many days off, but who am I to judge? Just so long as my father doesn't find out.

"I dunno, Thisbe," I told her as she came over to me.

"I think it's 'cause I'm smarter than you and don't need it."

"Well," I said slowly as she climbed into my lap. "I don't think it's nice of you to say something like that."

"I'm not nice," she told me. "I'm mean."

"Thisbe," Karen corrected as she frowned over at us. "Behave."

She grumbled as I sat her down before standing. Still, I just looked to my boyfriend's mother.

"Now what?"

"Hmmm?"

"Now what do we do?"

She just sighed, shaking her head. "This is what we do. This is camping, Auden."

I blinked before turning on my heel. "Welp, I'm going back to b-"

A loud belch startled me as Steven came out of his tent making his mother cut her eyes.

"Honestly, Steven," she said, frowning.

"Mom, it's the woods. I can be loud."

She just shook her head before looking at Thisbe. "Hey, Thisbe, if you go wake up Vinny, I bet he'd like to go play in the water."

"Mom," Steven started. "If you're gonna take them to play in the lake, you're gonna have to get in there with them. You know that. Safety and all."

"You're half right, Steven," she said, staring openly at him. "One of us does needs to be in there with them. And you're gonna be that person."

"What? Mom-"

"Have fun," she told him as she turned to go get back in her tent, probably to rouse her husband. Thisbe dove into my tent, wanting her little friend to get up.

To the cursing Steven, I asked, "Where's Ralph?"

"He slept with us, since we didn't have either kid," he grumbled out as he went back into his tent to get dressed. I just headed into my own tent, not shocked to find both kids up and bothering Eli to go swimming with them too.

"Guys," I sighed. "Eli and I are going to sleep some more while you guys swim. Okay? We'll join you later, maybe, if we're not tired anymore. Okay?"

It took another ten minutes before Eli and I were completely alone in our tent. Then we moved into one sleeping bag, which was a tight, but comfortable fit, to catch a few more winks. Or, well, that was my idea for our alone time.

"Eli, stop it," I hissed to him as he started kissing my neck. "We are not doing that here."

"Aud-"

"No."

"But I love you."

"Yeah, well, love me when we get home."

"You'll be at your home. Not my home."

"Then love me next week or something. Just not here."

"Why not, Aud?

"I just…can't, with your parents and brother so close. Sorry."

He just closed his eyes. "Then I'm sleeping."

I leaned up and kissed under his chin. "Can you do it in your own sleeping bag?"

"Don't push me, Auden. I will go sleep in another tent and leave you here, all alone for a bear to eat."

"A bear, huh?"

"A grizzly."

"Ooh, so scary."

"It is."

"There are no bears here, Eli."

"That's what you think."

I just cuddled into him, closing my eyes. "Yeah, that is what I think."

"Are you relaxed yet?"

I wiggled my toes before saying, "No."

Eli and I had gone down to take over watching the kids. They were no longer in the water, as neither Eli nor I were planning to get wet. Instead, Vinny and Thisbe were looking for bugs in the mud, Ralph laying at their side, sleeping. There were some other people out around the lake now, mostly men though, further down, fishing.

As for Eli and I, we were seating in the dirt, me with my flip-flops kicked off as I rested my feet in my boyfriend's lap, leaning back on my palms while he massaged my feet. I knew I'd be in for something later, when we were alone, for requesting it, but I couldn't help it. My feet weren't made for so much walking.

"Mmmm," I groaned, glancing over at my little sister and Eli's nephew. They were digging around in the mud, getting thoroughly dirty. Still, they were staying out of our hair, so what could it hurt? "Eli, my neck's tight too."

"Yeah, well, I was horny before, but look where that ended up. Nowhere."

That would have gotten him a glare, but I didn't feel up to it. Instead, I just hung my head back, staring at the sky.

"Your feet feeling better, babe?"

"Mmmm."

"So I can call you that now?"

"If you keep doing that, you can call me whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?"

"Within reason."

"Okay, honey."

"No."

"But-"

"Within reason."

"Sure, cuddle monster."

"You're about to get kicked in the face."

"Ooh, so sc- Auden!"

I had just tapped him with my foot, but it still made him push my feet out of his lap.

"Oh, Eli-"

"That was uncalled for." He toed his sandals off. "My turn now."

"Ew. No."

"Come on, Aud."

"Your feet are disgusting."

"Oh, like yours were roses."

"Eli-"

"I'm waiting, Auden," he said, placing his feet in my lap. I glared at him.

"You're lucky I like you."

"I think you mean love, Aud."

"No, Eli, I don't."

So anyways, while I was busy massaging his feet, Vinny and Thisbe were busy with something else.

"Guys," Eli called over to them. "Don't eat bugs. You guys are getting too old to do stupid stuff like that."

"Shut up, Eli!" Vinny spit at us, though he was so far away that it had no chance of reaching. "I hate you!"

Groaning, Eli slipped his feet out of my grasp before slipping his sandals on. "Duty calls."

I just watched as he went and picked up his nephew before walking off, no doubt to discipline him. Ralph barked once before following. Sighing, I slipped my flip-flops on as Thisbe came over to me.

"How come Eli's so mean?"

I just pulled her down next to me. "Let's talk about something else, huh?"

"Like what?"

I poked her gently in the tummy, making the young girl giggle. "Let's talk about this sleepover you went to last Saturday."

She poked me back, smiling. "How come you weren't here?"

"I told you, Isby, I had to work last weekend." I poked her once more. "Now tell me."

"Mmmm, it was fun," she said, picking at the ground. "Jamie and Skylar and Kylie were there."

"Did Vinny go?"

"Ew, Auden!" She frowned at me. "Vinny is a boy. He wasn't allowed to go."

"Oh."

"Boys are nasty."

I made a face at her. "I thought you and Vinny were best friends?"

"No. We're friends, but only when we're not at school."

"Why, Isby?"

"'cause, Auden, he's a boy."

"Boys and girls can't be friends?"

"They can. Like Hannah only plays with the boys, but she's weird. She doesn't like to color or play ponies or dolls. She doesn't even play with us at recess. She plays games with the boys."

"You like playing games with the boys, huh? Like when you go bike riding with Eli and Vinny, huh? Or playing basketball with Jake? And Mr. Stock takes you guys to the batting cages sometimes, huh?"

"That's different, Auden. Jake and Eli and Mr. Joseph aren't boys. They're not nasty. And besides, Vinny's only nasty when he's with other boys. And not all boys are nasty."

"Like Kyle?" I asked, a teasing tone in my voice.

"Kyle is fun," she told me, nodding her head. "He's not stupid like Vinny."

"Stop calling Vinny stupid."

"He is though, Auden."

I was inclined to agree, but that was my boyfriend's nephew. I don't think calling him stupid would do any good. I didn't get a chance to say anything though, as it was then that someone came walking along the perimeter of the lake, headed towards us. I just watched at the man approached, not too concerned.

"Hi," he greeted the second he was next to me.

He was about my age, maybe slightly older, with dark hair that was all spiked up on his head. I'm sure that was meant to be hot, but it just looked like that thing Vinny does to his hair when his grandparents let him style it on his own. The guy before me had some wildflowers in one of his hands, clearing having picked them up along the way.

"Hi," Thisbe repeated back, standing to greet him before looking up at him. "Are you camping too?"

"Yep," he said, smiling down at her. "I was just over there fishing. With my dad and brother."

I knew that he was over here for me, but Thisbe had no idea. She was just staring up at him, smiling.

"What are those for?" She reached for the flowers. "Huh?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd ask," he said, smiling at her now. "When I was over there, fishing, I saw these and then looked over here and saw you guys."

"We're girls," Thisbe corrected.

"Pretty girls at that," he added before handing off the flowers to my younger sister. "My name's Yogi."

Thisbe frowned before smelling her flowers. "Like the bear?"

"Yep. It's just my nickname though." He looked at me finally. "My names Randal. What's yours?"

Thisbe snorted, glancing at me. "That's Auden."

"Oh." He frowned at hearing that, but just looked back at my younger sister. "What's your name?"

"I'm not allowed to tell my name to strangers," she said before glancing back at me. "But since Auden's here…my name's Thisbe."

He looked at me. "Is she serious? Auden and Thisbe?"

I sighed. "They're both-"

"An author and a woman that is suicidal. Wow. I'd think she was screwing with my head, but I don't think even she knows what her name means."

Thisbe frowned, throwing his flowers to the ground. "I do too! My name is Thisbe Caroline West! I live in Colby with my mommy. That's what Thisbe means."

I blinked. She must have thought that he was asking who she was. I guess.

"Thisbe," I sighed, standing now. She was smoldering now, glaring up at him. "He didn't mean-"

"I'm sorry," Randal said now, smiling down at her. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Thisbe just crossed her arms. "Maybe I could forgive you if you let me fish with you."

"Thisbe-"

"Sure," Randal said before looking at me. "Can Auden come?"

"Mmmm…I guess so." Thisbe let her arms drop then, bending over to pick up the flowers. "Only if she doesn't get in the way. She's not good at playing fisherman. I am though. I'm very good at it."

"I'm sure."

She looked up at me then. "Come on, Auden."

"Thisbe-"

"Who's this guy?"

I frowned as Jake Stock came barreling over, tossing an arm around me when he was close enough. Randal frowned as I shifted out from under the other guy's reach.

"I thought you were sleeping?" I crossed my arms as I glared at my boyfriend's younger brother. "And don't touch me."

"Where's Eli?" Jake frowned at the other guy while Thisbe went to work putting one of the flowers in her hair. "Huh? You drown him before you shack up with this-"

"Come on, Thisbe," I said, taking her hand now. "Let's go fishing, huh?"

She giggled, squeezing my hand before looking at Randal. "I'd ask Auden if she wanted to put a flower in her hair, but she's not fun like that."

"Oh," he said. "I'll take a flower, if you want me to."

"Only if you want to."

"I do."

She glanced at me before back at him. Giggling, she said, "You're a boy."

"I know."

"And you still want a flower?"

"Yes."

"Mmmm..." She looked at Jake then, who was glowering at the other male. "Do you want a flower?"

"I'm not a queer."

I hit him in the stomach gently. "Jake."

Thisbe looked back at Randal. "Get down on one knee."

When he did as asked, she quickly tucked one of the flowers into his hair, giggling. Then, after he stood, she said, "You're like Eli."

"Who's Eli?"

"Auden's boyfriend. And he says he's my brother. Just not yet, though." She tugged on my hand now. "Come on, Auden! We're gonna go fishin'! Not you though, Jake, 'cause you're mean."

"Fine!" He glared at me. "I didn't wanna go with you anyways."

"Whatever." I looked at Randal, expecting him to make up some excuse now that he knew I had a boyfriend. Still, he just smiled down at Thisbe.

"You ready to go catch some fish?"

"Yep!" Thisbe giggled. "Let's go play fisherman!"

Thisbe snores. It was a recent development, but she did. It annoyed the heck out of me.

Yogi and I had borrowed some poles from his father along with bait before taking Thisbe down to a pier on the other side of the lake. Most of the old guys liked fishing out in boats, so we were mostly alone except for one old man, who, like Thisbe, was passed out in his chair, his fishing pole in his lap. That was okay though, because he didn't snore. I wasn't even sure he was alive, honestly. At least he was quiet though.

"So you and this Eli? Are you serious?"

The two of us had mostly been silent up until this point. At first it was because Thisbe was talking so much, but then she fell asleep and neither of us were able to make anything work. Now apparently he had found something he wanted to discuss. It just so happened that it was the last thing I even wanted to think about.

"Very," I said simply.

"So I guess you would be impressed if I told you I graduated last year from law school and am currently working at a firm?"

"I'd call you a liar."

"You'd be wrong." He looked at me then. "I'm older than I look."

"Hmmm."

"I am," he said, giving me a toothy grin. "When I don't gel my hair and wear a suit, I'm kind of intimidating."

"Kind of?"

"Well, sure. I'm pretty much a big deal."

"Are you now?"

"I like to think so, yes."

"That explains why no one has ever heard of you."

"Bah!" He smiled over at me, not even paying attention to if his pole line bobbed or not. "I'm practically a celebrity, back home."

"Home. Where is that?"

"Kelper." He looked back out at the lake. "The little one said you guys live in Colby, right?"

"She does. I'm in college."

"Ah. And you attend?"

"Defriese," I told him, for some reason my guard not finding its way up.

"No bull?" He smiled. "Or are you a liar too?"

"I'm a liar, I'm sure, but not about this."

"Oh, she's a liar alright."

I glanced up as Eli came down the dock, quickly taking a seat on it next to us. We were hanging our feet over the side, me kicking mine back and forth, Thisbe curled up on the pier, napping. Eli sat on the other side of her.

"Hi," Randal greeted him. "I'm Yogi. Or, well, Randy if you want."

Eli didn't want though. He just glanced down at my sister before asking, "What did you guys do to her?"

"She's just hungry and sleepy. She got up rather early with your mother."

"Rather early?"

Randal coughed slightly, making me glance at him.

"Oh, Yogi, this is Eli," I said, nodding at him.

"Ah. The boyfriend," Randy said with a nod.

"The fiancé," Eli corrected, making eyes at the other guy.

"No, Eli. You're my boyfriend."

"That's debatable."

"Only to you."

Randy coughed again before smiling at me. "So, anyways, Auden, you were talking about Defriese?"

"Oh, there's really nothing else to tell you," I said, looking back at my fishing line. "I'm majoring in English."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. I want to be a writer. Both my parents are."

"Really?'

I nodded. "My dad, Robert West, is very-"

"Robert West? Like, married to Dr. Victoria West?"

"Well," I started slowly. "Uh, yeah. They were married."

"Your mom is-"

"Yes."

"Oh, God, I've never known anyone, like, famous or anything."

I glanced at Eli, but he just shrugged.

"I highly doubt that my mom is considered famous."

He ignored that. "Do you think I could meet her? Or something? Is she here?"

"Oh, no," I said, shaking my head. "My mother's not big on…camping."

"Life," Eli muttered.

"Oh. Oh, of course." Yogi laughed before looking back at the lake. "Stupid me, right. Ha."

"My mom's just not an outdoorsy person," I told him.

"And you are?"

"Shut up, Eli."

He just sighed as he stood back up before carefully lifting Thisbe into his arms. "I spent forever trying to find you, Auden. It's time for lunch. Come on."

"Eli-"

"Or not," he said as Thisbe woke up, wrapping her arms around his neck the second her eyes were open. "Whatever."

As he walked off, I looked back at Randy, smiling softly.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "It's been fun, but he's…very emotionally needy. Like a little boy. I have to go make sure he's okay."

"Oh yeah, sure." He smiled, but it was a disappointed one. "How long are you staying for? Camping, I mean?"

"Oh, no, today's my last day."

"Oh."

"Here." I handed him my cell. "Put your number in. Maybe we can talk again sometime, huh?"

"Sure!" He quickly gave me his own phone, but I just sat it to the side as I reeled in my fishing line. Once that was done, I gave him back his pole and quickly put my information into his phone. Then, with that over, I stood up.

"I'll see you around, huh?" I smiled at him before turning to walk away.

"Bye…Auden."

"Dude was a freak."

"Eli-"

"He was! Thisbe told me about how he just waltzed up to you guys, thinking that he could just-"

"He was nice, okay?" I shook my head at him from my spot on one of the sleeping bags. He was all the way on the other side of the tent, my sister and Vinny between us. For some reason, we had ended up with both kids for the night, though luckily Steven and Jake took Ralph again. There was no way that was happening.

"Oh, okay. 'cause I'm sure me hanging out with a chick and calling her cool-"

"I didn't seek him out, Eli."

"Maybe the chick did seeked me out."

"Sought. And no, trust me, she wouldn't have been doing that."

I got a glare for that.

"I'll have you know, Auden, that you're no better looking than me."

"Hn." I finally laid down, pulling my little sister closer to me. She made a noise in her sleep before settling out once more. "Whatever you say."

"Auden-"

"Eli, we're going to be alone in the truck tomorrow, the whole ride back. And then you're going to have to ride back up here, all alone, to get the guys when its time to leave. So let's just both try and stay in good moods, huh?"

He snorted, putting his back to me. "I just think it wrong of you to talk to another guy and spend alone time with him."

"My sister was freaking there."

"And?"

Groaning, I shut my eyes. "You know, Eli, you're really-"

"I'm really what? Huh? Right? Correct? Which is it? Both?"

"Just shut up and go to sleep."

"Gladly."

I tried really, really hard not to say anything else, but I just had to.

"And another thing, Eli. How dare you tell me about hanging out with guys? I mean, God, how many hot women go to competitions?"

"That's different, Auden."

"Oh, is it?"

"Yeah, it is. Just like it's different when you go to school with someone, it's different when I got to a competition with someone."

"Seems like you'd get a real good chance to score."

"Yeah, well- Score?"

I sat up, looking at him as he rolled back over to face me. "Yeah. Score."

Eli laughed then, his chest vibrating as he stared at me. "Are you serious? Score? What are we in, Aud? Eighth grade?"

"What?"

"God, baby, you are repressed. Score?" Standing, he went to the entrance of the tent and unzipped it. "Come on."

"What about the kids?"

"They'll be fine."

I was reluctant, but decided he was probably right as I crawled over to the opening, wiggling my way out of it.

"Where are we going?"

"Shhh," he whispered, taking my hand once we were both upright and leading me over to the ice chest. He took a few beers out of it before leading me away, deeper into the forest. It wasn't until we were back at that little stream that he let me go.

"Sit," he said, pointing at the ground before doing so. "Right next to me."

Doing so, I took one of the twist top beers from him. "What are we doing?"

"Celebrating."

"Celebrating what?"

"Another successful trip together." He took a sip of his first beer. "From what I know about married people and them traveling together, most do not end well."

"We're not married."

"No," he agreed. "We're not."

Smiling, I took a long swig from my own beer. "I think I love you, Eli."

"Yeah, I have that effect on women."

Laughing, I kicked off my sandals before wiggling my toes at him. "Please?"

Eli sighed as he pulled my feet into his lap. "Only because I love you."

"Only because you love me."

We were both silent for awhile as we drank beer and he massaged my feet. I was enjoying myself so much that I almost didn't notice that we were being watched. Still, I eventually did hear the breathing, as did Eli who called out for whoever was there to come out.

"I wasn't doin' nothing," Vinny complained as he came over. "Honest. I just wanted to make sure you guys was okay. You just left us all alone."

'Vinny," Eli scolded as the boy came to sit next to us. "You do not sneak out."

"I wasn't! I had to make sure Auden was okay," he said as I removed my feet from his uncle's lap. "You guys was fightin' before. How's I supposed to know if she was okay? Huh? You said that it's our job to protect the girls out here in the woods. Well, I had to protect Auden."

"Vinny, I'm the only one that needs to protect Auden."

"What if you's the one hurting her? Huh?"

"Eli will never hurt me," I told him before leaning down to kiss his head. "And you need to learn when to use was and were."

He shrunk away from me. "Ew, Auden! Eli, she kissed me!"

I just giggled while Vinny crawled closer to the stream, cupping some water in his hands before dumping it on his head.

"Don't get too wet, buddy," Eli warned.

"She's the one that kissed me."

"That's because you're so cute," I told him.

"I am not cute. I am ferocious."

I frowned. "You know the word ferocious, but don't know when to use were and was?"

"I'm a very compound person, Auden," he told me as he sat back down next to me.

"I think you mean complex."

"That too."