Hey, guys, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a LONG time but I have been VERY busy and I've been working on other stories along with this one. I've worked hard on this chapter and I really hope you like it! So, here it is! Enjoy!
"What?!" Taylor cried out.
"You're- you're kidding me, right?" Eric said, straining a laugh.
Lex just sat in silence, staring with wide eyes at Jackson, Melissa, Nathan, and Daley.
Jackson sighed and rolled his eyes- this was proving to be harder than he thought it would be. "No, Eric," he said, "I'm not. The 'no relationships' rule doesn't matter anymore."
"Which means," Eric said, staring from Melissa and Jackson to Daley and Nathan, obviously very amused, "That you guys are…"
"Yes, Eric," said Daley, irritated. "We are."
Eric sat down, grinning. He chuckled, shaking his head. He then said, "I knew this would happen eventually."
"Eric," said Melissa, "Don't even start."
Eric ignored her. "No way were you guys gonna last until we got rescued," he continued.
"Eric-" Daley began, but he cut her off.
"It was only a matter of time…"
"SHUT UP!" Nathan yelled. He was on his feet, rounding on Eric. He had been silent the entire time, so everyone was shocked by his sudden outburst. Lex, Taylor, and Melissa all jumped, Daley's eyes shot over to Nathan, and Eric was looking at him nervously, as if he were crazy. Jackson, the only one who seemed unaffected, was staring at Nathan carefully.
"Touchy," Eric said, still staring at Nathan. This earned him a glare from Nathan as he strode away. Eric looked at the others in confusion. "What's his problem?" he asked.
Daley hardly heard him. She was staring after Nathan as he walked away from them all. She was about to go after him when Jackson stopped her. "Give him some time," he said, and she nodded, still staring at Nathan, wondering what could be wrong.
- - - - - - - Daley's Video Diary - - - - - - -
"This is so frustrating! Everything has been going wrong today! I can't take it!"
- - - - - - End of Diary - - - - - - -
29DWN
Daley was walking along the path to the fruit trees that afternoon, letting out some steam. She needed to figure out what was bothering Nathan all of a sudden. She was deep in thought when suddenly something caught her eye. Nathan was sitting on a log a few yards away with his back to her. He appeared to be in a trance, sitting stone still. Daley walked over and sat down next to him, which made him come out of his trance and recognize her presence. He gave her a small smile and greeted her. Daley smiled and greeted him back, and there was silence for a few moments before she spoke again. "Are you okay?"
He looked up at her and said, "Yeah. Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well," said Daley carefully, "What happened back at camp…" She broke off.
Nathan stared at her, remembering. "Oh," he said, "That."
He sighed and then said, "Daley, I can't lie to you. The truth is, lately being stuck here has really gotten to me. What if they don't find us in time? What if they never come at all? What would happen then? And what would happen to us? I just don't want to let you down. And I'm afraid that after a while, I'll go insane and do something stupid… and the last thing I would want to do is hurt you…. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner… I just…" He broke off when she kissed him gently. She pulled away and said, "Nathan, I'm glad you told me. It means a lot that you can come to me with things like this."
They kissed again, and for a few minutes they were unaware of what was going on around them, that is until they heard a voice come from behind them, "Uh…."
They turned to see Taylor standing there, staring at them.
"Uh," she said again, starting to walk away, "I guess I'll just…. leave you two alone…" and she quickly left.
Daley and Nathan just looked at each other.
"Well," Nathan said, "That was awkward."
"Yeah," Daley replied, and with that they embraced again, but only to hear another voice address them, minutes later.
"Hey, guys- whoa," Jackson said, noticing Daley and Nathan. "Bad time," and he turned back around and walked away.
Nathan and Daley looked at each other, annoyed.
"So," Nathan said after a moment, "Where were we?" and they leaned in. When they were only inches apart, they heard yet another familiar voice.
"Hey, Daley, Nathan," came Lex's voice. They both sighed and broke apart.
"You guys gotta- oops," he broke off, and he took off again.
"Okay," Nathan said, "This is starting to get annoying."
"Yeah," Daley said. "Maybe we should-"
"Daley, Nathan," came Mel's voice as she approached them.
"Oh my-" Nathan began, but Daley cut him off.
"Mel," she said, "We were kinda hoping for some privacy,… if you don't mind…"
"Ohh…… right," Melissa replied, and she walked away.
Nathan sighed. "If we get one more interruption-"
"Not gonna happen," Daley told him, and Nathan shrugged and kissed her again. It was finally looking as if they were alone at last, when suddenly-
"Get a room!" Eric shouted at them.
Nathan broke away from Daley and turned to stare at Eric.
"I suggest you run," he said, staring him down.
"Ha, okay," Eric said, "Don't make me laugh."
"Three-" Nathan began.
"Oooh, I'm so scared!"
"Two-"
"The little pretty-boy boyscout is gonna-"
And Nathan dived at him. Eric took off, with Nathan right behind him.
Daley smiled to herself as she watched them. She felt at ease, knowing that she had cleared things up with Nathan. But before the day was over, she had one more person to sort things out with…
29DWN
Daley made her way out of the jungle and spotted Lex sitting at the fireplace, looking dejected. She smiled sadly, knowing that she was the cause of the way he was feeling. She walked over to him, sat down next to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Look, Lex," she began, "I'm sorry for keeping all this from you. I should have told you in the first place. I know you would have trusted me, but now you probably don't."
Lex looked up at her. "That's not true," he said. "Of course I trust you, Daley, but, the thing is…" he paused for a moment and sighed.
"What is it?" Daley asked him.
"Well," Lex began, "Remember how I had that nightmare the other night?"
"Yeah?" Daley asked, curious.
"Well, in it, you and Nathan were together. And Melissa and Jackson were together, and even Taylor and Eric were together. You were all so busy with each other that you forgot all about me. And, I was afraid of that nightmare coming true…" He broke off.
Daley sighed and said, "Oh, Lex, you know that could never happen. We all care about you, and we'd never do that. Especially me. I love you too much."
Lex smiled and hugged her. "I love you, too," he said.
When Daley drew away, she looked around with a frown. "Hey," she said, "Have you seen Nathan or Eric?"
"No," Lex told her, "Why do you ask?"
Daley smiled to herself and began, "Well…" but she was interrupted by Eric, who ran into camp, out of breath. He looked around cautiously, and then said to them, "Hey, have you guys seen-" when Nathan jumped on top of him and tackled him to the ground.
Lex and Daley looked and each other and laughed.
"It's a long story!" Daley told him as they watched Nathan and Eric wrestle on the ground.
