Waking up beside him always left her feeling safe, looked after. But every morning, when she would stretch and rub the last dregs of sleep away from her eyes, for half a second she would catch herself hoping that the sleeping figure next to her would be Klaus.

Cami's days now consisted of sex, of boat parties, of heavy drinking, and laughing at inane jokes that Daniel's friends made. Daniel treated her like a princess, always asking if she was doing okay, how she was holding up, and she always appreciated it. Sometimes she wished that she could have a minute to herself again, she was starting to feel a bit smothered by him. Every time she sought to have some alone time, it seemed like he wanted to make her dinner or take her somewhere or have someone over. She didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying anything, so she dealt with it even as she felt herself becoming increasingly more irritated with him.

By now, she had been living in the house for two months. She tried to picture her New Orleans life, her apartment untouched, the bar now attended by someone else in her absence. She was sure she hadn't done the dishes that were sitting in her apartment sink before she'd left, and that everything would need a good dusting when she got back. Maybe she could get Vincent to look in on things, make sure no one had broken in or anything like that. Then again, she hadn't talked to him since she'd left New Orleans. She was sure by now that Klaus had spread the word around to anyone who might've needed to know about it, but still no one had really followed up with her about it. Even Will had eventually given up on texting her and had just gone radio silent.

Thinking about New Orleans made her miss it, and she always visualized the city as a sectioned space in her heart that now sat vacant. It wasn't just the city, it was the people who lived there, and she missed them all. She missed her friends.

Still, when she thought of returning, whenever she sat down to the computer to book a return flight, she could never click through to confirm it. Something held her back.

And so she went about her island life, trying to forget that she had a whole separate life somewhere else, something that she had abandoned so utterly, something that she wasn't sure she could return to.

As the days passed, though, she began to think more and more of how it felt like Daniel was playing house with her, like he was always around her, always hovering and asking if she was coping alright. Cami grew to resent his frequent check-ins, they had started to make her feel like he thought she was too fragile, when in fact she felt she was growing stronger by the day. As more time passed, she felt more and more at peace with her grandmother's passing. Whenever she thought about it, she thought of the night she had gone into her grandmother's room, and she thought of how Klaus had comforted her. A strange aching sensation always filled her chest whenever she thought about it. And then she would remember that he had up and left her, that he hadn't so much as sent a text or left a note or called or anything, he was just gone. That always brought her back to reality and reminded her that she was unbelievably angry at him.

One evening, she was laying beside Daniel, watching him watch her. "You look like you want to say something," she said as his fingers lazily played with her hair.

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be here with you."

She studied his face, knowing him well enough now to start interpreting his expressions. "Is that all?"

"Well, I always feel grateful to be with you, especially now that… To be honest, well, I thought that you and Klaus were…" He trailed off at the end, letting silence fill in between them.

"Oh. No," Cami quickly covered, although she could feel her skin flushing with warmth.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Well, I know that now, but at the time, especially since he had come all the way from Nola to check on you. I found that kinda weird at first, but now I know better. I was just jealous. But I think it's made me appreciate my time with you even more. When he called me and told me he was going back to New Orleans—"

"Wait, he told you he was leaving?" Cami said, sitting up suddenly. Her mind started racing a million miles a minute, but one thought stood out: Why would he tell Daniel and not tell me?

"Yeah," Daniel said casually, as if it was no big deal. "He had called to give me a head's up."

"He called to give you a head's up," Cami repeated slowly.

"Yeah," Daniel said, the slight lilt at the end of the syllable making it sound more like a question.

"He called to let you know he was going back to New Orleans, and yet he couldn't be bothered to even tell me, or leave a note, nothing?"

"I thought he…I don't know, I just assumed he had said goodbye to your or something," Daniel said, his tone apologetic.

Cami felt a panic rise up in her, a combination of her racing thoughts and a bubbling anger towards Klaus. She could not comprehend that Klaus had told Daniel and not her that he was leaving. And that Daniel hadn't said anything. Because as her thoughts started to come together, it seemed like Klaus had called Daniel only to tell him it was safe to pursue her. Which made Daniel seem like a coward, and made Klaus seem like…she had many words come to mind at that point. Why would he want to let another man have her? She thought that Klaus liked her…

"Well. Well," Cami struggled to form coherent words and string them together into sentences. "Well, did he say why he had left? He literally didn't say anything to me. I just woke up one morning and he was gone."

"He said if you asked why, that you would have to ask him in person."

She leapt out of bed then, knowing what she had to do. It was partly that she had reached her breaking point with Daniel, that she did not see the relationship going anywhere. But mainly she was now fueled by anger. Anger that Daniel had not told her this vital piece of information, anger that he had been so cowardly that he had had to wait for Klaus to leave the island before he would spend time with her again, anger that Klaus had left so suddenly and now expected her to do the same. If that was his intention, to make her so furious that she would come back to New Orleans just to punch him in the face, then it was working.

"Cami? Where are you going?"

She stormed out of the room, into the sitting area, fetching her computer. Online, she booked a plane ticket for the first flight in the morning. When she came back, she found Daniel still in bed but sitting up, a look of extreme concern on his face. "What's going on?"

"You have to go," Cami said strongly, trying to make her voice sound even although it came out jagged and full of nervous energy.

Daniel stood and walked over to her, his hands on her shoulder. "Babe, you're talking crazy."

"No, you really need to go. I'm going back to New Orleans in the morning."

"Cami," he said loudly, in that You're Being Unreasonable sort of way, like a child says Mom! when they think she's being unfair.

For a moment, she allowed herself to feel a tenderness for him as he guided her, hands still on her shoulders, to sit back down on the edge of the bed. She could see the panic and concern on his face. "What is going on?"

She took a minute to collect herself, to put her thoughts in order, to calm the bubbling nerves that were starting to make her shake. After a moment, she gathered the courage to look him in the eye. "Daniel, the time I've been spending with you has been incredible—"

"Skip the platitudes, please," he said quietly, cutting her off. "Just cut to the chase and tell me what's going on."

"I need to go back to New Orleans. And I don't know when I'll be coming back to Kiawah."

"Did I do something wrong?" Daniel asked.

Cami thought for a minute about lying, but she knew she owed him more than that. He had, after all, swooped in to pick up the pieces after Klaus left. But Cami knew now, and she could admit to herself, that if Klaus wanted her to come after him that she would be there as fast as she could. "It's less about you and more about him."

Daniel couldn't meet her eyes then. "Okay," he said after a minute. "I appreciate the honesty."

"I have a flight first thing in the morning."

Daniel's eyes widened; apparently he hadn't been expecting to be kicked out so soon. Maybe he was hoping that she'd be leaving in a few days, and that she would somehow change her mind in that time and they could go back to their island life together. But Cami knew that leaving any later would only be postponing the inevitable— she would be leaving one way or another.

He stood, glancing around the room, looking disoriented. She could tell that it hadn't set in for him yet, that he was still sort of in shock. They both knew that this hadn't been anything super serious, but she could see that he had expected to have more time with her. Guilt started to fill her then. She had been so excited and anxious about leaving that there hadn't been room for any other emotions until that point. She had never wanted to hurt Daniel, he had been so sweet to her. But when she weighed the options, staying here with him versus going back to New Orleans and back to Klaus, she knew what needed to happen.

Cami went to the kitchen to get some air while Daniel grabbed his clothes and various other personal belongings. After about ten minutes, he emerged, walking down the stairs while she trailed behind him.

He stood in the doorway facing her, his face set now with resolve. She could see him struggling to keep it together, and the guilt washed over her, making tears well up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said, now crying in earnest. "I'm so sorry. I know this is sudden, and I'm really sorry about that. I did— I do like you," she corrected herself, "I just need…"

"You just need him," Daniel said, staring at the floor. "I suspected there had been something going on between you, but whenever I asked, you denied it. But I think maybe it was hard for you to admit to yourself, at least until now. So I understand." She studied his face, feeling like he was just saying that he understood when he really didn't. But she also felt that he would come to understand eventually, even if he didn't now, and she appreciated that all the same.

"If you're ever on the island again, will you look me up?"

"I promise," Cami said. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked down the front steps, going into his car, and drove away.

At five in the morning, she woke up and stuffed all her belongings into a duffel bag that she'd found in the hall closet, realizing just how much she'd bought since coming down here. She had only initially come with a few changes of clothes, a funeral outfit, and her toiletries, but now she had swimsuits, new clothes, and worthless tchotchkes that she'd bought on a whim at one or another of the tourist traps. She didn't care that she would have to check a bag at the airport, she just wanted to make sure she wouldn't forget anything. She didn't know when she'd be coming back.

Five minutes before she was going to leave, she went up to the third floor. She felt she had reached the point now where she wouldn't immediately burst into tears just by setting foot up there. Cami stood in the doorway to her grandmother's room, taking a final look around. "Goodbye, Grandma," she said quietly. She closed the door behind her as she left.

She took a last look around at the house, taking it in. With every room that she passed through, she was flooded with memories that had happened there. This is where Daniel and I had sex for the first time; this is where I spent the whole day reading in the sun and got a horrible sunburn; this is where I sat watching TV with Klaus and he put his arm around me. Despite the terrible circumstances that had brought her there, she would miss the place.

She drove to the airport, turned the car back in to the rental company, tried not to pass out when she saw the astronomical bill for having a rental car for two months. And as she boarded the plane, sat down in her seat, fastened her seatbelt, she couldn't help but feel this feeling of excitement growing in the pit of her stomach at the thought of going home, of seeing Klaus.