El's POV

We came back outside into the fresh air. The sun had now completely set, and though I was thankful for the decrease in temperature, my knowledge of desert climate told me that it would be below freezing before long.

Damn desert.

Damn freaks.

I could still feel his fingers on my face, and an involuntary shudder ran down my spine.

Brenda ripped the boxed she'd brought out into pieces, then lit a match, holding it to he boxes. After a lot of fanning, the fire finally burst to life, the few, but warm flames licking the air.

Brenda walked to Edward's side and I turned away, happy that they seemed to like each other so much. Bobby stood a few yards away, his back to me, arms crossed in front of him.

I couldn't help it, something drew me to him, it was like I started walking even before my brain told me to.

Soon, I was at his side.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." He answered, not looking at me.

I looked down at my feet. "Something wrong?" I asked awkwardly.

"No…I just…" He didn't go on for a second, but then, it was like this floodgate opened, and he realized that I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. "I feel like a lot of this is my fault. I knew better, and I still left you guys by yourselves. It was stupid."

He looked down, letting out a heavy breath. Now I felt bad, but butterflies flew about in my stomach at the thought of him worrying about me…or maybe just Brenda. I couldn't tell.

"Oh, Bobby, it's not your fault…" I said softly, sincerely.

He sucked in a breath, and I suddenly realized how sensitive he was. How much whatever he'd been through had made him feel helpless and cornered. I felt sorry for him…and I wanted to be here for him.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I asked after a few moments of silence. "It would have been a lot off your chest…"

"I didn't wanna scare you…" He said softly, looking at me for the first time. Even in the darkness, I could see the deep brown of his eyes.

It surprised me how I could ever bother with such things in this situation.

I shivered suddenly, the night air finally beginning to take affect.

"You're cold." He said, as though he were dumb not to know. "Here, let's go back to the fire…"

He turned, placing a hand on my arm. As we got closer, I saw Brenda and Edward sitting on one side of the fire, and looked up to see if Bobby had noticed.

His eyes flashed a little, and he tensed, but didn't glare. Apparently, he wasn't as bad as Edward was, but still pretty protective of Brenda. After the past few days, probably even more than before.

I looked up at him (he was about a head taller than I was), then spoke. "Don't worry, my brother's a nice guy, Bobby."

He looked doubtful, but still stayed on this side of the fire.

I looked up at him. "Can I stay with you? I don't think I'm wanted over there." I bit my lip nervously, hoping this wasn't going too far.

"Um…yeah." He said. He sat down, and I sat down next to him, pulling my knees to my chest.

After a while, I caught him looking at my eye again. I sighed and laid back, looking up at the stars. "…my dad."

He laid down as well, looking at me curiously. "What?"

"My dad…he gave me the black eye. Edward too." A tear rolled down my cheek, and my voice broke. "That's why we're out here…" I covered my eyes as I began to cry. "We had to fun away…"

For a minute, I just cried, until I felt a hand lightly brush my shoulder. I opened my eyes, and Bobby was looking at me sympathetically. I felt weak, at least my parents were alive. But as he reached out to me, I wanted to just…cry. Let out all the pain I'd felt for so long. I'd never cried in front of anyone, but with him, I wanted to let it out…and I didn't feel bad about it.

I turned over on my side, my back to him, and he scooted closer, his arm wrapping around me and pulling me close.

Back home, this would have been too fast, too much, and he would have been someone I barely knew. But here, after I told him something I'd never told anyone else, her in a place where I suddenly realized that I didn't know that I'd make it to the next morning, this was perfect.