Author's Note: Yes, I know, I haven't updated anything in an unacceptably long amount of time. I'm sorry! My life took a turn (yes, before you ask, it was a breakup).

So I've been busy dealing with that and obsessing over Life is Strange! (actually listening to the soundtrack for Episode 1 currently). So, readers, I hope you enjoy.

Edit: Sorry for the re-upload. Pagebreaks were flipping out on me.

"It's only two days, Car. Hunting with my dad is something I do every year, and I'm not going to break that streak."

Lilly stood in their living room, wearing a camo jacket, jeans, and boots. She had her hair tucked up into a ponytail and pulled through a sporting cap. She was holding a large semicircle plastic case, which Carley assumed was the casing for a bow, in one hand, and the other was placed on her hip.

"You could have told me! This is really short notice," Carley sighed. It's not like she had planned a whole romantic weekend planned for the only few days that Lilly had off for the foreseeable future, or anything.

Lilly looked irritated, "Fine. If you're going to be like that, come with me then. See if you would like trudging through mud and leaves and keeping your eyes peeled for animals that will probably never show up anyway, and sleeping in a tent on the cold ground!" her voice was as fiery as her eyes and her arms were lively. Carley was almost nervous that she would punch something.

Despite this, Carley wouldn't let her win, "Fine!" she shouted indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest as a sign of finality. She would do this is it meant impressing Lilly, and the time spent together would be good for their relationship even if it wasn't completely pleasant.

"Fine!" Lilly retorted, "Get some stuff packed. My camo's in the bottom drawer."

Carley had stumbled on the legs of Lilly's too-long jeans a total of five times before Lilly sighed, "Roll them up," she advised, the first words that had come out of her lips since that morning, as they trudged along a trail surrounded by trees. A layer of leaves crackled under their feet as the walked, the brown and coppery red leaves catching on the bottom of their jeans. They hid sticks that cracked sharply when a foot incidentally landed on them, which startled Carley from the stillness of nature every time.

Carley kneeled and folded up the bottoms neatly up so that it wouldn't be a problem. She was worried about ticks, but she wouldn't let Lilly know that. She hadn't been hunting before, but late was better than never.

Carley stood and gained the ground between her and Lilly by walking swiftly. Once there, she slowed her pace so she was beside the other woman and their steps were the same. Lilly was silent, her hard brown eyes fixed straight ahead and reflected the light around them.

"I'm sorry if I was an asshole," Carley offered, referring to that morning as she kicked lazily at a stick while she walked. She glanced sideways and searched her girlfriend's expression for anything; a flicker of change.

Lilly stopped and turned her head so that their eyes met, "You weren't. I was," she looked away, "And your going to think I'm even more of an asshole when I say this, but we need to pretend we're not together."

Carley flinched internally and stopped walking, "Why?" she asked, trying to hide the crack in her voice. Was Lilly ashamed?

Lilly caught onto what she was thinking and grabbed Carley's hand, holding it loosely at her side, "No, no. It's my dad. He's..." she searched for words a moment, trailing off.

"Oh," Carley sighed, understanding clearly.

As they turned the next bend in the scarcely-used trail, a citrus orange tent came into view. It was smeared with dirt and worn, telling age. Outside of the tent was a small camping stove and an almost empty gray duffel bag crumpled by it, matching the duffel bag that Lilly had brought along.

Lilly's fingers slipped out of Carley's, "This is where my dad told me our campsite was. He's already here, then," she gave Carley a meaningful look before hiking ahead.

"Dad?" she said, announcing her presence as her voice echoed through the trees.

There was immediately a shuffling from inside the tent as it unzipped and a man stepped out.

A very tall, muscled, intimidating man that made Carley wish she had decided to stay at the apartment.

"Lilly!" his voice was gruff as he greeted his daughter. The smile that stretched across his face was wiped off and replaced with a scowl as he spotted Carley, "Who is this?"

Not exactly social, eh?

"This is-" Lilly started, only to be interrupted by the man.

"She can speak for herself, can't she?"

Carley cleared her fear-tightened throat, "I'm Carley," she introduced, holding out her hand for a handshake, "Lilly's friend. I really hope you don't mind the intrusion, it's just I've, well, I don't really have any other, uh, place to be right now and-"

"She's been staying with me. Her boyfriend was abusing her, and I couldn't leave her at the house," Lilly lied, so naturally that Carley almost believed it herself.

The silence was brief but brittle, "I only brought two tents. You two have to share one."

He spoke straight to the point. Realizing her hand was still extended for a shake, she put it down.

Not a warm guy. I see where Lilly gets her feisty streak from.

Setting up the tents was quick despite Carley's mistakes. Lilly talked her through them, seeming to be an expert on the subject. Pitching a tent was almost something she did without thought, like tapping your fingers or toes.

Lilly sighed, joyfully grinning when she was done. Which, Carley noted, had been much less than four minutes.

Lilly rubbed her palms together, then glanced up at the sky.

"It's actually pretty late. Hunting at night is not a good idea," she commented, eyes flickering about at the long-casted shadows from trees. The sky was darkening, the bright blue from earlier that day fading into a burnt orange.

"Plus, I didn't bring my reflective vest. Just some orange shirts...maybe we should start tomorrow morning."

Larry pondered this a moment, his face twisted in thought.

"Okay."

He climbed into his tent without another word. Alright then, was the though Carley was left with.

When Larry's tent zipped closed, Lilly turned towards Carley with a sly grin.

"Tents are not your forte, are they?" she snorted, grin growing deeper.

Carley rolled her eyes. Every time she stumbled with anything, Lilly was always there to remind her; in a childish, teasing way of course. Carley slapped her girlfriend's arm friskily, then shook a finger in her direction.

Lilly had that goddamn smirk on her face again, "Sensitive today?" she asked, her voice mockingly innocent.

"Haha," Carley huffed, then crawled inside of the tent. It was roomier than expected. The light from outside shone weakly in her sight as Carley stared at the ceiling of the tent. The floor of the tent was hard and cold. A chill seeped through her. It was uncomfortable, though Lilly had ensured there were no pebbles underneath it. Carley was not used to this, that was for sure. Her own father hadn't been around much to go camping with her in the first place, and her mother had detached. Carley didn't blame her mother for that in the slightest; in fact, it had made moving away far easier than it would've been otherwise. She remembered vague features of her father's face. Strong chin, long sweeping hair that was either brown or black (she couldn't recall) and soft eyes with were shaped sharply. Her mother had remarked once in a drunken haze that Carley had her father's eyes.

Carley avoided looking at her eyes in the mirror after that.

"Are you okay?"

Carley was startled at Lilly's soft voice. She noted the goosebumps that sprung up on her arms and the moistness of her eyes. She pulled herself into a sitting position, her arms wrapped around her legs.

She forced a chuckle, "Yeah, I just don't do well with nature."

Lilly cocked a brow, "You think I don't know you well enough to know when you're lying? Honey, what's wrong?"

Lilly was never this sweet. Carley was confused. She had expected some sarcastic remark or to have Lilly force answers from her...not this.

"My parents."

Carley felt the words slip from her lips. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about opening herself up to Lilly this deeply. It had been almost a year since they got together, sure, but she wasn't even this honest with herself most of the time.

Lilly wrapped her arms around Carley's shoulders, holding her hands softly. Carley melted into the gesture.

"You don't have to talk if you don't want to."

Carley nodded in answer to Lilly and let the moment stay theirs. Lilly was warm against her back. Lilly hummed softly in no particular tune. Crickets chirped outside of the tent, greeting the rapid nightfall.

Lilly grabbed a blanket from their duffel bag and, remaining close to her, wrapped it around Carley.

Lilly kissed Carley tenderly, cupping her cheek with one hand and wrapping the other comfortingly around her waist. They fell asleep, noses brushing together and hands clasped under the covers.

Hunting went quickly that day. Carley's inexperience wasn't too transparent, and what she didn't know, Lilly taught her. She even let Carley shoot her bow at a tree, though Carley missed and, completely coincidentally, hit a squirrel. Beginner's luck, Lilly had teased. Carley acted offended, though she knew it was completely true and there was no other way she would've hit that squirrel except by accident.

Larry was quiet.

Ironically, Carley was the only one to shoot an animal that day, sloppy as she might have. The day was drawing to a close, and Carley felt paranoid. She could feel imaginary ticks crawling under her skin despite the gallon of tick repellent she had used. Mud was spread on her face. She excused it as a natural sunscreen, since in her pissed-off rush out the door she forgot to pack sunscreen. Sticks were stuck hopelessly in her hair.

Work was going to be great the next morning. Her manage-bitch was going to be thrilled.

The goodbye between Larry and his daughter were short. Carley didn't get a farewell, though she didn't expect to get one.

Carley and Lilly drove home in Lilly's black pickup. Carley hoped that Lee, her stand-in dogsitter, had not let their dog piss on the floor.

Upon arrival you'd think that the room had not been occupied. It seemed pristine and preserved, like a snapshot in time.

Except for the dog's rapid barking coming from somewhere in the house.

Their dog, which was now too mature to be called a puppy but still retained his upbeat puppy attitude, hurled himself towards the door and onto his owners' legs. He yipped, his pink mouth open and long hung hanging out as if he were having the time of his life watching his moms come back into the house after being gone only forty-eight hours.

Lee stepped out of the room where the dog had come from.

"Trenton! Calm!" he commanded the dog, who sat down with his tongue still lolling.

Carley looked up at Lee.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You trained him to respond to that name after I told you not to?" she said, trying to remain serious even though a laughing fit was forcing its way out of her .

Lilly snorted the way she does when she suppresses a laugh and closed the door.

Lee grinned, "Damn right I did. He likes it."

The dog, Trenton (goddamn it Lee), jumped up onto the couch and whined to be cuddled.

Carley picked up the dog, who was easily small enough to be held in her arms. He was near maturity, so he would remain cuddle-sized forever. She hugged him to her chest, his white and brown fur tickling her nose.

"Thank you for your services. Any food you stole from our fridge is free. Your welcome," Carley said smugly, "And also, here's ten dollars because you did such a good job. Young man, buy yourself some candy."

Lilly smiled. She's such a cute dork sometimes...

Carley placed the dog on the floor where he then began jumping ecstatically and handed Lee ten bucks.

"Thyself shalt be off to thy bachelor pad, and thy nearest Treat Shoppe!" Lee left with a geeky grin in return to Carley's obvious dorkiness.

He's so weird, Carley thought in amusement.

Lilly was about to say something when the phone in her pocket suddenly lit up and began buzzing.

Lilly looked at the screen.

"It's my dad," she told Carley, "hold on while I go answer."

Lilly went into their bedroom and answered the call, putting the phone on her ear.

"Hey, Dad," she greeted, "What is it?"

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. Lilly suddenly felt nervousness flood her body.

After a moment, Larry replied in a strained voice, "Remember what your mom taught you before she died? About how honesty is how humans become people, and lies are how humans become stone?"

Lilly teared up as fear flooded through her body. The warm memories of her mother and the raw panic inside of her collided to the point where she was completely struck and out of words. Her father was never like this.

"I can always tell when you lie to me."

Larry's words felt like a physical punch to the gut.

He knew. He knew, and there was no taking it back.

"Daddy..." she trailed off, holding the phone slightly away as she tried to hide her sniffling.

Larry's voice was strained, "Honey. I just want you to know that I know what Carley is to you, and it's not...it's not going to change anything between us. I know I've acted..impudently towards people in similar...situations before. Just give me some time..." he broke off for a moment, "Your mom wouldn't mind, and with her in my heart, I can..I can deal with it. I'll try."

Lilly sobbed silently from a barrage of emotions. She honestly had so many feelings coursing through her brain that she couldn't help but sob. She was being crushed.

"How did you know?" she asked weakly.

"My girl, I may be half-blind but I'm not deaf. I know what words of love sound like."

With that, he hung up.