The night was spent mostly awake for the four victims of poison oak. They scratched and scratched and just couldn't get comfortable. Eventually Bruce, woken by their constant movement, gave them all benadryl and they were able to catch a few solid hours of sleep.
That morning,Wade, Laynie, Carter, Peter and Kate were the first ones around the fire. Kate and Laynie built it up from the coals left over while Carter verbally bashed Wade some more.
There they spent most of the morning, generally looking depressed. Kate eventually went off with Clint to do some target practice, and Peter fell asleep in his camp chair.
"Guys, you've got to do something," Tony said, standing in front of the group. "You're making me depressed."
"We played go fish for two hours," Laynie sighed. "There's nothing else for us to do, really."
"Well what about the pool?"
They gave Tony their attention, obviously interested.
"Didn't you hear Steve going on about that? At the base of the falls, wherever they are, there's a pool. It's about five feet deep apparently. The water might be a little cold but it would help you stop itching so much."
Laynie shrugged, looking between Wade and Carter for feedback.
"Sure, why not?" Carter sighed. "If it'll make me not itch so much, I'm all for it."
"Sounds fine to me," Wade agreed. "Should we leave Peter here?"
"Probably. We'll let him sleep. Besides, he shouldn't really swim around unclean water with his arm all burnt."
"Great! I'll go get Steve, he can take you."
The three went to change while Tony found Steve, depositing him outside their tents. The hike to the falls was a short one that they mostly spent itching.
They had picked up Kate on the way to the falls, saving her from yet another argument with Clint about not provoking the mafia.
"Thanks guys." She said in relief.
"No problem." Carter answered, absently scratching at her neck.
Laynie swatted her hand. "Stop that, you'll just make it worse."
Carter stuck her tongue out at the other girl.
Once they got the falls in their sights the four teens took off running to dive into the pool of water.
"It's so cold!" Laynie cried, only ankle deep in the water.
"But it feels so good," Carter sighed while she floated on her back.
"It does make the itching not as bad," Wade agreed. "Come on, jump in!"
Laynie continued to refuse, sitting at the edge of the water. She left her feet in, but refused to go further. Finally, Kate enlisted Steve's help and they hauled her up and into the water.
She splashed and spluttered for a moment. She stopped complaining when her head and shoulders stopped itching.
After floating for a while, Carter started to get restless. She saw Steve nearby. With a mischievous grin, she swam toward him.
Steve laughed as Carter scrambled to attach herself to his wet back. "What're you doing?"
Carter ignored him. "Laynie, chicken fight!"
"No!" Laynie shook her head wildly. "You always beat me when we play that."
"Come on, it'll be fun." With some assistance, she made it onto Steve's shoulders.
"What's chicken fight?" Wade asked.
"Basically, you've got four people, and two of them get on the other two's shoulders and then the two people on top try to knock each other over. It's fun." Carter explained.
Wade nodded in understanding. He looked over toward Laynie who was still shaking her head in refusal. He slowly immersed himself under the water and swam over to her. Next thing Laynie knew, she was riding on top of Wade's shoulders.
"Wade, put me down, I'm not playing!" Her face was turning red, and it wasn't the cold causing it.
"Laynie, come on!" Carter whined.
Laynie gave Carter a completely deadpan look, not even a little swayed by her friend's argument.
"Come on, Laynie," Wade said excitedly, bouncing on his toes in the water. "Just once."
She looked down at his excited face, and over to Carter's. "Oh my gosh, fine."
"I don't think this is a good idea." Steve said apprehensively.
"You worry too much." Carter commented, "Now go that way." She pointed toward Wade and Laynie.
He sighed and started walking toward Wade and Laynie as Wade came toward them as well.
Carter grinned at Laynie. "Ready?"
"No," Laynie shook her head.
"Go!" Carter threw her arms out as Laynie did the same.
They both struggled to throw the other one into the water.
"Ow!" Wade cried, when Carter accidentally kicked him in the face.
Carter gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Wade. Are you okay?"
Taking advantage of Carter's lack of focus, Laynie grabbed her shoulders and pushed her off of Steve into the water.
"Ah!" Carter cried loudly.
Laynie only got to enjoy her victory for a brief moment. After Carter had fallen, Wade intentionally launched Laynie into the water after her. Carter and Laynie both surfaced shouting at Wade, one in anger and the other in concern.
"Wait, guys," Wade said, holding his hands up. "What's that?"
Laynie looked on her leg where Wade pointed, and screamed.
Steve launched into action and grabbed Laynie, pulling her to the edge of the water and sitting her down on a flat rock. There were at least five leeches he could see on her legs at first glance. Carter, Wade and Kate followed close behind. While Steve worked to calm Laynie long enough to remove the leeches, Kate took initiative and popped two off of Carter, and one off of Wade.
"I used to do this for the other kids at summer camp," she explained to Carter.
"What are they?" Wade asked, disgusted.
"Leeches. They won't kill you," Kate said pointedly, side-eyeing Laynie.
Steve popped the last of the leeches off of Laynie and sat on the rock beside her, pulling her into a big hug. She calmed down slowly, eventually muttering, "I hate leeches."
Back at camp, Tony took Laynie into the RV for a while to calm down, and everyone else sat by the fire to dry off.
"Poor Laynie," Kate muttered.
"She never freaks out like that," Carter sighed.
Peter scratched at his wrist. "Wait, what happened? What did I miss?"
"There were leeches in the water at the falls. Laynie had like eight of them on her legs."
Peter grimaced. "And she freaked out?"
"A little."
"A lot," Wade corrected.
Laynie emerged from the RV with a blanket on her shoulders and her father trailing behind her.
"We're leaving," Tony announced. "Everyone is miserable and I'm willing to take anyone that's done."
Apparently everyone was done with the trip, because the camp was packed up in less than two hours.
As Laynie sat across the way from Wade, she considered all they had been through the last three days, and his proposal from a week back. Laynie was still a little weirded out by the idea of dating Wade. He was the best friend she'd had since Carter, but she wondered if that closeness was going to grow into something more even if she never gave it consent.
If the relationship were to grow and evolve toward romance, was it any use to put up a fight? Would it only damage their relationship further?
Laynie sighed and looked up at Wade again. He was scratching at his wrists, trying to cheer up Carter while she scratched at her neck. Before she could think about it for a second longer, Laynie pulled out her phone and texted Wade.
'We need to talk'
His phone buzzed, and he kept messing with Carter until Laynie sent him another message, and finally kicked him in the shin.
He grabbed his buzzing phone out of his pocket, giving Laynie a comical glare all the while.
'Wuts up'
'Your severe lack of respect for the English language. You need help.'
'Anyway, I was just gonna say... If you're still up for the whole going to the formal as a date thing... I'm okay with it.'
'I mean, more than okay. I'd love to actually. I've been thinking about it and basically YOLO right?'
Laynie tried not to make eye contact with Wade, scrolling through her unread emails while she waited for his response.
'No'
Laynie blinked hard at the message, confused. She dared to look up at him, and saw he wore a scowl much similar to her own.
'What? "No" what?'
'Laynie i would still love to but i dont know if its a good idea y'know'
'No I don't know.'
Wade's next message took a long time to arrive, and Laynie spent the whole time watching him scowl at his phone while he typed it out. What had changed over the course of a week? Had she done something? Was Wade too hurt over her first rejection to accept that she'd changed her mind?
'i cant explain it to u'
'Bull! You can tell me anything.'
'Not over a txt ok? Theres alot of reasons and i dont REALLY wanna talk about any of it'
Laynie stared out the window for a while, watching blankly as the fiery autumn trees blended into a streak of orange flying past the RV. Finally, she typed out a message and sent it.
'Fine.'
'Im sorry Laynie'
'Laynie?'
'Laynie pls dont be angry at me'
Laynie turned off her phone, then pulled her blanket over her shoulders and tried to get comfortable for the long ride home. Two hours after later, the group checked into a hotel. They would stay there for the remaining two days of their vacation, and drive home just in time for Thanksgiving.