Here we go, ready for part 3?

Guest: not the beach, but it's still sunny and hot. It's time to literally go on a ride.

Mary, you'll be so happy. This is possibly the longest chapter I ever wrote!

Again, no expert in horses so be kind on that

As for wedging the image of Cal dressed as a cowboy in your heads: you're all very welcome!


Jimmy the Cowboy, Justin and Melissa, the other guide, hopped on their horses and gave a demonstration on how to hold the reins, direct the horse and ride without needing to sit on a cushion for days afterwards. Gillian and Emily watched attentively, mimicking the experts' gestures and giggling at each other that it probably wasn't going to be as easy as they made it look.

After a while, the group of explorers started to move, lining up behind Jimmy and leaving the ranch at a slow pace as everybody started to get used to the novelty and adjust to the motion. It was an astonishing day, not a cloud in the sky for miles ahead, and Gillian filled up her lungs with the fresh air and took in a deep breath that seemed to last forever.

"So Gillian, what do you think?" Emily asked while riding at her side, nervously making sure the horse was going where she wanted. "Were you expecting something like this?"

"Unlike your father I didn't drive myself crazy trying to guess what you had picked up," Gillian answered, expecting and then ignoring Cal's audible grunt behind them. "That's why this is an amazing surprise."

"I'm so glad you like it, I knew I would have needed someone on my side." The girl nodded back at her father. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Gillian had to agree, on so many levels. That whole experience was so beyond anything she had ever done or imagined herself doing but she was already having the time of her life, plus there was the added bonus of a struggling Cal. It might have been cruel, but to see someone always so in control and at ease even in the strangest of situations struggling as he was was highly entertaining. While Emily went on sharing with her some behind the scene tips Justin had told her about, Gillian briefly looked behind them at Cal, slouched on horse as he normally was on chairs, one hand lazily holding the reins in obvious disregard for the instructions they had previously been given. He looked fairly miserable, lost in his thoughts under the rim of that hat and clearly feeling the heat, but she couldn't help but notice how seemingly flawlessly the rugged cowboy look fell on him. Maybe it was the fact that he always looked a bit washed out and coming out of the wrong side of the bed, that he rarely dressed in anything other than all black or could figure out whether he wanted to grow a beard or not, but despite all his grumbling and resistance he seemed to fit right in.

Then Gillian looked up at Emily, who was saying something about trying to catch up with Justin. She wasn't surprised Emily shared that piece of information with her rather than her father, then nodded and watched her carefully get her horse to a faster pace. The spot at her side was nearly immediately filled by Cal, who trotted next to her while keeping his eyes on Emily.

"My ears are whistling," he mumbled.

"Maybe you should wash them more," Gillian suggested then. "Because we were not talking about you."

Truth to be told, she didn't entirely remember what they had been talking about but she thought that was a fair statement. She chuckled and looked over at Cal, studying his posture and realising he was going about that whole riding business in his own way.

Once or twice my ass! She thought, remembering how he had downplayed his previous riding experience earlier, but then again it wouldn't be Cal if he didn't have something up his sleeve.

"Did you have any idea she would go for something like this?" She asked then, harmlessly enough.

"Not a clue," he confessed, then gave her a side look. "You, on the other hand, don't seem all that surprised."

"About having this kind of place so close to Washington? Yes. About EMily wanting to do something like this? No, not really."

"Why do I feel like there is some deep seated truth about womanhood I am not privy to here?"

"No big mystery Cal. Every girl goes through the 'I want a pony' phase at some point in her life." Gillian looked over at Emily, now riding next to Justin. "Some never grow out of it."

"It's not so much the pony phase I'm worried about," he moaned painfully, looking at the exact same thing as she was.

"How old does she have to be before you stop having homicidal thoughts on any boy around her?"

"I don't know, 45?"

Gillian laughed and tried to elbow him on the side, but in doing so her hand let the rein go and Thor seemed to take that as a sign he was free to do as he pleased. The horse took a small jump ahead and picked up a faster pace, with Gillian scrambling to keep her composure and trying to regain control of the animal. Before she knew it, Cal had caught up with her and grabbed the loose rein, pulling firmly until her horse stopped.

"Easy there Annie Oakley," he chuckled, the soft laugh masking the nervousness they both felt for the escaped danger. "You ok, love?"

"Yes, thank you." She smiled and took hold of the reins again, glaring at Thor. "So much for giving me an easy one."

"Well I think our friend Jimmy was just trying to impress you," Cal observed, teasingly wiggling his eyebrow at her.

"Oh please! Look at him!" She found him in the group ahead, all giggling and smiling with a couple of women. "Looks like flirting with the customers is a job requirement."

"Pony phase, uh?" He mumbled, watching how the two women seemed to be all giggly and flirty with Jimmy. Looks more like a cowboy phase to me!

"What about you?" She asked then, intentionally staring him up and down.

"What about me what?"

"When did you grow out of your pony phase? 'Cause frankly Cal, if you're trying to convince me you haven't done this before you are doing a terrible job at it."

"Oh Foster," he leaned towards her, angling his neck so their hats wouldn't collide and whispering in her ear, "the things you don't know about me."

And with that he was gone. He pulled away from her as his soft spoken words were still hanging in the air inches away from her skin, then gave a tallon kick to his horse and trotted away to catch up with Emily.


The group stopped shortly after for lunch, and they all dismounted their horses and got the provided packed meal. Before leaving the ranch they had been instructed to put their belongings in the saddle bags to carry with them, and some provisions had been distributed. They were all glad to have both feet in the ground again for a while, after the early wake up they could certainly use food and water to fight the heat.

After nearly two hours of break, the guides indicated that it was time to get on the move again and everybody climbed on their horses again. After the minor scare with Thor, Gillian was careful to keep a slow pace and kept her hands seized on the reins, very aware of the fact that she was probably going to pay for all of that muscle tension later. They still had hours to go and for the time being she was happy with staying in the back, exchanging casual pleasantries with other people and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Yes, she felt the hot sun hitting the back of her neck and line the exposed skin of her forearms, she was sweating and she suspected it would take at least three showers to wash off all the dust and dirt but that beat spending the weekend doing laundry and going through staff's evaluation by a long mile.

Not for the first time, while the woman next to her kept going on and on about how she had tried to convince her husband to tag along instead of going golfing as usual, Gillian looked ahead at Cal and Emily. Justin had been busy since the lunch break, he was working after all, and Cal had taken advantage to do what that day was supposed to be all about: spending time with his daughter. He could easily put the protective father act to rest if he wanted to, possibly releasing that he didn't have that many moments like that left before the big departure to college, and she wasn't going to stand in the middle of it. She was glad for the invitation and the chance to be there, but she was always mindful not to mess with father/daughter quality time.

After a while however, Cal pulled away from Emily and swiftly galloped back to where she was, now alone since her elderly companion had gone to tell her material story all over again to someone else.

"Shouldn't you be up there, protecting Emily's honour?"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. And with all this Western thing going on they didn't give me a gun," Cal quipped with a disgusted shiver. "Matter of fact love, she sent me over here to take you up front."

"Why?"

He shrugged, but was smiling widely at some thoughts going through his mind.

"It's her birthday, isn't it? And you were invited as a guest, so she's not too fond of the idea of you lurking here in the back on your own instead of hanging out with the cool kids."

"Well then the cool kids might have to slow down a little because I think Thor here has a tendency to run off if he sees another horse doing that."

"Not to worry Foster, I can help with that. You're just doing it all wrong."

"I'm doing exactly what Jimmy told us."

"Yeah, and come tomorrow morning your back is going to kill you, your shoulders are gonna be sore as hell and don't even get me started on your as- " He stopped himself short of saying something about her ass but his eyes did linger there for a moment anyway, then he scoffed and brought his eyes to her hands instead. "Stop squeezing your arms like that, I bet your muscles are on fire there. Just relax, hold the reins with one hand and bounce."

"Bounce?"

"Yeah, just go along with the movement," he instructed, smirking when she tried to follow his advice with exaggerated caution. "How does it feel?"

"Better, I must say." Cal rolled his eyes and the hint of stupor in her voice. "Still waiting to find out how come you seem so-"

Gillian didn't get to finish her sentence, more of an inquiry really, because a sudden and loud scream broke the silence around them. It was a scream of fear, and the most frightening thing about it was that it wasn't a one off but it continued for a few seconds. Scratch that; the most frightening thing about it was that it came from Emily.

They both looked up ahead and saw what was going on. Emily's horse seemed to suddenly have a life of its own, soaring and kicking, whynning loud enough to cover the girl's own scream. She was clinging to the animal's neck, trying to reach out and do something to stop but before she could figure something out, before anybody around her could do anything about it, the horse took off. It was a second, the time of the blink of an eye. Gillian just about had the time to gasp a terrified 'oh my God' that Cal was gone, yelling something unintelligible to his horse and sinking the heels of his boots in Daisy's sides, whipping her with the reins to gain speed.

It all happened quickly, lasting really only a few minutes even though to Gillian, who couldn't do much else but dare to see how fast Thor could go without getting rid of her, it felt like much longer. Cal had taken off at a crazy speed desperately trying to catch up with Emily's out of control horse, Jimmy and Justin behind him while Melissa stayed behind with the rest of the group. Gillian trotted past her, deaf to her request to wait, keeping her eyes on the scene unfolding ahead. Cal was almost caught up with Emily and she wondered exactly what he could do then, but before she had the chance to find out she watched in horror as the young girl fell off the back of the animal. It was more like a sliding movement, almost in slow motion, and thanks heavens for that because God knows what could have happened if she had been ejected off board at full speed. From a distance she was trying to close as quickly as possible. Gillian heard Cal calling out for his daughter, then he pulled the reins and stopped his horse before jumping down and rushing to Emily. An immense sense of relief washed over Gillian when she saw that she was moving, even if the movement was a desperate hug to her father, and she dared to push Thor further to catch up with them.

"I'm ok Dad, I'm ok," Emily was saying, even though her voice was shaking.

"Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?" He asked immediately, understandably deaf to her reassurance. "Em, look at me."

"I'm fine, really. Just-just a bit scared."

You and me both Em! He whined in his head, pulling her into another tight embrace. He wasn't entirely aware of other things going around him, mostly Jimmy running after the loose horse, Justin tentatively coming closer to check on Emily and the rest of the group gathering around to see what was going on, but he did feel Gillian kneeling next to him and gently resting a hand on his back.

"What the hell happened there?" He asked then, feeling short of breath and not knowing if it was because of adrenaline, the fear of the crazy ride.

"I'm not sure." Emily was looking around, wide eyed and uncomfortable with all the attention. "I tried to hold on, but I couldn't stop him."

"It's alright Em, you did good." Cal was trying his best not to show how utterly terrified he had been, but seeing Emily was alright did help a lot to calm down. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes Dad, don't worry. I think… Can I get up?"

Cal nodded but wasn't too convinced, holding his breath as she slowly came to her feet, his arms around her for support. She was barely standing and Gillian was already offering her water, while Justin came around with a first aid kit Cal was mighty glad to see. Melissa and Jimmy were trying to reassure the rest of the group and called for a short break, allowing everybody to relax while they tried to regain control of the situation. Emily sat in the grass for a while with Cal right next to her, going through her hair with his hand for her comfort and his own, looking for bumps or blood. There was none, much to his relief, but he still took the ice pack Justin offered and put it on the back of her neck, knowing it would help no matter what. Gillian was there with them, a silent but vital presence, and after a while Emily declared she was ready to go.

"How about you come on with me for a bit? Let your horse cool down." Cal suggested, then looked over at Jimmy. "Would that be ok?"

"Yes, of course. We're close to the night camp site anyway." Then he sighed and shook his head, his accent suddenly gone and replaced by a serious tone. "I am really sorry, usually he's such a calm horse. Something must have spoked him-"

"It's ok," Cal couldn't believe his own voice saying that, truly all he cared about was that Emly was ok, but he still couldn't resist a little trademark jab. "I guess that's why you made us sign all those papers before we started."

They took a few more minutes to regroup and take a breather, then Cal took Daisy's reins from Gillian and gently patted the horse on her side.

"Good girl," he mumbled, then hopped on and once he was secured he helped Emily up.

She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding tight, but Cal was not in the mood to call her out on that. Instead he looked down at Gillian, who was still on the ground and handling him some water, and nodded at her when she rested her hand on his leg as if to ask if he was ok.


Despite the small incident, they arrived at the campsite on schedule. As open as she had been about the experience and the plunge into nature, Gillian was glad to see that the tents had already been pitched, that they were going to sleep in folding beds that seemed comfortable enough with a fair assortment of blankets to go with it, and that a big barbecue was already under way.

It wasn't dark yet, and the programme for the day still had something to offer before dinner. The explores were given the chance to either rest and mingle, take on a walk around the area to get to know the local vegetation and critters or try their hand with some lazo techniques. Gillian and Emily went for the walk, perfect for Emily to keep feeling solid on the ground and for Gillian to keep and eye on her, just in case, while Cal opted for a fourth option: minding his own business. Neither of the ladies was surprised when he declared he was just going to rest, then found a fairly isolated tree providing plenty of quiet and shade and laid there, his back against the trunk and his legs stretched, the hat covering his face in a clear 'do not disturb sign'.

Luckily, that didn't impede theirs or anybody else's fun and things went smoothly until dinner time, where the meat was plenty and, what would you know, it was accompanied by generous portions of baked beans on the side. The food and the relaxed atmosphere around the campfire easily accompanied the group through dusk and the arrival of the night, when temperature started to dip slightly and Jimmy the Cowboy figured it was a good time to pull out the guitar and break into songs. Much to Gillian's surprise, the musical entertainment didn't scare off Cal who stayed there, but then she noticed how his eyes were glued to Emily and Justin deep in chit chats on the other side of the fire. She rolled her eyes and shoved him once, but he refused to apologise or even avert his eyes.

After a while, people started to say good night and retreat to their assigned tents. These were arranged by booking group, so Cal, Emily and Gillian were to share one of the bigger tents and its three beds. Cal was the first one to retire, and a while later when Gillian and Emily went inside he was snoring softly all curled up on the bed and wrapped in one of the blankets. They spoke for a little while trying to keep their voice down, then switched off the lamp and went to sleep.

"What are you doing out here?"

Cal looked up abently when he heard Gillian's voice, but didn't move much from this position.

He was back at the campfire, which he had revived a little, half laying down on top of a blanket and with his back up against one of the logs used as benches. He had been out there for a while after he had woken up, realising the afternoon nap had probably dented his need for sleep, to enjoy the quiet of the night. It was mostly silent all around, except from whiffs of wind caressing the grass every now and then, some night birds calling in the darkness and the occasional cracking noise coming from the fire.

"I figured after two hours staring at Emily to make sure she was breathing went from sweet and endearing to downright creepy." He huffed, following with his eyes as she sat on the log he was resting his back on and frowning at her lack of reaction. "What, no snarky remark or joke about what an overprotective father I am?"

"Actually I am impressed." Gillian chuckled, resting her arms on her knees and giving him a small nod. "You saw your daughter fall off a horse who ran wild for 100 yards…I'm surprised you didn't call for a helicopter to have her airlifted to the nearest hospital."

Cal rolled his eyes and groaned something about never winning, but then his face softened and he gave her a shy smile.

"Thank you for not making fun of me…by making fun of me," he said softly.

"It's an art," she countered with a touch of irony to ease the tone of the conversation, but then she was the one going a bit dark with her thoughts. "You'd be justified though. That was scary."

"Yeah…the way she fell…"

His voice trailed off on the last words, his mind going back to a moment he had reviewed in his mind in slow motion about a hundred times already. The first scream, the horse running away, Emily tossed around and then falling to the ground… The gentle touch of Gillian's hand on his dragged him out of that loop, bringing much needed comfort and a link with a reality in which Emily was ok and now had a cool to share. Cal kept looking up at the night sky but returned the gesture, squeezing her hand tight in a silent thank you.

They stay silent for a while, Cal laying as he was and Gillian sitting next to him, both of them absently looking around and taking in their surroundings.

"Seriously Cal," Gillian asked again after a while, a touch impatient. "What are you doing out here?"

"Enjoying the atmosphere. What?" He scoffed when he noticed how much his statement seemed to surprise her. "I might be a city boy but I can still enjoy some of this. Silence, campfire, stars-"

"You do realise," she bent down until her face was lined up with his, her hand pointing ahead of them, "just behind those hills there's one of the biggest metropoly in the world?"

"Way to kill the mood Foster!"

"Alright then. Maybe if you tell me where you learned to ride a horse it will help to restore the atmosphere," she commented with a fake absent tone, looking down at him with a side glance that let her curiosity show big time. "'Cause that was not 1 or 2 times."

Cal smirked and bit at his bottom lip, deciding to let her suffer a little longer. Then he sighed and slid down a little more, bending his right leg while leaving the other one stretched and pulling back the hat a little so that she could see his face.

"I was doing a summer internship at a mental facility as an undergrad. The place was interesting, lots of stuff to learn there but it was in the middle of nowhere, one of those big buildings with square miles of woods and a park all around." He had only spoken a few words but Gillian was already captivated. Sure, the scenery helped but whether it was intentional or not he had quite the penchant for story telling, and to that she added the always pleasant feeling of hearing him open up about something. "There was no public transport to get there and I didn't have a car, and there wasn't much to do at night or when I wasn't working. After a couple of weeks I was getting cooked up there, feeling not much more stable than some of the patients. So one Friday evening I decided to walk to the nearest village and hope I'd find someone who could take me back. Turns out, nobody in town was exactly fond of having a mental facility nearby and they steered clear of it, so fast forward to a few hours and drinks later and I'm wasted and liftless." Gillian chuckled but didn't interrupt, instead more focused on picturing a young Cal Lightman realising he had miscalculated the situation. "I've got no other choice but to walk so I start to wobble back. Not easy, mind you, and at some point I stumble on a fence or something like that. And there they are, a couple of horses left out at night. Don't-" He stopped for a second when a owl loudly called somewhere in the night and his attention wandered in that direction, seemingly eager to spot the animal, but then he shrugged and went back to his position and tale. "Don't ask me how I did that, I really don't remember, but I managed to hop on that horse and sort of point him toward the facilities. When I got there I was way too drunk to worry about how the return the animal, and too wasted to worry about it, so I just dragged myself to my room and slept."

Cal took a longer pause, stretching his arm to put some more wood in the dying fire and then arguing with the chord of the hat around his neck as he went back into position. Gillian watched without saying a word, she knew he wasn't buying time for the sake of it and was honestly enjoying to see him in such a different environment.

"The morning after I wake up, I have a blooming headache, and as soon as I sober up it hits me that I pretty much stole a horse. I felt terrible all day, because of the hangover and because I was expecting some policeman to come around and take me away, but nothing happened. A couple of days later I go into town with the cooks to help with the shopping and I see the horse, just there in his paddock chewing on his hay without a care in the world." It was such a silly story, with zero to no stakes and far from entaiching, but Gillina was 100% lost in it. "The following Friday I'm right back at it, back at that pub and making my way home on foot. Then I see the horse again and I think, why not? So I get on again, go home, let the horse go." He stopped and gave her a wide grin, the fleeting light coming from the fire marking his satisfied face. "I kept doing that every week for 2 months, until I finished the internship. By the end of it I'm pretty sure the horse knew where to go better than I did."

"How does that count as learning how to ride?"

"Love," he huffed, slightly rolling on his side to face her with a knowing look. "You try not to fall from a galloping horse while drunk, at night, with not saddle and holding only onto the mane. If that doesn't teach ya, nothing will. Unless you don't believe me, of course."

"You know Cal, for some reason none of that is surprising." Gillian laughed softly, then he rolled on his back again and chuckled. "Why didn't you tell Emily?"

"Man needs his secrets," he mumbled, then shrugged. "And it's not like she gave me a choice. I was in the dark about this, remember?"

She nodded and let the words sink in, and once again they took a silent break. They were keeping their voices down so as not to wake up anybody, although the tents were fairly spread out to avoid any disturbance, and the horses were all tied together by a couple of trees not far from there. Gillian looked up at the sky, wondering if Cal was staring at something in particular or if, like her, he was simply lost in a spectacle they didn't get to see much. Sure, they had starred skies in the city but it was always hard to get a good look at with so many artificial lights; but out there it was different, there was only sky and star for as far as she could see and no, she didn't care that just behind the hills in front of them Washington DC was living its nightlife.

"It really is beautiful out here."

Cal averted his eyes from what he thought was a constellation he couldn't remember the name of and looked at her, his attention immediately stolen by the dreamy expression on her face as the words escaped her mouth. She was the language and voice expert but he was no slack at it either, and he noticed how despite the positive declaration there seemed to be something a little off in her appreciation.

"Are you having a good time?" He dared to ask.

"Yes, can't you tell?" She chuckled and pushed on him gently with her knee, but he didn't take his eyes off her until she sighed and shrugged. "I mean, I still don't know what I am doing here…"

"Why is that so hard to accept, love? You're a friend, Emily cares about you, she's known you for years…and she probably thought I could use some company if she was going to spend all her time with that Jarvis boy!"

"Justin," she corrected him, although she knew he got the name wrong on purpose. "She's a very special young woman."

"I know," he agreed, his voice filled with unconditional love and pride. "I can't take all the credit for it. Regardless of how things went between us Zoe is a great mom, and you have something to do with it too. Oh don't give me that look, Foster!" Cal scoffed at her astonished reaction. "You've been in her life long enough to have left a mark, a good one." His words were meant to tame her reaction but he could see that Gillian was getting more and more uncomfortable, which made him realise he might have to force a bit more to get his point across. "Em is probably going to kill me…but she thought you could use a little distraction, something different, after Claire."

He knew that even mentioning the name would bring a dark shadow over her face, even if it had been a couple of months. He had tried to be there for Giliian, even when it meant making himself scarce, but he really wanted her to know that people cared about her more than what she thought. Cal watched carefully as a familiar sequence of emotions went through her face, from the painful memory of the loss to the more pleasant one of when the young woman had been alive and well. Sometimes she could linger more on the second part, but mostly it was the pain that took the stage. However, that night there was something new, some sort of regret and…was that guilt…something that he had never seen before.

He knew he was staring, that he was reading her, and tried to look away before she could realise and call him out on that. But to his surprise Gillian was smiling when she looked at him, a sad smile but not as bad as he had expected, and she took his hand again, this time squeezing tight, before she could avert his eyes and instead almost forced him to look at her.

"You know what I really struggle to shake off?" She asked then, pain oozing through her words.

"Gillian, you don't have to-"

"No, it's ok." She cut him off gently, then sighed and slid down from the log, sitting on the ground nearing his level with her body and never letting go of his hand. "The grief, the loss…those I can process, they get better, with time. Then I think about Mosley sitting there, dulled down by medications, his precious mind wasting away…and it makes me feel better. And sometimes I wonder if it should."

"He took something away from you, not just Claire but all that she meant to you." He spoke softly, his words ringing true and honest to her despite how difficult it was to hear them. "If you ask me, he still got it easy."

Surprising both of them, Gillian chuckled softly.

"What else could have been done to him?"

"I don't know…tarred and feathered? Dragged by wild horses?"

This time she did more than chuckling, throwing her head back in a silent laugh. Cal watched her face closely, glad to see that the laugh was genuine and losing himself for a second in the way the light from the fire captured her face.

"Look at you!" She waved her hand at him, laying down on the ground with his cowboy attire as if ready for some kind of photoshoot. "Sporting the look, talking the talk…really, all you're missing is a dirty poncho and a small cigar. You do have the jawline."

"Referencing the classics, I see."

"Well," she took a deep breath, recovering from another small burst of laughter, "if you have to watch a western make it one of the best."

Cal nodded in enthusiastic agreement and wiggled his eyebrows at her, knowing he had just found a very rich line of potential teasing and mocking to last him a lifetime. Her laughing didn't bother him, he knew it wasn't directed at him and most importantly he could feel how much she needed it.

Then silence found them again, familiar and comfortable as it should be between people who knew each other so well. He was still pretty much in the same position but she had come a little closer, closer to him and to the ground and her shoulder was brushing against his. Cal looked at her, doing his best to try and simply understand what was going through her mind instead of reading her, and when she spoke again he already had a good idea of what she was about to say…

"I really am having a good time, Cal."

…but not about what she was about to do.

Gillian said those words with the most peaceful tone he had ever heard, coming from her or anybody else really, one that warranted him to look up at her. Gillian's eyes were already on him when he did that, sparking with light and something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Then she turned towards him, her smile never wavering, her whole face easily holding up that dreamy and relaxed expression even when her hand rested on his chest and she leaned down to kiss him. It wasn't a passionate out of control kiss but it wasn't a sweet peck on the lips either: her lips touched his and before he knew Cal opened his mouth to the gentle but determined request of her tongue.

She kissed him, he kissed back…they kissed, whichever way they looked at it wasn't going to change the end result. Gillian's hand on his chest increased the pressure slightly and the tip of her fingers gripped around for a second while they explored each other, while Cal brought one hand to her neck and gave a little hint just to make sure they both got the most out of it. Then, as suddenly and unwarranted as the kiss had started it all stopped. Gillian pulled back, not in haste or horror but slowly, gently, still savouring the kiss on her swollen lips and looking at him with that same expression of peace of realisation that seemed plastered all over her face.

"Good night Cal," she said then, her voice calm and serene, then she stood up and walked back to the tent, leaving him by the dying fire with a racing heartbeat.