The next morning, Tawny went down to the creek to get some water to boil for some good strong coffee. When she got back neither of the other campers in her group were up. She waited a while, and when she couldn't stand it any more, she walked over to Luis's tent and opened the flap.

"Good morning, sunshine…" The sight that greeted her, made bile rise up in her throat. There Luis was, the top naked half of him sticking out of the sleeping bag, and there snuggled up beside him was Stephanie, her bare arm laying over his body. Luis blinked awake and smiled at Tawny.

"Hey, darlin," he said.

"You stupid, ignorant, unworthy jerk! How could you? How could you do this to me? I thought you were my best friend. Oh God," Tawny screamed, tapering off to a pitiful whimper at the end. She took off running into the woods, not noticing where she was going. Branches slapped against her face, leaving bloody scratches, but such physical pain didn't even touch what she felt inside. She tripped over an upraised root, tumbling hard to the ground. She lay there, rocking back and forth, holding herself, sobs racking her frame. The picture of them together played over and over in her mind, causing her to get physically sick. She leaned over an over turned log and emptied her stomach on the forest floor. She lay there, trying to calm herself down, trying to think rationally. She looked around her. All she could see were trees and she had no idea where she was.

She got up slowly, and began limping painfully in the opposite direction from where she thought she had come. She had to get away for a while. She couldn't face him and she definitely couldn't face her. Tawny thought back to Stephanie's face when she woke up. She had never seen a more victorious smile. Tawny leaned up against a tree, resting her knee for a while. She must have aggravated her injury when she fell. She pulled her water canteen out of its place on her belt and took a drink, rinsing out her mouth and wetting her throat. She started walking again. Not knowing where she was going, not caring at the moment. She just had to get away.

"Tawny!"

It was Luis's voice. How had he found her? And why couldn't he just leave her alone? He had made his choice that was the only thing that was clear in Tawny's head on this cloudy, summer's day.

"Tawny! Please answer me!" he pleaded.

Tawny kept limping. She had no feelings at the moment, so she couldn't feel bad about making him worry about her. She stepped on an old fallen branch that fell with her as she put her weight on it. She slid with the dead wood, down a hill and came to a rest beside a creek.

"Well, at least I didn't get in the creek," she mumbled to herself. She tried to get up, but her injured knee was trapped under a branch. "This is so not my day," she moaned pitifully.

"Tawny? Are you ok?" Luis asked sliding down the hill she had just fallen over.

Tawny gave a choked sob. "I've never been better. My knee hurts, I fell over a tree root, I fell down a hill, and my best friend, whom I've loved for the past three or four

 years, just slept with another woman. A cheerleader at that. But other than that, I am so happy."

Luis looked at her, amazed. "You love me?"

"Oh that's great. Please feel free to rub it in. Look, I'm a realist. I know you don't love me and I know you love her. The bad part is, this is where we have to say goodbye. I can't be your friend anymore, Luis. I'll just get in the way and I don't want to do that to you. I love you too much for that. But you know what the sad part is? We're perfect for one another. Crazy, huh? Life can suck sometimes. Now is one of those times," she said, wiping her streaming tears off her cheeks with her sleeve.

"Who said I didn't love you?" he asked, squatting down next to her.

"Jeez! How could I forget? It's a custom to sleep with other people when you love a girl right?" Tawny spat, bitterly.

"You jump to conclusions too much, love." he said, stroking her hair back out of her face.

"Please don't touch me right now. What are you talking about?" she said, jerking away from him.

"I'm sorry," he said, absently rubbing his hands together. "What happened this morning, was not what it looked like," he started. He ignored her disbelieving snort and continued. "When I woke up this morning, I was as confused as you were. I had Stephanie sprawled out on top of me and you screaming at me that I was an idiot. That's a lot to take in when you just wake up. After you ran I confronted Stephanie. It seems she wanted to get rid of you, so she came to my tent and got into bed with me. You know how I sleep, Tawny. Nothing wakes me up."

Tawny swallowed as she felt the seed of hope start to grow in her heart. "And she just told you all of this?"

"After a few token protests, yes. She hates the relationship we have, and like you said, we're so perfect for each other you were a constant threat. So she told me, it was either her or you."

She bit her lip and ran her eyes over his beautiful features. "And?" she asked, haltingly.

Luis smiled the most stunning smile she had ever seen. "And I'm here aren't I?"

Tawny burst into tears and he threw his arms around her and held her, letting her soak his shirt with her tears.

"Hey now, darlin. Why are you crying now?" he asked, holding her against him.

She leaned back and smiled at him through the tears streaming down her face. "Because my leg is trapped under the branch you're leaning on, dummy."

He laughed and then moved the branch off of her leg. He helped her up and held her against his strong chest. And it was then and there that Tawny and Luis, friends since junior high, shared their first kiss as realized soul mates.