Chapter Two: 'SMWD'

She was gone for longer than two hours; it was coming close to four when her stomach directed back towards camp. The music was basically lined out; of course she'd still go over and adjust as she wrote lyrics.

Destin took her time to pack up her stuff, as was her usual manner of doing things. Once everything was organized she slung her guitar over her bad shoulder and started down the steep path. Dee had found a secluded cave type shelter up the opposite rocky ledge of the one she'd climbed earlier. She ran her fingers along the grooves of the rock as she gracefully moved across the narrow rock path.

Kaylen heard the music from a distance stop, but kept on preparing the dinner (chicken breast and baked potatoes cooked over the fire on a griddle). When five minutes pasted and music still ceased to carry through the serene air he glanced up towards the direction in which it previously came.

He did this and witnessed Destin coming down the old rock path. Her hair had finally dried, and was in a more relaxed curl then earlier that afternoon. He stared as she seemed to dance down without any problem. He noticed that there were moments when Dee had no grace, and others where she could dance on ice.

"Seems to be in a better mood, doesn't she?" Kaylen commented to Tayhe before turning back towards the food.

Tayhe looked up at his half-sister. "Dee probably let it all out when playing. You know it's kind of like when you bike. If you call crashing biking," he added with a grin. Kaylen just laughed.

"As long as she doesn't get emotional again," Kaylen stated.

Tayhe glared at him, but he didn't notice. "You know," he started, "She was never all that emotional at school when you weren't around. You bug the hell out of her." Tayhe scratched his thick black hair uncertainly. It was shorter than he was used to, and felt almost unnatural.

"Not my fault she's so serious. Hurry up and bring something I can set the pan on," he insisted as he finished turning the last piece of chicken over.

The two boys did little preparation for what would be a 'proper dinner'. They each had their own plastic-eating utensil, but that was about all that they got. Tayhe was a little apprehensive on how Destin would react, because though she could definitely rough it, she could be . . . not high maintenance, but maintenance.

Destin felt great, she doubted neither Tayhe nor Kaylen could ruin her mood. She felt refreshed and brand new. She let the guitar case glide off her shoulder and she directed it to lean against a tree. Destin sat down into a cross-legged position at the picnic table.

"Looks good," she commented, staring down hungrily at the chicken. When nothing really happened, and nobody said anything, she glanced at the motionless bodies in front of her. "I'm starving, could you please pass a fork?"

It took Kaylen a second to register before selecting a plastic fork for her. She grabbed it without complaint, and even thanked him. She picked a baked potato and quickly unraveled half of the blob of tin foil. It was really hot so she proceeded by holding the foil against the wooden table with her fork then picked apart the rest.

Steam rose in a solid flow and for a moment Destin could only guess if there really was a potato in there, for all she could see was the massive cloud of semi-transparent gray smoke. The scent of lemon pepper flowed into her head and she loved it. Looking down, a potato smeared with butter and seasonings sat against its shining silver back round. She turned her fork sideways and cut the potato with some difficulty. Once it finally separated she started to eat.

Kayle had already started to eat; only mildly surprised that she hadn't complained, argued or criticized. Tayhe, however, was waiting for a comment. Whether good or bad, Dee always gave an opinion.

"I like cooking over the fire, gives the food a different taste than regular."

Tayhe half grinned, and pulled out a potato and after unwrapping it he set a piece of chicken on it.

Destin cleaned up after the silent, delightful dinner; not that it was hard. Her only real job was rinse off the pan then to steam it off, throw tin foil (their 'plates') out and quickly wipe down the plastic cutlery.

Kaylen rested back on his usual spot by the water's edge. Tayhe, beside him, was talking about some baseball player. It was interesting enough, but the subject seemed to be a sore spot lately. Perhaps he should tell Tayhe to just back off about baseball for a while. He should have from the beginning, but couldn't bring himself to be so blunt with his best friend. All he was doing was trying to put things back to normal.

"Man Kaylen, you should see this guy; never misses a catch; amazing."

Kaylen came back to life. "Honestly? Crazy . . ." Kaylen replied hopefully. Thankfully Tayhe took off again. Kaylen turned away from the lake, for the peaceful water was irritating him. He caught sight of Dee finishing the last plastic fork.

She didn't look bored, irritated or angry, just serene. Dee set it down and took a deep breath. There were some loose curls around her face; she carelessly tucked them behind her ears. He noticed her stomach was still raw and decided he'd have to bandage it before bed so it could heal faster. She yawned and stretched, but quit with a wince as she pulled her shoulder back down and massaged it. Suddenly Tayhe stopped talking and Kaylen felt the pressure to reply with something.

"Yah, no kidding," he said in hope it'd make sense.

"I'm thirsty, you want something to drink Kaylen?" Tayhe offered.

"Nah, I'm good."

"You sure? I was going for a beer," he tempted.

"Actually," Kaylen stared at Destin's seemingly perfect figure with a wanting look, "A beer sounds great."

"Hey Dee," Tayhe yelled. Destin turned quickly, dropping her hand from her shoulder. "Two beer; they're in the cooler."

Kaylen glared at Tayhe. "We could have gotten them ourselves."

"Yes, but why not take advantage of a good mood?" Kaylen thought about it before realizing perhaps Tayhe was right. Friends grab things for each other all the time, why should this be any different?

Destin came back with two bottled beer, tops already cracked off. "Anything else while I'm up?" she posed.

"No, we're good," Kaylen replied.

"I wouldn't argue if you popped some popcorn though," Tayhe said.

Dee laughed, "You're on our own there lil'bro; I've never made the stuff, so go make it yourself."

Tayhe sighed and got up to make his popcorn and Destin took his place. She had a tall glass of Pepsi in her left hand and used her right to help herself down.

"How's that shoulder?" Kaylen asked.

Dee suspired lightly. "It's uh . . . A little tight." She took a sip of her drink, ignoring the burning sensation.

"I'll rub some more cream on after I wrap your stomach.

She just took another drink. "Sure thanks," she mumbled. He took a long drink of beer, but knew he wouldn't feel anything until his fourth or fifth. "Not feeling it?" asked Dee.

"Not really," he breathed in frustration.

Dee handed him her drink. "Try this," she directed. He just stared at her. "Trust me, okay? I mean I've already had some so it's not going to kill you. You'll feel it right away."

He finally took the glass. 'Hell, if she can handle it, how bad can it be?' he thought. He took a gulp and had a burning urge, literally, to spit it out. It felt as if a fire had been set in his throat. He forced it down and gasped for air. Destin grabbed the cup from him to save it from spilling then rubbed his back as he started a coughing fit. She knew how powerful the first drink is, and felt bad for not giving him more warning about what to expect.

"Damn Princess, I think you're supposed to dilute that stuff." He exclaimed as soon as he felt he could speak.

"I did; ninety – ten," she replied sympathetically.

"That's it?"

"Ninety percent Pepsi, ten percent of the hard stuff."

"Only ten? Of what?"

"Well," she hesitated. "Let's just call it 'Sex in the Mountain with Destin'. That's what most boys call it anyway."

"Burns that much?"

She laughed. "Sometimes more."

He thought for a moment. "I want more," he laughed as he placed his hand on her thigh. True to her word, he was already feeling a little light headed.

Dee placed the glass on her upper thigh to stop his wondering hand. His hand bumped into it. "That's as far as you'll ever get. Drink up Kaylen." He groaned in slight disappointment, but took the glass. This time he only took a sip and was prepared for the burn.

Tayhe came back with popcorn five minutes later to find Kaylen and Destin all over each other, holding a half-empty glass. Dee was giggling and trying to stop a laughing Kaylen from groping her with no real success. "Guys, what's – "

"Tayhe!" Destin almost screamed. "You're here!" She paused for a second. "When did you get here?" They both started laughing again.

Tayhe rolled his eyes and grabbed his sister by pulling her to stand. "You didn't," he stated.

"Popcorn!" Kaylen stared hungrily at the food. Tayhe gave him the bowl and took Dee over away from him.

"Tell me you didn't bring Fire Whiskey."

"Only a little, itsy-bit," she put he index finger and thumb mere millimeters apart to show him how much.

"Dee where's your bag from school?"

"In the tent," she laughed. He let go of her, ripped the glass out of her hand and headed to the tent. This threw off her balance and slowly everything started to spin. She tumbled to the ground and sliced open her eyebrow on a rock. She rolled over laughing before everything went black.

Tayhe didn't worry about Destin, but focused on getting Kaylen sober, to start then give him a memory potion. Everything had to be potion because he'd be expelled if he so much as pulled out his wand, let alone cast a spell on a muggle.

He dug through her stuff until he saw the familiar box. Tayhe pulled it out before carefully opening the lid. Luckily for him his sister always had her potions organized and clearly labeled. He hastily chose two that would work for his purpose.

Kaylen didn't refuse the first drink he was offered; he thought they were nothing but some mixed shot Tayhe always made. The first 'shot' was horrible; he had never tasted anything like it before. "Tayhe, what the hell was that?" he interrogated; his speech not so slurred anymore.

"Oh Kayle, you have to drink the second one for the full effect. Once you drink it you'll totally forget what the first originally tasted like," Tayhe advised.

Kaylen didn't object, for he desperately needed to get that taste out of his mouth. He took the second down just as fast as the first. Its sensation was a little better, but a shallow improvement. But soon he forgot what the first tasted like. In fact, he couldn't really remember the events of the past half-hour; not since dinner had finished.

"What happened to Destin? Tripped?" Kaylen asked worriedly.

An icy cold hand suddenly rested on her burning hot forehead. She turned away, but was forced back by a second chilling hand. Though impetuous, the grip was gentle and soon soothing. A thumb was tracing her eyebrow then an abrupt pain seared into her. She vaulted upwards, opening her eyes, but that was a definite mistake. Everything started to gyrate, and she closed her eyes tight.

"Never would have imagined you'd get drunk Princess." She tried to open her eyes again, this time more successful. She pulled back, head pounding, and rested on her hands. But the pull in her shoulder forced her back up. She placed her face in her hands, trying to concentrate on breathing.

"How's she doing?" a second voice startled her. It came from inside the tent; Tayhe seemed to be frantically stuffing things back into a bag.

"Fine, it looks like. Disoriented.".

"Thanks, that makes me feel much better. Quit talking now okay?" she muttered.

"Sure thing, I'm just going to put a bandage over your cut."

"Right, just do it." She patiently waited while he cleaned it, having to ignore the burning for quite some time before he finally put a waterproof Band-Aid over it.

"Come on, I have to do you're stomach too. You have to sit at a table."

"Sorry, not moving." She had such a stubborn tone that he didn't bother to argue. Destin was staring at the navy blue sky above her with an almost dreamy look. There was a little lantern that gave light resting on the right side of them.

Kaylen softly touched her stomach, but every time he tried to clean a big piece of dirt out it'd start to bleed. It took him about fifteen minutes to finally get it clean and stop bleeding enough to put a wrap over it. "Now I have to put something in between the wrap and your stomach so it doesn't heal the cloth right into it." She nodded, only so he knew to continue. Her head was pounding, along with her cut, her shoulder was tight and her stomach couldn't have felt worse, but as Kaylen gently pushed her back to straighten her stomach out everything started to melt away.

He set fabric over her stomach then reached for the wrap to hold it in place. Kayle put both hands around her waist and started to unravel the weave. She had to sit in a reclined position, so he held her in it with his left hand supporting her lower back. With his right he slowly started unraveling the material around her waist. With his every touch her body threatened to shiver, and it was all she could do not to just let go of her composure.

"You feeling alright now?" he asked after clipping it comfortably.

"Perfect, actually."