The next morning was bright, balmy and busy for Wheeler and the others. Over breakfast, Kwame gave directive after directive, dispensing tasks left, right and centre like some kind of Father Christmas of work and order, and Wheeler groaned internally.

'So, Wheeler, you and Gi can reload the geo-cruiser while Ma-Ti and I tend to the bio-domes and vegetable patches. Linka, if you could update our social media and then take care of our correspondence... you can then lunch with us at twelve before we move on to clearing the seaweed from the west side of the island, while Gi? You and Wheeler can lunch at one and then you can take Kenly home while Wheeler rebuilds the doorframe on Ma-Ti's hut. We can then reconvene at five and...'

Wheeler cleared his throat, trying to catch Kwame's attention.

He couldn't spend the morning with Gi and then the afternoon alone. He still needed to talk to Linka. He needed to make things right with her. Wheeler had tossed and turned all night, worrying over what he'd said to her the night before. He desperately needed to clear the air, and with Kwame's schedule putting them to work for the next twelve hours on opposite ends of the island, he wouldn't get a chance.

'Look, Kwame,' he began, mumbling into his cereal. 'I don't think this is gonna work for me today.'

Kwame turned to Wheeler curiously.

'Is there a problem, friend?' he asked kindly. Wheeler looked up, clearing his throat again. Across the table, Linka was watching him closely, and though her face was set into carefully trained lines of bland disinterest, her eyes were sharp. Wheeler stretched out his legs lazily, before giving Kwame a nonchalant shrug.

'It's just that the hinges we need for Ma-Ti's hut haven't come in yet,' he lied easily. 'And as much as I like burning stuff, smoldering metal is a little beyond my skill set.'

Kwame frowned, clearly dismayed at the interruption to his timetable.

'Hmm, that is a problem,' he remarked, his brow furrowing. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. 'I know... Gi, if you leave this morning with Kenly, you could pick up the correct hinges for Wheeler before you head home this afternoon.'

Wheeler watched as Gi nodded easily, and glanced at Linka surreptitiously. She was still watching him, her face serious, her eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion. He grinned at her, winking slyly, and she blushed a little and returned his smile, before quickly looking down.

A new plan in his mind, Kwame had perked up again. 'Right then, Linka, you can help Wheeler reload the geo-crusier this morning and then update our social media this afternoon while he...'

A wave of satisfaction washed over Wheeler and he sat back, listening to Kwame go over their altered timetable for the day once more.

He felt a little lighter. Linka had smiled at him, and he had the whole morning with her.

Things between them were going to be okay.

They stopped at ten for a break, sitting in the sunshine next to the geo-cruiser, a drink in their hands. Linka sipped at the slightly bitter tea she always drank, while Wheeler drank his coffee, black and sharp against his tongue. Their arms rested against one another, and Wheeler stared at where their skin met, marvelling once more at just how comfortable he felt around this girl.

He hadn't liked Linka at first, if he was entirely honest with himself. At fifteen, she'd been unsure and awkward; just a slip of a girl, perpetually quiet and tongue-tied around him. She'd been happy to sit on the fringes of their group, listening and learning, her head tilted to one side, blonde hair curling over her shoulder. She buried herself under bulky jackets and shapeless trousers, and always seemed happiest when with Kwame, who had a similar work ethic to her own. Wheeler, uncertain what to make of her and unsure how to talk to her, mostly left her alone.

No, he hadn't liked her at first. Not at all.

But by contrast, he'd liked Gi straightaway.

Gi, eighteen like him and just as sharp and sure, spoke with such a strong sense of mind and heart that Wheeler respected her immediately. But it wasn't just her personality, or her dedication to her work that called to him... no, Gi carried herself with a kind of confidence that Wheeler found deeply attractive. She was unafraid of speaking her mind and unafraid of showing a little skin and, over time, she began showing more and more of both when Wheeler was present.

Watching Linka sip at her tea, Wheeler could recall - with startling clarity - the day he'd first noticed her. Really noticed her.

He'd been leaving Gi's cabin in the early morning, so early that the sky was still a star-sprinkled shade of azure, the rising sun adding dashes of pink and orange here and there like paint streaked across a wall. Wheeler had stretched out his arms, feeling pretty satisfied with life in general, when he'd seen her in the distance, sitting in the sand, still and unmoving. His first response had been to freeze, because he didn't want to have to explain why he was up so early and where he'd been, before he realised she wasn't even looking in his direction. Not even in the slightest. Instead, her gaze was firmly set up into the high reaches of a palm tree, and overwhelmed by curiosity, Wheeler took a deep breath, shrugged, and decided to speak with her.

If she asked him why he was up, he'd make up some bullshit excuse, he decided, as he crossed the beach and sank into the sand beside her.

'Hey, Linka, what are you - ?'

But she clasped a hand over his mouth instantly.

'Shh,' she whispered, before using her head to point up.

Wheeler's eyes travelled up, looking into the canopy of the palm tree, where, nestled under a leaf, sat a tiny yellow and black bird. He looked back to Linka, whose green eyes, he suddenly realised, were sparkling and bright.

She removed her hand from his mouth, before giving him a gentle smile. 'Bahamas Oriole,' she whispered, nodding to the bird once more.

'Right,' he nodded back, still caught by her eyes, unknowing and uncaring about what a Bahamas Oriole was or why Linka was so caught by it.

She grinned at him. A cheshire cat kind of grin that spread slowly across her face; one Wheeler had never seen her wear before. 'It is a critically endangered bird, Wheeler. It is only found in three places,' she looked up again, shaking her head with marvel. 'I never thought I would see one myself.'

Wheeler looked up to the bird, before looking back to Linka. 'How did you even know it was here?'

She glanced at him. 'I heard him calling. He is a songbird, you know. A species of blackbird really... but with that splash of yellow to set him apart from the rest.'

'He was callin'?' Wheeler asked. 'For you?'

He watched as Linka tried to smother a laugh down. 'No, not for me... for a mate, Wheeler. He is looking for a female.'

'Aren't we all?' Wheeler muttered, shifting his legs on the sand and stretching them out. Linka looked over at him, resting her head on her elbow and keeping those green eyes locked on his.

Strangely, her piercing gaze didn't bother him the slightest. In fact, he found he rather liked it.

'Do you have types of oriole back at home, Wheeler?'

He grinned at her. 'We have the Baltimore Orioles, do they count?'

She frowned, shaking her head. 'I do not know that species.'

He laughed, trying to stay quiet for the benefit of their nearby winged friend. 'Not species, Lin... a baseball team.'

'Oh,' she blushed suddenly, her cheeks turning pink, which Wheeler found adorable. 'I do not know them... or anything much about your baseball at all in fact.'

'I'll teach you,' he said abruptly, without having intended to.

He didn't know why he'd made such an offer. But he did know he wanted to get to know this girl a little better, and that he wanted to continue this conversation for as long as he could.

'I have heard of the Yankees, they are a baseball team, yes?'

He nodded with a smile. 'Yeah, they are. My team, in fact.'

'Oh... you played for them?'

He grinned. 'Nah... I meant I support them.'

'Oh,' she blushed again, and something warm lit up inside of him. 'My English is... how can I say it? I am not so perfect.'

He stared at her, caught again by her green eyes. 'No,' he shook his head. 'Don't worry. Looks pretty perfect from where I'm sittin'.'

For a moment, Linka seemed to consider him. 'Yankees...' she mused. 'That is like you, no? Yankee.'

He shrugged, tearing his eyes away from her. He took a deep breath, reminding himself firmly that Linka was still only fifteen, green eyes and wide smiles be damned. 'I guess.'

'You will have to teach me about this baseball, Yankee.'

'Sure thing,' he nodded, still without looking at her.

Wheeler had never been one for complicated emotions or feelings where women were concerned. He'd had girlfriends back at home, and he'd liked them, one he'd even go so far as to say he'd loved, but they had still been simple, easy feelings. His relationships had never been messy, and he was proud of that. He didn't want them to be messy... he just wanted to have fun. With a start, he realised that he liked this girl. Really liked her. She was cute and she was surprisingly interesting to be around, and he wanted to get to know her better.

Still, Wheeler had to admit to himself that if she'd been eighteen, he'd probably have tried to sleep with her. He was no saint, after all. Unpleasant realisation crawled up his skin as he realised that he'd never had a female friend in his life who he hadn't tried to sleep with, at one point or another. So far as he was concerned, a girl was only off-limits if she was taken or the sister of a friend. Otherwise, they were fair game.

Wheeler swallowed with discomfort. He had two female team members here on Hope Island, and he'd already slept with - was still sleeping with, in fact - one of them. He looked to Linka again, back to her vibrant smile and bright eyes and blonde hair glowing slightly with the rising sun, and felt slightly ashamed of himself.

Perhaps he should be friends with a woman. Perhaps he should be friends with this woman.

Next to him, he felt Linka shift, coming to a stand. 'Where you goin'?' he asked.

She pointed over her shoulder to her cabin. 'It is nearly sunrise,' she told him. 'I should get ready for the day...'

But Wheeler shook his head, tugging on her shorts so that she tumbled back into the sand next to him.

'Tell you what,' he said. 'When the bird goes, we go, okay?'

Linka smiled at him, shifting her body next to his and laying her head on his shoulder.

'Alright, Yankee.'

Warmth again ran down Wheeler's spine. Yeah, he liked this girl.

It was easy to fall into a deep friendship with her after that. A little too easy, sometimes. They watched baseball together at first, Wheeler teaching Linka the rules and etiquette of the game. He tried to make her a Yankees fan, but she was adamantly attached to the Baltimore Orioles.

'They haven't won a series since 1966, Lin,' he'd grin at her, only for her to shrug easily.

'I do not need another thirty Yankees when I am happy with the one right here,' she'd thrown back. 'Besides, victory means nothing, and the birds need me.'

He'd mock her for her that, but still, he bought her an Orioles jersey for her sixteenth birthday, hiding his satisfaction at her obvious delight. She tried it on for him and the others immediately, and Wheeler had averted his eyes when she'd removed one shirt, standing only in her vest and shorts, to pull on the new one.

Because it turned out that under all those colourless shades and bulky Russian clothes that Linka had quite the figure. She was tall and slim with curves in all of the right places, and looking at her brought thoughts to his mind he really didn't want to have or dwell on.

This was Linka. She was his friend, he reminded himself again.

'How does it look, Yankee?' Linka had asked, turning for him, and he'd swallowed before meeting her eyes.

'You're a babe,' he'd replied, and her smile had made him glow a little inside.

After he and Gi had fizzled out, falling back into the work-related friendship where they began, Wheeler dated other women. But he always came back to Linka, came back to walks on the beach and vodka at night and baseball on a Saturday and long discussions about life. He loved her by then. Loved her with his whole heart.

But not like that, he'd tell himself, over and over.

She was his best friend.

Now, watching Linka drink her tea, he cleared his throat.

'Look, Babe... can we talk?'

'We can always talk, Yankee,' Linka replied absently.

'No, no, I meant about... about something in particular.'

At that, she looked to him intently. 'What do you want to talk about?'

He coloured under her gaze. 'Umm, look, about last night...'

She sighed, putting her tea down. 'I knew you would bring this up.'

'Well, yeah, of course I was going to,' Wheeler swallowed nervously. 'I mean, I accidentally propositioned you and - '

'Accidentally?' Linka asked. 'How do you mean, 'accidentally'?'

He coloured further. 'It was just a joke, you know that, right? I didn't intend to... I mean, I didn't think and - '

'Some people believe in every joke lies a small grain of truth,' Linka remarked.

Wheeler stared at her. 'Well, there wasn't a grain in mine. I need you to understand that, Babe. I don't want things to change between us.'

'You think sex would change things between us?' she asked innocently, and Wheeler dropped the coffee he was holding, a dark patch forming on the ground beneath them.

'Well, yeah!' he spluttered. 'Of course it would.'

'But it did not change things between you and Gi,' Linka said calmly, and Wheeler's mouth dropped open.

'You... you know about that?' he asked, feeling aghast to his very soul, and watched as Linka calmly nodded, picking her tea back up and sipping at it.

'Yes, I know about that.'

'But... but...'

'Gi told me,' Linka explained calmly. 'She is my friend too, Yankee.'

He stared at her, his mouth still hanging open at what he was sure must be an unattractive angle. He didn't give a shit though about he looked physically at that moment. It was how he looked to Linka as a person that worried him.

'How long have you known?' He asked her, and she smiled at him.

'When you and she broke up,' Linka told him easily. 'She wanted to talk to someone... she chose me.'

'But I asked her not to tell you,' Wheeler spluttered in disbelief. 'I begged her not to tell you.'

'Why?' Linka asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

'I just... I just...' Wheeler paused, considering for the first time exactly why he'd begged Gi not to tell Linka about them. 'I just didn't want you thinkin' badly of me.'

Linka's face softened. 'Yankee, I could never think badly of you.'

His face darkened. 'You might, if you knew...' he stopped, shaking his head.

'If I knew what?'

He sighed. 'All the fucked up shit I think sometimes.'

'But I like how you think,' Linka returned, and he felt himself relax slightly.

'Thanks, Babe.'

Now she sighed, reaching over to take his hand. 'You do not need to worry about last night, Yankee. I will forget you said anything. Although that is a shame, considering I would like to take you up on your offer.'

Wheeler stopped, every inch of his body freezing.

'What?' he whispered.

Linka gazed at him calmly. 'Your offer. I think it is a good idea.'

'You... you want to have sex... with me?'

Linka shrugged. 'I want to have sex,' she said, sipping at her tea. 'And I trust you.'

Something inside of Wheeler roared approval of Linka's words, even as his heart sank. He leapt to his feet, desperate to put space between them.

'Babe,' he said, almost mournful. 'Babe... that's not who we are.'

Linka looked at him, coming to a stand and crossing her arms. 'Is it not?'

'No, we're friends, Lin. We're not... not that way.'

'But are you not even a little curious?' Linka asked, and Wheeler stared at her, his eyes wide.

'It's not... not about bein' curious,' he stammered, as Linka stepped closer to him.

'I am curious,' she said simply. 'I am very curious.'

Wheeler swallowed. 'Look, Lin - '

'Tell me you have never thought about it,' Linka suddenly demanded. 'Tell me, right now, with complete honesty, that you have never imagined it. If you do, I will never mention it again.'

Now, Wheeler's mouth ran dry.

Because he couldn't lie to her. He could never lie to her.

And he had imagined it.

Many, many times.

Linka looked at him, stepping closer again, until her body only just touched his. She raised a hand, running it down his cheek, and despite the heat of the day, Wheeler's skin prickled with goosebumps.

'Thought so,' Linka whispered, her eyes gazing at his lips. 'I thought you had.'

'Oh, yeah?' Wheeler breathed, his voice suddenly husky.

'Yes,' Linka smiled, before dropping her hand and standing back. 'Because I have thought of it too, Yankee. And you and I... we are similar, in so many ways.'

Something in Wheeler's mind began working overtime. She was giving him permission, he realised with a feeling somewhere between joy and shock. He could take her now, grab her hands and push her back and she would let him. He could strip the clothes from her body, kiss her lips and lick her skin, and she would let him. He could fuck her, fast and hard here in the dirt, like he'd secretly imagined so many times, and she would let him.

He tried to shake the image off. It was wrong. This was Linka. She was his friend.

'Babe, I...'

'Have a think about it, Yankee,' Linka offered, reaching down to collect their cups and brushing the dirt from her shorts. 'That is all I ask. That you think about it.'

As she walked off, Wheeler felt himself flood with shame.

He was thinking about it already. But more than that, he had already thought about it, nearly every day for the past five years.

And not once, in any of those daydreams, had he ever turned her down.