I don't know what I'm doing.

Well- actually that's only half true.

I know I decided to write this for whatever stupid reason...but I don't know why 1) I'm suddenly immersing myself in a heck ton of fandoms when I have a story to update, 2) why Camp Cretaceous is the only fandom I feel like actually writing for other than Beyblade, and 3) if I'm going to end up putting May Our Hearts Be Our Guiding Keys on hiatus.

Number three ties back to two and I feel like headdesking right now.

I'm enjoying writing May Our Hearts, I really am (lies over here), but there's a part coming up that I was so excited to start at first that I'm now realizing as it's getting closer that it's going to be difficult and suck the inspiration to update outta me.

So I'm using some of my spare writing time to make this.

It's probably not gonna feel good when I'm done. Or maybe it will. I'll let you know at the end of this. XP

This is going to be in Brooklyn's perspective because why not.

Also, this is somewhat based off of Griffin Stone's one-shot Nightmares and uses the idea from Too Slow, Bro. (Hope you don't mind, Griffin.) I highly recommend reading their stories.

Let's see how this goes.

Onward!

There were a lot of different emotions that Brooklyn hated.

Embarrassment was definitely near the top of the list. There was also frustration, loneliness, and not being good enough.

But during the past few days, guilt had taken first place.

Ben's apparent death and the moments before were still so haunting. She remembered it so clearly, and yet it felt like forever ago. If they hadn't hesitated, or if they'd realized he was hanging off the monorail sooner, it would have been different.

This past month had been filled with what-if's and if-only's, and while Brooklyn knew that at this point dwelling on them would get her nowhere, it didn't prevent the agonizing wistfulness that came as a result.

She woke up very early- the sun wasn't even up yet. Her sleep had been light and untouched by nightmares, but her deep-rooted anxiety seemed to have shaken her awake yet again. Usually Brooklyn would just lay where she was, daydreaming and letting herself detach from reality, until she either fell asleep again or the others started getting up.

This time, though, she didn't feel like doing nothing.

Sighing quietly, she got to her feet, careful not to disturb her roommates. After being abandoned, the campers had set up their own base from the ruins of the destroyed dorms, and it worked quite well. Boys slept in one room, girls in the other. Brooklyn had made a painful note that the boy's side only had two people in it. Considering how Darius and Kenji interacted, it was either very depressing or very calm.

For the sake of everyone's mood, she hoped it was the latter.

The rooms were nestled in separate branches, but accessible by a bridge that also stretched into a third location: a balcony. There, they could check the ground for passing animals or the skies above in hopes of spotting a rescue helicopter.

Brooklyn decided to go to the balcony, but as she was making her way across the bridge, her eyes adjusted and she saw the silhouette of another person, their head tilted back to watch the stars.

She blinked rapidly, wondering if she was seeing things, but quickly deduced she wasn't. Yasmina and Sammy were still fast asleep, so it was one of the boys.

Getting closer, she recognized him as Darius. 'Figures,' she thought. 'I don't think Kenji would come out here even if he was awake this early.'

The pink-haired girl adjusted the thin cloak around her so that she was better protected against the brisk wind. Most of the clothes she and the other campers wore were either Camp Cretaceous uniforms they'd happened to stumble across or the outfits they had come to Isla Nublar with.

There were also Camp jackets and shawls or cloaks they'd made using materials that had been salvaged from the abandoned buildings. She was wearing the one made from stitched patches of black silk. Darius seemed to have the orange Camp jacket.

She approached him, the bridge creaking gently beneath her feet. He heard this and turned in surprise. Upon recognizing her, he relaxed slightly. "Uh, hi, Brooklyn. What're you doing?"

"Same thing as you, apparently. You stargazing?"

"Yeah..." It was hard to see his expression, but Brooklyn was pretty sure he was up for the same reason she was.

Darius must have seen her knowing look, and he sighed, turning back to the railing of the balcony and resting his arms on it. Their breaths collected into small puffs of mist in the chilly air.

Brooklyn searched her head for comforting words. She hadn't even noticed for those few crucial seconds that Ben was about to fall, and by then, it had been too late. She could barely even imagine being the one who was trying to keep him on board, holding as tight as possible in the strikes of sharp wind, only to witness it firsthand...

He was probably feeling a hundred times worse than she was.

She remembered what Darius had said when the camp had been destroyed, which she and the others had quoted back at him when he was feeling down: "Things fall apart, but that's okay, because when they do, we pick up the pieces and keep going."

'Sometimes,' Brooklyn thought sadly as she saw Darius's forlornly tired expression, 'our hands are too cut up and exhausted to pick up the rest of the pieces.'

She found that she had no words to give. What could she say? Her other ideas, she suspected, would only make him feel worse.

So she said nothing, looking at the stars as she let out a glum exhale. After a few minutes of silence, her gaze flickered to the side to see how Darius was doing.

He seemed to feel a bit calmer, and turned his head slightly so that their eyes met. He gave her a grateful smile.

Brooklyn felt slightly better, knowing that her company had seemingly comforted him, and how it also seemed to work the other way around. Apparently, choosing to say nothing worked favorably for both of them.

She sat down and stared at the sky as time ticked by, shifting its colors from dark purple and black to pastel pink and red. The sun was rising now, and with it, a small amount of guilt was lifted away from the burden on her shoulders.

I think this is...okay. I treated it more as a warm up for the upcoming chapter of May Our Hearts. This is hurt/comfort, so it looks like I'm about to go all-out angsty and I am scared.

Leave a review if you have constructive criticism or something to say about the one-shot!

Thanks for reading! :D

somibel, OUT!