Chapter 3

Camping

Katie didn't know one word could upset the man so much.

Katie was very hesitant about going away with Oliver, especially after everything that had happened between them. A part of her felt that this was still a mistake, that she was crazy to give this guy another chance after promising herself she wouldn't. The other part of herself just loved him so much, and wanted to make a life work with him so badly. So maybe she was crazy, and maybe she was foolish too, but if being those things lead to her happiness then she would give them a shot.

Everything seemed to be going well. Better than she thought it would. Everyday she felt herself feeling more comfortable being around the man once again. She rarely thought about the things he'd done, and she let him make her smile. Whatever this was, this life they were carving themselves into. She was liking it. Well until the moment he brought her into the middle of the woods, with a mood that seemed to come out of no where.

"I have to believe that your years of being trapped on a hellish island, forced to live off the land, and live always afraid that you would die and no one would ever know where you were, was some how in a way romantic." Oliver looked over to the woman from his spot where he was attempting to assemble their tent. "That's the only explanation for you believing that bringing me camping was a good idea."

"Maybe I thought getting away from the noise of cities could be good for us." Oliver replied looking back down to the directions for the tent, letting out a groan.

"Do you want some help?"

"No I got it." he muttered in annoyance and Katie simply rolled her eyes before grabbing her bag and searching for something to snack on.

"Have you seen my trail mix?" she asked not finding it in her bag.

"You probably ate it." Oliver replied offhandedly and the woman tossed a glare his way.

"No, I didn't eat it, I bought them at the last stop we made before coming here." she replied before looking back. "It's probably in the car...which so far away." she turned back to the man and he looked over to her and just shook his head.

"Nuh uh." he said looking back down to the directions. "It will be dark soon, and if you want to sleep in a tent tonight, I can't go all the way back to the car for trail mix. Just eat something else."

"I don't want something else." she replied defiantly folding her arms over her chest. She knew she sounded like a child, knew she didn't want the damn trail mix that bad, but the man had been in mood for a while now, and she wanted to know why. So maybe she wanted to pick a fight to get the truth out of him. The man simply shook his head not even looking over to her. "Fine." the woman stood to her feet. "I will go get them myself." the woman headed back to toward the trail.

"Twinkie!" she heard the man call after her, but she didn't stop walking. "Twinkie, you can't-" the man groaned before tossing down the instructions and running after the woman. He grabbed her arm, but she pulled out of his grasp. "You're not going back to the car by yourself. It will be dark soon and you get lost too easily. Just forget about the trail mix and eat something else."

"I don't want anything else, so I'm going to go to the car-"

"You're being a brat." the man said before stalking back over to the tent.

"A brat!" the woman snapped turning to him. "Well you're being an asshole. What is your problem?"

"My problem is that I just wanted to have a nice camping trip and not fight about trail mix." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. "I really want to stop saying trail mix, so I'm going to finish putting up the tent and just step away." he walked always without another word and Katie just watched him for a moment before looking around, spotting a pine cone. Without really thinking she picked it up and threw it at the man. He stopped and looked at her, in both shock in annoyance. "Twinkie-"

"I am going to continue to throw things at you until you tell me what's going on." she said looking for something else to throw. She spotted a twig and just picked it up about to throw it when the man finally spoke.

"Fine." he said walking over to her. "Last night." Katie looked at the man with a furrowed brow. Last night Katie talked Oliver into taking her to some diner that claimed to have the best pie in the north. She just had to see if they were telling to truth.

"Did you not like the pie?" she asked and the man scoffed with a shake of his head. "Ok, so it's not about the pie. So I was there for most of the night and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"You called me your friend." Oliver finally said and Katie tilted her head, still confused. "The waitress said me and my wife looked so sweet, and you quickly corrected her saying we were just friends." the man shook his head before turning and heading back to the tent. Katie didn't really think it was a big deal but apparently it was. "You know I thought we were both moving in the same direction, now I realize I don't even know which direction you're going."

"Oliver I'm standing in the middle of the trees right now." the woman said and Oliver scoffed as he turned away from her.

"Seems nothing I do can make you happy. Nothing I do will ever get you to trust me, so I'm standing here wondering what's the point?" he stopped and looked over to the woman. "I thought this trip would show you just how dedicated I am to you and our baby, how willing I am to do whatever it takes to get back what we had, and it's not getting us anywhere."

"Oliver, I'm standing in the middle of trees, right now." the woman replied firmly.

"Twinkie-"

"No, you spoke now it's my turn. I was eight when my dad had the bright idea for me to go camping. Maybe to help get me out of my shell, I don't know. But I went and the very first day I fell into a bush of poison ivy. I went into anaphylactic shock, and was rushed to the hospital. I nearly died, and I swore I would never go camping again." the woman took a step toward the man. "You're upset that I referred to you as my friend, I'm sorry. Boyfriend seemed less then what you are, and fiance was more, but I never had any doubt that you were and would always be my friend. You're the father of my child and that alone creates a love for you that I will never be able to explain. Oliver I'm standing in the middle of trees right now after having one of the most traumatic experiences of my life in a place just like it. I'm sorry you can't have what you want when you want it, but if it's me you want you will have to wait. Because we are going in the same direction, but our past has made me not want to be in a rush to get to the finish line." and now she felt tears in her eyes and that just made her angry. "Son of a...you made me cry." she dropped her head as the man walked over to her, and attempted to bring his arms around her but she pushed him away. "No, I want my damn trail mix, so I'm going to get it." the woman turned and only took a few steps before the echoed howl of a coyote stopped her in her tracks. "Damn it all to hell."

That night Katie laid curled in her sleeping bag, her eyes closed, trying and failing to sleep. She was still too upset. She soon heard Oliver outside the tent where they silently understood he would be sleeping for the night.

"Twinkie?"

"I'm done talking for the night Oliver, I just don't have anything else to say."

"Alright, then just listen for a second." the man replied. "I'm a jerk, I am very much aware of that and I'm sure you will agree. I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I just-" the man let out a sigh. "I have this image in my head of where our lives should be with a baby on the way, and we're not even close to that. And I know it's my fault, I know I broke your trust and I'm trying my hardest to get it back. It's just hard sometimes to be near you and not kiss you, or to not even sleep in the same bed. And I guess yesterday I just lost it."

"I have this image in my head of where my life would be with a baby on the way, and it's not this. It's not me not being married, it's not me having a hard time trying to trust you but Oliver there isn't a switch inside of myself that I can just flick and make all of that doubt about us just go away. I want to be all in with us, but I hesitate because we've tried this before and it didn't work. So now I'm not letting you kiss me or sleep in the same bed because I don't want the physical stuff to complicate emotional stuff we really need to fix. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I guess I really do have to learn to be patient. Which I will. I will wait for you for as long as you need." they fell into silence before Oliver once again spoke. "I'm sorry I made you cry. I hate it as much as you do, and I hate it even more when I'm the reason. I will always be your friend, and when you're ready for more, I will be too." Katie heard the sound of the tent opened and she looked over to see the man's hand holding her bag of trail mix. "Truce?"

"No." Katie said before sitting up and taking the trail mix from his hand. She opened the tent completely so she could see his face. "You bought a big tent for a reason. Grab your sleeping bag."

In the months since they left Starling, in a sleeping bag, in a tent was the closest Oliver had ever slept beside the woman next to him. He looked over to her, a smile pulling at his lips. He missed her face being the last thing he saw before he slept and the first thing he saw when he woke up. He hoped this was a step to getting back what was broken between them.

The man was pulled from his blatant staring by the woman letting out a groan, and he quickly turned her.

"Twinkie, are you alright?"

"No, just when I'm actually getting sleep, your kid wants to party." she replied before reaching over and grabbing his hand, and placing it on her belly.

"That's still so weird." Oliver said in amazement as he felt the small thumps underneath his fingers. "He's really moving."

"He?"

"Or she?" Oliver said with a smile. "Doesn't matter to me."

And that's how he fell asleep, his hand firmly planted on Katie's stomach, content in this small tent, that some how could fit his whole world.