Hehe, fun chapter to write :p

Keesha dipped her empty plastic bottle into the river and let the water seep in. The ice ran over her hand, already bone cold, but she didn't have the strength to shiver. Her numb mind only really noticed how nice the running water felt curling and sliding past her dirty fingers. She didn't even realize her water bottle had been full for awhile before she finally pulled it out and screwed the cap back on. She placed the bottle up beside her feet and picked up Wanda's bottle to do the same thing.

She stuck this one slightly in the sand for some reason. She didn't really know why; the dirt and pebbles were sure to get into it. But for some reason, she was feeling slightly vexed towards Wanda. She knew this much however: that it was made her rather frustrated and irritated that Wanda was able to snuggle up next to Ralphie in this bitter cold and leave her alienated with Tim.

It made her even more bewildered that Ralphie had just let that loudmouth, pushy, in-your-face kid huddle up close to him when she had been sitting right across from him! Come on, Ralphie and Wanda?! Wanda had never shown any interest in Ralphie that went anywhere beyond platonic. Keesha felt slightly cheated.

Or maybe Wanda was just cold and Ralphie had been in closer proximity to her than Tim. But Keesha somehow doubted that Wanda would press that close into Tim's body as she had Ralphie's.

"Hey Keesha, thought I'd lost you for a second."

Speak of the devil, Keesha thought as she heard some violent rustling of the bushes behind her. Tim emerged from then and she heard him break a few sticks under his sneakers as he moved towards her; she pulled Wanda's water bottle out of the river.

"Just filling up our water bottles," Keesha sighed bitterly. Wanda had given the orders - surprise, surprise. Tim and her were to refill the water bottles by the nearby creek, while Wanda and Ralphie collected the firewood and tried to build tent out of sticks and the towels all four of them had brought.

"Why are you so grouchy?" Tim inquired, crouching down next to her.

Keesha glared back at him disgustedly. "Why do you think - "

"Never mind," Tim said quickly. "I just mean - well, try to look at the bright side."

Keesha snorted. "Bright side, right..."

Tim settled down, cross legged, next to her. "Yes, bright side. Listen to the forest around you for a second. It'll calm you down and you'll hardly even feel the cold. The river flowing gently, the wind softly blowing through the branches, that owl..."

Keesha rolled her eyes. Artists...

"It's not the cold that's necessarily bothering me, Tim," she snapped. "Why would you assume that." She sighed and pulled her wooly hat further down her head, to warm her exposed ears. "It's Wanda."

"What, why?" Tim asked. "She's been surprisingly calm and helpful today. I only got snapped at once."

"She hardly ever snaps at you Tim," Keesha said. "But before you and Ralphie found us, she was constantly shouting orders to me and - "

"You like to be in control of things too you know," Tim said; he now pulled out his own water bottle and dipped it beneath the surface of the river. "And always like to be right."

"And what's she playing at?! With Ralphie I mean," Keesha asked indignantly.

The dark clouds had covered the whole night sky, including the moon and stars. But the midnight sun glared through the obstruction and casted the only light Tim and Keesha had to go by. Keesha could see a sliver of the pale light illuminating Tim's right eyebrow as it lifted in curiosity.

"With Ralphie? What? Oh... you mean, when she - "

"When she pressed her entire body into his and he just let her, like he actually - well like he was pleased she was giving him that sort of attention!" Keesha said bitterly. She bit her lip and heard Tim sigh, almost morosely, next to her.

"Wanda with Ralphie doesn't surprise me that much - "

"What?!" Keesha interrupted. "I was pretty shock - "

"Well, what I meant was, well, I dunno. I mean Wanda suddenly doing something like that doesn't surprise me." He rubbed his gloved hands together. "It's probably just platonic Keesha, they were just cold."

Keesha snorted, but didn't say anything else.

Tim shuffled slightly to her right and cleared his throat. "But - um - I can... sort of relate to what you might be going throu - "

"I not jealous Tim," Keesha snapped. She folded her arms crossly and looked determinedly down at the running water. She huffed and her breath came out in a white cloud that disappeared almost the moment it came. Tim knew nothing.

"Oh... because... because I sure am."

Tim cleared his throat nervously and Keesha quickly turned her head to look at him. Had she heard him correctly?

"You're jealous? Oh no," Keesha was starting to feel slightly sick. "You mean you like Wanda too?!"

"No!" Tim threw up his hands to defend himself from the disgusted glare Keesha was giving him. "No! For crying out - give me a little more credit than that!"

"Well then who?" Keesha demanded, but her voice softening. She had never heard Tim, in all their years of friendship, say anything about a possible crush. Nothing that ever hinted he was attracted to anything. For all she knew, he was asexual. She clenched her hands together, to try and warm then up, and eyed Tim gently. "Who, Tim?"

She could see, with the dim moonlight helping her out, that Tim looked very apprehensive. Keesha wondered if she should just say, 'never mind,' and 'forget I said anything,'- but she was afraid he would listen and not answer the question.

Tim was fidgeting with the slightly torn bottom of his shorts. He exhaled heavily and Keesha saw his foggy breath come out like a puff of smoke. "Promise you won't laugh, or gasp, or say anything that makes me feel worse about this?"

Keesha was really starting to get curious now. "I promise Tim."

Tim exhaled again, avoiding her eyes.

"Is it someone from the group?" Keesha asked, Tim looked like he needed some help in answering the question. "Someone here on the mountains now?"

"Yes," he replied hoarsely. There was a pause. "It's DA."

Keesha's mouth dropped open and she gasped. "DA?! Are you seri - "

"You said you wouldn't gasp or anything!" Tim said scornfully. "Forget it! Just forget I said anything - "

"Oh Tim," Keesha said shaking her head sadly. "Tim, I'm so s- "

"Are you going to say you're sorry?!" Tim was getting agitated now. "Sorry because I didn't end up with her on this trip, or sorry that she said no when I asked her out last week!?!"

"You asked her out last week?!" Keesha gasped again. Then she quickly put a hand to her mouth to stop herself. She took a deep breath. "Actually," and she spoke the next words as kindly and gently as possibly, "I was going to say I'm sorry that she's alone with Carlos right now..." she paused for a second. "Did you tell him?"

"Who?"

"Carlos, who else?"

Tim looked at her curiously. "Yeah, yeah I did. But he's the only other one."

"And what did he say?"

"He - he made fun of the fact I was going to ask her to that new chick flick, that's all."

Keesha frowned. "Are you sure? He didn't look - " she bit her lip, was Tim just being oblivious, or was she just being an idiot in thinking that, maybe, Carlos liked - "he didn't look mad did he?"

Tim looked even more surprised at that question. "N - no, why would he?" He frowned at the expression Keesha had on her face, her eyes bulged out like a bullfrog's.

"He - he likes Dorothy Ann too, doesn't he?"

Now it was Tim's turn to open his eyes wide and gasp. "W - what? When did he say that?! Did he tell you?!"

"Yes! Of course - ," But then Keesha suddenly frowned. She couldn't remember when he'd told her... It must have been ages ago... Wait... "No, actually... he never told me..." Keesha bit her lip. No... He hadn't told her... So then why did she think he had a crush on - "Well... I just thought it was... obvious. W - wasn't it?" she asked him.

"N - no, w-when... does she like him?"

Keesha didn't really know what to tell him. Dorothy Ann had never said anything either about liking Carlos anything more than a friend... but... She was tempted to say 'yes', however chose instead to reply, "We'll just have to wait until we see them again I guess..."

Tim didn't say anything; he wasn't even looking at her anymore, just down on the ground, depressed and utterly shocked. Keesha didn't say anything else so the two of them sat there by the riverside quietly. Both taking in the sounds of the forest around them. The river babbled gently beside them, the wind played with the tree branches makind a hushed shudder, a bird whistled somewhere in the distanc, and, as they listened, they both felt calmed.

Keesha suddenly felt so relaxed that she moved her hand across the rough dirt with tingling fingers and slid her fingers over Tim's. His gloved hand was warm and she felt a comforting relief sweep over her skin when he turned his hand over and squeezed her own, as if reassuring both of them that everything would work out for the best eventually.

xxx

His hand was as cold as ice, calloused and rough, it's texture told her that there was dirt on it and he was probably smearing the grit across her cheek at that very moment. But it was hard to care. Hard to care when she felt his other arm wrapped itself tightly around her waist and held onto the small of her back tightly, hard to care when his warm body, through his open jacket pressed up closer to her than she ever imagined; hard to care when his lips were pressing so hard and demanding against hers.

She moaned and deepened the kiss before he had a chance to. There was nothing gentle about this first kiss: heavy, hot, completely out of control... And she loved it.

She planted her hands firmly on the back of his neck, stretching her arms upwards so they could reach, and held on tight so he wouldn't be able to pull away even if he wanted to. She couldn't let this stop. It felt so good. Why had they waited so long! Their teeth bumped against each others and Ralphie started sucking on her bottom lip. Wanda's hands snuck up towards his hair and she tangled her fingers into it. His cologne smelled so damn good...

And then, just before Wanda could lose her mind completely, he ripped his lips from hers and jumped back, chest heaving. Wanda whimpered and leapt back towards him to kiss him again. There was a quick peck on the lips before he pushed back again.

"Wanda!" he panted. "Wanda, what are we - what are we doing?!"

"I have no idea!" Wanda gasped, brushing a strand of her black hair away from her face, just as out of breath as he was. She honestly couldn't remember how it had started, but she didn't want it to stop. Not now, not when it had started feeling so good and right. "But I like it!"

"I - I really like it too," Ralphie panted after they broke apart for the third time. "B - but. I don't get it! Do you?!"

Wanda shook her head violently.

"We - we were just sitting by the fire - supposed to be building a tent..." Ralphie looked like he was in deep thought, struggling to remember what had brought about that bought of insanity. "You - you were pressed up really close to me - and - I think I lost it."

"You felt so warm, your chest felt so inviting, I have no idea why I did it!" Wanda said heatedly, frustrated that he kept moving back.

"Do you, do you like me...?" Ralphie asked; he didn't looked repulsed or shocked at all, he looked hopeful.

"Like - like that?" Wanda paused. "I'm not sure. Do you, do you like like me?"

"That's what every fiber in my body is telling me right now," Ralphie said, looking very lost.

"Then let's just listen to our bodies right now," Wanda said quickly, moving back into his arms. "They always know what's best for us."

"Yeah," Ralphie suddenly grinned. "Yeah, they do!"

"Then stop wasting time!" Wanda whimpered, pressing her lips back onto his and sliding her arms into his jacket towards his back. Ralphie returned the kiss more than willingly and slid his hands under her shirt, up her bare back.

xxx

"And then the puppy jumped up and took a huge bite of my aunt's birthday cake!" Phoebe giggled. "My dad had to get some frozen yogurt from the fridge for us to eat instead. We even stuck candles in it!"

Arnold laughed along side her, feeling considerably more relaxed now that one of them had started talking again. "See, that's why I like having pet rocks. They don't eat anything, and you don't have to clean up after them." He paused. "Well, just once, to get the dirt off."

Phoebe laughed again and Arnold smiled. The two of them had moved from the center of the cabin to the wall across from the sink. They were leaning against the wooden planks with their backs side by side, the oil lamp burning at their feet. Both had pulled sweat pants over their shorts and an extra sweatshirt over their shirts. Arnold still felt rather cold though.

"When I grow up and get a house of my own I'm going to have so many animals..." Phoebe said, thinking. "Two puppies, maybe three cats... ooh! And maybe even a bunny!"

"Is that all?" Arnold said, a teasing undertone in his voice.

Phoebe stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll bet you end up with a whole room filled with 'pet' rocks when you get a house of your own." She shook her head smiling, when Arnold opened his mouth to object. "Maybe you'd like a house built of rock too!"

"It'd be difficult to carve out..." Arnold contemplated.

"Are you going to stay in Walkerville?" Phoebe asked.

"I think so. Are you?"

"I think so too," Phoebe smiled. "I'm glad you're staying, Arnold."

"I'm glad you are too," Arnold said. And he really was glad; he hoped all of his best friends would stay in the city.

"We won't lose touch after highschool, will we?" Phoebe asked, worriedly.

Arnold shook his head. "Of course not! I won't let that happen, ever! Don't you worry Phoebe."

"Good, I won't then," and she suddenly did something she'd never done before and leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. Arnold swallowed. He felt his stomach contract and slowly, very slowly, tilted his head down ever so slightly onto hers.

xxx

"He told me that he was going to - "

But Dorothy Ann had stopped listening long before he had even spoken. The words that had been pounding in her head as soon as she left the cave were blocking out all external sounds and thoughts from her mind. Tonight, in this pale moonlight from behind the clouds, in this isolated land with no one to tell her better, there was no way she could listen to much else.

Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him, for the love of God, just kiss -

And finally, after all those years of nagging, after all those years of being driven insane by them, after all those years of pretending she could ignore them, she finally gave in and listened.

She had never kissed anyone before, and always purposefully never listened to Wanda's long winded descriptions of who was the best kisser in their year and why - but she had thought about this moment many times over. Some of the imagined kisses were passionate, some were sweet, some, okay maybe many, turned into more...

But this time, the real time, she leant in, on her toes and bumped her lips against him. It was not passionate, at least to start. Just a little peck on his cold lips. And she quickly pulled back right after. Then she held her breath, waiting for her heart to be broken - or for it to finally feel happy and complete.

"Go - going to..."

Carlos wasn't looking at her anymore; he was staring off nowhere in particular in the distance, as if in a trance. Dorothy Ann watched him without breath. She could feel her cheeks growing very warm as she saw him reach up with one hand and touch his lips lightly as if wondering if what he thought had just happened had happened.

"The worst thing anyone ever said to me," Dorothy Ann started to blabber - she had to say something to break the silence; she was going insane not doing anything. "Was, 'Carlos Ramone - best looking guy in school, no doubt about it' from Jill Green - "

Carlos was suddenly brought out of his revere and he looked down sharply at DA. "Dorothy Ann, shut up."

And before DA could scold him for telling her so rudely to do such a thing, he returned the kiss. Dorothy Ann's eyes hadn't gone so wide since he had first pulled her into a hug and told her she was an amazing chemist. But when he didn't pull back immediately like she had, she began to relax and - enjoy it. Her eyes began to close and she slowly brought her hands up to cup his face. She had suddenly, in a matter of seconds, been brought from the darkest hell and into the lightest heaven.

One of his hands dropped onto her shoulder and slid down slightly; the other moved to the small of her back and he held on tightly. She moved one hand to the back of his head, running her fingers through his dark hair; the other hand still lightly touching his cheek when he deepened the kiss.

She would have if he hadn't at that very moment. And finally, for the first time that day, she felt warm. The feeling started tingling in her belly when he had first slipped his tongue into her mouth gently, and was now spreading to every extremity, fingers to toes. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, but that was okay, she just wanted to stay like this forever, in his arms, without a care in the world. She didn't notice the first drop of rain fall on her head, didn't notice the leaves being blown into her blond hair by the wind, and couldn't even manage to notice the low growl coming from the nearby cave.

Lots of romance in that chapter - sometimes it felt like too much... But that's for my lovely reviewers to decide :p I found going from steamy w/r to innocent a/p amusing.. :p

Next chapter coming ASAP.