Charlie's POV

I wake from my spot next to Avalon. The fire has died down, and most of our group is already awake. "C'mon, Charlie, get up! It's just started to rain," Miles says to me. I crack open my eye and see Avalon lying on her back and curled up in her blanket, fast asleep.

Miles kneels next to her and shakes her shoulder gently. "Avalon, your turn. It's raining." Avalon reaches up and pushes his face away. "Up!" He yanks back her blanket and lets out a yelp as Avalon screams, covering her bare chest.

"Miles! You know I sleep naked!" she yells.

Miles just smirks and wraps the blanket around her shoulders. "Yeah, I know. I also knew it would get you awake."

"Asshole," she mutters under her breath. "Hand me my clothes." Miles hands her fresh clothing. "How far do you think we are from Monroe's compound?"

"We still have a long ways. It's not just a little base camp, now it's his home. It's going to be a slightly longer journey." I get up and pull on my backpack. Avalon and Miles stand. She stretches her arms upwards, and Miles' eyes immediately fall to the exposed skin of her stomach. I wait for Nate to make some sort of remark, but he doesn't.

I look around and notice that the place where he was sleeping is empty. "Hey, where's Nate?" Then I look for Danny. "Danny's gone, too!" I start breathing hard.

Avalon turns to me. "What do you mean? He was sleeping right…" She stares at the empty ground. She instantly peers into the woods surrounding our campsite. "Nate?" Her voice is controlled, but she looks upset. She walks closer to the woods. "Jason!" Avalon yells, and this time, panic is evident in her voice. "Jason! Goddammit, you asshole!" She turns back to us, and I can see that she's near tears. "He left us."

"Maybe he was taken…" Aaron offers. "With Danny."

"If he was taken, there would've been evidence, and we would've heard. He left. He probably went running home to his father, bearing Danny as a gift." Her face hardens. "And more importantly, home to Monroe." She walks about ten feet away from us. "There's tracks from a cart here. Someone came and picked him up. He's probably been planning this for a while now."

"So what do we do?" I ask. "How should we get Danny back? They've probably put them both on a train and shipped them to Philly."

"We move on." Avalon says, her face set in a hard, angry mask. "Chances are, the militia already knows that we're here. The best thing we can do is keep moving. We're already going to be in Philly. So let's stop at the next town and get some supplies. We'll be out of there by tomorrow." She picks up her backpack and walks out of the camp. We all hurry to catch up, and Aaron walks next to her.

"Are you okay?" I hear him ask.

"Never better," she replies.

We walk all day, until Avalon trips over a tree root in the woods and falls. We all freeze, unsure of what to do or say. She sits up, draws her knees to her chest, and starts to cry like a little girl. Aaron and I look at each other, shocked. Avalon does not cry. Sterling looks uncomfortable. But Miles seems to know exactly what to do. He kneels on one knee and puts his hand on her back. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I fell." Avalon sniffles.

"Is that the only reason why?" Avalon shakes her head and cries harder. "Come here," Miles says in a voice I have never heard him use before. It's tender and loving, completely unlike Miles. It reminds me of how my father used to speak to my mother if she was having a hard day. Miles scoops her up and carries her in his arms, bridal style. Nora looks away. Avalon clings to Miles tightly. "Let's find a place to camp out."

"There's a place for us to stay for the night a couple of minutes from here. I know the woman who runs the place, she won't tell anyone we're there," Sterling says. Miles lets him lead the way.

We go into separate rooms, but I follow Miles into his room. He's still carrying Avalon. "Miles, is there anything I should do to help?" He sits Avalon down on the bed and kneels in front of her.

"Just get me an extra blanket," Miles says. He's clearly dismissing me, but I don't leave yet. He cradles Avalon's face in his hands. "Listen to me. Jason was an idiot for leaving you. But right now, forget about him. We need to focus on the task at hand. Alright?"

"Alright." Avalon sniffs and reaches out for him. Miles stops her.

"You don't want to kiss me."

"Yes, I do!" she insists.

"You just want to make Jason jealous," Miles says. Avalon is quiet for a few seconds.

"Is that so bad? I loved you first, anyways."

"I know you did."

"Then why won't you kiss me?"

"Did you think I'd wait for you? For fuck's sake, Avalon, I hadn't seen you in four years until recently. I left you."

Avalon shakes her head. "You left Bass, not me. I was just collateral damage." Then she reaches out and wraps her arms around him, pulling him into her. Miles hugs her back, and Avalon lies back on the bed. She looks exhausted. I spot a blanket on the table just outside the room Miles and Avalon are in, and I grab it. I hand it to Miles, and he nods at me without speaking and closes the door in my face.

Miles's POV

I throw a blanket over Avalon's still form. She sighs, her lips parting with content. Then I kneel down and untie her boots, setting them on a chair in one corner of the room. She wriggles around for a moment before sitting up and pulling off her top. I freeze, staring at the pale and exposed skin of her breasts. I feel a rush of satisfaction from knowing that I was the first man to see her like this. Avalon unbuttons her pants and kicks them off. Then she looks at me and smiles. I realize that this was her plan all along. She's trying to seduce me, and I don't care at all. Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll eventually believe it.

"Come here," she says. Avalon holds out her hands. I walk to the bed, slowly, and slip my hands into hers. She yanks on my hands, hard, and I stumble forward, barely catching myself before I fall on top of her. I kneel in front of her as she runs her fingers through my hair. My eyes flutter closed as desire courses through my veins. It takes every ounce of control in me to not grab onto her as roughly as I used to.

Avalon's lips press against mine and my hands caress her thighs. She lightly moans into my mouth, which causes a shiver to run down my back. She pulls away, which causes me to open my eyes. I see her slightly smiling at me. "What?"

"I like it when I make you shudder." Her fingertips ghost over the stubble on my cheeks. "I like seeing you come undone because of me." I can't help it; another shiver runs down my back. Avalon grins even wider. My hand wanders up her torso and gently cups her left breast. Her grin fades and her expression becomes more serious. Then her expression becomes playful. "You're wearing too many clothes." I take my shirt off immediately. When she raises her eyebrows, I take my belt off. My body tenses up again when her fingers start running from my shoulders, to my chest, to my waist, and back up again. Avalon sighs and shoves me away. I stare at her, confused. "You're right. This is stupid. I thought we would be the one goddamn thing that wouldn't change, but I guess I was wrong. There was a time when one touch was all it took for you to turn into putty in my hands. But I guess that time has come and gone, right?" Avalon blinks angry tears away. "So maybe you should just leave, Miles."

My fingers find the back of her knee. She practically stops breathing at the small action. "You were never any good at telling me what to do," I say. Her eyes light up at the words. I sit right in front of her and rest back on my heels. I lean down and press my lips to the inside of her knee. Avalon leans back and watches me carefully. I plant small kisses up the inside of her thigh until my face is level with her waist. Then I stand up and watch her. For a few moments, we stare at each other.

"You were always good at taking your time," she remarks as she lies on her back. I unbutton my pants and kick them off along with my boots. She moves back on the bed and waits for me to join her. I settle myself between her legs and feel anticipation build in my stomach. She runs her hands up my sides and curls them around my shoulders, tugging me down to her. I hover above her and admire her features. She is truly beautiful. Her beauty is effortless.

Avalon impatiently sighs. I smirk at her as I shift forward and rest my groin against her. She twitches and rolls her hips up towards mine. "Be patient," I mutter. Avalon shakes her head.

"I want you," she breathes. "Now." I rut my hips against her, gently at first. After a moment of hesitation, I move against her with more pressure. My heart practically leaps out of my chest when Avalon lets out a prolonged moan so loud, I can feel the vibrations in her chest. Her hands settle on my hips and pull me closer to her. Our hips roll together, the friction driving me insane. Avalon bites down on her bottom lip when my hand drifts down and rubs her clit. One of her hands grabs onto my neck and drags me down to her. "Kiss me." I'm surprised by the request. "Please," she begs. I kiss her, slowly at first, and then more frantically.

I rid us of our underwear and press against her. The skin on skin contact almost makes me lose control, but I don't. I wish for a condom, but the blackout took a lot of things away. I turn my attention back to Avalon. My hardness presses into the bed as I lean down to taste her. I run my tongue up her slit, applying more pressure on her clit. Avalon fists my hair and arches her back off the bed. I kiss my way back up her body until I kiss her on the mouth. Her tongue invades my mouth, fighting for dominance. I lean in to whisper in her ear. "You're already so wet for me." Avalon moans again, wrapping her legs around my waist. "So eager," I mutter.

"Miles," Avalon sighs. "Don't tease me." She tries to give me an annoyed look, but she can't be annoyed with me when we're like this. I lean back and direct my erection to her entrance. I keep my eyes on her as I push the head in. Avalon's eyes roll back into her head as she sighs with content. I push further in until my hips rest against the inside of her thighs. It's been so long since we slept together, I've nearly forgotten how good Avalon's tightness feels. "It's been so long," Avalon mutters, voicing my thoughts out loud.

"You feel so good," I groan as I pull out and thrust back into her. Avalon smiles and pushes my hair back from my face. I've really let it get too long. After several minutes, Avalon begins to move her hips up to meet mine when I push into her. I was never particularly vocal during sex, but Avalon always was. She'd moan if I even touched her. I like to think that Jason could never do that. At the thought of Jason, I tighten my grip on her hips. Avalon's walls clench around me for a moment, then she relaxes.

"Keep kissing me," she says. "I hate not kissing you." I kiss her softly, and like before, it seems to escalate on its own. I roll my hips and feel Avalon clench around me again. She moans loudly as she begins to mutter curse words that I can barely make out. Her eyes screw up and she gasps. "Miles," she says. "Fuck."

It's the moaning of my name that starts to push me over the edge. I immediately pull out of her, not wanting to risk getting her pregnant at a time like this. She reaches down and strokes my hardness. I twitch as cum begins to leak onto her stomach and chest. I sigh as my release ends. I scoop up my cum off of her stomach and offer it to her. Avalon takes my fingers in her mouth and sucks on them, hard. "Ow. What's wrong?"

"I wanted to feel you come inside me like before," she says simply. As soon as she utters those words, all I want to do is grab onto her and never let her go again.

"It's too dangerous, you know that." She sighs and pulls me down with her.

"Was that just sex?" she asks.

"What else would it be?" I ask. Avalon looks away and bites onto her lower lip. I tilt her face towards mine so that I can properly see her. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to confuse you."

"There's nothing to be confused about. Jason isn't here. He chose his side."

I smile at the angry expression on her face. I love it when she's angry, as long as she isn't angry at me. "When have we ever had 'just sex'?" I ask rhetorically.

"You're right," she says, nuzzling her face into my neck. "We make love." Her matter-of-fact words make my heart skip a beat. I'd never classified our nights as that, but now it makes sense. Why she was so demanding about being kissed and all of her little touches to my face or my hair. She still felt something for me, honestly and truly. This wasn't just to make Jason jealous.

"Let's go to bed." Avalon smiles sleepily at me and gets underneath the covers. She is curled up next to me with her head resting on my chest and her hand on my stomach. I only speak when I feel her heart slow down and her breathing steady. "I still love you."

The next morning, Avalon is gone by the time I wake up. My mind drifts to last night, envisioning Avalon beneath me, breathless. One of my hands finds its way to my already growing erection, lightly rubbing along the shaft. The door opens, and I turn to see Avalon watching me with her bottom lip between her teeth. When she notices my eyes on her, she smiles.

"Don't let me stop you," she says as she tosses her dirty clothes on the chair in the corner of the room. She only has a towel covering her naked body. Her golden blonde hair is wet and pulled over one of her shoulders. The lightly tanned skin I've become so used to seeing is still slightly damp.

"Why don't you help me out?" I ask. Avalon looks at me over her shoulder and smirks. "What?"

"You seem to be doing a pretty great job yourself," she says. "But I don't know when we'll be able to do this again," she says, mostly to herself. Avalon drops her towel so that it puddles at her feet. She kneels on the bed and begins to crawl between my legs until her hands are resting on my thighs. I hold my breath, hoping that she doesn't change her mind.

She wraps her hand around the base and lazily jerks me off. When her closed palm reaches the head, she begins to rub circles on it. I let out my breath and grab onto the sheets, not wanting to make any noise that could be heard in the rooms next to us. I close my eyes when her hand travels back down to my balls, giving them a light squeeze. "Avalon," I sigh. My eyes shoot back open when a warm, wet heat surrounds the head of my length. Avalon keeps her eyes on me as she bobs her head up and down. Her tongue trails along the underside of my shaft. I weave my fingers through her hair, enjoying the softness of it. She hollows her cheeks, and lets me fall out of her mouth with a pop. Then she lays her head down on my left thigh, all the while staring up at me. Her left hand doesn't move from my right thigh and her right hand still grips the base of my hardness. "Please," I beg, "please don't stop."

"Don't stop what?" she asks innocently. Avalon climbs off of the bed and smiles at me. "You were fine when you left me, you were doing fine before I came in, and I'm sure that you can finish by yourself now," she explains.

I understand her perfectly. This is her revenge. This is her revenge for me telling her that I didn't wait for her. If only she could understand that there are too many variables now. I have history with her, Nora, and Rachel. I don't think that I can handle all three of them at once. Nora and Avalon are at least civil, but she and Rachel will tear each other to shreds. Avalon is already dressed and frowning slightly at me by the time I can refocus on what's right in front of me. "What?" I ask.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" she whispers.

"Who?" I am honestly curious about who she thinks I am thinking about.

She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter, if it isn't me." She walks towards the door, only hesitating once she has opened it. Then she looks back at me. "Just know that I understand why you didn't wait." Before I can say something, anything, she is gone.