This chapter is short, short, short! But I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be super long and eventful. Or... Maybe not. I'm not sure yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. So... Yeah. Here's... Yeah.

Hope.

"Sydley?" I heard his voice behind me as I stood, staring into the woods, waiting for some stranage animal that I had never seen before to come traipsing by. But that didn't happen. There were very few animals left around here. Most had starved or gotten sick from the pollution, I suppose. I felt his hands on my waist, keeping me in place in case I had been planning on running away. Which I had considered.

"What, Seth?"

"What's wrong?" He came to stand in front of me.

"Nothing." I threw his answer from last night back into his face.

"Nothing? Really?" He sounded sarcastic. I understood the sound, because it was exactly what I had said last night.

"Really."

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Syd. Tell me. What's going on? Something is obviously wrong. You haven't talked to me or let me touch you or even looked at me all day. When those trackers surrounded us, I looked for you to come by my side, but you didn't."

"You want me to tell you what's wrong with me? Kind of how you WOULDN'T tell me what was wrong with you last night? When you were obviously worried out of your mind? So much that you didn't even come back to sleep?"

"Is that what this is about? Really? Because I didn't want to scare you by telling you that I thought I heard stuff outside of the tent? I stayed up to make sure everything was going to be okay? That's why you're mad?"

"Yes, Seth. That's why I'm mad. You lied. You told me nothing was wrong. But there was something wrong. You heard something, and instead of telling us about it, you lied to us, telling us it was just your imagination. I don't like being lied to, no matter how small of a lie it is. How can you have trust if you know that someone is going to lie to you about something as trifle as hearing noises outside of the tent? I'm tired of being lied to. I really, really am."

"That's just stupid." He could tell by the look on my face that that was the wrong thing to say. Don't call me stupid. "Syd." I turned and walked away, back to the group that was unusually silent. I had a feeling they had been eavesdropping. "Syd! Wait, I didn't mean that YOU were stupid. Just that to be mad ov-"

"Save it, Seth." I wasn't in the mood for I'm sorry and making up right now. I was even more pissed than I was before. "How far from the Capitol are we?"

"Actually, we're not that far. It's about eight more hours, given our pace. We've been moving faster than we had originally anticipated." Jon informed the group. He and Stella were cooking hot dogs over a small fire, Steven, Travis and Sara were resting around them and Seth had gone off to the woods, probably to punch some holes through some trees. I joined the guys on the ground. "So, what's going on between you guys?"

"You know what's going on. He lied to me."

"Sydley, we have a big mission ahead of us. The last thing we need is for the two of you to be distracted by a little fight between you guys. We need you both focused."

"I'm focused. If you haven't noticed, Jon, I've been getting on just fine." I snapped, ending the conversation. Saying it out loud made me realize that it was true. I had been getting on perfectly fine without Seth by my side. Why is this? If he is my Xanadu, my soul mate, should I not need him with me? Need us to be okay with each other? Why am I able to be perfectly fine talking to all these people while I'm currently pissed the fuck off at the one person who I'm supposed to never want to be without? Maybe we're not soul mates. Maybe we're just teenagers.

Somehow, I found myself spending more and more time with Travis as we were walking. I liked Travis. He made me laugh. It was hard to believe that HE'S the one that is managing to make me happiest, considering he hated me just a few days ago. Hated me for being an Earth-tard. This is a fact that we laugh about frequently as we're trudging along. We set up camp in a dying field, only about three hours from the Capitol. I'm glad we stopped. I was really worried that Jon would suggest we keep walking, just go ahead and get there. I was tired. Also, the closer and closer it got to D-Day, the more and more nervous I got.

All throughout the night, I noticed Seth. Sitting off in a corner, throwing daggers at Travis and I, talking and laughing. Me teaching Earth songs to the group, the group teaching Kubla Khan songs to me. They really weren't all that different. Appealing to younger children, but you realize how morbid and perverse they are when you're older. More ghost stories. More trouble stories. The whole time, Seth is just off by himself, looking like the angriest, most lost puppy in the world. I just wanted to walk over to him. Kiss him, and tell him everything's okay. But no. I was pissed at him, I had to keep reminding myself. I'm not letting him off the hook that easily.

"He did try and apologize." Travis whispered in my ear.

"Really? Calling me stupid is how he apologizes?" I whispered back. For some reason, I didn't want everyone hearing our conversation. I just wanted something private. Some advice without feeling the whole groups judgement. Not that I felt judged... I guess there just hadn't been any privacy in the past few days, and it's something I wasn't used to. Not anymore.

"He didn't mean it, Syd. You guys... You're meant to be together. You're Xanadu's. You'll test each other, you'll fight with each other, you'll hate each other, but you'll always love each other. You'll always care, and want to be with the other person. You'll always end up together. No matter what you do, you can't fight fate. The two of you are meant to be together. Hell, you are together, even if you're being a stubborn little Earth-tard. He didn't mean that you're stupid. He's just... Never had a girlfriend before. Not a serious one. He doesn't know how to act, or what's okay and what's not okay. He was trying to protect you and not worry you when he didn't tell you. He wasn't lying to be a jerk."

"Travis... he..." He what? He wasn't doing it to be mean. He wasn't doing it because he wanted to piss me off. I have to admit, even I think it's a little stupid, now that I think about it. I caused all this trouble and all these fights between us, just because I don't like being lied to. But he hadn't exactly lied. He just hadn't exactly told the truth. "You're right."

He got a smug look on his face. "I'm always right, love." He playfully nicked my chin with his fist. "Go, talk to him, make things right."

I threw my arms around him. I was just thankful to have someone's unbiased opinion. I love Sara, but Seth is her brother and has been there since the beginning of the two of us. So she's pretty biased. But Travis wasn't. He was something else.

I went over to Seth, not sure of what I was going to say, but hoping that whatever it was would be enough.

"Look, Seth. I'm sorry. You're right. It was stupid. I've been so emotional lately, I don't know what got into me. I know you didn't lie to be a jerk. I'm just... I'm so sorry, Seth."

"Sorry? You're sorry? I've been sitting here the whole night, watching my Xanadu and my friend laugh and hug and flirt and whisper into each others' ears, and all you can say is you're SORRY?"

"Wha- Seth! What're yo-"

"What am I talking about? I'm talking about the fact that you've been all over each other! Like I don't even exist! YOU THINK I DIDN'T SEE HIM WHISPERING IN YOUR EAR? THE SMILE ON YOUR FACE? THAT HUG? What the hell's going on between you two?"

He was yelling at me. I don't like it when people yell at me. I don't like it at all. But I don't yell back. Instead, I whisper. The deadliest whisper you can imagine? Yeah, that's not even deadly enough.

"What's going on between us? I'll tell you what's going on between us, Seth. He's been keeping me distracted, because I've been so upset. So upset that you think that me being upset is stupid. Yes, I admit that it was stupid, but at the time, I didn't. I was hurt, Seth. And he made me feel better. Those whispers? We were talking about YOU. You and I. That hug? Was a thank you. For being a friend. For helping me realize that you're my Xanadu, and we're meant for each other, and that no matter how much you piss me off, I still love you."

Silence.

Was he going to yell again? Or hit me? Or... Oh, God. He's coming at me. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, to be thrown to the ground or beat to a pulp or something. Instead, he stopped just short.

"Why are you flinching?" He sounded genuinely confused.

"I... thought you might have snapped. You were going to lose your temper and hit me or something." He looked hurt.

"Sydley, I have a bad temper, yes. I hit trees and throw cars. But I will never hurt you. I could never hurt you. Because I love you." He wrapped me into his arms and pulled me in. "I'm sorry. I can see now, he was just being a friend. I shouldn't have doubted you. It just hurt seeing you be happy with another guy. I guess I'm the jealous type, huh?"

"Obviously." I smiled into his chest, then pulled up to kiss him.

"I just, I love you, Syd. I don't want to lose you."

"I love you, Seth." My heart flipped about twenty times at hearing him say he loved me, but I somehow managed that reply. "You could never lose me. You're stuck with me."

"Hm. I think I can handle this."

We walked back to the group, hand in hand.

"Aweee, the love birds have made uuup!" Jon somewhat teased. I stuck my tongue out, and joined the group in laughing. Until I heard the barking.