Disclaimer- I don't flight 29 down or any of its characters

Nathan awoke with a smile on his face. In spite of the drama that had unfolded last night; he was happy. After he'd chased after Daley he explained to her that no matter what Taylor and Eric would throw at them, he'd always be there for her. She had smiled and pulled him into a long, warm hug. She then proceeded to tell him that she was glad that she had someone as loyal and brave as himself to be looking out for her. Nathan simply told her that that's what boyfriends do. It was a definite defining moment in their relationship so far and as mad as he was at Taylor and Eric, he couldn't help but feel a little thankful for the nudge.

"What the hell are you grinning for?" An angelic voice broke Nathan's thoughts. He looked over and saw Daley looking at him quizzically.

"Should I not be grinning?" Nathan asked nervously. The last thing he wanted to do was offend Daley in some way and get her mad.

"Of course you shouldn't be grinning!" Daley boomed. "Don't you remember what happened last night?"

"Yeah," Nathan said letting a small smile sneak onto his face. The memory of Daley's gratitude towards his valiant actions was unforgettable to him.

"Taylor and Eric totally told everyone about us and ruined everything!" Daley continued oblivious to Nathan reminiscent smile.

"Wait, what?" Nathan questioned. "That's what you were thinking of?"

"Of course," Daley said now confused. "What were you thinking of?"

Nathan blushed briefly then amended; "Um, nothing, it doesn't matter." Nathan paused then added, "I'm gonna go out to the fire pit and get some breakfast."

Daley was left alone in the plane wondering what Nathan had been thinking of. It had to of been something that happened last night, but all that really happened last night was Taylor and Eric telling everyone about us. Oh and there was our talk in the jungle after I ran away but that was basically just him reassuring me and me making a total fool of myself. I really don't think he'd be remembering that fondly. She paused then rewound. It was obviously not their talk so it had to be something else. But the only something else was the drama at dinner. Was that what he was remembering so fondly? But why? He was so pissed about it when it happened. Maybe that had just been his initial reaction; maybe he was actually happy about everyone knowing. How could everyone knowing make him happy?! What a hypocrite! He had told her what they had done was awful and that he was upset about it too. He lied to her and Daley hated liars.

Nathan walked out to the fire pit and saw everyone sitting around the fir pit except for Daley. Closet to him he saw Jackson stoking the fire while having a conversation with Lex. On the other side he was Taylor sitting alone looking remorseful or at least, trying to look remorseful. He had dated Taylor after all so he knew how to tell when she was acting. To Taylor's right on the north side of the fire he saw Melissa and Eric sitting together and talking. Wait, what? Melissa was talking to Eric the morning after he publicly embarrassed her best friend? And since when did they talk anyway? Nathan took a seat on the south side of the fire, sitting opposite to Eric and his so-called best friend.

"Morning Nathan," Melissa greeted him with her signature toothy smile as he sat down. He only grunted in response. Melissa looked at him with a confused expression then remembered that he didn't know Eric felt so guilty about what he had done. She'd tell him later.

Lex looked at Nathan with sympathy. He too had no idea why Melissa was suddenly being so friendly with Eric, especially after he had done last night to Nathan and Daley. The plot just kept on thickening with the teenagers and needless to say, Lex was having trouble keeping up. He could say with confidence though that Taylor and Jackson had broken up or taken a break or whatever they chose to call it. Jackson had not spared Taylor one glance this morning. It was a no brainer to Lex that they weren't on the best terms. Taylor, on the other hand, would look over at Jackson every couple of minutes or so. It was like clockwork. Jackson would look over at Eric and Melissa every time they shared a laugh. Lex wondered if he was looking at them out of regret; regret for choosing Taylor over Melissa. Lex doubted it though because Jackson seemed like the kind of guy who thought things out before pursuing them.

Daley came out of the plane looking rather pissed. Nathan looked up at her, smiled, and waved her over to him. Daley gave him a cold look and went to sit a couple feet away from Taylor on the east side of the fire. Nathan was flabbergasted. What the hell did I do? Maybe she's just on her period or something. Everyone look curiously between them. Clearly there was trouble in paradise already.

"Breakfast is ready!" Lex announced giving everyone some fruit and a piece of the fish Jackson had caught the previous day. Everyone hungrily dug in because nobody had eaten much last night and were quite hungry this morning. That and they just wanted to escape the awkwardness everyone felt. Everyone finished up rather quickly and scurried off to their respected jobs.

Eric dumped the full water jugs off at the camp near the fire pit. He wiped off his hands on his pants and sat in front of the fire next to Melissa. She was filtering was water and has not noticed him yet.

"Hey," Eric said. Melissa looked over and sat him sitting close.

"Hey," Melissa answered with a hesitant smile. She hadn't caught up with Nathan yet to explain to him the apology Eric had issued to both him and Daley.

"How's the water filtering going?" Eric asked teasingly, making small talk while stretching out his arms. Constantly carrying water from the well made his arms stiff.

"Good," Melissa giggled. "How's lugging water?"

"Oh, tons of fun," Eric responded with a lopsided smile. "Just thought I'd take a brake from all the excitement to check in with you"

"Well thank you." Melissa grinned back at him. There was something about talking and fooling around with Eric that made her forget about the whole Taylor-and-Jackson-are-a-thing situation.

Eric got himself up and emptied the jugs of water he was carrying so that Melissa could boil them. He once again departed into the jungle. His and Melissa's exchanges tended to leave him in a good mood. He felt like that seventh grader again, taking drama class with Melissa and having her laugh at his cheesy impressions of celebrities. Having her laugh at his jokes was always so fulfilling to him, but he could never figure out why. Of course the whole point of his comedic actions was to entertain his audience but it never felt as good as anything else than when he could get Melissa to even crack a smile at his crazy antics. Eric, still thinking of Melissa, banged right into a brick wall. Or, at least, what he thought was a brick wall.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" An angry voice sounded off right after he hit the supposed brick wall. He looked around and noticed he banged right into Jackson. They had both fallen onto their asses and Jackson was nursing forehead which Eric had hit head on.

"Take it easy chief," Eric said nursing his forehead also. Jackson looked genuinely pissed but Eric tried not to let it faze him.

"Yeah, whatever," Jackson huffed while lifting himself off the ground.

Eric watched him walk away and had to wonder what Melissa saw in the guy. He was rude, had no sense of humor what so ever, and acted all aloof and secluded himself as much as possible. What Melissa needed what someone who could make her laugh, someone who could make her feel special and most of all, some one who could be there for her. Not some loose cannon who needed therapy. Seriously, the guy was messed up. Melissa needed some one who would cherish her, not some one who just pushes her aside like Jackson. Some one to appreciate that she's been using the same strawberry-vanilla shampoo since grade seven and although Eric knows that she uses the same shampoo as everyone else, her hair still smells like vanilla and strawberries. Eric doesn't know if it actually does or if he imagines it, but whenever the wind blows his direction when she's sitting beside her, the wind carries the scent of strawberries and vanilla straight from her hair. Whenever he smells it he always feels the same nostalgia and security. He knew that if he didn't act on his feelings now, Melissa may end up with the next "troubled" guy she sees.

A/N: Again, I hope that wasn't too boring for you. I'm laying the ground work for some drama filled chapters. And I hope you don't mind my adding the sub-plot that Eric likes Melissa but I always felt like he did for some reason. So REVIEW!!