When I walked onto the pier, everyone could tell that I was pissed. The guys all looked uncomfortable when I sat down, so they each made their excuses and left.
"What's going on, Care?" Tasha asked me. She looked worried.
"Me and Ryan got into a fight, it's nothing." Tasha looked at me sympathetically and moved closer to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder.
"What did he say?"
"He called me a whore." Tasha's facial expression went from sympathetic to pissed off in 0.2 seconds.
"He what?"
"I went up there because he's been weird all day and I asked him what was wrong and he said Patrick heard us having sex last night," I noticed Kiara looked embarrassed, "and I told him it was no big deal, and then he's like, 'is that what being a whore does to you?' and I was just, like, amazed that he would say something like that to me." I hadn't noticed that I'd begun crying.
Tasha stood up. "That asshole, I'm going to go up there and –"
"Tasha, no. I took care of it. Please don't."
She looked at me, then up towards the trail that led up to the campsite. She sat back down. "You're sure?"
I nodded.
Payton spoke up. "Do you want to sleep in our tent tonight, Care?"
"I don't think so. I told him he's not sleeping in the tent."
"Okay. If you change your mind, we can always make room for you. It's a big tent."
"Thanks, Pay. I think I'll be alright, though."
The four of us talked for a few hours, and when it got really buggy, we headed up to our site. There was already a bonfire and it looked like Ryan had been drinking since I left him up there. Patrick, Logan, and Landon each had a beer. I didn't feel like drinking, so I grabbed a water out of one of the coolers and sat down next to Kiara. It wasn't as cold out as it was the night before. As Kiara and I were sitting around the fire talking, I noticed that Ryan wouldn't take his eyes off me. Even though I had only been awake for eleven hours that day, I was tired at midnight. I said my goodnights and walked over to my tent. I was almost inside when I felt someone grab my leg. I looked back, not surprised that it was Ryan.
"Caroline, please listen to me," he slurred. "I'm so so so sorry! Really, I am. I love you."
I pulled his hand off my calf and said, "Ryan, go away, seriously. I don't want to talk to you right now. Plus, you're really drunk and I can't understand what you're saying."
"Well, you're drunk too, Care."
I raised my eyebrows. "Am I? Ryan, I drank water all night. Get away from me." And with that, I pulled the rest of my body inside the tent and zipped it shut. I heard Ryan fumbling with the zipper, but he was too drunk to clasp it. After several minutes of failed attempts, Ryan passed out right outside my tent. As I drifted off to sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about the only guy I have ever loved. Yes, he hurt me, but for some reason, I was no longer angry. All he had done was call me a whore, while my other boyfriends had all done the unthinkable.