Hope

It was wrong. It had all gone so wrong. She had only been a little tipsy, how could she have screwed it all up so badly between her and Miles? Charlie sat toward the far end of their camp, away from Miles. It wasn't hard since the older man was avoiding her just as much as she was him. She ground her teeth together again and her eyes pricked slightly, but her tears were all gone.

If she had thought Miles was avoiding her before he was downright cold to her now. It wasn't fair! He wasn't really her uncle. She wasn't really his niece. She had been struggling with these feelings and when she found out the truth it was like vindication. But Miles didn't feel the same. He probably only thought of her as an annoying kid he had to take care of. All those minor instances that she thought there'd been something else there, obviously she'd been reading too much into his actions.

Charlie glared out at the encroaching blackness. Sundown was still an hour or so away, but the forest was already getting dark making the woods look murky and foreboding. She heard Miles and Nora talking about something; whatever he'd said made Nora laugh. Charlie's fists clenched.

She should be over it already. There was nothing there. He didn't feel the same, and she was pissed at him for being so childish about all this anyway. Even if she was the one being a brat about it, he was just as bad as her. Okay. So things weren't going to work between them. It was just her one-sided feelings. Now she knew. Eventually she would get over it. But he was back to avoiding her, and when they spoke they barely said anything. It was almost worse.

She wished she'd never said anything at all. At least the way things were they could still talk to each other. At least he'd look her in the eyes when she talked to him. Suddenly the darkness moved and Charlie shot to her feet. The other's were far enough away, they hadn't noticed anything yet.

Charlie drew her crossbow and aimed. "Wait! Charlie, it's me."

"Nate?" she asked, confused, her stand relaxed, and the dark-haired man stepped out from the forest edge. "What are you doing here?" he asked, still on edge and crossbow still aimed. They were never sure if they could trust Nate whenever he showed up, but the presence of something besides her own crazy unhinged feelings was a welcome relief.

"I came to warn you. The militia are in the forest, and they've been making a sweep this direction." He told her, anticipating her next question he added, "I'm one of the scouts I saw you and your fire first; if you hurry they may still miss you."

"Why?" Charlie asked, and Nate looked confused, "Why help us?"

Hazel eyes stared back at her, and something about his gaze was intense and soft at the same time. "Why do you think?" he asked.

Charlie faltered. Nate had always been a wild card, but at the same time he'd never done anything all that terrible, not to her. For some reason she got the feeling he was never that bad; he wasn't like the others in the militia. But beyond that gut feeling, she had no idea what was going on behind hazel eyes.

"You." It came out as a gruff snarl as Miles and the others approached, Nora and Aaron held back further towards the campfire, Miles came forward until he was only a few feet from Charlie and Nate. "Charlie, get away from him."

Charlie felt a rush of heat that had little to do with affection. "He says the militia are making a sweep of this area. We need to move." Charlie relayed what Nate had told her.

"Could be a trick." Miles insisted, glaring down the interloper, "Leave."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "If he's telling the truth-!" Charlie started to argue, but Nate cut their argument short.

"We don't have time, come with me, and I'll show you! Then you have to move!" Nate insisted.

"Charlie, don't." Miles warned, eyes shifting from Nate to her; dark and blue eyes locked in a mental battle. This didn't feel like a team leader questioning an intruder, it felt like something else. Charlie's jaw set and she turned. "Charlie!" Miles warning was too late; Nate and Charlie took off into the forest.

It was growing darker but Charlie could still make out Nate's back as she followed, their running steps hurtling through the dark and brambles before the light was all gone.

Miles had barely said more than ten words to her in the last few days. That was more than they'd spoken in a while. But it seemed like it meant something. Even if Miles didn't feel the same way she did, even if he could never love her like she did him; he did care. Miles cared about her, and he was protective of her. That gave her hope.