Cody huffed out a sigh of relief as the two of them came to a stop at the riverbank. He slipped his backpack off his shoulders and dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back spread-eagle, enjoying the sensation of letting all the muscles in his body relax. "How much further do you think we have to go?" he asked Noah.

The dark-haired teen plopped himself down on a fallen tree, unlacing one of his shoes to rid himself of some of the stickers that had become lodged in his socks. "Well, we've gone almost twelve thousand steps. At approximately 1,320 steps to a kilometer, that should put us about halfway there."

Cody picked his head up disbelievingly. "You've been counting?"

"I said 'approximately'," Noah reiterated, flicking away one of the nastier goatheads. He put his shoe back on and tied it. "From here we just need to follow the river upstream. It will lead us into the hills to the supply cache."

"Sounds good!" Cody nodded, pushing himself upright. He rummaged through his backpack for their canteen and went to refill it in the stream. He took a nice long drink of the cool water, then offered it out to Noah, who gladly took it. Cody sat down on the log next to him. "Y'know, I'm actually kind of glad Beth ditched us…" Cody led in.

Noah lowered the canteen, taking notice of the other teen's proximity. "That so?" he feigned obliviousness, curious to see where this was going.

"Uh huh…" Cody waggled his eyebrows, nudging himself closer.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Okay," Cody wriggled in the bathroom stall, "I've been thinking about it, and I really wanna take the next step and make it to first base with Noah. But I sort of don't know how?" He scratched at the back of his head. "I mean, I know how," he clarified, "But when do I do it? It can't just be some random thing; I have to do it at the right time. But how will I know when's the right time?"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Noah tried and failed to keep a straight face. "I think you need to cool down," he delivered smirkingly, turning the canteen upside-down over the other boy's head. Cody yelped in surprise as the water splashed over his head and ran down his shoulders, drenching him.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Maybe the right time is later…" Cody coughed.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

—

Another hour's travel took them out of the woods and into the grassland. They were making good time on the easy terrain. Noah had taken the backpack for now, and Cody was happily following him along with his earbuds in, listening to music as they hiked. The sun was warm and the air was cool, almost an ideal day for blazing the trail; he'd long since dried off from being doused earlier.

Without warning, Noah stopped dead in his tracks. Cody nearly slammed right into him. He pulled his earbuds out one by one. "Uh… Noah?" he queried; there was a far-off look in the other teen's brown eyes and he was frozen in place.

"This isn't the right way. It can't be," Noah murmured, swivelling as he studied the sun approaching the western horizon. "We're bearing way too far east."

"How can that be?" Cody scratched his head, befuddled, "We've been following the river just like on the map."

Noah recalled the exact same thing. He racked his brains. "Twenty-seven degrees northeast…" he muttered, mentally retracing their steps, "hit the river, follow it upstream. Upstream, uphill. The river is here." He frowned at it, then it clicked. "The river is here," he repeated. Cody's head tilted. "It's not supposed to be here," Noah explained, gesturing at it, "this stream was shown on the map as a dry river during the summer months. The winter's high snowfall must have prolonged its flow this late in the year." He hit his forehead with his palm three times in apparent irritation.

"Sooo," Cody ventured slowly, "We're lost?"

Noah huffed, taking another glance at the sun's position in the sky. Four, maybe five more hours of daylight. "No," he reassured impatiently. "We just have to retrace our steps back to where we first encountered the dry river, cross it, find the right river and follow it."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake," Noah rubbed his temples. "It's the sort of mistake I'd expect the rest of the morons on our team to make. I can only imagine the evil grin on Heather's face if she were to see me right now."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I've never actually seen Noah so upset before," Cody said with measured surprise. "I gotta find some way to cheer him up… That's what any good boyfriend would do," he decreed. "And I'm definitely a good boyfriend. Noah even said so! So it's gotta be true, aha."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Noah was already starting to head back in the direction they'd come. "Maybe we should take a quick breather before we turn around," Cody suggested. "Y'know, just to recuperate."

Noah frowned but stopped. "Alright. Five minutes," he relented, finding a seat on a tree stump. He dug through his pack and took out a granola bar, which he unwrapped and began to munch emotionlessly.

Cody considered the clouds overhead. "I guess there's the possibility we won't get to supplies and back to camp in time, huh?"

"I'd say it's more probable than possible," Noah corrected the other teen's adjectives sourly.

"Well, whether we do or don't, we tried our best," Cody shrugged and Noah felt his eyebrow lift. "That's what really matters."

"I think you're forgetting the part where the rest of our team votes me off," Noah pointed out the other boy's naivity as he wadded up the snack wrapper and shoved it deep in a pocket.

Cody folded his arms challengingly. "For not managing to complete the hardest part of an increased-difficulty challenge with limited time and without a map? You're smart, no doubt, but c'mon."

Noah didn't have an immediate response for that. He cleared his throat and glanced away.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Okay, when he puts it that way… maybe I'm being a little rough on myself," Noah said, seeming almost annoyed to admit it. He put folded an ankle over a knee and gave a soft chuckle, "Cody's transparent attempt to get me to feel better is sweet. But the most surprising part is that it's actually working…" he shrugged, wide-eyed.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Cody found himself grinning. He gestured, "I mean, if anything, it's Heather who's going to get voted off, because she suggested splitting up." He got up and walked around the tree stump where the dark-haired teen was sitting. "I think you need to stop worrying and just relax," Cody suggested, placing his hands on Noah's shoulders. He gave them a squeeze, beginning to massage gently.

Noah hummed and shut his eyes. "You're making that easier," he commented lowly. Cody felt his heart leap up into his throat; he continued, making small circles with his thumbs, eager to draw more noises of enjoyment out of the other boy. "A little harder," Noah requested. Cody complied. "Higher," the dark-haired boy added, and the other adjusted. "Mmm…" Noah let his head tip back. Cody leaned in, eyes on his boyfriend's lips.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Now's gotta be the right time, right?" Cody asked the camera in the bathroom confessional. "We're all alone, I set the mood," he listed off the conditions, "Now I just gotta move in."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

He hesitated a bit too long. Noah's eyes opened, regarding him with slight amusement. "I think we've 'recuperated' long enough, don't you?" he asked teasingly. They locked gazes a moment.

Cody felt his cheeks heat and he pulled his hands off Noah's shoulders, forcing a little laugh. "Right. Aha. We better get going." He grabbed the backpack to take his turn with it.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Is it just my imagination, or is Cody being a bit more forward than usual today?" Noah noticed. "Not that I mind, but we do have a challenge to focus on at the moment."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Ugh, I was so close!" Cody tugged his hair. "Next time I'll get it for sure," he resolved.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

—

Trent's brow furrowed as he brought the map closer to his face. "According to this, we should just need to go a little further and…" He, Gwen and Lashawna stepped into the clearing. "Oh," he lowered the map, realizing they were at the campsite.

Heather was the first camper they had the pleasure of encountering. "About time you got here," she complained. "What took you so long?"

"We took our time so we wouldn't get lost. There's a difference," Lashawna said, dropping the 10-person tent in front of where the girl was seated. It billowed a big cloud of dust, sending Heather into a coughing fit. "Now, where are those camp provisions? I am starving!" Lashawna brushed off her hands and walked off with a smile.

"Slow and steady wins the race," Trent agreed, folding up the map. "Right, Gwen?" he said, looking for her approval.

"Yeah," the goth agreed absently, taking note of those at the campground with a lift of her eyebrow. Owen and Izzy were playing a game of Go Fish and Beth was off by the bushes.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I'd expected Heather, Owen and Izzy to get back before us," Gwen told the camera. "But what's Beth doing here? They couldn't have gone the whole eighteen kilometers already." Her brow drew down, "I smell a rat."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Just where is she going?" Heather gestured at Lashawna as the black girl took her leave. "Someone needs to put this tent up!"

"I've got a better question," Gwen said, breaking away.

Heather's eyes rounded on the remaining team member. "Well, Trent, I guess that leaves you to put up the tent," she established, standing up to leave as well. "Let me know when it's finished, all this sun is ruining my complexion." Trent just shrugged and got started.

Beth was kneeled down by the bushes, studying some insect life with a magnifying glass, a book on entomology propped on her knee. Gwen approached the girl. "You're back early. Where are Noah and Cody?" she asked.

Beth jumped a little, almost dropping her magnifying glass. She collected herself, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "They're still out finding the sleeping bags," she answered anxiously.

"Why aren't you with them?" Gwen folded her arms.

"They… they left me," Beth made up. "I… I couldn't keep up, so they went on without me." She went back to studying the line of army ants on a tree trunk.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Okay," Gwen began, "Noah leaving Beth behind I might almost believe. But Cody? As much as he annoys me, I don't think there's a single mean bone in his body. No way he left Beth behind."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I feel really bad about having to lie to Gwen…" Beth said softly, squeezing her knees together. "And leaving Noah and Cody. One of the things every scout is supposed to be is honest and fair." She looked down at the bathroom tiles. "Earlier I thought it was important to keep my alliance with Heather strong, but now I'm not so sure I did the right thing…"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I can't believe they did that to you, Beth," Heather arrived to the conversation as if on cue. "I guess they're not the team players they made themselves out to be after all." Beth looked away silently.

"You're not fooling anyone," Gwen's eyes narrowed on the asian girl. "Which is it? Are you getting back at Cody for making today's challenge harder, or Noah for ruining your talent show performance?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Heather denied.

"Of course you don't," Gwen said with contempt. "You won't get away with this." She left to help Trent with the tent, making certain to give Heather a hard shove on the way past.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"This is turning out even more perfectly than I'd imagined," Heather said to the camera. "Noah and Cody are as good as lost, and Gwen just confirmed what I suspected: That she and Noah are in league with each other. Which means once I succeed in having him eliminated, that's one less leg for her to stand on."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Are you okay, Gwen?" Trent asked, watching the girl pound the tent stakes into the ground with a vengence, "You seem kind of agitated."

The goth paused to swipe a hand across her perspiring forehead. "Maybe I just don't see a lot of point in having a tent with no sleeping bags," she said with a nearly Noah-level of sarcasm.

"Don't worry," Trent flashed her one of his chill smiles as he slid the last tent rod into place, "I'm sure they'll get here before sun down."

"I hope you're right…" Gwen said uncertainly, looking out to the northeast as if doing so would enable her to see them. She stood, dusting off her knees. "I'm going to build a fire just in case. Even if they're lost, the rising smoke will show them the way to the campsite."

"That's a great idea," Trent said, jumping up. "I'll find some wood." She brightened.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Gwen sat in the bathroom stall, propping her journal on her knee as she wrote in it. She looked up as if in realization the camera was on. "I was a little annoyed at Trent earlier for supporting Heather's plan, but he's redeemed himself." The goth gestured her pencil, "I should not be this head-over-heels for a guy." She blushed.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I wonder why Gwen is so concerned about Noah and Cody…" Trent rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. "Come to think of it… I did see her hanging out with Noah before the talent show…" His uncertainty shifted to concern. "You don't think…? No way, it can't be."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

—

Traversing the wrong river and finding the right one turned out to be more difficult than it had any right to be. As evening approached, they were faced with a decision. Turn back and get to camp before dark but empty-handed, or continue on, find the sleeping bags and camp out so they could get up extra early and try to regroup in the morning. Both boys decided to press on, and, at long last, Noah and Cody arrived at their destination. It wasn't too long after that that they found a large crate labelled 'Property of Total Drama Island Productions' that contained the nine sleeping bags meant for the Gophers.

Noah removed one, examining the tag. "Made from all natural goose down." His eyebrow lifted in genuine surprise. "Well, at least we'll be sleeping in comfort. Though I'm surprised this episode's budget could actually cover this kind of expense," he added wryly.

"Actually, they're not all the same," Cody realized as he removed two more from the crate. They were made of polyester, not quite as nice as the one Noah had grabbed. He dug deeper into the crate, discovering the next two were slightly ratty and contained holes, and the two after that were stained and smelled like rotting cheese. "Gross…" Cody pinched his nose and fished around the bottom of the crate for the last two; he gave a yelp of disgust, dropping the sleeping bags back into the box as a swarm of cockroaches skittered out of the seams. "Ugh, double gross!" he exclaimed. On instinct he kicked the crate away and it fell over onto its side; the roaches scattered in all directions.

Noah lifted his foot up as one of the insects went running under it. "Figures. Chris planned for us to take these back to the team so we'd all fight over who got which sleeping bag to add to the drama." He rolled his eyes. Like the host's underhanded attempts to pit them against one another weren't growing predictable.

Cody was still trying to fight off the sensation of formication, rubbing down his arms and legs. "Guess so." He grabbed one of the polyester ones for himself so Noah could keep the nicest one.

"This one's pretty big," Noah began, unzipping the down bag as he rolled it out on the ground. "We could probably share it if you wanted."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Noah's inviting me to sleep with him?" Cody exclaimed, only to realize how what he had just said sounded. "N— n-not like that! Sleep next to him," he corrected. He slapped his forehead before going on. "But of course I want to. Who wouldn't wanna cuddle up in a sleeping bag with their boyfriend? Heh. Now if I could just find the right time to kiss him…!"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Oh, uh, sure," Cody chuckled between words, trying to keep his over-exuberance from showing as he tossed the other sleeping bag away. His eyes searched for a place to look, finally settling on the sky, which was clouding over. "Hey, what's that?" he noticed a thin plume of smoke rising from the forest to the southwest. He pointed at it.

Noah turned to look. "The others must have made camp and set up a fire," he determined. If it weren't so late, it could've helped them find their way back. As it was there was only perhaps half an hour of daylight left, the sun sitting low enough in the sky to be partially obscured by the tops of the evergreens, casting long shadows out across the ground.

"Think we should make a shelter in case it rains?" Cody asked.

"Judging from our earlier luck, we'd better," Noah said with light sarcasm. He grabbed a decently sturdy stick and pulled out his pocketknife to begin wittling the tip into a sharp enough spike to drive into the ground. Cody found him a second one of similar length and straightness. After they'd placed them solidly in the ground, Cody removed the shoelaces from his sneakers, tying them each together to be long enough to string between the poles Noah had fashioned. They unzipped and tossed the polyester sleeping bags over the makeshift line and used four heavy rocks to anchor the corners to the ground and create a triangular sleeping space. They used the worn-out old sleeping bags for ground cover and padding on the inside.

Cody dusted off his hands and placed them on his hips, admiring their work. "Not bad! Guess we didn't need those tent supplies after all, haha."

"Would be nice to have some of the provisions though," Noah said, aware of the light gnawing in his stomach. A single granola bar and a few handfuls of trail mix (sans the M&Ms— Cody had picked all of them out) weren't exactly a meal. It was mildly revolting to admit, but he might just be looking forward to the Chef's cooking when they got back. He pulled his book out of his pocket, planning to utilize what little was left of their daylight to indulge himself.

"We've still got some jerky…" Cody double-checked in his backpack. "But we should probably save it for breakfast."

"Agreed," Noah submitted absently, already emersed in reading.

Cody came over to sit down next to him. After a moment he nudged the other teen's shoulder. "Wanna watch the sun set together?" he asked.

Noah looked up at Cody. A half-smile overtook his features as he rolled his eyes. "As if I could ever say 'no' to that face." He closed his book. "Sure." The two intertwined fingers and set their sights on the horizon. Cody leaned his chin down on Noah's shoulder.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"If watching a sunset isn't the perfect backdrop for a make-out session, I don't know what is," Cody gestured. He paused thoughtfully. "It's funny… You'd think getting separated and all I'd miss the rest of the team, but I don't really. I don't even really miss Gwen?" his confusion over the emotions he was feeling was plainly obvious.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Thanks to the clouds that had formed overhead, the sunset turned out to be a rather brilliant one, full of reds, oranges, and pinks splashing across the fluffy white 'canvases'. As the last sliver of the sun dipped beneath the horizon and the blue hue of twilight engulfed the sky, Noah pecked Cody on the temple and stood. The blue-eyed boy shook his head; he'd been so deep in thought that he'd missed his window of opportunity.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"So much for 'the third time's the charm'," Cody said with mild exasperation. "I don't get it. The movies make it look so easy!"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Noah yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Dark circles had begun to form under his eyes. "I think all that leaves is turning in for the night."

Cody nodded in agreement. Each boy made sure to empty his bladder and remove his shoes before carefully crawling under their improvised tent. Cody wormed his way into the down sleeping bag, getting comfy, and Noah slid in behind him. The nearness made Cody's stomach flutter momentarily, but it wasn't until Noah draped his arm over him that it felt like an entire colony of butterflies had erupted in his tummy. He shut his eyes to savor the tactile sensations: the weight of the other teen's arm, the way Noah's front was pressed flush against his back, the growing warmth between their bodies. He let out a happy sigh.

This was his last chance to make out with Noah tonight, he realized, and possibly his best one. Carefully, Cody turned underneath the other boy's arm so he could face him, but when he got there, he discovered Noah was snoring softly.

"Noah?" he asked, giving him a gentle nudge. The other didn't respond; he was fast asleep!

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Talk about falling asleep the moment your head hits the pillow…" Cody gave a chagrinned chuckle. "But I guess Noah isn't used to a lot of physical activity, and we did walk over twenty kilometers."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Cody settled for nuzzling his forehead into Noah's neck and he shut his eyes, finding his own unconsciousness more quickly than he'd thought he would.