The contestants peeled off from one another to find things to do until the ceremony; most of the Bass headed off to their cabins to catch up on sleep, while most of the Gophers headed off to the mess hall to get some grub. Noah took a seat beside Gwen with his tray of extra-hard biscuits and super-runny gravy. "Thanks for the bit of tactical guidance you supplied this morning," he mentioned casually, jamming his fork into one of the unyielding lumps of starch on his plate.

"It was the least I could do," Gwen replied, glad to hear it had helped the two of them get back. "As soon as I saw Beth I knew what Heather had done." She sipped her drink.

Noah hummed. "I should've known what Heather had planned before we ever left Wawanakwa," he muttered, taking a big bite.

"If you say so, Sherlock," Gwen teased. Noah gave her a look. "What? You think you have an exclusive copyright on snarky nicknames for other campers?" her lips twisted with a smile.

"Well, not anymore apparently," Noah played along. "Might as well ship me off the island now; my niche of providing witty repartee has been filled."

Gwen just smirked. "I don't think you're going anywhere anytime soon. The whole team seemed pretty impressed by the 'rescuing Katie and Sadie' thing. Well, except Heather. Did you see her? It looked like she was about to go nuclear."

Noah swallowed his mouthful and went for another. "Yeah. I'm sure it won't come without some fallout though," he punned, though he was quite serious about the sentiment; even if he'd managed to best the girl at her own game again, she didn't seem the type to give up until the bitter end.

"So how was getting to spend the night alone with Cody?" Gwen inquired then, not done teasing her shrewd ally.

That question Noah hadn't been anticipating. "It… He… We…" he started his sentence three separate times, before deciding exactly how to answer, "It went well." His lips pursed momentarily, "Why?"

"Just curious," the goth shrugged. "I know you like him. I bet it was nice getting to spend some time with him away from everyone else." She'd kill for some alone-time like that with Trent; almost a shame Heather hadn't targetted her instead by pairing Beth with them. She spooned some gravy onto her biscuit and took a bite.

He'd actually been so wrapped up in trying to complete the challenge that Noah had neglected to really appreciate the fact that it had been just the two of them for the majority of it. Thinking about it now, the number of times Cody had tried to get his attention stood out in sharp relief, and he had to wonder what Cody's motivations had been, and if those motivations would persist now that they were back at camp among the others. The dark-haired teen drew himself out of his contemplation, clearing his throat, "Yeah, it was."

"Don't worry, you don't have to tell me about it," Gwen reassured. "I'm not into all that 'girl talk' crap."

"Good, because one 'Truth or Dare' question and this alliance was officially over," Noah deadpanned. Gwen tried not to laugh but just couldn't manage to hold back and a smile cracked over Noah's face as well.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I am so relieved Noah's not going to be sent home tonight," Gwen said to the camera. "People on this island that I can stand are in short supply."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Sorry," Gwen returned mockingly, "The only alliance being broken tonight is Heather and Beth's." She paused a moment, "Too bad it's Beth who's liable to take the fall for Heather," she commented. "It's like we can't get rid of her. I swear, she's like a cockroach."

"Apropos choice of words," Noah commented, setting down his utensil momentarily to withdraw a plastic baggie from his cargo pocket. He handed it over to the goth.

Gwen held up the bag to examine the contents. "Are… are these cockroach eggs?" Her disgust was evident.

"A little souvenir from our excursion for the Roach Queen herself," Noah said with laced mischievousness.

"I think I love you," Gwen's smile turned wicked. "In a strictly platonic sense, of course," she added. "I know just where to put them."

A couple tables back, Cody and Trent were eating together. The guitar-enthusiast watched Noah and Gwen nervously from across the meal hall, worrying at every chuckle and laugh he heard being shared between the two. "Gwen and Noah seem pretty tight, huh?" he asked.

Cody blinked. "Gee, I guess so," he shrugged. "I was kinda surprised when I found out too," he went on, "Noah doesn't get along too well with most of the other campers."

Trent fixated on those two words: 'found out'. "When did you find out they were together?" he asked.

The brown-haired teen scratched his head thoughtfully. "I think it was sometime yesterday afternoon. Not too long after we split up to go find the supplies."

Trent's stomach sank.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I didn't want to admit it to myself last night, but I have to now," Trent said to the camera. "Gwen's into Noah." He sighed heavily. He grabbed his guitar from off-screen and strummed a few chords, before beginning to sing. "I should've told you sooner how I felt about you…"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Trent's not wrong about Noah and Gwen," Cody assessed thoughtfully. "They've obviously formed an alliance." He chuckled, "We might still be wandering the woods if it hadn't been for Gwen's smoke signal and note." The blue-eyed boy stroked his chin, "I wonder if they'll help each other on the next challenge too…"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Heather, who had been silently listening from the doorway, stepped up to their table. "Hey guys, what are you talking about?"

Trent heaved a large sigh, placing his chin in his palm. "Oh… nothing…"

Cody squirmed, feeling a little uncomfortable at the presence of the girl now at their table. Fully aware now of just how devious and underhanded she could truly be to the others on their team, he only felt the urge to get away from her as soon as possible. He grabbed up his meal tray and stood, "Well, uh… I couldn't eat another bite." He pat his stomach unconvincingly. "I'm just gonna, uh… well, I gotta get going. Later, Trent!" The brown-haired boy hurried away.

"Later…" Trent mumbled dejectedly.

Heather's eyes followed the trajectory of Trent's green-eyed gaze to the table on the other side of the room.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Heather folded her arms. "Okay. So I've known Gwen is crushing big-time on Trent ever since I got ahold of that diary of hers, but if Trent kept a diary, you wouldn't have to read it to be able to see he feels the same way about her. Since Beth—" she spoke the girl's name with disdain, "decided to go all 'Scout's Honor'—" she held up a fake scout sign mockingly and made a face to go with it before continuing, "I'm forced to employ a little harsher strategy earlier than I initially planned."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"It's really a shame Gwen is into Noah," the asian girl spoke off-handedly, as if she were making a casual observation. "Personally, I think you two would've made a super cute couple."

"You… you really think so?" Trent asked.

"Oh totally," Heather agreed readily. "The broody Goth. The sensual Hipster. It's a love-story just waiting to be written. Kind of like a new-age Romeo and Juliet." She waited a moment for dramatic effect. Noah and Gwen laughed at some shared joke; Heather watched Trent's lower lip begin to wibble. "Honestly, what does she even see in that guy?"

"I don't know…" Trent despaired, covering his face in his hands.

"He's snarky, rude… not to mention completely self-centered," she went on. "You know, I bet if he were forced to leave the Island, she'd forget about him within the week."

Trent's head raised up from his hands. "Are… are you suggesting I vote to have Noah thrown off tonight to improve my odds of getting with Gwen?" He stared over at the two of them, contemplating it, contemplating being at that table now and telling jokes that made the girl of his dreams laugh; he shook his head then, as if snapping out of it. "No. It wouldn't be right. Noah hasn't done anything wrong this challenge. If I want Gwen, I'm going to win her over myself. I just have to try harder—" he thumped his fist down into his other open hand with a refreshed determination, "Show her what she really means to me." He stood from the table and put his hand down on Heather's shoulder, "Thanks for reminding me I gotta fight for what I want, Heather."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Are. You. Kidding. Me?" Heather snarled and threw a roll of TP.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Heather growled under her breath, her blood sizzling as Trent exited. "Don't mention it…"

—

Gwen and Noah had parted ways after a relaxed brunch. The dark-haired teen considered sequestering himself off somewhere to get some good reading in, but the lure of spending time with his boyfriend instead of his books won out… just this once. He found Cody a bit from camp, playing a game on his Nintendo DS.

"Mind if I join you?" Noah asked.

Cody looked up from his handheld, pausing his game with a swift push of his thumb. "Are you kidding? Of course not!" He scooched over to give Noah room to sit. Noah did and Cody resumed his game. "We made a pretty good team out there, huh?" he commented.

"That we did," Noah agreed, almost instinctively reaching out to ruffle his boyfriend's hair, but he stopped himself, withdrawing his hand and rubbing his arm with it instead.

A few minutes were spent in relative silence (sans the sounds coming from his gaming device) when Cody noticed something. "Not gonna read?" he asked the other teen curiously. Noah always read. The fact that he wasn't was just plain unusual.

Noah shrugged. "I feel more like just enjoying your company, I guess," he said honestly.

Cody felt his heart skip a beat. "Haha, you should've just said so," he said, closing his DS.

"You don't have to stop playing," Noah assured.

"No, I wanna enjoy your company too," Cody said. There was a moment of awkward tension, like both boys were holding back on saying what was really on their minds. Noah stared at the ground and Cody stared at the sky, avoiding each others' gaze. Cody was the first to break the ice. "So why didn't you tell me about you and Gwen working together?"

Noah wet his lips. He supposed Cody deserved the answer to that. "You want the truth?"

Cody nodded.

"I didn't want you to think I'm only doing it to get in good with you," Noah revealed. He folded his arms and glanced away.

A grin slowly pulled its way across Cody's face. "You really are jealous, aren't you?" he ribbed, elbowing Noah in the side.

Noah snorted, rolling his eyes hard. "Give me three good reasons why I shouldn't be."

"Only three?" Cody asked. Noah's eyebrow quirked up. Cody placed his hand on his boyfriend's cheek to turn him toward him and closed the distance, sealing his mouth on Noah's once, softly, twice, deeper, then a third time, letting it really linger before pulling back.

Noah was rendered dumbstruck.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Cody put up his foot, crossing it at his other knee as he relaxed back in the port-a-potty. "And the Codester slides into first base!" he grinned stupidly. "Finding the right time?" he pointed his finger-guns, "Nailed it."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I didn't think Cody even possessed the ability to be that smooth," Noah admitted with slight amusement. His brow then drew down with seriousness, "Nor did I think our relationship would even get to this point. I'm actually starting to think it might last…" He rubbed his neck, "And I'm never this optimistic."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Still jealous?" Cody asked cheekily.

Noah hummed, eyes half lidding. "A little," he responded.

Cody smiled and eagerly pressed his mouth back onto Noah's.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"I don't know if making out with a boy feels any different than making out with a girl because I've never made out with a girl, but I can say that making out with Noah feels really, really, really good." His eyes crossed with light-headed delight, sighing.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

—

It didn't seem like long before dark fell over Camp Wawanakwa, and all the campers from both teams found themselves heading for the campfire. It was a little more crowded than usual, and they had to squeeze together on the logs and stumps so everyone could have a seat. Cody tried to keep his snuggling up to Noah seem not too intentional, but most of everyone seemed too fixated on the approaching elimination ceremony to really notice anyhow.

Chris whistled happily as he arrived on scene, his platter heaped with the white puffy confections that bi-weekly determined their fate. "Good evening, Bass and Gophers," he seemed to take distinct pleasure in addressing them. "I have to say, it's not every day I get to do a double-elimination ceremony. Heh heh."

"Oh, just get on with it and quit stalling," Heather folded her arms, seeming unusually cranky, even for her.

Chris' face morphed to one of mild frustration. "It's called 'creating dramatic tension', and I'll have you know, the viewers at home L-O-V-E love it." He cleared his throat and his showhost's smile returned, "Where was I?" He picked up two of the marshmallows from the heaping pile and squeezed them. "There are eighteen campers present tonight and only sixteen marshmallows on this plate. I want to take this time to remind you that if you do not receive a marshmallow, you will be forced to walk down the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and you can never come back––"

"Ever," the entire group of campers cut his spiel off in unison.

Chris placed his hands on his hips and glared at them. "You guys aren't being any fun tonight." He began divying them out rapid-fire, "Bridgette, Trent, Duncan, Heather, Harold, Gwen, Geoff, Cody, Tyler, Izzy, Courtney, Lashawna, DJ, Owen." He paused to draw a large breath, then smirked. "Where does that leave us?"

Cody's mouth tweaked, nervously taking note of his boyfriend's lack of marshmallow. Noah, looking unconcerned despite his current empty-handedness, glanced at Beth and Katie and Sadie, who were now clinging to one another in abject horror.

"I only have two more names to call," Chris reminded, as if it were necessary. "And those two names are…" he drew it out, staring the four remaining campers down. "Sadie and Noah." He tossed the puffed sugar their way. Noah caught his and placed it in his mouth slowly and delicately, savoring it so that Heather could have a good long look.

"Nooo!" Sadie despaired, clinging tighter to her BFF. "I can't live without Katie! You can't send her away!"

Chris hmm'd, running his finger across his stubbly chin. "Well, I suppose I could make an exception…" The two girls nodded eagerly, sitting forward, hanging on his very word. "Aaand make this a triple-elimination ceremony," he continued.

The Bass rose up in a string of protestations, shouting over one another to be heard. "No no, that's quite okay," Courtney tried to take control of the situation. "They're actually fine with being separated. They were just acting-out for the camera. Right, girls?"

Katie and Sadie resumed their bawling, tears cascading from their eyes. Beth had stood, accepting of her fate, and she walked over to the two upset teens. She placed her hand on Katie's shoulder. "There there. Now it'll be okay. I know it's hard to be away from your best friends; I felt that way when I left Scout camp at the end of every summer. But you know what it means?" Katie blinked at Beth's metallic smile, eyes watering; she shook her head. "It means it's that much better when you're reunited."

Katie looked significantly more stoic. She nodded, clasping Sadie's hands. "I'm going to miss you, BFF. But you can do this. You are strong and beautiful."

Sadie's eyebrows pinched together. "No way. You're stronger and beautifuler."

Katie grabbed her by both shoulders. "We're both stronger and beautifuler."

Noah rolled his eyes.

Chef Hachett arrived with the two girls' luggage. Katie stood. "Alright. I'm ready to go." She and Beth picked up their belongings and departed the campfire.

The scout smiled. "And while you're apart, I'll teach you how to make the ultimate friendship bracelet to surprise Sadie with."

"Oh my gosh. You are so totally the best!" Katie bounced. "Well, right after Sadie, of course. Is it okay if we're just FFs?"

"Of course!" Beth brightened. The two proceeded down the dock hand-in-hand.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Beth held up a couple beads to Katie, who carefully pushed a string through their holes. The two paused in sorting through the scout's large tacklebox full of multi-colored beads. "I actually don't feel bad about leaving at all," Beth spoke. "I've got my honor back, and I feel like I've gained a new sister!" Katie nodded enthusiastically, throwing her arms around Beth to give her a squeeze. "Fifteen more hours and you'll earn your Friendship Beading activity patch!" Katie's eyes sparkled.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Ughhhh…!" Duncan pinched at the bridge of his nose, fighting a terrible migraine induced by high-volume, high-pitched whining, "Thank god. I was afraid that would never be over."

Sadie broke out into tears once more. Courtney and Bridgette, who'd been attempting to console the girl, glared at him. The former stood from her log, smacking a fist into her other palm, "What you ought to be afraid of is me rearranging your face. Quit being such a jerk!"

"Oh, I would love to see you try it, sweetheart," Duncan grinned.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Just kiss already."

Duncan and Courtney froze in wide-eyed horror. Giggles, snorts and 'oooh'ing swept through the rest of the campers. The punk was the first to recover, quickly folding his arms and putting on his tough-guy look, "No thanks. I'd rather hug an alligator."

Courtney gave an insulted scoff. "Well I'd rather hug…" she struggled to think up something more terrifying, "I'd rather hug a nest full of hornets!" They both turned 180° to face away from one another.

"Ha!" Lashawna laughed, "Sounds like someone's chuh-chuh-chicken!" She began immitating the domesticated fowl.

Tyler nearly leapt right out of his pants. "Oh god! Where is it?" he glanced left and right hurriedly. "Get it away from me!" He hid behind Harold.

"Is'at boy chicken of… chickens?" Lashawna snorted a laugh. She crowwed and waggled her elbows like wings.

"Hey now, go easy on him," DJ spoke up softly. "Everyone's got some fear or another." He pat Tyler on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Well sure," Lashawna agreed, but guardedly. "But some of us have fears that are actually legitimate. I have arachnaphobia, but you don't see me freakin' out e'ery time I see a spider web."

"I have a mutual respect for and fear of ninjas," Harold ventured. "They've been perfecting the arts of infiltration and assassination since the Sengoku period in the 15th century, unless you count their antecedents in the 12th century."

Cody chuckled at Harold's small font of information. "Personally, I'd be really afraid of having to disarm a timebomb under pressure."

Noah arched his eyebrow at him. "When would you ever have to do that?"

"Well, I dunno," Cody shrugged. "But you have to admit, it would be pretty freaky!"

"I think I could do that," Bridgette boasted. "But what I wouldn't do is spend all day alone in the woods."

"That'd probably get to me too," Trent admitted. "But I'd rather spend a day alone in the woods than a day at the dentist's office." He shuddered at the very thought.

At Trent's admittance, Gwen chose to speak up. "For me it has to be being buried alive."

"Padded cells," Izzy giggled crazily. "And mattresses. Definitely mattresses!" Her began to list off on her fingers, "The foam kind, the spring kind, the air kind, the waterbed kind…"

Heather cringed. "Why am I not surpised?" She put her hand to her breast braggingly, "I only have one fear. And it's not liable to be one that will work against me here on the island."

"And that would be…?" Gwen drew out, not caring for the asian girl's secretism.

Heather scoffed and crossed her arms. "Sumo wrestlers. They're…" she shuddered, "Disgusting. Why do you think Owen freaks me out so much?"

"Huh… I thought it was my body odor, heh heh heh…" the largest camper chuckled, raising an arm to smell his pits. Heather gagged a little. "My fear is flying. How can something that big and heavy stay up in the air?" he gestured with his giagantic arms, which really only made his point stronger, "It just doesn't seem natural, man!"

"My biggest fear was going without Katie…" Sadie wiped away a residual tear under her eye. "But I guess now that I'm already facing that… well, my next biggest fear is probably not being pretty anymore." She pulled out her container of lipgloss to touch up, then her eyes began to water again. "Katie gave me this shade!" She clutched it to her chest and sobbed.

"Losing the use of my legs," Geoff said seriously. "I couldn't surf, I couldn't skate… bruh, I couldn't do anything. My life'd be over!"

"Hey, what about you, Noah?" Cody elbowed his boyfriend gently. "What are you afraid of?"

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Noah folded his arms. "I wasn't exactly thrilled by the little group share-a-thon thing we had going, and I was kind of hoping to stay out of it, but so much for that I guess." He rolled his eyes.

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

"Y'know, it's kind of too bad Chris had us broken up into two teams like this, pitted against one another," Cody said. "A lot of the Killer Bass are actually kind of cool. If there weren't all these challenges to win, I think we'd all kind of just… get along, eh heh."

~~kkkssshhhttt…!~~

Noah took a long moment to answer, which had every other camper who had revealed their fears zeroing in on him. He cleared his throat. "Running out of books to read." The other campers began to laugh. It sounded like a comical, truth-dodging answer, but he was quite serious. The time the public library had been closed for renovations over the summer when he was in 6th grade, he'd had to re-read everything on his shelf at home, and once he had, he been forced to turn to reading obscure things like the dictionary, TV Guide and appliance manuals just to stay sane.

DJ yawned and stretched. "Well, I dunno about you dudes, but I'm gonna turn in." A few of the other campers nodded in agreement. He took three steps away from the campfire when something low in the bushes rustled and he gave a shriek. "Snake! SNAAAKE!" He bolted, terrified, and a moment later, a curious chipmunk emerged from the bush, tilting its head with curiosity.

"Three guesses what his fear is," Duncan snickered.