If you were guessing that our plan was, in an attempt to cause as little trouble as possible, to sneak all the way around the vicinity of the tree before slowly creeping up in order to evade detection and get Peaches in said tree without waking anyone up, then congratulations! You just won the 'guess exactly what our plan was' game!
For the most part, I've very little knowledge of how we're going to... I don't know... pull it off! Peaches, seeing that I have enough energy, sends me off to do a little reconnaissance.
Near the tree, I see that Sid has started a small, but amazingly dazzling, fire. It's so well built that I question why the group consensus appears to put Sid at the bottom of the most functioning brain cells ladder. The rest of the herd, apart from Granny who is snoring audibly, is awake, telling stories of great adventures from before Peaches or I were even born and laughing hysterically at the good times they've had. I almost want to suggest to Peaches that we call off the whole plan and join them, but my sudden realization of the fact that I'm swaying back and forth in a half-asleep daze reminds me in just how tired I am. Plus, I'm really looking forward to telling Peaches good-night.
I run the idea of staying up with the herd by Peaches. She seems to come to the same conclusion as me, and I can tell she's tired too when she almost trips over nothing three times on our way around the camp. We manage to reach the tree without anyone noticing. Peaches climbs it tiredly and yawns for a long enough time that I'm almost sure someone heard us. We both fall silent. Her big eyes stare at me from her upside down face; I find myself smiling, my eyes staring back. A cold breeze blows by. Shivers run through me, and I realize that I should probably get to sleep too. Then I remember. Where am I sleeping tonight? I'm not sure I should try to climb up to Peaches... I'm pretty sure that, even though she said she'd act like I never said it, she probably doesn't want us to be that close together so soon. I guess I can always head over to my burrow for the night. I tell her good-night and that I'll see her tomorrow, and I start to walk away.
"Louis!?" She whispers as loud as possible, trying to get my attention. I pivot to look at her again. "Where are you going?" I'd like to say that I'm running to leap into your arms... but, sadly, I am not...
"To my... my... burrow?" I say confused. Is this a trick question? "Where else would I be..."
"Get over here." She interrupts. All I can think is: yay! I smile widely, beaming with excitement and relief. She roles her eyes at me as I race back to her. I know she must find my childish excitement out of character, but I feel like it's every holiday wrapped up into one.
I rush over and climb onto her trunk which she has resting on the ground waiting for me. She hoists me up and puts me in about the same place as I woke up in. I sprawl out, stretching and yawning- she yawns too- then curl up into a partial ball.
"Good night." I say cheerfully.
"Louis?" Her voice is distressed. I worry I'm poking her.
"Yes?" I ask, preparing to move so she's more comfortable.
"I'm... sorry I told Ethan that you weren't my friend..." Oh... Well... I had completely forgotten about that... So we are friends! Now it's my job to tell her how I really feel.
"It's... it's okay, Peaches. I forgave you a long time ago." I say reassuringly, not wanting her to fall asleep sad.
"I know. I just felt like you needed to hear me... say it." She's right; I feel a lot better now that I know for sure.
"Thank you. Good night." I curl up more out of instinct, wanting to keep as much warmth in as possible. I yawn silently; Peaches giggles at this, and I realize just how adorably small and defenseless I must seem to her. She tilts her head up and kisses me softly on the cheek.
"Sweet dreams. Good night, Louis." She whispers. I grin, exhausted and excited at the same time. I don't say anything. She doesn't say anything. We just sit in silence, our hearts beating in unison, in tacit agreement that there'e nowhere else we'd rather be.
...
A little while later, I'm woken up by something rustling in the bushes. The rest of Peaches' herd have all gone to sleep, so it appears that I'm the only one awake. I peer into the murky blackness of the forest; I'm frightened to see a pair of glowing eyes staring back at me.
The eyes hover above the silhouetted bushes, blinking every few seconds. They eerily move a few inches closer. The shadow of a feline, probably a saber-tooth, becomes visible. This must be one of the tigers Diego was talking about. Suddenly, a stick breaks under his foot. It makes a loud snap, and the tiger lets out a disconcerting chuckle before disappearing out of sight.
I feel shivers run down my spine, and a torrential shaking overcomes my body. Worried that I might impale Peaches, I roll over. She's so warm; I curl up into a ball and just absorb her heat for a while. Why do I suddenly feel so cold? My shaking subsides, and I can't believe I haven't woken Peaches.
Peaches... What now? I love you, I told you I do, but now how am I going to work up the nerve to do it again. It's probably better that you've given me a second chance; I never wanted to tell you out of spite just to win an argument. That's that last thing I wanted, and I'm so sorry I did that... Darn it, Louis; can't you do anything right? How are you going to tell her now? You couldn't even think of a way to do it when it wasn't a pressing matter, no matter how much you acted like it was.
Why can't you tell her? I don't know... I just... I don't want us to ever be anything less than friends. I don't ever want to have to go a day without her.
I almost laugh at myself. She already knows... She's just curious of how I really would have told her. My point being, I have no idea how this will affect us, but I don't want it to be negatively. I don't care if she likes me back as much as I just want to be around her. However, I would be very happy to know if she likes me.
I feel lonely, even knowing that I'm right in Peaches' arms. Everyone's asleep. It's dark and cold, and I guess I'm lonely. I would love to have Peaches awake to talk to, but I can't wake her up. She's so calm and peaceful; her heartbeat's so rhythmic and I don't want to change it. I'm used to being introverted, yet I want to talk so bad right now. Trying to settle with talking to myself, my mind mills over tangents and stuff... I yawn, again. I know that I should probably be trying to get as much sleep as possible, but my brain doesn't agree with me. My arms and legs and neck and body feel warm and drowsy; every part of me seems to be asleep except my head, which is inexplicably unaware of how tired the rest of me is. I close me eyes, but I'm greeted by the same blackness that I see when I open them. Louis, you'd better get some sleep considering that this is the first time in a long time that you have the opportunity.
This chapter's song is "Let Love In" by The Goo Goo Dolls