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After tree cutting, eating, and cleaning up, Toll was watching the sun set at the back of the island by himself when he heard footsteps come behind him. He turned his head to see Serena, and he felt surprised.

"Hey," he said.

"I see you found the prime sunset spot," she replied, smiling and pushing her hair out of her face. It was down and wavy, and Toll wanted to tuck the stray strand behind her ear.

"I did," he agreed. "It's really nice."

"Do you mind if I join?"

"Not at all." He shifted over a little to make room for her, and she sat down to his left and pulled her knees to her chest. He saw a look of almost wistfulness on her face as she rested her chin on her knee. He felt tongue tied. He didn't know what to say to her in that moment. Also, the smell of her was intoxicating.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" she asked. "Somewhere else in the world someone is watching a sunrise. Their day begins as ours ends."

"Yea."

The wind tussled her hair, and she reached to wrap the ends of it in her fingers to keep it from blowing into her face.

"Is everything alright, Serena?" Toll asked, deciding to just dive in. She turned her head to look at him. Her eyes said it all.

"Is it that easy to see?" she countered.

"Kind of," he answered. "You don't have to tell me, but I'm just letting you know that I'm here if you need me. I'm a good listener, or, if needed, I have a mean right cross to those who have it coming to them."

"I appreciate that," Serena said with a soft chuckle. She rested her cheek against her knee as she kept looking at him. "I think you can save the right cross for now, though."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you stay?" he inquired. She gave a soft chuckle.

"I have my reasons," she answered after a moment.

"I find myself disagreeing with those reasons."

"You don't even know what they are," she said with a laugh.

"I don't need to. He's treating you badly, and that's reason enough to leave in my opinion."

"It's complicated," Serena said.

"What if someone better came along?" Toll asked. "Would you leave then?" He kept her gaze, and she didn't look away.

"I don't know," she said finally. "I have yet to find someone better."

Toll felt a flutter in his chest then, and he could tell she knew he was someone better. She leaned in a little closer, reaching to put her hand on his leg.

"Show me that you're better," she said softly, "and you'll get your answer." He almost couldn't breathe, and he continued to look in her eyes as the sun slowly disappeared in the background. When it was gone, she squeezed his leg and got to her feet. She walked away without another word, and he let her go.

...

Barney was smoking and thinking, listening to the night sounds of the lake. He was on the deck with his feet propped on the railing. He was thinking about the first time he'd tried a cigar. He'd stolen it from his uncle's stash and coughed and spluttered and choked until his uncle found him and scolded him for doing it. Then he'd promptly put it in his mouth and walked away stating, "Well, I'm not gonna waste it."

Barney chuckled to himself at the memory. How many times had he watched his uncle working on something with a cigar hanging out of his mouth? His aunt hadn't said much about it, and the only reason he'd stopped smoking was because his aunt had finally stopped buying the cigars for him and let him discover how much they cost when he went in to get some. He'd quit instantly.

Creaking steps and the screen door opening made him turn to see Gunner.

"Nice night," Gunner commented as he came to stand beside Barney. His arms were crossed against his wrinkled t-shirt. His plaid pajama pants barely went to his shins. Barney wondered if he'd shrunk them in the dryer or if he just couldn't find a pair long enough.

"It is," he agreed, taking another puff.

"The kid would have liked it," Gunner noted quietly.

"You too, huh?"

"I can't get the look on his face out of my mind," Gunner said, sighing. "When that knife went into his chest."

"I know."

"I keep going over what we could have done differently," he went on. "I wish we had done something differently."

"I do too, Gunner."

"It's really hard not to drink, Barney."

"I get it," Barney replied. "Do you have a sponsor? Maybe get one if you don't?"

"I'll look into it."

They stayed silent, and Barney wished he could help Gunner with his addiction. He wished he could take it away from him.

He wished a lot of things.

Two Days Later

Emily was standing chest deep in water with Lee across from her. Maya was in her arms, breathing hard.

"You've got this," Emily said in her ear comfortingly. "You do, baby, I know it. It's not hard."

"What if I sink?" Maya asked, sounding scared.

"We're right here. We won't let anything happen to you. I swear," Emily promised. "And you know how to swim underwater, so just do that until you get closer to shore, okay?" Maya looked up at her, nodding slowly.

They were teaching Maya how to swim without a life jacket or floating device to keep her above the surface. She knew how to swim underwater well enough but couldn't float or keep her head up if she was over her head. Emily had been working on it the past week, but it was nice to have someone helping on the other end. Serena never made time, and despite Ethan bragging he was the father regardless of how many times she reminded him he wasn't, he had no patience for teaching anything. When Lee had found out, he'd offered help on the spot. Emily had accepted because she was trying to do what Serena wanted her to do: have fun.

"Remember what I told you," Emily said. "Pull with your arms and whip your legs around."

"Like a frog," Maya said,

"That's right."

"What do I do first?"

"Kick then pull."

"Okay."

"You know how to pull your arms already when you're underwater," Emily reminded her. "You're just doing it with your head above water now."

"I get it."

They'd already done the learning to float in her arms, and Maya had succeeded in floating after Emily took her arms away. Her plan was to teach drown proofing next after this and then the front crawl.

Emily grunted as Maya got into position, her feet pushing into Emily's stomach.

"Ready?" she asked.

"No, but okay," Maya answered. Emily held back a laugh. At least her daughter was honest.

"Okay, go," Emily said, letting Maya go. Her daughter made a lot of noise as she tried to whip her legs and pull her arms. She made it ten seconds before letting out a scream and going under. Emily reached to pull her up in seconds. Maya was coughing and started crying.

"I can't," she cried. "I can't, I can't, I can't."

"You can," Emily promised, hugging her. Lee was patient on the other side. She was appreciative of that. Ethan would have been yelling by now.

"I can't," Maya said again.

"Alright. Maybe we need to conquer your fear of drowning first, huh?" Emily suggested.

"How do you do that?" Maya asked, calming down a little bit.

"It's called drown proofing," Emily explained.

"I don't like it," Maya said instantly.

"Okay, but listen to me," Emily said, making Maya look at her. "I need to know that if one day you fall out of a boat somehow, you'll know how to survive."

"I just won't go on boats."

"Honey, you can't avoid things because you're scared," Emily said firmly, and she did not fail to notice Lee's expression at this. She was not oblivious to what she was saying. She was doing exactly that by avoiding her feelings for Lee, but she rationalized it by claiming that keeping her heart safe was different.

"I'll always wear a life jacket then," Maya vowed.

"And that's what you're supposed to do, but I still want you to learn this," Emily said. "Okay?"

"I think if you do it, Mum will let you stay up for a camp fire tonight," Lee chimed in, making Emily look at him quickly.

"Really?" Maya asked, intrigued. Emily pressed her lips together and shot Lee a look. She couldn't say no now, could she?

"Okay, but you have to do everything I tell you here first, alright?" Emily said. Maya nodded.

"Okay."

"We're gonna move out just a little bit deeper, okay?"

"W-What?"

"It's okay," Emily said, stopping just as the water got to her chin. "See? I can still stand. I'll pull you out if you're in trouble."

Maya gave a slight whimper but nodded.

"What am I doing?" she asked after clearing her throat.

"Well, Lee is going to show you what you're going to be doing, okay?"

"What makes you think I know how to drown proof?" Lee asked. Emily gave him a meaningful look, and he raised a brow back.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked him.

"I am," he answered. "You're such an easy target."

"Just get over here," Emily ordered, and he laughed but obliged, sinking under the surface. She yelped when he pinched her leg underwater and again when he surfaced and sprayed her with water.

"Gotta get that hair wet," he said.

"Yea, Mum," Maya said. "You're still dry up there."

"I'll get to it eventually," Emily said, annoyed. She wasn't a big fan of getting her hair wet anymore; it just took too long to dry and felt uncomfortable against her neck. It was tucked up nicely in a bun on the back of her head. She handed Maya the goggles that had been slung around her arm. "Put these on, stick your head under, and watch what he does."

"You'll hold me?" Maya asked, sounding worried.

"Of course."

"Okay." She put them on, and Emily held her tight as she stuck her face under the surface as Lee went under himself. After watching him exhale and come up for air a few times, Maya pushed up her goggles and looked at Emily.

"That's easy," she said. "I can do that."

"Well, then show me," Emily encouraged. Lee was wiping the water off his eyes next to her.

"Go limp," Lee reminded her. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't be scared if you have to pull yourself up a bit to the surface after exhaling okay?" Emily said.

"Okay."

"I'm gonna let you go now," Emily said, and Maya nodded.

"I'm ready."

For a moment, Emily was scared to let her go, but she shook away the fear thoughts and released her daughter. She noticed Lee was under and watching. She laughed a little when he stuck his hand out of the water by itself and gave a thumb's up. Maya surfaced and inhaled deeply before going back under. Emily felt proud of her little girl.

If only she'd get over her own fears.

Maya clawed her way back into Emily's arms after five times of drown proofing. She was giddy with excitement.

"I did it!" she shouted, deafening Emily slightly.

"I told you that you could do it," Emily said, hugging her. "You feel a little less scared now?"

"Yea."

"Next time, I'll teach you to tread water, okay? That's another way to stay afloat."

"You could teach me now."

"I could, but I don't want to teach you too much at once. Keep it simple, alright?"

"Alright."

"You wanna try breast stroke again?"

"Okay."

"What are you going to do if you sink?"

"Not panic and drown proof if I have to," Maya answered.

"Good girl."

Lee high fived her, accomplishing in soaking Emily a little bit in the process.

"Lee!" she exclaimed, moving away from him. Maya started splashing her next. "Argh!" Next thing she knew, Maya pushed off and swam away to shore underwater like a fish before coming up in the shallow end so she could stand on her own, and Lee had his hands on Emily's waist and pulled her under with him. The world went from noisy to silent under the water, and when she turned, she saw him grinning like an idiot before she shoved him away. She surfaced, spluttered, and wiped at her face, glaring at him as he laughed while treading water a few feet away.

"You're dead," she warned.

"I'm so scared," he taunted. She gave chase, missing his foot by seconds as he swam away from her. Maya was cheering her on from the dock, having gotten out and wrapped herself in a towel now. Swimming lessons were officially over for the day apparently, but Emily was just glad they'd accomplished a few things. They could always do more later.

Emily caught up to Lee after going under, and yanked him down with her before swimming to the surface again, wiping her eyes and looking for him. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Lee?" she said, panicking. "Lee?!"

"Mum?" Maya said, sounding worried now.

"He's alright," Emily promised. She hoped to God he was. Surely he was just messing around with her. She looked around and still didn't see him.

"LEE!" she bellowed. Now she was getting scared. She hadn't hurt him when she pulled him under, had she? She took a breath and dropped below the surface, trying to see him. She moved in a slow circle, scanning. He wasn't anywhere down there. She broke the surface, gulping air. Where the hell was he?!

"Mum?" Maya said again, scared.

"Did you see him come out?" Emily asked her, and she shook her head no. Oh, God. He'd drowned. He'd bloody well dro-

Hands grabbed her ankles and yanked her down. She barely got a breath in as she went under, thrashing. They let her go, and she clawed back up for air, gasping once she got there. She whipped her head around, looking for her assailant, but there was no one there.

That was it. She was getting out.

"Mum!" Maya cried. She was at the end of the dock now. "Are you okay?!"

Emily front crawled with her head up quickly to the dock and climbed out. She reassured Maya she was fine, and then she started to feel afraid again. Had whoever attacked her done something to Lee? She was about ready to holler for Barney when she turned and saw Lee leaning against the boathouse on the opposite dock, arms crossed and a bit of a smirk on his face.

"Where the hell were you?!" she demanded.

"Here and there," he answered vaguely. She noticed he wasn't dried off, so he'd come out of the water not that long ago. She realized he had been pranking her and probably was the one who'd pulled her under, and that was the final straw. She charged down the dock with Maya trotting behind her.

"Did you mess with me?" she demanded getting closer to him. He pushed off the boathouse and stood military style near the edge of the dock, facing her.

"Not at all," he answered innocently.

"You did!" she exclaimed, and he started to laugh, which gave him away. Emily felt furious. He'd given her a stroke just about, and she didn't take that lightly.

"Get him, Mum!" Maya urged.

And she did.

Lee was still laughing as she lunged at him, tackling him and trying to shove him off the dock. He was much stronger than she was, though, and he easily maneuvered her around and threw her off into the water. Emily surfaced, feeling incredibly annoyed. She wanted to smack the smirk off his face.

"Remember when you said you didn't want to piss me off?" she asked.

"Vividly," he replied.

"You've gone and done it."

"I'm not afraid of you," Lee playfully taunted. Maya was jumping up and down now, shrieking at Emily to get him, which was exactly what Emily planned to do. She inhaled long and slow through her nose, her eyes never leaving Lee's, and then she let herself sink.

...

Gunner was trying to keep his mind off of drinking. He'd made a promise, and he was going to keep it, but the first little while was always the hardest after he quit, and having sad feelings were a trigger, which he'd been having a lot lately. Every now and then he thought he saw the ghost of Billy in the corner of his eye, and he'd have to look twice to make sure nothing was in fact there. He cleared his throat loudly as he found a pile of crossword books on the little table where the landline was sitting, and he had picked on up and started working on it.

It was what he was doing when Toll came in the back door a while later.

"What's up, Gun?" he asked, sauntering over to him.

"Huh?" Gunner replied, not looking at him for a moment. "Why'd you come in the back?"

"Because Lee and Emily are having a little thing out there," Toll answered. This had Gunner's full attention.

"What?"

"They were teaching Maya how to swim, and now it's turned into a bit of a prank war," Toll explained. "I didn't want to interrupt by letting them see me."

"Oh."

"Caesar is still in town with Tia and Louis. They're exploring."

"I see."

"Where's Barns?"

Gunner looked around, confused. "Is he not here?"

"Nooo," Toll said slowly. "You okay, man?"

"I just really got into this," Gunner answered, setting down the crossword book. "Lost track of time and of who was around me."

"And you're supposed to be a trained mercenary," Toll tsked.

"You might catch me off guard, but I can still kill you," Gunner retorted. Toll scoffed.

"Yea, okay."

"Any fish today?" Gunner asked, changing the subject.

"Not yet. I'm not allowed to go without you, remember?"

"Right. I'm up on you by two."

"You don't have to remind me."

Maya's shrieking laughter made them both pause and look towards the window, but they couldn't see anything from the trees in the way.

"At least someone is having fun," Gunner reasoned.

"I'm gonna go look for Barns," Toll said. "You wanna come with?"

"Nah."

"A'ight," Toll said, going out the back door again. He started walking the path, hoping to find Barney and make sure he was all right.

...

Ethan completed his search quickly, and he didn't find anything. Emily kept a very neat room, and it was easy to put everything back the way he'd found it. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for, if he was honest. He just liked to make sure she wasn't hiding anything from him. She didn't have a journal, so that made it harder to know what was going on inside her head and in her life. He bristled inside at knowing she was over there with Lee again. He'd debated on making a scene, but he wasn't ready to deal with the Brit just yet. His time would come soon, though.

Ethan could promise him that.

...

Lee knew Emily was mimicking him, so he wasn't worried when she didn't reappear. Maya, however, was getting nervous.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

"She's tricking me," Lee answered. "Like I did to her."

"How did you stay under for so long?" Maya asked.

"I didn't."

"Then how did you do it?"

"I went into the boathouse," he answered, walking down the dock to go inside it. He knew she'd come up there. He wasn't going to be fooled at his own game. Maya followed him.

"I don't see her," she said.

"She'll be around here somewhere," Lee promised. He smiled at her. "You stand guard here, okay? Let me know if she comes up."

"Okay."

He went out and scanned the lake again. Still no sign of her. He went to check around to where the other boat slip was, and she wasn't there either. He came back, starting to feel slightly nervous.

"She there?" he asked Maya.

"No."

He walked to the end of the dock again, looking down at the water. Was she going to pop up and grab at his leg? He wouldn't put it past her. He was beginning to think maybe he should jump in and look for her when he heard a noise and turned just in time to have her tackle him around the waist and throw them both over into the water. He gave a slight yelp before hitting the water, and he tried to reorient himself from the fall.

He broke the surface and gave his head a shake as Emily stood there and giggled.

"Maya," he called. The girl poked her head out from the boathouse and looked at him.

"Yea?"

"Did you lie to me?"

"Nooooo."

"She's my daughter," Emily said. "Whose side did you think she'd be on?"

"Clearly not mine," Lee answered, splashing her. She laughed and went to pull herself up out of the water. He was on her in an instant. "Oh no you don't!"

"Lee!" she shrieked as he grabbed a hold of her waist and pulled her back down. She toppled against him, and he grunted from the impact and fell backwards into the water with her, losing his grip on her. They were about chest deep, so she managed to get her footing quickly and turned to face him.

"You're an arsehole," she said, pushing the loose strands of hair out of her eyes.

"It's one of my middle names," he agreed. He wasn't sure what made him do what he did next, but he reached under the water to rest his fingers on her stomach and trail them down her skin slightly, stopping at her hip.

"I think you need a dictionary," Emily said, her voice wavering a bit.

"Why's that?"

"Because you clearly don't know what platonic means."

"I'm not doing anything," he insisted.

"Oh, and this is nothing," she said, imitating what he'd just done on his own stomach.

"It's only something if you make it something," he told her. Her touch was electrifying.

"You're a cheeky bugger," she said.

"That's my other middle name."

If Maya wasn't standing there watching, he'd have kissed her. He knew he would have. Emily seemed to know it too because she soon moved and pulled herself out. He dunked himself, needing to cool off. He was letting himself get too close to her, and he knew it was a bad idea, especially if she was going to shut him down. He surfaced a moment later, wiping his face and watching her move Maya back to the water.

"But I'm dry!" Maya was exclaiming.

"Yes, but you didn't finish your lesson," Emily replied, nudging her down the ladder. "So if you want that campfire tonight, you're gonna do a few laps for me."

"Awwww."

Lee stayed on the other side, knowing Maya would latch onto him when she got to him. Emily avoided his eyes, and he wished he hadn't made things awkward. Then he turned his head and saw Ethan standing on his dock watching. Lee wondered how much he'd seen. He turned away again, focusing on Maya. Let the git think what he wanted. Lee didn't care. He cheered Maya on as she started to swim towards him and put all his focus onto her. She went under a couple of times, but she managed to stay calm and pull herself back up. Lee and Emily only had to help her a few times. Five laps later, she was allowed to get out again, and Lee watched Emily wrap herself in a towel and sit down on the bench next to Maya. Ethan was gone by this point. Lee pulled himself out next and smiled as Maya started telling him how she'd helped Emily fool him. He sat on the chair away from Emily, knowing if he got too close again, he'd lose any chances of getting closer to her. He needed to take his time, and he would.

She was worth the wait.

...

Caesar was holding Tia's hand as they walked up and down the main street of the little town. It had a nice atmosphere to it. Louis was eagerly looking into the store windows and marveling at the things he saw there. He'd had a really good time in the antiques store. They'd had lunch in the park behind the buildings by the river, and then they continued walking the sidewalk. They'd checked out the look out earlier, which had a view of the entire town.

"This is really nice," Tia said, squeezing his hand. He smiled at her.

"It is," he agreed.

"What are you thinking?" she asked a moment later.

"Right now?"

"Yea."

"Oh...nothing really."

"Are you happy?" she asked, sounding a little worried. Caesar stopped walking and made her face him. Louis was entertained by the candy shop a little ways ahead to notice them.

"I've never been happier," he told her, cupping her face with his hand. "I mean it."

"Me too," she replied, putting her hand over his and pulling it so she could kiss his palm lightly. "I was really worried we'd lose ourselves and everything we built together."

"I will do everything it takes to avoid that happening," Caesar vowed. "I promise."

"Thank you," she whispered. He kissed her softly, briefly, before taking her hand again and catching up to Louis.

He never wanted this day to end.

...

Barney was sitting on a vacant dock at the back of the island, watching and listening. He thought about who used to own this place and felt a pang of sadness at thinking of all the folks he knew that were now dead. It was depressing.

"Hey, Barns," Toll said, finding him and coming to join him. "What's going on, brother?"

"Just remembering."

"Is it hard on you, being here?"

"Sometimes," Barney answered truthfully. "But in a way it's nice because it's like no matter how many things changed in my life, this place stayed exactly the same. I could always count on that."

"I know what you mean."

"The guns are still there," Barney went on, reading Toll's mind. "But I feel like they won't be for long."

"Want me to bug the place?"

"No. Too risky. We just gotta pay really close attention."

"Okay."

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Barney asked.

"Looking for you," Toll answered. "And giving Lee some space with Emily."

"I worry he's gonna get his heart broken all over again," Barney sighed. "I can't get a good read on her."

"She seems into him, but she's holding back."

"Hmm."

"Maybe she got a broken heart too."

"Maybe," Barney agreed. "Well, I guess time will tell." He shared a smile with Toll, and then they sat in silence for a bit. After a while, they could hear a boat approaching the island and heard Louis's excited voice, so they got up and went back. It was time to be social again.

...

Maya was dried off and wriggling with excitement. She was going to attend her first campfire, and Barney had insisted they join them for dinner. Emily had agreed only because Maya was giving her the pleading eyes, and she had a hard time saying no to that.

"How come we don't have fires here?" Maya asked.

"I don't know," Emily answered honestly. It just had never happened.

"Louis is gonna show me how to roast the best marshmallow."

"That's cool."

Maya chattered on, and Emily brushed her hair out and reapplied some eye shadow. She had no idea what she was doing anymore. Lee had clearly expressed interest by touching her like that earlier, and she'd shown interest back by imitating him. What was wrong with her? What happened to platonic? She inhaled and held it for a moment before releasing it. She had to get a grip, stay focused. She was not looking for a relationship right now. That was that.

"Come oooon," Maya whined at the door.

"Okay, I'm coming," Emily said, adjusting her black tank top and making sure her shorts were done up properly. They were a bit short, but they didn't give it all away. She followed Maya out and down the path back to Barney's. Fred and Serena had gone into town, and Ethan was out fishing, so she didn't have to worry about them for right now. It was refreshing.

She smiled as Maya caught sight of Louis and raced ahead, and she braced herself for the wave of feelings upon seeing Lee laughing with Toll, his white t-shirt hugging his frame nicely and khaki knee length shorts revealing his phone in the side pocket. He saw her before too long, and his face broke out into a genuine smile, and she felt her heart melt a bit more.

It was going to be so hard to keep things platonic for long.