Rennie snored softly in Ben's arms as he lowered him into the sleeping bag on the new Cho tent that was set up. He tucked the kid in, knowing that he was exhausted beyond measure. I simply stood by the entrance and watched as Ben gently brushed the boy's hair with his fingers before leaving him to snuggle in the blankets. We made eye contact and I simply backed away from the tent. As predicted, he followed after me towards the small wood stack that indicated a fire had been burned. I sat down near it, just like the first night when Ben had joined us. He sat down by me again, a bandage in his hands.
"You're lucky you're ambidextrous," Ben finally broke the silence, reaching for my injured hand and wrapping it gently but firmly.
"I use my right more anyways," I shrugged.
Ben huffed, not even bothering to look up at me as he continued. "You're gonna need to take a break from the bow. It's not good to strain it."
"Yes, mother," I mocked as he finished and put my hand back in my lap before he reached for my cheek, cupping it while gently clearing away the hair that stuck to my bloody face. He was dangerously close now, and if it was anyone else, I'd smack them but this was Ben, and Ben was someone I could trust like a brother. He reminded me of my older brother sometimes, making me wonder if the only reason why I kept him around was because of that.
A twig broke from behind us and I turned away from Ben to see Glenn staring at us. He sheepishly rubbed his neck before slowly tiptoeing past us.
"Where you going?" I asked impulsively.
"Huh? Who, me?" Glenn asked nervously, pointing at himself.
Ben silently got up from next to me, staring at Glenn for a bit with a strange expression before looking back at me, giving a small smile that seemed a bit forced for some reason.
"I can't do anything about your face if it's all bloody like that. Go down to the stream and wash it off later," he left the bandaid and medical ointment or something on the ground next to me before dramatically yawning. "I'm gonna head on in. Night."
Glenn and I stared after him, him with a strange expression on his face like Ben's, me with a baffled expression. I mean, could you blame me? I shook my head, getting up from the ground and brushing myself off.
"Do you know where the stream is?" I asked Glenn nonchalantly which seemed to snap him back to reality. He nodded before coming over and picking up the medical stuff.
"I'll take you there," and with that, he walked away before I could protest. I followed after him begrudgingly, thankful for his company in the dark but a bit embarrassed at my childish fear that he didn't even know about. No one knew about it except for Denny, my older brother.
We finally reached the stream, only a bit away from the base camp. I knelt down on the riverbank before dunking my head in, scrubbing and scratching at my own blood. The coolness of the water calmed me and I stayed still for a moment, taking in the chill of the water and the rhythmic lapping at the edges of my face. Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder, pulling me up and away from the water.
"What the hell?" I demanded, clearing the water away from my eyes so I could see better. Glenn was the one who had yanked me out of the water, and he was staring panicked at me before relaxing visibly.
"Sorry, you were under for a very long time," Glenn looked away from me sheepishly. "I thought you drowned or something."
I stared at him for a while, his words swimming around in my head. Drowning. For some insane reason, I started chuckling softly, getting louder and louder as he stared at me weirdly.
"Why are you laughing?" Glenn frowned at me, slightly amused.
"B-because… It's funny," I gasped for air, clutching my stomach as I practically howled with laughter. "Drowning? Me?"
Glenn looked a bit miffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Hey! People could drown easily you know."
"Yeah but…" I finally stopped, gasping for air while grinning. "It's kinda ironic."
"That you could drown?"
"No," I shook my head, my smile dropping off my face. "No. The fact that you could possibly die a natural death in the middle of an apocalypse."
I stood there quietly, staring off at the dark sky that twinkled with stars that showed off the beauty that existed besides the moon.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Glenn suddenly remarked, making me look at him after a while of silence. I nodded simply. "I used to sometimes sit on the balcony of my home and just stare at the stars until I had to go. My sisters would tease me about it, sometimes called me a stargazer or an astronaut when I was younger."
"That's cool," I commented awkwardly staring as his features gently glowed against the moon and starlight. I noticed the slight way his eyes reflected the stars, making it seem like there were stars in his own eyes.
"If you like being teased, I guess it is," he shrugged before pausing, suddenly whipping his head towards me with wide eyes, flustered. "I-I meant like being teased by your siblings!"
I quirked an eyebrow, a smirk growing on my face just to bully him a bit.
He groaned, wincing. "Okay, yeah I didn't make that better at all. I meant like, uh-"
I decided to save him from further embarrassment. "I know what you mean."
Glenn stared at me as I chuckled again before he let out a shaky breath and laughed a bit too. We stopped laughing after a while, both of us still grinning. I felt a hand reach out for mine and followed Glenn as he sat me down on a log and kneeled in front of me. I frowned.
"There's plenty of room on the log, Glenn," I pat the empty spot on my right. "I don't bite too hard."
He chuckled nervously before taking the seat offered, turning my face so he could put the medication on the injury. I winced as the cut I had obtained stung.
He winced too, stopping, "Sorry."
"For what?" I didn't understand why he could possibly be apologizing.
"For interrupting earlier when you were with your boyfriend," Glenn blurted out, turning to unwrap the band-aid.
"My what now?" I stared at the man with wide eyes. "Ben?"
"Yeah," Glenn struggled a bit more, his fingers slipping from the paper wrapping.
"We're not dating," I reached out to take the Band-Aid from him. "We're just friends, like siblings."
I finally peeled it off in one go and tried to stick it on myself but Glenn caught my wrists before gently taking it from me and putting it on for me himself. He stared at me a bit longer, something strange swimming in his eyes. I didn't know what it was, but my body reacted to it immediately, my heart running a marathon and my cheeks flushing. It took everything in me to turn away from him and break eye contact and I felt strangely empty as I bid him good night and left to find the tent my brother dwelled in. As I laid down next to him, I felt giddy like a typical teenage girl and had to mentally slap myself, instead reaching over to my brother to pull up his blanket that he'd kicked down.