A/N: Hello, I originally wrote this a long time ago, I have been updating some of my Romance books and decided to update this fanfic as well. Growing up, Trixie was my best friend and she still holds a fond place in my heart.

So if you are reading this for the first time or if you have been desperately waiting for an update for umpteen years. Please review.

Chapter 13

The Break of Dawn

Trixie awoke to the sound of crickets. The forest symphony was so loud it almost drowned out Brian's snoring from across the camp. She was glad that Jim did not snore.

Jim.

Thinking of him, she smiled feeling his arms around her still. Holding her, protecting her. She sighed. She could get used to this. To falling asleep in his arms every night. She sighed again, one day perhaps. She closed her eyes as the steady rhythm of his breath caressed her neck lulling her back into sleep.

Next time she woke she heard giggling, she could hear Honey outside the tent talking to Brian. She felt movement and turned to see Jim watching her.

"Good morning." He whispered.

"Morning," she replied sitting up only to feel the cool air on her bare skin. She laid back down with a squeak, pulling the covers up to her chin. Blushing she looked over, taking in the fact that he was fully dressed.

"How long have you been up?"

""Oh I've been up for a while," he winked at her. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

He sat up pulling her back up with him. Holding the covers to her chest she assured him that she was fine. He kissed her forehead before heading out to give her some privacy to dress.

Trixie dressed quickly so she could join the others. The bright sun glared down at her as if in judgement as she went and sat next to Jim on the log. In fact, she felt as if everyone was staring at her. Honey brought her a plate of food for breakfast.

"Sausage?" Honey asked with another giggle.

Trixie could feel her cheeks redden as she reached out for the link that Honey offered. She bit into it a bit timidly as she refused to look at Jim or her brother. She didn't know how Honey pulled off acting so natural yesterday.

Jim and Brian were discussing the plans for the day while looking at the trail map for the 198th time. Jim alert as ever looked up suddenly, "Someone's coming."

The rest followed his gaze and watched as a forest ranger appeared on a beautiful chestnut horse. "Howdy folks, sorry for disturbing you but I am making rounds and alerting everyone of a major weather change."

It was Brian's turn to frown. He and Jim had analyzed every scenario before they left their dorm. The weather was supposed to be as Trixe would say, perfectly perfect.

"What kind of weather are you expecting?" Jim asked wondering if they could hold up in their tents for a while.

"It's a day or so out but they are predicting possible tornadoes, several touched down in Ohio from the same storm. The park will be closing and we highly recommend that everyone heads out. There is a lodge at the park entrance if you want to wait it out," he offered.

Trixie frowned as Brian and Jim stood to shake hands with him as he continued along the trail. "That is ridiculous," Trixie protested. "The weather is beautiful."

"Well it is March," Jim offered, "you know all the lion and lamb scenarios."

Honey pouted, "I don't wanna get stuck in a storm but it took us two days to hike in here."

Jim sighed, "Well being in the woods is not the place be during a storm. Remember what happened to the clubhouse?"

Trixie shuddered to think of the destruction and how hard they all worked to rebuild it. "Well I don't wanna die, but Honey is right it is a long way out. Should we keep going forward or turn around?"

Honey leaned over and whispered to Trixie as the boys looked at the map. Again. "Well at least we aren't gonna die as virgins." With all of their emotions on overload the girls burst into uncontrolled giggles as the boys looked at them strangely.

"You wanna share?" Brian asked.

"Nope," they chimed in together in response.

They all moved forward to look at the map. Their route was clearly highlighted in yellow and Jim placed the tip of his very large finger on the spot where they were camped. "We are about half way through the circuit that we planned out. I don't know about the terrain up ahead, so I would recommend heading back the way we came."

Trixie grumbled, "I guess that would be the safest choice. But I do hate missing out on the waterfalls that we were going to see."

Jim put an arm around her in comfort, "We can always come back again, this can be our special place."

Honey snorted, "Next trip we are staying in a hotel."

Brian grinned down at her, "Where is your sense of adventure?" He asked as he tweaked her nose.