𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗼𝘄 ━━━━ roman kemp

━━━━ twelve

After the downpour of rain all night long, Mathilda wakes up having not had much sleep. Her spirits are still somewhat high, though. Allowing her thoughts to become negative for prolonged periods of time is simply not in her nature.

After watching on in amusement as the men fought over whose darling Kate is, Mathilda follows the other women to the shower and revels in the cold water on the stiflingly hot day.

She still hasn't worked up the courage to enter the makeshift pool, mind you.

Ian is voted by the public to do the trial, which shocks them all because they had assumed that somebody was leaving. They can only assume that they will be receiving that news tomorrow, preferably still full and happy from a good meal tonight.

"Good luck, Ian," she says soothingly as he pulls her into a hug. He had refused to eat breakfast before leaving, so Mathilda only hopes that it won't affect his performance. An Ian Wright that loses is not one that you would like to be around.

"Cheers. I'm gonna do my best for you lot," he replies decisively, making her smile.

"We couldn't ask for anything more."

The atmosphere in camp has become much less tense than the previous day, but there is an underlying air of something odd - an unspoken rift settling between them. Hopefully it can be repaired because Mathilda really does love them all unconditionally, even if they do get on her nerves from time to time. It's kind of like her relationship with her brothers in the sense that they had lived together for years, and being in each other's pockets day in and day out is certainly not healthy.

Everyone seems to be distracted and somewhat forlorn, and Mathilda decides to use this to her advantage. Whilst a few of the celebrities alternate between chattering mindlessly and dozing in their hammocks, she makes eye contact with Roman and tilts her head toward where Ian had disappeared to some twenty minutes before.

Taking the hint, Roman pats Andrew on the shoulder and makes up an excuse to leave. Together they walk into the woodlands area just beyond the confines of their jungle camp, not stopping until they reach the small intersection that they've come to realise is one of the few places around here that isn't crawling with cameras and microphones.

"Are you okay?" Roman questions immediately, his eyes scanning her face for any signs of distress.

She waves his concerns away as a soft smile slips onto her face, pleased to know that he cares so much for her. "Relax, Ro Ro," she teases lightly as he attempts to scowl at her but only manages to pull off an adorable, childish pout. "I'm fine. I just... wanted to talk to you, I guess."

"Oh," he replies dumbly. "I mean, yeah! We can totally talk if that's what you want."

There is something incredibly endearing about his sudden shyness that makes her heart melt into a puddle in her chest, drowning the butterflies which are already beating their wings violently inside of her.

"I just wanted to see what you thought about the other day," Mathilda says slowly, feeling awkward and out of her depth. "You know, after the drinking trial."

"I'm assuming you mean the part after you vomited like everything inside of your stomach was poisonous," he quips drily, lips quirking.

The reminder only serves to make Mathilda feel like an idiot. She already knows that they all see her as the baby of the camp, and it really doesn't help when he reminisces about that particular moment of weakness. It had been one of her biggest lows so far - the feeling of complete and utter failure as everyone else appeared unaffected by the trial, mostly, whilst she puked her guts up and cried like a child.