12 | Campfire
~☁☀☁~
"To this day, he searches these woods for his next victim. He could be watching us now. Salivating as he anticipates tearing into his next living, breathing meal with his razor-sharp teeth and claws."
I rolled my eyes as Ian finished his scary story with bared teeth and wiggling fingers. Beside me, Reyna gave her brother a slow, hesitant clap of her hands as she chuckled nervously. It surprised me that she thought it was scary at all because it was just lame to me.
Megan was the one truly afraid. She was in tears and had her arms around Wesley's neck, strangling him for protection.
My parents were glaring at Ian for being insensitive to his younger audience, but they were the ones who gave into my sister's pleas of staying awake for the stories.
So much for being old enough to handle it.
"Your turn, Black!" Ian grinned at him from across the flames, the shadows creating a sinister feel to the curve of his mouth.
Meg screeched and buried her face in Wesley's neck.
"Um," Wes cleared his throat, discreetly attempting to loosen her grip on him, "I think I'll pass. You did such a good job scaring...everyone...I don't think I could compete with you."
"Aww, come on," Ian goaded, "It's not a competition."
"If it were, you would undoubtedly beat me."
Ian chuckled, "That's true, but—"
"I think we can all agree," my mom chimed in and went over to relieve Wesley of the monkey cutting off his air supply.
Ian's smile dropped into a frown as he looked at each of our expressions. The realization made him sheepish and he asked, "Was it that bad?"
We all confirmed it with nods and mumbled forms of 'yes,' so he slumped back in his chair.
"Sorry. I guess I got a little too into it. You ok, munchkin?"
Meg huffed, gaining some courage as she held onto our mom's hand, "I'm fine! If anyone is going to be eaten by a monster, it'll be you! You-you big meanie!"
"You're right," he was quick to agree. "I would deserve it too. And you're safe! You would be the last one he would go for because you're so small."
She gasped and he closed his eyes, his blabbering mistake occurring to him too late.
"Are you ok, hun?" His mom asked him as mine took Meg to bed.
"Yeah," he stood up and I almost missed his glance in my direction. "I'm just tired. It's been a long couple of days."
"Well, go get some sleep."
He said good night to everyone and I tilted my head as I watched him step into his tent. Even after he zipped it shut, I continued to stare and reflect on his behavior throughout the evening.
Ian was unusually quiet and distracted, but I tried not to jump to conclusions that I was the reason. If I wasn't struggling with my own thoughts about us or afraid of making it worse, I would have gone to check on him.
"If you ask me," Reyna whispered in my ear, "he's jealous of your date tomorrow."
"I don't recall asking you, Skit," I said, even though she voiced my own assumption. "And it's not a date."
"Not-date then," she winked, "but we know how those turn out."
I tossed my lap blanket over her head, letting out a laugh as she flailed around underneath it. It served her right, but I loved her enough to help her come out for air when she got tangled up in it.
We stayed around the campfire for a while longer until the last of us were ready to go to sleep. My dad smothered the fire, so we only had the moonlight to guide the path to our tents. Wesley was unfortunate enough to be tent buddies with Ian, while Reyna and I had to share with Megan.
She stayed asleep as we snuck inside and fumbled in the dark to change into our pajamas. She didn't even wake up when we slipped into our sleeping bags on either side of her.
No, it had to be about an hour after we fell asleep.
I swore it was a little sister superpower of hers, along with her strength to shake me awake.
"Ferra," she whined. Then she gave Reyna the same treatment.
"What's wrong, Sunshine?" My friend asked her groggily while I groaned and rolled over to face her too.
"I had a nightmare and now I'm scared and can't go back to sleep."
Stifling a yawn, I tried to be a good older sister and provide some comfort. I offered what worked in the past whenever she had a nightmare, "Want to try counting unicorns?"
"I'm too old for that now," she said, her indignation still intact in times of trouble. "I want Sir Cuddleton."
"Who's that? Your bear?"
She shook her head, "Wesley. He's my knight, so he can protect me while I sleep."
I looked over at Reyna who just shrugged.
"I guess we can ask if you can stay with him."
"No! I don't want to be in there with Ian. He's a jerk and it's his fault I had a nightmare."
"I don't know what you want me to do then, Meg," I rubbed my tired eyes.
"Go get him. He can sleep in here."
I motioned around the tent, "There's not space in here for another person."
"Then I guess I won't get my beautiful sleep tonight."
I didn't correct her for once because sleep was beautiful.
No sleep was an ugly, ugly thing and she was implying that she wouldn't let us get any tonight.
Reyna could see my frustration, so she suggested, "Wes could stay just until you fall asleep. Would that be ok, Sunshine?"
Meg nodded, "Ok, Reyny Day."
"And where are we supposed to go in the meantime?" I questioned.
Reyna's smile turned into a grimace, "I was going to stay here with her."
And Wesley, she failed to include.
"Maybe you could stay in their tent for a little while? Ian sleeps like a log, so I doubt he'll even notice you're there."
Too tired to care, I heaved a sigh and got to my feet. Wrapping a blanket around my shoulders, I made a point to mention how much I hated them and continued to grumble my complaints all the way to the boys' tent. I couldn't exactly knock, so I quietly unzipped the tent and peeked inside.
The two of them were on opposite ends of the tent with a gap between their sleeping bags, as if they couldn't stand to be near each other. I identified Wesley's dark head of hair and reached in to tap his foot. He didn't wake up, so I tapped harder.
Still nothing.
Reyna should have been the one to retrieve her boyfriend. I mouthed a curse at him and crawled into the space, careful not to brush against either boy. Taking a lesson from my sister, I shook him aggressively and whispered his name.
He jolted awake, squinting in the darkness at me while he blindly reached for his glasses. Once they were on, he blinked as his eyes adjusted. "Ferra? What's wrong? Is Reyna ok?"
I shushed him, glancing over my shoulder when Ian shifted onto his back to check if he was still asleep.
"She's fine," I assured Wesley under my breath after Ian stopped moving. "Meg had a nightmare. She wants to know if you can stay with her until she falls asleep."
"Yeah, I can do that," he sat up and yawned.
"You don't mind?"
"Of course not," he smiled as he tried to smooth out his bed head. He looked from me to Ian and back, "You're welcome to sleep here in the meantime."
I thanked him, hoping to get some rest away from the bugs and dark forest. After he left, I laid down where I was since it would have been weird to use his sleeping bag. There was no cushion for my head, but it was still better than being outside without any shelter.
I settled in under my blanket and closed my eyes.
"Ferra?"
Well crap.
Maybe if I pretend to be asleep.
I steadied my breathing and held completely still.
Asleep, not dead.
I forced my body to relax and as I debated on snoring, I heard him turn onto his side.
"I know you're awake. I heard everything."
"Sorry for not being quieter," I mumbled with my eyes still shut.
"It's alright. I couldn't sleep anyway."
I didn't respond.
"You don't look very comfortable over there."
Thanks for noticing, I thought, shifting when I felt a rock dig into my back. "I'm fine."
"Liar," he called me out just above a whisper. "Come here. We already shared a sleeping bag once. We can do it again."
"That was for survival."
"Our circumstances weren't that dire, so please stop making excuses and come over here. I just want you off the cold, hard ground."
I could have argued.
In fact, I wanted to argue.
Maybe I did it because I knew it would never happen again. I would be ok with letting him go if I got to be in his arms one more time.
Or I hoped he wouldn't want to let go of me.
It was pathetic, but I allowed myself to indulge anyway.
I shoved my blanket aside and scooted over to his side while he unzipped the bag, holding it open for me to slide in with him.
Ian reached over me to pull the zipper back up and he breathed by my ear, "Better?"
"Yeah, thanks."
He was keeping as much respectable distance as he could in the confined space. There were a couple of inches between us, but I could still feel the warmth radiating from him.
"Ian?"
He hummed in response.
"You seemed off tonight. Are you ok?"
There was a long pause and I thought he fell asleep.
"Yes. No." Then he murmured, "I don't know."
I waited for him to say more, but after a minute or two of silence, I felt a hesitant touch on my waist. He turned me onto my back and sat up on his elbow to look down at me.
He looked me in the eye, his hand still on my waist when he asked, "Are you going to meet up with that guy tomorrow?"
"I haven't decided yet," I answered truthfully, "but I don't have a reason not to do it. Do I?"
His brows lowered as he considered my words, unsure what to do with them.
Now or never.
"Give me a reason."
We were close enough now that I could feel when his breath caught. "Ferra—"
I knew he was going to try being the voice of reason instead of taking action, so I repeated what he said to me and gave it a new meaning.
"Stop making excuses and come here."
Ian's slack jaw clenched and his gaze danced across my face, lingering on the smile that curved my lips. His hand on my waist slid down to my hip as he moved in closer, resting his forehead on mine. My eyes drifted shut when the careful weight of his body pressed against mine and he exhaled softly, our lips only centimeters apart.
Then he tensed.
His breath hitched again, but not in a good way. It was like he snapped out of a daze and realized what he was about to do.
Hissing a curse, he pushed away from me and rolled onto his back. "I can't do this, Ferra."
Shock coursed through my veins like cold ice, but it quickly gave way to fiery anger.
"Why?" I forced out, but he didn't respond to me. I yanked on the zipper of the sleeping bag so I could sit up and stare down at him, "I'm sick of your mixed signals. The least you can do is tell me why!"
"I'm sorry."
As soon as those two familiar words left his mouth, I grabbed my blanket and stood up. Being outside with the bugs was infinitely better than staying sheltered with him.
"Please don't run again, Ferra."
I thought he was trying to stop me because he was ready to talk, so I paused to hear him out.
Then he said, "I don't want you to get hurt."
Whether he was talking about a bear mauling me or suffering a broken heart, I scoffed with my back to him. Before I stepped outside, I said, "Don't worry. I'm not leaving the campsite...I'm just leaving you."
After I sealed the tent, I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders and went over to the charred remains of the fire to sit. I buried my face in the blanket and tried not to cry because he wasn't worth any more tears.
A rustling sound startled me and I didn't know which would be worse; a bear or Ian.
It was only Wesley coming out. He jumped too when he turned around and saw me sitting outside, blinking wide-eyed at him like an owl.
He walked over and sit in the chair beside mine. "I wasn't expecting you to be out here. Everything ok?"
I bit my lip, ready to pretend it was, but I shook my head.
Wesley glanced towards the tent, "Is he being dumb again?"
I laughed softly. Bitterly. "Yeah, you could say that..."
"I'm surprised that you like him."
I was caught off guard by his bold statement. Though it was a strange subject to discuss with my best friend's boyfriend, talking about it with someone else was better than wallowing in bitter silence.
"Why is it surprising?"
Wesley showed his first sign of discomfort by adjusting his glasses. It was after all our first time talking one-on-one and what a way to start. "He's a good guy," he hesitated to continue, perhaps afraid of offending me, "but he can be immature."
I readily agreed, "my sister acts older than him half the time."
"My point is, you and I don't know each other that well, but it doesn't seem like a trait that you would find endearing."
"People are a lot more complex than any of your science experiments, Wesley."
"I know that now, but I still revert to my old ways on occasion."
I chuckled halfheartedly, dropping my gaze to my fiddling hands on my lap. "Ian is mature when he needs to be—when it matters the most."
Wesley may not have been a good people person, but he knew I had more to say and gave me the time I needed to continue.
"He had to grow up fast when his dad left. More like he wanted to do it, so he could be there for his mom and sister. Whenever I hung out with Reyna, she and I would get so annoyed with him when he would boss us around like he was much older."
I smiled at the memories that have become oddly precious to me.
"He pulled stupid pranks in school or on the two of us. He'd whine when he didn't get his way. And he still acts so beyond dejected when Reyna gets mad at him.
"But whenever she was sick, he skipped school to take care of her. He would choose being home with his family or babysitting Reyna over hanging out with his own friends. Did you know he's amazing at math?"
"Really?" The disbelief was clear in Wesley's quiet tone.
"Yep. He wanted to help his mom with the bills and finances, even though she didn't need him to do it. He's a lot smarter than he lets on. He also likes to box, and he learned self-defense just so he could teach Reyna a few moves..." I trailed off from rambling about him and just shrugged, "He's pretty incredible."
"Wow," Wesley said when he was sure I was done talking.
I nodded.
"You must really love him."
My heart jumped to my throat as I blankly stared at Wesley.
Love him?
I never thought of it as more than 'like,' but when the word 'love' was said so blatantly and out loud, something clicked in my mind. I had known Ian for years—I practically grew up with him—and it only just became apparent that my feelings grew with me. It was beyond a mere crush or simply liking him.
I swallowed the sob fighting to break free, but I couldn't stop a few hopeless tears from escaping. It was so unlike me, but I didn't know what to do. Fully aware of how deep my feelings went now, I could almost feel my heart breaking in two when I thought of his rejections.
"What do I do now?"
Wesley offered a kind, sympathetic smile, "I think Reyna would have to help you with that one."
"I already know what she would say because it's the same thing I would say to her."
"And what would that be?"
"She would tell me to fight for him, tell him how I feel. If he doesn't feel the same way, then at least I won't be wondering and I can move on."
"It's good advice," he commented.
"It would be nice to have a guy's perspective." And an easier option. "Can you try?"
"You really want my opinion? You might not like it."
"Yes," I pulled the blanket tighter around me, bracing myself for the cold, hard truth.
"If he already rejected you, telling him how you feel might only hurt you more in the end. Stop waiting for Ian to make up his mind because you could be waiting a long time. Find someone else who deserves your love." He stood up and grinned, "Canoeing on a lake is a good place to start."
He said good night to me and was only a few steps away when I softly called out to him. He looked back over his shoulder.
"That wasn't reverse psychology, was it?"
"Chemistry is my expertise," he said with a smirk, "not psychology."
I didn't quite believe him, but I liked his advice more than my own. Not telling Ian how I felt was the easy way out, but there was nothing wrong with that...right?
~☁☀☁~
❤Let's give Wes some hearts for being so forking amazing.❤ -->
🔥Any scary stories to share around the campfire?🔥 -->
A/N: I'm such a fangirl for this chapter. Ian needs to redeem himself (please don't hate my boi), but I hope Wes made up for his stupidity in the meantime.
Try not to toast like marshmallows, Sweeties!