Dark Forest

6.Path

No one dared to talk loudly about what had happened in the morning. They ate breakfast in silence, and Sam and Penny were clearly trying to keep as far away from each other as possible, still haunted by the embarrassment Ellie had caused them when she had woken them up. However, both of them were unable to hide their cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It was only when they had finished breakfast and returned to their rooms to gather their things that Sam dared to address Penny.

"What happened yesterday?" He asked, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

"We went to sleep," Penny replied, also trying to be indifferent.

"Penny, if..." Sam began, wanting to apologize, but Penny interrupted him before she even heard what he wanted to say.

"Sam, nothing happened," Penny said sharply, but her eyes remained gentle. Sam didn't know why at first, because Penny was never good at faking emotions, but he understood as soon as she smiled and added. "Besides, we were both tired and had a right to rest. Look, I couldn't let you sleep on the floor," she explained.

"But we slept together. It was more than wrong," Sam responded, running a hand through his hair in desperation. "We're..."

"Friends," Penny finished for him. "And friends take care of each other," she added, patting him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Still... I think it might not be enough of an excuse for Ellie. You know how hard she can be on you with her jokes," Sam noted, and when he said that, he brought Penny's attention back to him. "I can fool Elvis somehow if he would start jumping to some conclusions without explanation. But you might have a harder time with Ellie, just because you wanted to help me. I don't want you to take the blame for that, Penny."

"You're too good for this world, do you know that?" Penny asked him jokingly. Sam just shrugged with a sheepish smile, while Penny turned around to check her backpack one last time. "Ellie's not dangerous, Sam. I'll be fine," she assured.

Deep down, though, she knew she was just repeating years of well-practiced lies. Her heart was rebelling quite loudly, so she sped up, passing Sam as they descended the stairs so he wouldn't hear her loudly beating heart. The fear of him telling the truth tightened her throat, but she was still able to continue the conversation normally as they left the shelter. Thankfully, their short conversation made the silence less uncomfortable for them as they stepped out and wordlessly began to look around for the rest of their friends.

"Do you think they're still packing?" Penny asked as they walked around the entire courtyard.

"Knowing them, anything is possible," Sam stated teasingly.

"Don't overdo it, Sam," Ellie admonished him, appearing behind him seemingly out of nowhere. "Elvis just had to repack his backpack," she explained as Elvis and Arnold also came into view.

"Come on, if we want to make it to a stop on the way for our makeshift lunch, we need to get out," Sam stated, leading them into the shade of the trees.

"Since when have you been so organized? If I remember correctly, plans and schedules are Penny and Arnold's area of ​​interest," Ellie reminded him teasingly as Sam led them onto the path.

"Sam has a map, so Sam leads. Simple as that," Penny replied. "Even Elvis understood," she added, teasing Ellie. And as she passed Elvis, who was engrossed in struggling with the straps of his backpack, she whispered to him, "No hard feelings."

The shelter they spent the night in was in a small clearing by the road. But the forest that surrounded the building in a wide swath was already thickly wooded. The branches of the tallest trees protected them from the sun, providing a pleasant refreshment in the shade of the forest. The path was barely visible in such conditions, and the fact that they had not yet turned onto their trail only made them look at each other uncertainly as they came to a fork in the road.