Pixelated

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

"Try a little more, a little more, a little more. Slap you like a bitch and you take it like a whore. Upside down and around and around, just another piece til you need another sound," Hayley sang softly as we walked back to camp. I had managed to convince her that she could get lost out in the wilderness. Plus she didn't have any supplies to keep her going. And she might end up back at camp since this was only a video game. Not everything had been made up. Only as far as the player would go.

"What are you singing?" She blushed. "Stors has been singing the same song since you left." She now scowled.

"It's called Shake Tramp. It's sung by a Canadian band named Marianas Trench. Ari introduced them to me," she said softly.

"Oh." She then began to hum another song. This one seemed familiar.

"This is not gonna last forever. It's a time that you must hold on. And I won't let you surrender, and I'll heal you if you're broken..." I refrained from choking and instead sang along with her.

"We can stand so tall together. We can make it through the stormy weather. We can go through it all together, do it all together, do it all..." She looked up at me in surprise.

"You know this song?" I smiled.

"Yea, I do. I sing in it, actually." Her eyebrows furrowed, then she groaned as realization hit her.

"Great. I am such a fail." I chuckled as she face-palmed.

"No you're not. How do you know the song though? It's not exactly popular..."

"I heard it on the radio, and I liked it. I listen to it a lot, actually. Helps when I'm upset, you know?" I smiled.

"Glad to hear that. We wrote it for our fans, actually." She looked up.

"Really?" I nodded, making her smile. "That's so sweet..." We did not talk for the rest of the walk back to camp, but we sang I'll Be Your Strength together. We were still singing when we got back to camp. The lads were huddled around the fire, but Stors was nowhere in sight. We were just finishing up the second verse. I stopped singing, but Hayley did not notice and kept singing as she walked past the lads.

"Hand in hand we walk together. We can make it through the stormy weather. We can break down walls together, do it all together, do it all... I'll be your strength. I will, I will, I will. I'll be your-"

"What are you singing!?" Max demanded as the rest of the lads gaped at her. I noticed that Tom's eyes were red and puffy. She looked up at Max in surprise, then blushed furiously. She must not have noticed that her voice had risen quite a bit.

"Er, sorry, I was just-"

"What. Were. You. Singing!?" She sighed in defeat and looked at me.

"I'll Be Your Strength. Heard it on the radio one time," she muttered.

"Do you know who sings it?!"

She sighed again. "Nathan told me a few minutes ago. I didn't know before then." The lads smirked. "But that doesn't mean I like all of your songs! The only other ones I know are Glad You Came, I Found You, and Chasing the Sun. And I hate those ones. They're so overplayed, repetitive, and annoying. Especially I Found You. It sounds like your balls are being squeezed in that song... Only you guys don't have any." Ouch. Our jaws all dropped, and Lee made her escape. Max fumed.

"Just you wait. I'm gonna get that little-"

"Max," I warned. He looked up at me in apology, and I shook my head. "Mate, Tomlinson and Niall are watching the game right now. They can see and hear everything we do and say, so I'd watch myself." Their eyebrows all raised.

Max snorted. "Tomlinson can't do anything to me, Nath. I'll shut up for you though." He winked.

"Max!" I hissed. "Shut up! He's not that stupid that he can't put two and two together! For fuck's sake, he's still older than me, even if he's younger than you!"

"Oh. Sorry, mate," Max muttered. "But we can beat him up for you, if you need." I just rolled my eyes and stalked into our tent.

Ari's POV

I kicked another stone, eyes downcast at the ground. I still heard the camp ground from where I was, anger and frustration blocking all sane emotions. I refused to let Parker's words get to me, but I couldn't help but admit that they dampered my mood, and the water dropping wasn't rain, but my tears. I bit my lip in annoyance; ever since we were stuck in this game I had cried not once, but twice. I shuddered, walking along a trail. It all was still new to me; the guns, the blood, the deaths.

I wondered if the rest found Lee; they probably had. After all, they all loved her, especially Sykes. Maybe even Parker.

Again I shuddered. The thought of Parker liking Lee made me annoyed, but I fought it off. It was lack of sanity, that's all. I continued my stroll, eyes ever on the ground. I hummed softly, then noticed something. I looked closer and saw the same camp set I had moments ago. In fact...it was our camp set! I found my way back! Angrily I cursed, walking in the opposite direction. I suppose I was loud because I heard Lee and Sykes call for me, but I ignored them, storming into the woods.

I lied on the ground. Back to the ground. The sky was getting darker, the clouds coming in. I hummed, tapping along to the beat. I softly sang to it, mindlessly smiling.

"The time on the clock reads half past four; I'm wide awake and thinking with my pillow on the floor; that maybe I'm just wasting my time dreaming in a harsh reality. I don't wanna wake up just to find out I've been deceived..." I hummed the rest, not knowing who it was by. Nevertheless, I liked it.

I felt a splash of water hit my face, and for once I knew it wasn't my own tears. The rain had come, and it was coming fast. I sat up, walking to sit under a tree, where more rain bounced off the soft, green leaves to hit me. I sighed, head in hands.

A jacket was thrown at me, a leather one. I looked up, Parker sheepishly glancing towards me. His hazel eyes dimmed with an unreadable emotion, soon diluting to a blank stare. So it was his jacket...I looked at it again, then at him, seeing him getting drenched. He looked at me again, and gestured mutely to the jacket, hands in his pockets. Noticing my own shivers, I placed it around me, and for a second he smiled, soon returning to his blank face. I closed my eyes, wondering what made him come, and how he found me. Nevertheless, he was shivering, so I threw it back at him, startling him. I shrugged, slouching.

"Why?" I looked back up, watching his shocked expression. I bit my smile back, knowing that he was only alarmed in the sense that I was nice.

"It's yours, not mine, Parker." He still looked at me, shocked. I shrugged again, watching him with careful eyes.

"Yeah, but...I-I thought that-"

"I'm a girl, not a damsel in fucking distress..." Parker eyed me, then a flicker of amusement flashed in his eyes.

"So you want to freeze?" I shook my head, and he threw it back at me, sitting next to me. I was slightly confused, as he had given me a rough time a while ago, but I was cold and lonely. I pulled it around me, debating if I should let him have some too.

I stood and moved over to him. "Here," I said, placing half of his jacket on him. He smiled and accepted it wordlessly. Then he looked up at the stars and smiled.

"It's lovely out tonight, isn't it?" he murmured while placing his head on top of mine. I was cold, so I replied by putting my own head on his shoulder. He looked down in surprise as I smiled at him.

"It is lovely tonight. As well as cold. Can we head back to camp?" He smiled and nodded, but neither of us moved. We continued to stare at each other goofily.

And before I could think about what I was doing, I leaned in and kissed him.