Loose Ends

012.

As it turns out, putting together a tent is a lot harder than the movies make it look.

It doesn't help that Park is refusing to speak to him, and Cai values his pride way too much to break the deafening silence between them. He's practically dying to ask about the bruise on Park's face, can barely take his eyes off it long enough to fiddle with the poles that are supposed to support the tent, but are instead lying on a heap on the ground with Cai and Park staring at them from opposite ends.

"Are you guys gonna stare at it all day or actually put it together?" Wes asks, standing proudly beside the tent belonging to Jude, Everett, and himself.

Park merely grumbles, which causes Cai to role his eyes, which then apparently causes Olivia to start yelling. Cai really doesn't like her.

"Caius, set up the fucking tent. It's the least you could do after --" Jude is interrupting her before she can finish.

"After what, Olivia? After Park broke his heart?" He shakes his head, a glare aimed at the girl.

"Everyone shut up, alright? I'll set their god damn tent up. This is like a freaking episode of Dr. Phil." Quinn mumbles, stomping over from her and Olivia's already constructed tent to begin building theirs.

Cai calls out a barely audible thank you. Quinn saving his ass seems to be becoming a regular occurrence -- which isn't exactly something he's proud of.

Park however simply rolls his eyes, throwing the poles down and taking off in the opposite direction, leaving his phone behind along with his luggage.

Cai is considering going after him, he really is. He's already building his speech in his head, imagining the look on Park's face after Cai delivers an absolutely spectacular rant. But before he can so much as take one step in the boy's direction, Jude is making eye contact with him and shaking his head.

"Let him cool off, man. He'll be fine."

Cai nods, ignoring the ominous sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Hey Caius, wanna help me gather some firewood?" Everett asks, a small smile on his face. It's charming how determined Everett is to make this camping trip a success, or at least it would be if Caius wasn't so pissed off.

Still he nods, heading off with him in the opposite direction that Park had left in a few minutes before.

Jude and Weston elect to 'prepare dinner' which basically means burning the shit out of some hotdogs and attempting to grill frozen hamburgers over an open fire -- spoiler alert: it doesn't work.

Cai and Everett arrive back a couple hours later, having decided to take a walk and chat for a bit before returning. Everett always knows how to make light of an otherwise dark situation, and Cai actually had hope that they could turn this trip around. That was until he realized that something wasn't right back at the campsite.

By the time they get there Olivia has clearly worked herself into a panic, blond hair pulled tightly in a ponytail while she paces around the fire.

"This isn't like him, he'd never do this. Something's wrong, I know something is wrong."

"Olivia, just relax. He was pretty upset, maybe he's just taking some time to --" Wes is cut off by the girl's shrill voice.

"Shut up, Weston! He's my best friend, I know him better than all of you put together and I know that he wouldn't be gone this long without telling us. Something is wrong."

At this point, Cai's heart is pounding so hard he's worried it might actually fly out of his chest. It's clear they're talking about Park, he still isn't back. It's almost dark out. He stands silently, staring blankly at Quinn hugging Olivia in an attempt to calm her down. This was his fault, Park was missing because of him -- and that's when he notices the phone.