The Hunting

Chapter 20

I woke up with a start as I felt someone move my body. I sat up to find a groggy, but awake Javier next to me. His bedroll was right next to mine. What? I swear it wasn't this close last night. I looked up and saw Don grinning cheekily. I muttered, still tired from just waking up, "What are you smirking about this early in the morning?"

Don teased, " I know something that you don't know."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jaiver sit up beside me.

"What?"

He continued to look between Javier and me, eyes gleaming deviously. He opened his mouth, "You two were cuddling!"

My jaw dropped, I looked over at Jaiver who had a blank expression. Was Jaiver who I felt last night? Or was it my dream? I wouldn't mind if he did – Arden stop! Don continued, "Good for you guys, Nate had to take a piss. He's already pissed because he's tired, this though would set him off."

Javier shook his head and stood up. I think I heard him mumble something, but I couldn't make out what he said. I stood up myself as I let out a big sigh as I looked at Don. How am I even supposed to respond to this? Luckily, I didn't have to. Nate quickly strode in and plopped down on my bedroll. He looked up at me with a tired smirk, "If you want to come and – wait no. Goodnight."

He rolled away from the three of us standing. I looked at Don and he shrugged following Nate's lead. He laid down on Javier's bedroll and cuddled up to Nate. Nate rolled over, already half asleep and hugged Don. Don then looked up at me and winked. I chuckled lightly. I looked down at an already asleep Nate. He stopped himself from saying something nasty. That's a good change. I started walking towards the stream so that we wouldn't intrude on any other sleeping person. I could hear Jaiver's footsteps behind me. At the stream's edge, I sat down and took a deep breath. So tired.

As Javier sat down, I looked over at him. I asked, "So did you put your arm around me last night?"

He shrugged.

I groaned, "Please, we have until dawn. I'm going to go crazy if I don't have at least some interaction."

He laughed, "Alright, alright. I'll talk. I mean, talking is what is going to keep me awake anyway."

I looked at him expectingly, because he still hadn't answered my question. He looked at me, "I saw you shiver, I knew it was going to be cold without a fire going. I decided to put my arm around not only for your warmth but mine as well."

I nodded and looked away from him. We were quiet for what seemed like forever. I guess it was because we were both waking up from being startled awake. Surprisingly, Jaiver was the first to break the silence, "Listen, I apologize if what I did made you uncomfortable. Like I said earlier, I was doing it to keep us both warm. I understand if you don't forgive me."

I stayed silent for a while as I formulated a response. I opened my mouth and then closed it. How do I word this? I sighed as I said what was on my mind, "Honestly, I barely noticed that you were. I felt you put your arm around me as I was falling asleep, but I was too tired to react. It was cold without the fire, but I was able to sleep just fine. Whether it was because of you or not, I don't know. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I appreciate the gesture, but next time ask. You're still a stranger to me and I'm not all the comfortable cuddling with some guy I barely know." I continued not wanting to come off on the wrong foot, "Granted, I've known Nate for forever and I personally wouldn't him want to be cuddling with him either." Or would I – STOP it already brain! My mind started to derail as I continued to try and explain myself, "It's not that I wouldn't want to cuddle you because, by all means, you are attractive. I just don't trust you enough to be okay with that. I'm alright with it, but at the same time, I'm not. Down the line, I would say if I knew you as well as I knew Nate then that might be a different case. I don't know we would just have to see. Anything could happen."

I paused for a second and then started blushing. I started to wave my arms frantically, "Uh- um just – uh ignore that last part. I mean you are attractive but that's not why I said what I said and I'm tired and I don't know what I'm saying and I – uh."

Jaiver held up is hand to stop me. I put my hands over my face. If that stream was deep enough, I would almost be tempted to drown myself in it. Almost. God, why did I say such a thing? Like it's true... stop it - but why did I have to say it to him? Why am I acting all funny? I have always been bad with boys. Maybe that's why I have never had a boyfriend. Anytime I started liking a guy, I would get all embarrassed and I would have word vomit. This would often lead me to say things I don't want to say. This by far is the worst encounter I have had with a guy. I was about to stand up and take a walk to escape this situation, but I was stopped by Javier's hand on my shoulder. I looked at him, still hands covering my face. I know the skies are clear, but if a lighting strike could come to rescue me from myself I would appreciate that. I let out a loud sigh as I tried to contain my embarrassment, which I know I'm not doing a good job in this situation.

Jaiver, whose hand was still on my shoulder gave it a pat as he said, "It's alright. I understand what you're getting at."

He moved his hand off my shoulder as he continued, "And I appreciate the compliment."

He said that with a smirk. I let out a groan of embarrassment and brought my knees up to my chest. I hoped he wouldn't hear that in all of the nonsense I was spouting. Kill me now. Someone. Take me from my place in this world. I no longer want to be here.

We sat in silence for a while before I got antsy again. This silence is the true death of me. I think Javier could tell what I was thinking. I heard him chuckle. My head snapped in his direction, "What are you laughing at?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

I furrowed my eyebrows together, "It must be something."

"Nope, nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, you should."

"But I don't."

He chuckled some more. He used the back of his hand to cover his mouth. I think whatever he was laughing at got funnier as he continued. At this point, he was stifling his laughter. I was about to ask him if he had gone insane and then I heard something. A snort.

My eyes got wide as I looked at him. His eyes were wide too. He looked at me. I held his gaze. I bit my lips to stop me from laughing. This is hilarious. I started to chuckle. He joined in. We continued to laugh for a while. Our laughter slowly died down as we were coming down off the high. I asked, "Now, what was that all about? You're always stone cold."

He took a deep breath, " Two things. One, I am so drowsy at the moment that I think anything is funny. Two, you getting embarrassed was too funny not to laugh at."

I glared at him. "That's not funny."

He smirked, "You were laughing too."

"I was laughing at your snort. Just wait until the others hear about this."

The smirk dropped from his face, " Let's not talk about this to the others."

It was my turn to smirk now, " Oh, I think I will."

He paused and smiled at me, "So, what was it that you said about me again? That I'm attractive? I'm sure the others would love to hear about that."

I gasped, "That's blackmail!"

"All's fair in love and war."

I stood up shaking my head, "You're vile."

"It's about time you noticed."

I squinted as I looked east. It looked a little brighter than the dark blue of night. The sun is going to be rising soon. That means we are going to have to wake up the others and continue walking. Now that I think about it, I've actually had never seen the sunrise. I hope it's beautiful. Bring in the middle of a forest for all of my life, I've only seen the parts of the sky that were above me. So at sunset and sunrise, I would see dark purples, pink, oranges, and blues. That's it. I got brought out of my thoughts as I felt a presence behind me. I turned around abruptly. It was Javier looking over my shoulder. He notices it too huh.