[img]https://i.imgur.com/hQWXcuZ.jpeg[/img]
[right][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/right][right][sup][color=#3b9ae1][b]#3b9ae1[/b][/color][color=2e2c2c]...[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]...[/color][url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/95/7b/0b/957b0b01364489a296679724020ddb04.jpg][color=9b9b9b][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url][/sup][/right]

[indent][indent][color=#667c0c]"Yeah, I appreciate the offer, man," [/color][color=#808080]Wes said with a tight-lipped smile. [/color][color=#667c0c]"But I have an angry girlfriend and I haven’t decided if I’m going to risk going back to the party or hide in my cabin."[/color][color=#808080] He laughed weakly as he pushed off the doorframe and picked up Rae’s bag, taking a step back onto the porch. [/color][color=#667c0c]"Don’t stay up too late. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s training tomorrow," [/color][color=#808080]he called back over his shoulder before he descended the stairs and made his way back onto the main path.[/color]

[color=#808080]All the while, Rae couldn’t help but reflect a bit, her old friend’s words looping through her mind like a song lyric she couldn’t shake. At first, she took it at face value. Trinity’s mad, he’s in trouble, and that was the end of the story. But something in the way he’d said it, that mix of humour and resignation, landed differently, like there was something underneath it. Tiredness, maybe, or hurt he didn’t want anyone to notice.[/color]

[color=#808080]The comment about hiding in his cabin, however, was what truly stuck with her. She could still hear the wry inflection he’d used, a deliberate effort to make it sound like a lighthearted option. But to Rae, it sounded less like a choice and more like a confession that he didn't actually want to be alone but felt he had to pretend he did. It was a pattern she recognized. She’d seen it throughout high school, like when he’d deflect concern about his father’s empty seat at a game with a clever quip or laugh off a failing grade as if it were a badge of honour. That same defensive mechanism was now being activated because of Trinity.[/color]

[color=#808080]A sympathetic ache bloomed behind Rae’s sternum as she massaged the tight cords at the base of her neck. If she were honest with herself, the emotion twisting in her gut wasn't quite jealousy. It was something more intricate and uncomfortable: a sense of responsibility tangled with pity. Her return was never meant to create friction or resurrect old tensions. But the memory of Trinity’s expression earlier—the porcelain smile that didn't crinkle her eyes, the wary, assessing gaze—made it evident that the potential for conflict had been simmering long before Rae’s arrival. She had simply walked into their established world, an unforeseen spark landing on a landscape already primed to burn.[/color]

[color=#808080]With a quiet sigh, her eyes traced the path Wes had taken, now just a void of darkness between the dimly lit cabins. If this was the atmosphere on her very first night, what hope did she have of finding her footing at a camp full of demigods? She hadn't even unpacked her bag, and already she was being cast in the role of an interloper. The most disquieting part was the small, insistent voice within her that worried the assessment might be justified.[/color]

[color=#808080]Because this wasn't the first time her presence had caused complications in Wes's love life, if you could call what he had in high school that. [/color]

[color=#808080]Back in high school, it had been something trivial, a misunderstanding inflated by the pressurized drama of adolescence, so to speak. The memory surfaced with perfect clarity now: the cacophony of the cafeteria, Wes tilting back on his chair’s rear legs, flashing that irreverent grin of his. His girlfriend-of-the-month—Rae couldn't even recall her name—had been shooting venomous looks across the table. Rae had made some offhand, sarcastic remark about his legendary inability to cook anything beyond frozen pizza, and he’d laughed, a real, genuine laugh that made his eyes crinkle.[/color]

[color=#808080]His girlfriend had not been amused.[/color]

[color=#808080]By the end of the day, half the school was whispering that Rae had a crush on Wes (which, mortifyingly, wasn’t entirely untrue), and the other half thought she’d tried to steal him (which, really, people? Be so for real). The fallout had been short-lived but memorable, filled with a lot of cold shoulders, nasty notes on her locker, and a well-timed “slut” muttered in the hallway. Rae had pretended it didn’t bother her, of course. She’d even joked about it to Wes at one point, who’d said something like, [/color][color=#667c0c]“People just like to stir shit, Lewski.”[/color]

[color=#808080]But beneath his casual dismissal, she’d glimpsed a bit of discomfort, a subtle guilt that he was somehow the cause. It was the same shadow that had crossed his features tonight when he’d mentioned his “angry girlfriend”, except this time the relationship was clearly real, and the stakes felt infinitely higher.[/color]

[color=#808080]Rae rubbed her neck again, the ghost of that old humiliation brushing against her nerves. Maybe it was silly to draw a line between high school gossip and their current reality, but the emotional residue was identical: she was the variable that kept upsetting the equation, no matter how unintentionally. And perhaps, just as she had learned to do back then, creating distance was the only viable strategy she had. Only this time, it had to be done by her and with a true purpose in mind. Awesome. [/color]

[color=#808080]Pushing down the swell of melancholy that accompanied the thought, she glanced toward Idris with an apologetic, weary quirk of her lips. [/color][color=#3b9ae1]“Guess that’s my cue,”[/color][color=#808080] she said, her voice softer than she intended. [/color][color=#3b9ae1]“Thanks again for the tour. And for the almost-meal.” [/color][color=#808080]Then she turned and walked into the night, following the general direction Wes had gone.[/color]

[color=#808080]A few moments later, a familiar figure fell into step beside her. [/color][color=#667c0c]"Your cabin is pretty much on the way to mine. I’ll help you find it," [/color][color=#808080]Wes said, his voice pulling her from her thoughts. He led the way, but a palpable quiet clung to him; his focus was clearly turned inward. It wasn't until they were turning down the narrow path toward her temporary home that he let out a soft sigh and glanced at her. [/color][color=#667c0c]"Sorry, you won’t be getting all the stories I promised tonight." [/color][color=#808080]He attempted a lopsided grin, but it was a fleeting, tired thing.[/color]

[color=#3b9ae1]“Hey,” [/color][color=#808080]Rae said, her tone gentle as she offered a small, conciliatory smile. It was an attempt to bridge the quiet space that had stretched between them, the metaphysical distance born of divided focus. His body was here, walking beside her, but his mind was elsewhere, likely replaying the events of the night. [/color]

[color=#3b9ae1]“Don’t worry about it,”[/color][color=#808080] she continued softly,[/color][color=#3b9ae1] “I think you’ve had enough drama for one night. I–”[/color]

[color=#667c0c]"Now, don’t you start apologizing, Lewski… I know how you are,"[/color][color=#808080]Wes chided, his tone regaining a sliver of its usual playful energy as he set her bag down by her front door.[/color][color=#667c0c]"It’s not your fault."[/color]

[color=#808080]His words disarmed her completely. It was as if he’d reached directly into her mind and plucked out the nascent apology she’d been assembling. The unshakable feeling that her arrival had, once again, set a destructive chain of events into motion.[/color]

[color=#808080]Wes took a step toward her and wrapped her in a much more gentle hug than the whirlwind one he had swept her up in earlier.[/color][color=#667c0c]"I’ll answer all your questions later," [/color][color=#808080]he murmured.[/color][color=#667c0c] "Promise."[/color]

[color=#808080]Rae let herself soften into the contact, her eyes closing as she breathed in the familiar scent of him. For a moment, the tension bled from her shoulders.[/color]

[color=#3b9ae1]“You better,”[/color][color=#808080] she mumbled, her voice muffled by his shirt.[/color][color=#3b9ae1]“I’ve got a running list, you know.” [/color][color=#808080]In her mind, she placed a lien on that promise, filing it away as a debt to be collected later. Wasn't that the fundamental nature of a promise, after all? A small, emotional contract between two people that meant ‘[/color][i][color=#808080]you said you would, so I will trust that you will.’?[/color][/i][color=#808080] It explained the unspoken ‘[/color][i][color=#808080]and I will hold you to it’[/color][/i][color=#808080] that underscored her tone. For all the years and all the versions of Wesley she had known, this one—the man grappling with his choices and trying to do the right thing—felt the most authentic. And she was terrified of losing him again, even if she felt, for now, that stepping back was the only way to keep him.[/color]

[color=#808080]When he let go, Wes gave her a gentle pat on the back before he slowly started back down the trail. [/color][color=#667c0c]"Cabin 21, if you need anything,"[/color][color=#808080] he reminded her. [/color][color=#667c0c]"Happy New Year’s, Red." [/color][color=#808080]He gave her one last wave before he disappeared out of sight around the treeline.[/color]

[color=#3b9ae1]“Happy New Year,” [/color][color=#808080]Rae said, though Wes could not hear her at this point. Then, she finally exhaled, picking up her things and turning the handle to her cabin door, the hinges creaking softly as she stepped inside.[/color]
[/indent][/indent][hr]Location: Idris's Cabin --> Rae's Cabin   
Interactions: Wes ([@Mjolnir]), Idris ([@NoriWasHere]) 
Mentions: Trinity