CHAPTER NINETEEN

                                    

                                          
As the afternoon turned into evening, I found myself sitting as close to Tyce as I could without it looking totally awkward. We had started a fire a while ago as the sun started to go down, and right now, I was just listening to everyone else talk while I enjoyed the company. Who would've thought that I would be here thinking this when Hadley asked me to go on this trip. I was absolutely against it at the time, but, well that was before I met Tyce. I smiled to myself. Tyce nudged my shoulder gently.
                          
"What are you thinking about?" He asked quietly while everyone else was busy blabbering on and on. I shrugged a little. 
                          
"I don't know, just....I feel at ease," I told him before chuckling. "I know that sounds corny but it's true." He smiled.
                          
"I don't think that's corny. I think it's a good thing," he said, looking directly into my eyes for a long moment. 
                          
"Hey lovebirds you wanna join us?" Zaiden asked loudly, chuckling. Tyce and I both stared blankly for a moment, slightly embarrassed. I cleared my throat. 
                          
"Uh, sure," I answered, causing everyone else to laugh. Jordan rolled his eyes, while Sam just scoffed slightly. Alex sat there without saying anything, and Chloe and Izzie were involved in their own conversation once again. Tyce clenched his fist, and I glanced over at him cautiously. 
                          
"We were talking about having only a couple days left here," Hadley told us, trying to break the sudden tension that filled the air.
                          
"Oh yeah, it's actually gone by so fast," Tyce answered, trying to ignore the others. Sam huffed loudly, causing Zaiden to glare at him. 
                          
"What's your problem?" Zaiden asked, still glaring fiercely at Sam. 
                          
"Zai-" Tyce began, but he was cut off. 
                          
"Them!" Sam said, accusingly jamming his thumb in our direction. I looked at my hands and took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. 
                          
"What did they do to you?" Zaiden asked loudly, his voice almost echoing in the silence of the forest. Jordan winced.
                          
"If they wanna be all mushy together fine, but they don't need to do it in front of everyone all the time!" He shouted, without even so much as looking in Tyce's direction or mine. Tyce's fist clenched again and I put my hand over his to hold him back. He looked over at me and I just shook my head. 
                          
Zaiden scoffed at Sam and Alex in disbelief while everyone else sat in silence. Jordan's eyes were planted on his feet like they were suddenly interesting.
                          
"I don't need to see it," Sam complained into the silence. Alex just sat there with his chin in his hand. Chloe and Izzie had stopped talking.
                          
"I'm sorry it offends you," Tyce said suddenly in a sarcastic way. Sam turned to look at him for the first time, raising his eyebrows. 
                          
"Dude do what you want okay? Just don't make a big deal about it," Sam sighed. 
                          
"I'm the one making a big deal about it? Seriously?" Tyce countered, his face a mixture of surprise and annoyance. 
                          
"Yeah!" Sam responded, raising his voice. "You are! You two are always together, you laugh and can't keep your eyes off of each other, and then you hold hands and touch each other all the time in front of us. I don't want to see it!"
                          
"Wow," was all Tyce said in response. I was sitting there fuming more and more. 
                          
"If you wanna kiss and cuddle and hold hands I really don't care. But just stop with all the PDA," Sam stated flatly. 
                          
"We don't even do hardly anything in front of you!" Tyce yelled. "You're complaining about nothing! So what we hold hands a lot, we've never kissed in front of you or anything you asshole!" 
                          
"Well I don't want to see it," Sam said flatly, pulling a face. I lost it. 
                          
"That's too bad," I interjected. I reached out, grabbed Tyce's head, turned it towards me, and planted a huge kiss right on his lips. When we broke apart, Tyce was shocked but I could tell he liked it, and Paisley, Hadley, April and Zaiden were grinning. "If you don't want to see it," I said after a moment, "then you don't have to be around us. Nobody is keeping you here."
                          
"Whatever, I'm out of here!" Sam said, standing up in a huff and storming off. Alex got up, looked over at Tyce briefly, before walking off and following Sam. "Girls if you're getting a ride with us you better come pack your shit! Jordan! Let's go!" Sam yelled from off in the distance. Chloe and Izzie looked at each other and then silently stood up, Jordan and Zaiden exchanged looks before he got up as well.
                          
"Thanks for inviting us Zaiden," Chloe said shyly. Izzie nodded. Then they both scurried off. Paisley followed them quietly. 
                          
"I uh, better go get my stuff. I'm so sorry," she said sadly. April stopped her. 
                          
"If you don't want to go, don't. I can share with Zaiden and you can stay in my tent," she said. Paisley brightened. 
                          
"You really would do that? You don't mind?" Paisley asked. April shook her head. 
                          
"Wow, thanks!" She said excitedly before hurrying off to get her stuff moved. Jordan whispered something to Zaiden but I was out of earshot. His eyes briefly met mine for a moment before he walked away.
                          
"They're leaving now? In the dark?" Hadley asked quietly, as if saying it louder would make someone upset. 
                          
"Looks like it," April replied. The rest of us sat in silence, staring at the orange flames as they danced around the blackening wood.
                          
I looked over at Tyce and put my arm around him. I really hoped he wouldn't resent me for his friends treating him poorly. I felt guilty though, like maybe if I wasn't into him or held myself back then he would still have his friends. Tyce sighed deeply before leaning into me and resting his head on my shoulder. 
                          
A little while later we heard the engine of one of the SUVs start. Suddenly Alex appeared. 
                          
"Uh," he said, looking at his hands. "Sorry about this. Thanks for the invite Zaiden," he said quickly. 
                          
"You don't have to go with them," Zaiden replied.
                          
"It's okay," Alex said. "Thanks again." He turned and started to walk off but stopped next to Tyce. Neither guy looked at the other. Alex opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then he closed it again and walked off. I rolled my eyes so hard it almost made my head hurt. We heard doors opening and closing, and with that, they drove off into the night. Paisley walked back over. 
                          
"I'll uh, go get stuff organized for tonight," April said, standing up. Paisley said something to her but I didn't quite catch it. They both walked away to the tents together. 
                          
"I think I'm going to head to bed," Tyce announced suddenly, lifting his head off my shoulder. 
                          
"Okay," I replied quietly. 
                          
"Goodnight guys. Sorry about...that," he said. Zaiden shook his head.
                          
"Don't worry about it Tyce," he told him. Tyce nodded, gave my hand a squeeze and then slowly walked off into the darkness back to the tent. I looked over sadly at Hadley. She looked back sympathetically.