BUNNY STARES INTO THE FLAMES OF THE FIREPLACE as she sits on her mattress cross-legged. Her mind is clouded by the previous event in the attic, question after question as her mind doesn't seem to find answers to anything. Nothing makes sense.
"Hey", Natalie's voice is soft and quiet as she takes a seat next to the girl. After the attic Bunny went quiet and didn't say to word to anyone, not even Taissa; the only person Bunny trusts with uncomfortable things like this. "Does it hurt still?", Natalie asks, avoiding the real question she wants to ask, the one she knows Bunny can't answer. Are you okay? What the fuck just happened?
Bunny turns her gaze away from the flames to the blonde next to her. She lifts her hand to her shoulder and fixes her sling slightly, "Yeah", she says, her voice quiet as she loses herself in the train of thoughts again. Nat watches the girl dissociate again, feeling disappointed that she isn't able to keep the girl's attention on her. She wants to help her. Natalie lays down on her mattress, turning her back to the blonde.
"Do we think it's still up there?", Akilah asks from her mattress, looking at the ceiling with an unsure expression. Taissa sits up from her spot and huffs, "You all need to stop", she says angrily, "There's nothing up there." She glances over at her best friend who's staring into the flames again, her eyes unmoving like they're made of glass. "Lottie's been acting weird for weeks."
It is true, ever since the crash the dark-haired girl has been more distant than ever. But to Bunny, it still didn't make sense.
"Fine", Taissa says and grabs her bag, mattress, and blanket, wrapping them up into a neat pile, "I'll prove it."
"You're gonna sleep up there?", Akilah asks. "That's right", Taissa answers and stands up, "Who's with me?". The girl looks around the room, finding Van, who only shakes her head at her girl. Finally, her eyes flicker to Bunny, a part of her expecting the blonde to have her back. "Fine. More room for me, then", Taissa mutters and walks to the ladder, disappearing into the attic. Bunny's eyes are still glued to the flames, she doesn't even notice that her friend left.
As time goes by, Bunny still hasn't moved. Shauna finally makes up her mind to go up to the attic with Taissa and gets up from her mattress, grabbing her pillow and blanket with her. She glances towards the fireplace where Bunny is sitting and sighs deeply.
"Bunny", Shauna calls softly as she makes her way, trying her best not to step on any of the sleeping girls. Bunny doesn't react until Shauna sets her hand on her shoulder, causing the girl to turn around confusedly. "Are you okay?", Shauna asks, her big brown eyes filled with concern. Bunny blinks a few times before glancing back at the fireplace and returning her gaze to the girl. How long has she been sitting here?
"No", she finally says, her voice low and quiet, as she looks at the girl in front of her. Shauna gives the girl a sad smile before grabbing her arm and tugging her up softly. "C'mon", she whispers and nods towards the attic stairs. She helps the girl up, and then throws her blanket and pillow on top of Bunny's mattress, rolling it into a portable roll. Shauna grabs Bunny's hand softly and leads the girl carefully to the ladder, staying behind to make sure the girl doesn't fall as she climbs up.
Taissa lifts her head from her makeshift pillow as she hears someone crawl into the attic. As she sees Bunny and Shauna appear a confused expression melts onto her face accompanied by a small smile.
"What are you doing?", Taissa asks and sits up.
"We were just gonna keep you company. If that's okay", Shauna says softly. Taissa nods as she looks at her two friends. "Plus, I think someone needs your voice of reason right now", Shauna continues and nods towards the blonde girl who stands awkwardly before her. As Shauna sets Bunny's mattress next to Taissa's, Tai lifts her blanket a bit as an invitation for her best friend. Bunny lets out a small breath before crawling to her best friend's side, snuggling into her warmth as the two lay down on Taissa's small blanket of a mattress.
Taissa waits until Bunny is surely asleep, before sighing and turning her gaze towards Shauna. "How far along are you?"
Shauna turns her head to look at the girl. "You are pregnant, right?", Taissa asks, making sure she speaks quietly enough that Bunny doesn't wake up. "You won't tell anyone, will you?", Shauna asks, her voice quiet as she speaks. Taissa shakes her head, "No. I won't."
"Even to Bunny?"
Taissa stays quiet for a moment, "Yeah."
The two are quiet for a moment, the silence filled with Bunny's soft snores. "But if we're stuck out here long enough, I have a feeling it'll come out. One way... or another."
Natalie promised to take Bunny mapping again, mostly to get the girl out of the cabin and as far away from Lottie as possible. Taissa pulled Natalie aside the day after the incident in the attic and the two made a plan to make sure Lottie doesn't stress Bunny out more or drive her into a psychosis or worse.
Natalie had tried to come up with reasonable explanations for what happened to Bunny in the attic, but none of them made any sense. Lottie had been weird for weeks before her fit, but nothing explained why Bunny was so choked up by Lottie's weird stroke if you can call it that.
The two had been walking around the forest for about an hour before heading off to the lake.
Natalie was sitting on a rock, staring at the blonde as she swam her legs in the cold water. Bunny had rolled up her pants so they wouldn't get wet as she walked around the shoreline. "You don't need to do that", Bunny says after a while, squinting her eyes as she looks over to the older blonde. Natalie shrugs slightly, "Do what?"
"Watch me like I'm gonna drown myself or something. It's creeping me out", Bunny answers and tries to balance on her left leg for a moment. The water calms her down, she feels oddly at peace at the lake.
Natalie shakes her head as she turns her gaze to the tree line, "Well, you've been acting so weird-"
"So what?", Bunny interrupts the girl and tilts her head in a challenging manner, even though her voice is soft as the breeze, "you think I'm gonna hurt myself? Like Lottie did?" Natalie swallows hard as she keeps her eyes on the trees, suddenly very interested in the silhouette the forest creates. She tries to answer, but no words seem to express the things she truly wants to say.
"Right", Bunny says with a nod, feeling a little betrayed by the girl, "Cause we're just crazy, me and Lottie?"
Natalie scoffs as she turns her head towards the girl, "There's no you and Lottie, point blank period." Her voice is sharp and hard, a little too hard. It makes Bunny's mouth turn downwards, Natalie hesitates before continuing, sitting up a bit straighter, "I mean -- There's something seriously wrong with Lottie. She had been acting off for weeks before the... thing."
Bunny turns to look at the feet, moving them in the water and feeling the small rocks poke her skin. "And I don't know what happened to you, but I know- we know, all of us, the whole team, that you are...", the girl's words linger in the air, causing Bunny to lift a brow, "I'm what?"
Natalie hesitates again, unsure of what to say without hurting the girl's feelings. Bunny's face hardens a bit as the older blonde stays silent, "I'm what, Nat?"
"Easily influenced", Natalie says with a huff. Bunny's eyebrows knit together as she looks at Natalie. "Right", Bunny scoffs and turns her gaze away from the girl. Natalie sighs and stands up walking towards the water where the girl is standing, "Hey", she calls softly, her arms crossed over her chest, "Hey, I didn't mean it like that."
She truly didn't mean to offend the girl, nor did she wish to start a new war between them, just when they had been in the clear for almost a week now.
"Can you just - come out of the water?", she asks pleadingly. Bunny stays quiet for a moment before nodding and walking to the rocky shore where Natalie is standing.
"I'm not easily influenced", Bunny says, staring at Natalie with a determined gaze. Natalie nods, not being able to hold in the smile, "Fine, you're not." Bunny's brows are still furrowed as she continues, "And I really think that Lottie wasn't just being crazy." Natalie nods as she gives the girl a tight smile, shrugging slightly, "Sure."
Bunny fixes her sling as she stares at the girl, still pouting slightly. Natalie can't help but smile at the girl. "Do you wanna go back to the cabin?", she asks, cocking her head slightly in a teasing manner. Bunny deadpans the girl and 'crosses' her arms, in reality only wrapping her free arm over the other one.
"No", Bunny says and looks at her feet shifting in her place.
"Okay... Do you wanna walk around some more?", Natalie asks, raising an eyebrow. Bunny takes a moment to think before shaking her head. "Okay", Natalie says, staying patient with the girl, "what do you wanna do then?"
"Can we just sit here for a while?", Bunny asks, her voice tired and quiet. Natalie's eyes soften as she nods, nodding towards the rocks she was sitting on earlier.
As the two sit down next to each other, silence takes over the lake. Autumn is already here, and even though the days are warm - the nights get cold. Bunny hates the cold, and she hates sleeping when she's cold. Sleeping with Taissa and Shauna feels weird, it's almost like the two are always waiting for her to fall asleep. They barely speak before Bunny has closed her eyes. It makes her feel unwanted - like she's in the way.
Almost as if Natalie had read the girl's mind, she asks, "How's the attic?"
Bunny purses her lips, her face set in deep thought. "It's cold", she says, the crease between her eyebrows deepening. Natalie chuckles as she looks at the girl, "Yeah?" As Bunny steals a glance from the older blonde she can't help but smile, a grin fighting its way to her lips, "It's fucking freezing", she says, giving in and letting out a laugh. Before they know it, the two are both breaking into laughter, holding their stomachs as they laugh at the absurdity of their situation.
After a moment the two girls have to head back to the cabin since Natalie and Travis are going hunting again. Bunny thinks the two hunters have formed a friendship of some kind. Natalie doesn't complain about the boy anymore as much, hardly ever.
"Nat, we're friends right?", Bunny asks suddenly her free hand swaying back and forth as she walks through the forest with the older blonde. Nat's eyebrows raise a little as she eyes the younger girl, "Yeah - I mean, I think we are. I think we can be", she says. Bunny nods and lets out a soft hum. "I'd like to be friends", she says, giving the girl a small smile.
Nat answers the smile with a smaller one, her chest tightening a bit at the sudden request for clarification.
"It's so weird, to not hate you. Not that I think I ever really did, but - y'know, you were always PJ's friend. Even though you were always around I don't think I really know a lot about you", Bunny confesses, her eyes wandering around the untouched forest. Natalie nods, understanding what the girl is saying, "Yeah, I get it."
Bunny tries to balance on top of a rock for a second before falling back into step with Nat. "Can I ask you something?", the younger girl asks. Natalie nods almost out of reflex.
"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"
The question seems stupid to Natalie. Never in her life has she been in a place or surrounded by people who encouraged her to pursue anything. So early on she was labeled a burnout, a slut. Drugs seemed like the easy way out of the reality that was the trailer and her sad little life.
"I don't know, guess I haven't really thought about it", Natalie says, keeping her eyes forward. Bunny furrows her eyebrows, not buying the girl's excuse. "Well, think about it now. What do you wanna do?", the younger girl insists. Natalie wavers as she opens her mouth, shaking her head softly.
"You talk like we're not stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere. I don't think I can afford to dream about my future when I'm holding a literal gun in hand", Natalie sighs, her voice tired as she just wants Bunny to drop the topic. The younger girl grows quiet. She hadn't even thought about it. She hadn't let her mind wander off that far, to the possible reality that they were going to die out there. That she had no future outside of these trees.
"Sorry", she apologizes, "I didn't think about that."
Natalie shrugs, "It's okay, I didn't mean to sound so harsh." Bunny shakes her head dismissingly. Her question seemed stupid now anyway. After a moment of walking in silence, Natalie lets her curiosity take over her.
"What were you gonna study at Yale?"
Bunny smiles at the question, expecting it a bit at some point. "Guess", she says, playfulness layering her voice. Natalie chuckles as she shrugs, "I don't know. Uh... History? Wait - please tell me you're going to be a cartographer!"
Bunny lets out a loud laugh, the type that makes Natalie's stomach turn around.
"No, sorry. I was thinking of anthropology", Bunny says with a smile, her eyes lost somewhere in the tree line. "What is that?", Natalie asks, cocking an eyebrow. "It studies human societies across the globe and all through time", Bunny explains, making Natalie nod as she is a bit impressed. "Wow, sounds important", she says with a small smile. Bunny's face suddenly falls a bit, causing the older girl to stop walking. The younger blonde turns to Natalie, her eyes swelling with discomfort and uncertainty.
"Do you really think we won't get out of here?", Bunny asks, her voice cracking a bit. A bang of guilt hits Natalie as she takes a step forward and grabs the girl's arm in a comforting manner, squeezing it softly. She doesn't want to lie, but she doesn't want to break the girl's heart. "I think that no matter what's gonna happen, we're gonna be fine. Okay? You don't need to worry, I promise", the older girl says, tilting her head slightly as she tries to get the girl to look at her. Bunny nods her head as the unexpected tears start to run down her face. She wraps her arm around Natalie's neck, burying her head into the older girl's shirt. Natalie hesitates for a second before wrapping her arms around the girl's body.
"I won't let anything bad happen, okay? I'll take care of you", Natalie hushes the girl as she cries into her shoulder. Bunny shakes softly as she sobs, gripping tightly to Natalie. "Promise?", she manages to voice between the hiccups. Natalie nods as she sooths down the girl's hair, "Yeah, I promise."