Meanwhile, just outside of the cabin

"What a douche...!" Zack growled to himself as he hurried to catch up with Vicky and Kurt, seeing how the later was trying again to get physical with the cute blonde.

Now, he was fully aware that he didn't have the sole rights of trying to have a chance on this girl of course, but out of all the competition he'd hate more than anything to lose her to someone like Kurt...

To his relief it really seemed like she hadn't fallen for his so-called charm at least, and she deftly avoided both his hands and much too curious questions. In fact she was about as cold to him as he'd ever seen her, even if that didn't really say much at all. She'd always been such a warm and friendly character, which was a big part to why he'd fallen for her in the first place...

His train of thought was momentarily disrupted though, as he found Chloe suddenly stepping out of the shadows and joining up by his side on the path back towards the cabin. The look on her face was about as gloomy as he'd imagined being worn by himself in that moment, which was enough to make him immediately push aside his own troubles and focus on her's.

The two of them went a long way back after all, and they'd always looked out for eachother no matter the situation...

This time she didn't seem willing to share it with him however, but simply kept walking by his side as he tried to make contact with her eyes. Whatever was troubling her, it had to be serious indeed if she wouldn't even be talking to him, and it made him all the more worried for her.

"Chloe, what is it...?" He finally asked her, in a hushed and gentle voice so to keep anyone else from hearing. She still didn't answer though, but at least glanced up into his eyes for a second. The pain and indecision he could see in them was deeply troubling to him, and without even thinking he found himself pulling her aside from the path they were walking on.

"Zack...?!" She tried to object, but quickly shut up as he trapped her with her back to a tree. There was a hint of curiousity in her eyes now, though he could just barely see them in the darkness and cover of the tree, and her voice turned immediately softer as she asked him. "What are you doing...?"

"I just want to know what's up." He told her, while again trying to keep his voice both low and gentle. The last thing he was to scare her after all. "This... isn't like you..."

"This isn't very much like you either!" She let out a sudden laughter, and before he knew it she leaned closer and gave him a quick but affectionate peck on his cheek. "Thank you, Zack... But this isn't something you can help me with..."

"Nonsense!" Zack told her, which caused yet another little outburst of laughter. Even if she'd actually be right in her presumptions he could at least help her to laugh about it.

"No, seriously!" She insisted though, before pushing him back onto the path again. "I'll tell you later, I guess..."

"You better!" He agreed, and then put his arm around her shoulder as they continued together towards the cabin. It was such a natural thing to do for him that he barely thought about doing it, but noticed for the first time ever how Chloe seemed to suddenly freeze under his touch. She relaxed just as quickly however, and allowed him to keep his arm around her while she leaned her head against his shoulder...

He realized there was this one little problem about this however as they approached the front door of the cabin, and he was suddenly reminded of what Chloe had told him even less than an hour ago.

"If you want a chance on Vicky, you need to stop being so friendly around me." - It wasn't her words exactly, but still pretty much what she'd been saying.

But him and Chloe were still the best of friends, and he wouldn't let them stop being themselves just to make another impression on someone else. Even if this someone happened to be the crush of his life...