Gavin and Victoria return

Victoria ascended the steps slowly, mindful of her ankle. Gavin stood behind her at each step,
knowing that some time ago that this would be the most difficult part of the journey. Leaning
against the railing, she would catapult herself, catching the next step with her good foot.
She insisted on doing this herself, but Gavin refused to be an idle observer, saying she
needed someone to spot her at least. Far be it for her to turn down a confident Gavin, she
allowed him to be her backup and herself a smile at Gavin's attitude.

It's gotta be nurtured, she thought.

"Careful, careful," Gavin said as she swung herself to the porch decking. He instinctively
held out an arm, but Victoria pushed him back.

"You want an excuse to be next to me again," she said.

Gavin blushed. "H-Hey, just trying to help."

"I know," she said, smiling, then stood on her feet. She winced a bit, then went for the door.

Gavin couldn't contain himself. "Victoria, are you sure you can still walk okay? You've made
it back this far, please--"

"I'm fine... Vin," she answered firmly, turning to face him. Gavin softened at the mention of
his pet name, but then felt bolstered by its significance. Victoria watched him as he marched
to the front door and held it open, motioning with his outstretched hand to the cabin's
interior.

"Then I'll hold the door open and grab you some ice from the freezer. You go rest on the
couch, I'll be there in a second." Gavin gave her a look halfway between sheepish and
pleading, and yet again, Victoria felt impressed by the level of attention he gave her.

"Yes, Dr. Gavin, I'll follow your orders," she chided him, smiling as she limped through the
door. Gavin blushed heavily, but return her smile, following in after her.

"Vicky!" Heather's voice rose up from the living, full of concern. "What happened? Zack, help
me."

Zack popped his head around the corner and ran to Victoria's side. "Hey! You okay?"

Victoria tried to wave both of them off, but Zack had the same insistence as Gavin, and she
relented to be picked up. Zack brought her to the couch, while Heather raced toward the
kitchen.

"Got it," Gavin stated, walking past Heather from the door holding a plastic bag tied with
ice.

"She's going to need a compress too--" Heather started, only to notice Gavin holding one in
the air. "Well, okay, you're on top of this."

"She twisted her ankle when we were coming back," he explained. "A rock caught her foot and
she fell. I took part of my shirt to wrap it, but I think it's more swollen than it was now
that she walked on it all the way back."

"You didn't carry her?" Heather asked, annoyed. "At least let her lean on you."

Gavin flushed wildly. "I... uh, well, I did for a time. It's... complicated. Sorry, Heather, I
need to give her these things!"

For the second time that day, Heather was dumbfounded. She followed Gavin back into the living room, where Victoria now lay across the couch, bandaged foot in the air. Zack fluffed a pillow and Ashley fawned over her friend to her protests, but Gavin clearly stole the show. Methodically, he unwrapped Victoria's foot and practically commanded Zack to bring him his first aid kit in the bedroom. Zack obeyed, and returned with the kit quickly. He produced the medical wrapping from it, and covered the blonde's swollen extremity again with a glacial speed and the mastery of a career nurse. He applied the ice bag to it, to which Victoria initially recoiled, but soon relaxed under Gavin's care.

Heather saw Victoria's face soften as she regarded Gavin, lovingly gazing upon him and his actions. Heather knew that look, one her friend only reserved for guys she adored, and that made Heather stop. The absolute fuck is going on, she thought. Zack and Ashley are like ravaging each other, and Vicky is gushing over Gavin like he's some fairy tale knight. Then Heather thought about her time with Kurt, and shuddered. Shit... well, goodness knows what's happened to Brandon and Chloe. I'm sure they'll have a very interesting story to tell when they get back.