Back at the cabin

"ZACK!!! HEATHER!!!" They heard in the distance.

They both jumped up and turned around to see a distraught looking Chloe running towards them from the trail going around the lake. She and Gavin had left together earlier this morning, but where was Gavin??

Still shocked by what had happened earlier, Heather was too deep in thought to acknowledge Chloe's distressed look. She semi-cursed the bad-timing of it all in her mind, sending a few more tears to her eyes. Not wanting to be seen crying by anyone else, she stood and quickly made her way inside the cabin where she locked herself in the room she shared with Gavin. She needed some time to at least compose herself.

Zack briefly worried about Heather's behavior as she bolted away from what looked, at least to him, like something had happened to Gavin. Any thought about Heather was then dismissed as he began worrying about his best friend. Chloe was now getting closer and he could better see her face, and he could she she was, or had been, crying. That was a bad sing.

For a moment, Chloe wondered what had happened for Heather to run away while she needed help.

"Did Zack try to make a move on her or **** her?" she thought. No! Zack had successfully hooked up with Vicky just only last night, but then even had they not been together, he was way too nice a guy to **** himself upon a girl. Heather leaving must have something to do with something else, but then she thought it was convenient as she wanted to speak alone with Zack first, and "getting rid" of Heather would've been both awkward and fishy.

Once she reached the deck, she stopped running and doubled over, panting frantically and trying to catch her breath. Zack, always such the gentleman, quickly walked to her and helped her move to the nearest chair on which she sat down and went to get her a glass of water, which she downed in a few large gulps.

She took a few minutes to calm down and her breathing returned to an acceptable rate. When Zack sensed she had rested enough to have conversation, he started:

"Chloe, what's wrong? Did something happen? Where is Gavin? Is he ok?"

At the pronunciation of her friend's name, Chloe recalled all the events leading to where she was, which she had somewhat "forgotten" as she had been having trouble breathing from the running. Once again, she felt overly guilty about how she had betrayed Gavin's trust and how she had willingly let him go around wandering in the woods by himself without even a bottle of water. The feeling was unbearable. She brought both her hands to her face and started crying saying what a dreadful bitch she had been.

Zack could hardly believe his luck - or lack of in this case - as that was the second time in only a few minutes that he had to comfort a friend who was weeping next to him. He managed find some room to sit on the chair next to Chloe who was now wailing and put his arms around her. She hugged him close, weeping in his sweater. Then it all came back to her. She managed to calm herself down enough to speak

"GOD!! I'm the worst person on earth! I deserve to be hung!!"

"What are you talking about Chloe?!" he said, trying to sound comforting. "You are an amazing girl and one of the kindest and selfless people I know. Hell, even shy Gavin is able to open up to you."

That was it. The tip of the iceberg. Chloe, whom had started to get a bit more self control from Zack's words lost it all and doubled up her crying.

"I FAILED HIM!" she yelled. "I FAILED GAVIN!. GOD! HOW CAN I HAVE BEEN SO BRUTAL WITH HIM! I BETRAYED HIS TRUST, AND NOW HE'S WONDERING AROUND IN THE WOODS PROBABLY GETTING LOST!"

Zack had no clue what Chloe could possibly mean. He only knew if he was ever to find out, he would have to calm her down and talk some sense into her so she could explain everything.

"Shushhh" he said gently while rocking her slightly in his arms. "Calm down. Deep breaths."

It was slowly working, she was coming back to her senses.

"Good girl."

She sobbed one last time and managed to compose herself.

"That's it! Now tell me what happened from the beginning. Take your time, and don't be afraid, I won't judge you on anything.

Chloe finally managed to get her voice back, though she was completely exhausted. Not knowing whether it was a good idea to betray Gavin's secret yet, she hesitated. Zack noticed and told her it was OK.

She looked at him. he had a warm smile on his face, though she could sense the worry in her eyes. That had always been Zack, always able to help someone while thinking about how he could help the other at the same time. She knew he was smiling to comfort her, but that deep down, he was worrying for both her and Gavin, but for some reason, she saw something in that smile, a smile she had seen lots of times before in their years they had known each other, that she had never seen before. At that moment, she felt a longing to kiss his lips, to melt into his arms, to become his for the rest of her like, to have him kiss down her neck and slowly move down towards... "WHOA!!! WAIT A MINUTE!!" she screamed in her head. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT"

Zack had noticed something in her eyes when she had looked up at him. At first nothing out of the ordinary, but then he could see something. Something that he had no idea what meant. For a minute there he thought Chloe might have jumped on him fucked him right there. Then she was in deep thought, apparently trying to wrestle what was going on in her mind.

"Chloe?" he asked.

That snapped her back to reality.

"What is wrong?"

She now recalled why she was even here in the first place. She summoned up her courage and decided it was necessary for her to tell Zack what Gavin had told him. She described the whole trek they'd had together. How quiet he seemed to be - quieter than usual as he was always quiet. How he had opened to her and how she had shut him down right there on the spot and then he had left towards the woods.

Zack listened to the whole story. He was not surprised about Gavin having a crush on Heather as he suspected it from his reaction when he had learnt he would share a room with her. He was also not surprised at Chloe's guiltiness at what she had said to Gavin. Anyone in the gang would have probably said just about the same thing, but Chloe, though she might not know it, was pretty much the same as Gavin: she wasn't too self-confident, she was quite shy and had trouble opening up, but nowhere near as much as Gavin. That would explain why she blamed herself for Gavin wondering off alone.

Now that they were both on the same level, Zack and Chloe needed to find out how to find Gavin. Did they dare tell Heather the truth, or would they invent a story explaining how he had gotten separated from Chloe. They weighed their options. Would it be a good thing for Heather to go find Gavin? What would be his reaction to seeing her, maybe her knowing how he felt would help, but then they didn't want to betray his secret.

What to do?