Victoria, but...

It had to be Victoria, Gavin decided. And it wasn't just because he was currently walking hand in hand with the beautiful blonde to the caves. What man when given the choice of making their fantasy a reality wouldn't pursue that chance? Anyone who didn't was no man at all.

Wasn't that what this whole exercise with Kurt had been about; becoming a bold, decisive man for Victoria. Everything he had done, being sucked off by Heather, lying and scheming, it had all been done in order to improve himself, to make himself a better man for Victoria.

Gavin still thought Chloe was incredibly hot, and the nicest, sweetest person he knew, but in his heart, he valued her more as a friend. A very sexy friend he'd came inside of, but a friend none the less.

However, Gavin intended to succeed where Zack had failed. His dark haired best friend had went off and fucked another woman without ever talking to Chloe about it first. Gavin was sure that Chloe would still have been upset, but if Zack had only talked to her first, Gavin was certain that much of the drama of the past couple of days could have been avoided. Maybe Brandon would have been around to share in this glorious hike had Zack and Ashley just sat down and talked to their respective partners.

So, before he did anything with Victoria, Gavin also made a second decision. He made the choice to talk to Chloe first. Chloe was not unreasonable, just insecure. Discussing his decision with her would ease any sense of rejection she might feel. He knew that if he could just sit down and talk with his redheaded friend that she would be accepting of his decision. She would probably agree that their friendship was worth preserving over everything else.

"So..." Victoria began, breaking the long contemplative silence. "about last night..."

"Sorry, Vicky," Gavin said, turning towards her as he disengaged his hand from hers. "I'd like to talk to you about that, about everything, but first I...uh...I need to take a leak."

"Oh, ok," Victoria replied, finding it awkward talking about going to the bathroom. "Do you just wanna go do it behind a tree or something?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Gavin agreed. "But, um, if you want to go ahead, that's alright. I'll catch up."

"Don't you think I should wait?" Victoria suggested. "I mean, how long are you gonna be really?"

"Not long," Gavin said, frowning as he found getting rid of Victoria harder than he'd anticipated. "But, uh, I don't think I'll be able to go with you watching."

Victoria screwed up her face. "Ew, Gavin, I'm not going to be watching you pee."

"I know...but..." Gavin hastily thought of a lie. "If I know you're here, it'll feel like you're watching."

"Ugh, fine, whatever," Victoria rolled her eyes and turned around, walking along the trail they had been following. "Just don't be too long."

"I won't," Gavin called after her as he crept into the overgrowth beside the path. He slinked up behind a tree, hidden from view but still close enough to see Victoria walking away.

He waited there until Victoria was just out of sight before climbing back out through the vegetation. Walking quickly, he turned back the way he had come, following the dirt track all the way back to the split, taking note of the large, erect rock between the paths.

Recognising which path he had to take, he hurried along. He didn't want to leave Victoria alone for too long. The sooner he got to the waterfall the sooner he could discuss his choice with Chloe and get back to the caves and Victoria. The sense of urgency doubled as he came upon another split in the path.

This split was unknown to him. Either one could lead him down to the waterfall, while the other would only lead him God knows where. It probably wouldn't be that serious; he could likely just turn and come back if it led to a dead end. But it would cost him a lot of time.

Another opportunity to be decisive, Gavin told himself. It setting up to be quite the bumper day for decisions. Then, as he was analysing his options, he saw a red piece of clothing tied to a tree and flapping in the breeze. And the tree it was tied around was clearly on the path to his right.

Of course, he didn't know if the red rag meant anything at all. It could have been tied there by someone else at any time for any purpose. There was no guarantee that it was actually Kurt, trying to show Gavin the way. Gavin chuckled to himself thinking that he didn't give Kurt enough credit. Tying the cloth there was actually quite smart and considerate of him.

Trusting in Kurt and asserting his decisiveness, Gavin set off down the path marked with the red rag.