Jackson is missing

No all-out sex but plenty of sexual tension and a bit of relief courtesy of Jess. The weekend so far had been a success, with only Jackson’s physical outburst being the one sour point of the weekend.

After his little adventure to Miranda and Winter’s tent, things calmed down after. Tiffany was still on her laptop as Mark fell asleep besides her. He didn’t know when she went to sleep but he woke up at some point, asleep the far left, next to Tiffany who was passed out herself.

Later again in the night, in came Jess who took the last spot on Tiffany’s right. The brunette wasn’t too happy to be on the complete other side of Mark but the other two were too passed out for it to really matter.

As the sun began to rise in the morning, the birds did everything they could to wake them up, chirping away.

Waking up, Mark had to pinch himself, laying next to Tiffany and Jess inside the tent. He would have sure liked to see them with less clothes on but both were freezing, using blankets and sleeping bags to cover their entire bodies.

Needing to pee and not wanting to wake either girl up, Mark snuck out quietly. He threw on something more to wear while unzipped the tent like a mouse, silently and slowly.

Walking out, he could see the light of the sun in the distance, attempting to rise above the trees so it could shine over their campsite.

After taking a quick piss away from camp, Mark walked back to see he wasn’t the only one awake.

“Morning Mark,” Ali said, standing there smiling.

“Morning Ali.”

She was standing in just a baggy Metallica t-shirt, going down to her thighs. Underneath, he assumed that she had nothing else but a pair of panties on. Her long blonde hair was pushed all to one side, her eyes looked a little tired.

Almost straight after that, Daniel stumbled out of the tent, half-asleep, half-awake.

“Oh morning Mark,” he said.

“Sleep well Daniel?” Mark said with a smirk.

He could definitely tell that something happened between them last night. As soon as he asked Daniel the question, he smiled at Ali who was giving him a guilty look before she put a toothbrush in her mouth.

“Guess so,” Daniel said, avoiding any questioning.

He tried not to laugh, his friends ability to keep a straight face was non-existent, poor at best.

By mid-morning, almost everyone was up and about, hanging around the campsite. The only person missing… Jackson, no where to be seen.

They checked his swag, no sign of him even though his phone was in there along with all of his belongings.

“Anyone seen Jackson?” Mark asked, looking around the campsite.

“I swear I’ve got nothin to do with,” Macca said, his hands up in the air.

“Maybe he’s gone for a walk,” Ali suggested, “Morning walk around here, could be back a bit later.”

“True,” Tiffany said, “I guess he wouldn’t tell anyone before going on one.”

“Without his phone or anything though?” Winter asked, not buying it.

“There’s not like there’s much reception for phones here, doesn’t really need it,” Tiffany explained, convinced he would be back soon.

It didn’t seem normal for his cousin to disappear like this. Since nobody could count for his whereabouts after Mark left him to cool off away from camp, it had raised a bit of concern. Did he ever make it back to bed last night? Is he out there lost or did he really just start that big of a tantrum that he didn’t want to return?

***

“So miss Ali…” Mark spoke to her, “How was last night?”

Her cheeks were flushing, Ali shaking her head with a smile on her face, aware of his teasing. She sighed, “We just made out… there’s not much more to it than that.”

They were on a walk themselves, just after noon, Ali wearing match black sportswear gear. A black sports bra with a giant white nike tick emblazed on the front. It went along nicely with her very tight black shorts that cling to her waist like they were glued on. This didn’t leave much to imagination about that fantastic heart shaped ass.

“A step backwards from the mishap in his bedroom?” Mark cheekily asked her.

She laughed, shaking her head once more, “Hey, everyone’s tents are pretty close, think everyone would hear very easily if someone starts fucking here. Heard enough laughing and talking coming from one of the tents last night…”

This time, she was smirking at him, knowing he was involved in it. He played it off by putting the attention back on her, “So what is it about Dan, interested in him for real?”

“I don’t know… he’s just different, not too shy, but quiet. Not athletic, but not hopeless. Not Tiffany levels of smart, but still pretty smart.”

Mark knew he had put her on the spot with this, “It’s okay, I’m just teasing you.”

They continued to walk further away from camp, enjoying each other’s company for the first time this weekend.

“It was nice of you to organise all of this,” she told him.

He appreciated that almost everyone seemed to be very appreciative themselves that Mark had gone out of his way to organise a weekend for everyone.

“Thanks, I just figured it would be a good idea considering we may never have a chance to do it again,” he explained, “Tiffany will be finished college in a few weeks, Miranda and Jess will be seniors next year and who knows when Macca will disappear back off to Australia.”

“Me and you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon at least,” Ali smiled, brushing up against his side accidentally or perhaps not.

Mark put out his first too her and she returned the favour, fist bumping him back. Eventually they stopped, seeing that they were coming up to a minor cliff. It looked too dangerous to trek down it so it was time for them to head back in the other direction.

“Head back?” Mark asked her.

She was caught staring into his eyes, she didn’t hear his question at first.

“Ali?”

She shook her head, waking herself up, “Yeah, yeah! Sorry, you’re right, let’s head back.”

He laughed, trying to work out what that was all about, “Everything all good? Just go to sleep on me?”

At first thought, she hesitated about saying anything but the way their relationship was and the whole weekend away, Ali thought she might as well come clean. She sighed, grabbing his arm and pulling him back in the direction towards camp, “Im going to ask you this honestly, but you have to be honest.”

“Of course I will.”

“Promise me you will,” she repeated.

He laughed, unaware of where this was going, “Sure, I promise Ali.”

The blonde kept a grip on his arm, “If you had to pick one girl from here right now to live with for the rest of your life and you wouldn’t see any of the others here again, who would you pick?”

Easy question… not.

Mark half chuckled, a little surprised that Ali was asking him this. He couldn’t even think properly on where to start with this, how could he answer such a thing.

As they walked slowly, he opened up his mouth, ready to say something but nothing was coming out.

“How… how can I answer that?”

“It’s not a test, I’m not gonna push you down that cliff if the answer isn’t me, I just wanted to know where you were at,” she explained.

Mark stopped in his tracks and put his hands on Ali’s hips, turning her body to face him. The quick movement almost took her breath away as she found herself looking up into his eyes.

“You want honesty so here’s some for me,” Mark told her, “Right now, I couldn’t pick any one of you girls while ignoring all the others, that would kill me. I understand that life isn’t going to allow me to end up living in a mansion with all of you girls staying with me, it’s just fantasy, not reality. But fuck… I really have strong feelings for multiple of you girls and I don’t know if that makes me a douchebag or just a loving person but that’s the truth.”

The corner of her lip seemed to curl into a very minor smile so he can’t have said too much wrong. He waited for her to speak in reply, eager to know if anything he said was valid.

“Not a douchebag,” she smiled.

The quick and straight forward reply made Mark grin, not only that, it made him kiss her, leaning forward and putting his lips on hers. It was a slow but beautiful kiss, he used his hand on the back of her neck as he opened up his mouth for their tongues to meet.

They stood there kissing like this for at least a few minutes. Eventually they both pulled back simultaneously, both agreeing non-verbally that a kiss like that was all either really needed right now.

“Let’s get back to camp,” she smiled.