Unconditionally

Chapter Twenty-one

"The clearest way into the universe is through the forest wilderness." -John Muir

The temperature started to drop about an hour ago. Now we're sitting by the crackling fire roasting hotdogs and marshmallows till our stomachs become completely full. Of course Carter would be the one to bring a pack of beer; I have one sitting right beside my feet.

Haze groans loudly when her marshmallow slides off the stick and drops into the fire. I laugh out loud and hand her another one. She snatches it from my hand and pokes it with her stick before putting it over the fire with a pout on her face. She glances at Carter's perfectly roasted marshmallow.

"How come yours looks edible and mine either drops in the fire or is burnt?" Haze asks Carter in a grumpy voice.

Carter shrugs with a smirk on his face. He places some chocolate on his gram cracker then pulls off his marshmallow. He hands her his S'more voiceless. I raise an eyebrow and glance at Ashton. He's sitting beside me reading a sports book. He has his head resting on his hand, and every few moments he turns a page. I smile as he reads in concentration, not noticing what's going around him at this moment. I look up when Carter takes Haze's stick and removes the already burning marshmallow.

A smile appears on my face; I take a bite out of my hotdog.

We didn't do anything today except for setting up camp, walking around the camping grounds, and talking about anything- everything -. It was nice. I'm worried for Haze though. As a joke, she took Carter's phone and threw it into the water. The look Carter gave her when he couldn't find it in the water was murderous. I'm actually surprised Haze took the S'more Carter offered.

"What time is it?" I suddenly ask as I look up at the clear sky.

"After ten." Ashton mumbles from beside me.

"How'd you know that?" I ask him.

Ashton looks up from his reading and dog ears his page before answering. "I checked a few minutes ago."

"Then I'm going to sleep. I want to wake up early to see the sunrise." Haze tells us all.

I keep a chuckle from escaping. Haze waking up early? Not going to happen. She then rubs off the gram cracker crumbs that are on her shirt before heading to the gray tent. We watch her as she zips up the tent. I then look to Carter.

"What are you going to do to her?" I ask him suspiciously.

Carter's blue eyes light up as I watch him. The light from the fire and the darkness that surrounds us casts a shadow onto Carter's face. "Nothing horrible." He finally says.

Ashton snorts and sets his book down on the ground.

"I find that hard to believe." I nod my head in agreement.

Carter sighs, takes a sip of his beer, and leans back in his chair. "Fine," He tells us. "It'll be something that will surprise us all."

I shake my head and stand up. "Whatever you do, don't get me involved." I give a glare to Carter. With that being said, I duck under the red tent's flap and get inside my sleeping bag.

~*~

I pretty much sleep with one eye opened. Sometime after I snuggled into my sleeping bag, Ashton came in, got into his own sleeping bag, and wrapped his arms around me. I sighed in my half-sleep state as his body heat warmed me also. The light from the fire outside is gone so inside my tent there isn't a flicker of light. Ashton started to snore gently in his sleep, but I still couldn't fall asleep completely. When Ashton's snoring stops for a few seconds that's when I heard it. A snap from outside my tent.