Best posts made by littlest-lily

@Olo If we’re talking about his public relationship status, it is very complicated hahaha

@Olo YUP, that was a very deliberate choice on my end to make him say it like that lol. It actually gets brought up in a couple of chapters, but I’m getting ahead of myself~

Chapter 58
Aiden

I scroll through my long line of text messages on my phone, hoping I haven’t said anything that might have screwed something up. Camila has grown more reasonable since a few days ago, thankfully. But I still feel like I’m walking on eggshells. We have one last quick exchange right now.

C : Sry, roommate’s bro keeping me busy. He’s leaving tonight, maybe we can do something this weekend?

A : Ok that works for me. I’m busy tomorrow but Saturday or Sunday should work. Group thing?

C : Sure

I sigh inwardly. There are a few reasons that I haven’t been close with Camila over the years, I don’t particularly want to hang out this weekend. But it feels like a precarious position now that she knows of Evie’s existence, like I have no choice but to include her in my life now. It’s not that I think she’s a horrible person or anything, but she’s nowhere near the top of the list of people I would have normally introduced my shrunken girlfriend to. She can be a little immature, a little self centered. I only hope she’s able to keep a secret. In any case, I’m feeling the need to keep an eye on her.

I think about the dinner party. The disaster of an introduction. The conversation that I had with Camila afterwards that was fraught with tension. I rethink about every detail and fret about every word.

We’d sat down at the dinner table once the girls had gone upstairs, and even Diego backed off and left the room to let us talk. The others had already told her the very basics, but I went ahead and recounted the shorthand version of all that happened to Evie, from the deception at the lab to the way she’s been living at my apartment ever since. Camila was generally quiet, her hands clenched in her lap, her frown never leaving her face. She occasionally asked a clarifying question, which I took as a good sign - gradually she was coming to terms with the impossible reality.

“No wonder you were so busy this semester,” she muttered, “So much happened…”

“Yes. It’s not that I particularly wanted to deceive you or anyone else. It’s been a weird situation.”

“I… I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” she said, her gaze falling to the floor.

“Oh. Yeah, it’s a recent thing,” I explained.

“Recent?” Camila looked back up at me, frown deepening with confusion. “You mean… Were you two not dating before she…?”

I shook my head. “No, I hardly knew her before she got shrunk.”

I didn’t really like the detour this conversation was taking and carefully tried to redirect it. I summoned every last scrap of empathy that I could and poured it into making my tone as gentle as possible.

“I know this is a lot. I hope you understand how important it is to keep quiet about this? The guy who did this to her had really bad intentions. If people find out–”

Camila tsk’d her tongue and sat back in her chair. “No, no, I get that. You guys can stop harping on it, I’m not going to tell anyone. As if anyone would believe me… I don’t want people to think I’m crazy for no good reason.”

“Thank you.” I reached my hand out to touch her shoulder, making eye contact as if to seal the deal. “That means a lot. Thank you so much.”

I retracted my arm and wished I felt better about the look on her face. She still seemed very preoccupied and finally mumbled, “It’s just… it’s weird, isn’t it? I mean, it’s like… she looks just like us but–”

“She is just like us,” I interrupted, a bit more firm than I meant to be. I couldn’t help it.

For the first time Camila looked sheepish, surprised at my tone. “No, I know, but I mean… The two of you…”

She trailed off and after a moment I shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I saw the before and after,” I said, “but I’ve never been that weirded out by it. We get by just fine.”

She let out a frustrated huff. “I just don’t understand how it would even work. Don’t you have to do everything for her? How can anything even get romantic? I don’t get how you two can physically do anything that counts as–”

“Camila, that’s… honestly none of your business,” I cut in with a frown. I felt shocked that she was so hung up on this. I can understand the confusion and curiosity around a multi-sized couple, but it’s moments like this that remind me of the age gap between me and her. That hint of immaturity in asking such inappropriate questions at a time like this.

She flinched in response to my scolding, catching herself. “I… I’m sorry, I’m just… worried about you, that’s all. It sounds like a lot for… the both of you to deal with.”

“I appreciate that,” I said, forcing a smile. “And I get that this must be overwhelming to find out about all at once. It’ll feel less weird over time, I promise.”

Now that I can think about this conversation in retrospect I’m seeing things a bit more clearly. I’m not a complete idiot - Camila was being incredibly obvious with her flirty looks in those first ten minutes that she had been with us. It was honestly rather frustrating to deal with. I thought I’d made my feelings clear years ago. This might make things a bit more complicated.

I drop my phone onto my stomach and lean my head back onto the couch’s armrest with a subdued groan. I just want to keep my beloved little girlfriend safe. Is that too much to ask?

“You okay?” Evie’s voice calls from behind me, on the desk. “You’ve been sighing a lot.”

I don’t want to worry her with more talks about Camila. I’ve already been drowning in guilt for how bad I fucked up the other night by letting this whole things happen in the first place. But I’d also rather not lie outright. “I keep reliving moments from the dinner party drama,” I lament, “I need to snap out of it.”

“Oh… Glad I’m not the only one who was kinda traumatized by all that…” she says sympathetically. “Actually no, I’m not glad. I’m sorry, babe.”

I let my eyes close, lulled into a more relaxed state by her voice alone. “All good, love. I wouldn’t call it trauma. Not compared to what you went through.”

“At least it all turned out sort of alright in the end, thanks to you.” After a pause she eagerly adds, “Need a distraction? I could actually use your help, if you’re free!”

I immediately feel energized by the request - I still get excited every time she openly asks me for aid like this. “Sure! What do you nee–”

As soon as I’ve turned and tilted my head in Evie’s direction, I trail off and then bolt upright. I wasn’t sure what exactly she was working on since this morning, making some sort of vertical structure out of balsa wood with her staple-nails and clay at the base for stability. But apparently since I’ve been laying on the couch for a couple of hours, reading a book and texting Camila, the structure has doubled in height and looks more like miniature scaffolding now. And of course, Evie’s perched right at the very top.

I get to my feet and try not to startle her as I quickly step to the desk, even though she seems preoccupied with whatever she’s working on. She’s a good ten inches up, straddling a strip of wood as if she were sitting on a two or three story tall jungle gym.

“Y-you need help down?” I assume, my hand already outstretched.

“No, I was just hoping you could grab the package that should be outside the door, according to my notifications.” She points her foot towards her phone down on the desk, without looking up at me since she’s currently hammering a nail into wood.

“Oh. Um…” It feels agonizing to pull my fingers away from her tiny form sitting in such a precarious spot. I find myself unable to move my legs as I stare anxiously. My nerves are already shot from the text messages and I ultimately decide to say what’s on my mind. “It just makes me so nervous when you get up high like that…”

Evie looks up from her work then, big brown doe eyes searching my face. She seems hesitant to respond, but musters the courage to say what’s on her mind too. “You realize I’m way higher off the ground when you’re walking around with me on your shoulder, right? We do that all the time.”

I frown. “True, but I always have a hand at the ready to catch you if you fall.”

Her reassuring smile is quickly becoming a smug smirk. “So you trust yourself to catch me more than you trust me not to fall?”

I blink and stutter, “That’s… I… Well…”

Evie laughs. “I’m just giving you a hard time, Aiden. I appreciate you worrying about me. Look.”

She holds up a piece of string that’s fastened to the beam that she’s sitting on, tugging it taught. I notice that the other side of it is tied snugly around her waist. Like a rock climber, she’s knotted the rope off at multiple places throughout her ascent, only once she was confident in the stability of the next part of the structure. My shoulders droop slightly with relief at the realization that she’s being perfectly mindful of her own safety. I really do need to be better about trusting her more. We’ve been through enough scary situations now that I’ve gotten so paranoid, but the only time she’s ever truly gotten hurt was a freak accident that I don’t think we could have avoided.

“If it makes you feel better,” she adds, “I actually have fallen before, when I was dusting off the mini fridge. I slipped when I was climbing down.”

My eyes widen. I glance over at the fridge in question, seven or eight inches tall, over twice her height. “Really?! When did that happen?”

“A while ago, back when you were studying for finals. I didn’t say anything because it ended up not being a big deal, I just had a couple of bruises is all. I think it makes a difference that I’m a lot lighter now that I’m small, I think I’m less susceptible to injury from falling. I don’t exactly want to test the theory, I’m sure I’d really feel it if I fell off the desk or something. But I just wanted to reassure you.”

Well, her reassurances are working. Huh. I guess that actually makes sense from a physics perspective, since gravity accelerates at the same rate for everything, regardless of its mass. I had long abandoned trying to figure out exactly how physics applies to her shrunken state, but this at least works in her favor.

“Thanks, that does make me feel better,” I say with a nod, “Okay, I’ll go grab that package.”

I turn and walk to the apartment entrance, and sure enough, there’s a small box right outside my door. With a foot in the hallway, I suddenly hear the buzz of an incoming text message and check my phone. It’s from Diego. Seeing what it’s about, I frown and linger in the doorway to have this quick written conversation in private.

D : I think you know but Camila wants to hang out Sunday. Were you going to bring Evie?

A : I wasn’t planning on it.

D : Maybe you should

A : You really think that’s a good idea?

D : They’ve gotta talk at some point right? Camila sounded open to it, I think she’s coming around

D : It’s up to you guys though. Check with the lil shrimp and see what she thinks?

A : Ok I’ll ask. I’ll probably wait until tomorrow though. She’s planning an outing for us, I don’t want to stress her out beforehand.

D : Np! What are yall up to??

A: No idea, she wanted to surprise me

D : OOO SOMEONE HAS A CRUSH

A: …Yeah no shit

D : YOU KIDS HAVE FUN Y’HEAR

An amused exhale escapes my nostrils and I just send a thumbs up emoji before I click my phone off. Regardless of what happens when I talk to Evie about this, Sunday should be interesting… But I don’t want to think about it right now. I finally bend down to pick up the package and head back inside.

“So what are you making right now, exactly?” I ask as I come sit at the desk and carefully set the cardboard box down on its surface. In the time I’ve been gone, my little partner has already set up another cross beam.

“This is that packing station upgrade I’ve been talking about!” she says brightly, “I’ve always just used ramps and stuff to slide the minis around, but with this I’ll be able to lift them up vertically. It’ll make it easier to put things in boxes and bags in the right order.”

She starts making her way back down the scaffolding, down some tiny ladder rungs built into the side. She’s gradually unknotting her safety rope at a couple of key places on the way and I watch from a respectful distance. Until the words she just said sinks in.

“Lift them up?…” I mutter, and my eyes wander back over the length of the structure. There’s a lot of wood and string, with globs of stabilizing silicone clay at the bottom, but then at the top I now notice several tiny wheels of some kind. I lean in, eyes widening. “Holy crap, are those pulleys?”

“Yep! I ordered them along with the last batch of unpainted minis. They’re supposed to be wheels for model trains, but they’ve been working great for these pulley systems.”

Evie’s still climbing her way down, but she pauses to look up the way she came with a swell of pride. She points one hand up towards one of the pulleys I’m examining.

“See how there are divots where they’re supposed to be sitting on the railroad tracks? Perfect for threading string along.”

I continue to marvel, tracing the ups and downs of the system of ropes her little engineering brain came up with. It’s truly surreal, all at once resembling a miniature version of a factory under construction, while also clearly made of little everyday items instead of lumber and steel.

“And you put all this together in a day? Amazing,” I marvel.

“Don’t say that yet, I still need to test it,” Evie giggles as she finally reaches the desk surface. “I’ve been planning and making the pieces for a while, today was just putting it together. Alright, here goes nothing.”

She reaches a dangling bit of string and grabs it with both hands, wiggling it slightly as she looks up to gauge the way it catches on the pulleys. I try to figure out where the other end of the rope is, and it’s attached to a playing card-sized platform that’s resting on the desk, in the middle of the scaffolding. The tiny woman yanks down on the rope and sure enough, the platform rises up by half an inch. Evie continues pulling, hand over hand, and the target rises up and up and up and my jaw drops at how smoothly everything’s working.

“Yayayayyy!” she squeals, letting the rope zip through her fingers so that the platform gently descends back to where it started. “It actually works! I’ve never made anything quite like this. I’m so happy!”

“Congrats!” I exclaim, beaming as I celebrate alongside her. “That’s so cool, Eve. Seriously, that is so badass!”

She drops the rope to stretch her arms out, clearly sore after so much manual labor, and she sighs. “What a relief. Things will be a whole lot easier this way. And I made sure to put in enough pulleys to lift a decent amount of weight - I plan on painting some larger monsters next. The bigger I can go, the more I can charge per figure. Some of the dragons can go for hundreds of dollars on the current market.”

I glance over at the box I’d gone to fetch and point at it curiously. “So what’s in here then?”

Evie glances over and suddenly she looks a little nervous. “Um, most of that is just more plain figures but… I also got some tokens in there. Just very small pieces of plastic, really.”

“Oh? What for?” My question is tentative as I try to get a read on why she’s acting a bit dodgy.

“So… This might not work at all, I’m not going to push it…” She fidgets and gives me a rather pitiful look. “Plus I finally finished those work gloves, I’ll be careful…”

“Careful with what?” I’m frowning now.

“I just… I really want a saw. I use sandpaper for everything, even for trimming or ‘cutting’ these bits of wood. It takes forever, this whole station was weeks in the making. And the result is never quite right.”

Oh. I can see why she’s so hesitant now. That conversation we had about the full-sized scissors she used once feels like such a long time ago. And yet the idea of her wielding any kind of blade, especially after her leg injury, does set me on edge.

“Okay…” I say slowly, “So what do tiny bits of plastic have to do with that?”

“Well, I completely understand why sharp metal is a bad idea at this point. Trust me, I especially realize that now, I don’t want to cut myself again. But then I thought… what if I had a saw made of plastic? I was going to try using the tokens and see if I can heat them up with the hotplate for my bath, just enough to thin out the edge and make little dents. It shouldn’t be all that sharp, but I think it would still be more helpful than just the sandpaper.”

I ponder this for a moment before asking, “And what’s wrong with you just asking me to cut pieces of wood for you? I can get a saw. Hell, some of these pieces of balsa I could probably snap with some scissors.”

Evie’s staring down at her feet and goes very still. I bite my lip. The sight is making me worry that she’s starting to shut down the way she has in the past. I open my mouth to say something else, but then she raises her chin to meet my gaze.

“Sure, I can be better about asking you, for some of the bigger pieces. But… I’d rather not have to turn to you every time I want to trim a toothpick. If that’s okay.”

I mentally take a step back. If we were having this conversation a month or two ago things would be going very differently. I don’t want to take the progress she’s made for granted - I’m thankful she’s telling me her thoughts instead of pushing her desires aside. And we’ve come so, so far since that day with the scissors.

“I hear you,” I finally say, “You can do what you want, I won’t stop you. Just do me a favor and maybe save the sharp stuff for when you’re not home alone? And careful with the hot plate. I’d rather you not get burned either.”

My little partner breaks into a relieved grin. “I won’t. Honestly it’ll probably either not melt at all or I’ll have just made a lumpy mess by the end. But I promise I’ll be careful.”

This is hard for me. Again… I just want my beloved to be safe. And yet, I was so determined to empower her, and I know that I can’t - shouldn’t - control her every action. It’s not easy for me to just trust things will be okay. But I have to do my best to let go, just a little.

Having said that, I’ll allow myself a bit of affectionate clinginess in exchange. I reach my hand up and pinch my forefinger and thumb around Evie’s ribs. Her eyes widen a little as she reflexively takes a step back and I don’t let her, holding her in place. She tilts her head to the side in confusion.

“You better untie that string,” I demand with a budding smile, using my pinkie to flick at the safety rope that’s still tied around her waist.

Her shoulders immediately relax at my tone. “I need to clean all this up!” she laughs,
motioning to the bits of clay and wood shavings scattered all over the desk.

“Not now you don’t,” I say, my grin solidifying. “You spent all day working hard and building something awesome. And now you’re coming with me to the couch, and I’m going to destroy you with snuggles. Whether you like it or not. Hop to it.”

She stands firm, looking at me with an almost defiant smirk. But while maintaining her stare, her hand finds the end of the safety rope, and she gives it one firm tug. It smoothly unravels and falls to her feet in a heap.

Damn. Something about that was incredibly sexy. I waste no time in whisking her away.

@Olo I didn’t want that to be a mystery for too long. I’m generally not a fan of love triangles so I don’t want anyone to wonder if Aiden might get swayed

@foreverlurk Poutine is sooooo good! It’s so bad for you but so delicious heh

@Olo Oh my god that made my day

@Olo I intentionally did not make Camila likeable, but I did attempt to have her not be completely unreasonable if you really think about it. I’m sure many people would be really weirded out be a small person.

Though at this point I don’t think Evie (or Aiden for that matter) would feel comfortable with Camila picking her up.

@Olo ahhh I know, I love the idea of being so seamlessly comfortable with each other 🥰

@Olo Whoa. Poetry!

@Olo You mean while they were doing dishes?

@Olo Yeah he was definitely mindful about the teasing and wouldn’t do it unless he was sure he was okay with it. (Unlike a certain other male giant in this story lolol)

@Olo Ehehehehe I see what you did there

@Olo Oooo I’m curious what you mean by your kind of villain. It’s been interesting to see the reactions to Camila - even far before this particular chapter of her being more blatantly a bully there have been a lot of intense comments about her. (Meanwhile I’m hoping people hate her in a way that’s fun because she’ll be around for a bit longer yet…)

Chapter 69
Aiden

I’m staring out at a sprawling valley, and the untouched wilderness stretches out for miles and miles ahead. The hills and low mountains are completely covered with trees. You can actually visibly see the transition from summer to autumn in the jagged line that separates bright green leaves from the yellow and orange ones, the colors mixing with a chaotic beauty.

“Woowww,” sighs a voice from near my shoulder.

“Right?” I whisper back.

Evie isn’t in my shirt pocket as usual - I didn’t want to risk her having to deal with any dampness if I got too sweaty on this hike. Instead, one of the many ways we prepared for this trip was by attaching a pocket to the strap of my backpack. It definitely looks handmade in comparison to her regular spot right against my chest, but it’s also custom built to her specific size. So far she’s seemed quite comfortable in there, and it doesn’t make much difference to me since she’s around the same level on my body as usual.

“I’m assuming there’s an impressive view on the other side of that bush?” Moira asks from just behind me.

I turn to glance down at her, frowning as I look between her and the foliage in question. “Oh shoot, you can’t see over that?”

She tries standing on her tiptoes before shaking her head. “It’s fine, I’m sure we’ve almost reached the oooohmygodwhatareyoudoing–!”

Diego has suddenly stepped behind Moira to hook his hands under her arms and vault her into the air, so that I have to now look way up instead. He places her on his shoulders nonchalantly, as if she was a child. Her arms flail in fear before she latches tightly onto his head.

“Diego, are you nuts?! We’re on an incline!” she whimpers, squeezing her eyes shut.

“And you weigh, like, two pounds,” he chuckles. “I’ve gotcha. Just relax and soak in aaalll those fall vibes!”

Moira finally catches her breath and relaxes enough to open her eyes. She hesitantly joins us in admiring the scenery, nothing but the sound of the breeze filling the air as we stand in silence for a few more moments. It’s a welcome break after a couple of hours of nonstop walking. Not that I’m complaining, as this hike has been such a pleasure. Fresh air, colorful scenery, both quiet moments and lively ones. The weather is absolutely perfect - sunny enough that the lingering morning dew was sparkling when we left, but with a pleasant cool breeze that has kept us at the ideal temperature in the shade.

I peer up ahead at our path, trying to get a sense of how much further we need to go. “I think I can see the trail marker,” I say, “We’re almost there, I’m sure the view’s even better up in that clearing. And then we can have lunch?”

“Sounds good to me!” Diego declares as he turns and starts walking up the trail again, with Moira still sitting on his shoulders.

She immediately protests with an uncharacteristic firmness. “No, no. You are not going to keep hiking up this mountain with me here. Put me down.”

“Aight, aight. Take it easy, chiquita,” Diego relents, hoisting her back over his head and down to the ground.

“I don’t know how you do it, Evie,” Moira sighs, though now that she’s on terra firma again she’s able to smile as she gives Diego a playful glare. “Getting manhandled all the time.”

“You get used to it,” Evie laughs.

“‘Scuse me for worrying about those lil’ legs of yours after the past few hours,” our tallest friend chuckles good-naturedly.

I chime in, “He’s sort of got a point. Are you holding up okay, Mo?”

“Yup. Don’t worry, I can handle it.”

Several minutes later we make it to the sign that marks the end of the seven mile hike. The trees are far more sparse in our immediate vicinity, instead replaced with a few large rocks for us to sit on and around. In turn we collapse into seated positions to rest. Moira takes a little longer to get some pictures of the scenery for her work Instagram before she joins us.

“Alright, I’ll admit it… I’m really grateful for the break,” she says with a heavy exhale. She hangs her head and mumbles, “Stupid short legs.”

I’m in the process of transferring Evie from my pocket to my hand, but once she’s settled I grab a water bottle from my backpack and extend it to my second shortest friend.

“My bad," I tell her, "I didn’t even take into consideration the fact that the two of us are quite a bit taller than you when I suggested this hike.”

She reassures me that she’s alright, that she had happily agreed to joining and that she’s having a great time. But then as she’s speaking, I can’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye that Evie’s looking particularly deep in thought as she looks up at the rest of us one by one. I nudge her with my thumb curiously.

“What’s up?” I ask.

She snaps out of it, shaking her head apologetically before explaining, “Sometimes it’s hard to get a sense of certain things from down here… But, um, I can’t believe I’ve never asked this before… How tall are you, Aiden?”

Yeah, wow, I also can’t believe we’ve gone this long without mentioning it. But since Diego happens to be present when she asked, I just can’t help suddenly smirking and looking sidelong at him in reaction to the question. He responds with a massive eye roll.

Evie notices our exchanged looks and is preemptively laughing as she says, “What? Is it a weird thing to ask…?”

“No, it’s nothing,” I croon, still grinning smugly. “Just a bet I won a long time ago that I like to still rub in his face.”

Diego groans. “Just answer her question, bro.”

I take a moment to explain first, meeting Evie’s eyes again. “So believe it or not, I was actually taller than Diego when we were kids. But then he hit puberty early and shot up like a weed, and he broke the six foot mark when he was, like, twelve. At that point he bet that I’d never reach that height. But I was more of a slow and steady type. I was moving around the country after that with my family, but I would text him updates as I slowly inched up. I was in high school when I finally hit the mark. Just barely, and I never went past it, but still. I made it to six feet tall out of pure spite.”

“Yeah, whatever. You still never caught up,” Diego grumbles with a teasing smile, and from the way his arm tenses I can tell he would have shoved me if I wasn’t holding my tiny girlfriend aloft. Thankfully he abstains.

Evie giggles and turns to him. “So how tall are you, Diego?

“Six foot nine,” he says with a hint of pride but mostly the automatic drone of someone who’s had to answer that question many times to curious strangers.

“Holy crap. I guess you really are a giant,” she marvels, and then she turns the other way. “What about you, Moira?”

“Four foot eight,” she sighs.

Evie nods pensively. “Huh. Yeah, we’re uh… kind of all over the map, aren’t we?”

I frown as I try to remember that day back in February that I usually want to forget, back when I was looking over her paperwork before guiding her into Dr. Little’s lab. I quickly give up and decide to just ask, “How tall were you, Eve? Before, I mean.”

“Five foot four,” she says automatically, before twitching as if she’d received an electric shock.

Diego muses absently, “Huh, you’d be about Camila’s height. That’s hard to imagine…”

But I’m still focused on Evie and how her demeanor has changed. She looks visibly shaken. I lift her up slightly higher to catch her attention. “You alright?” I ask softly.

She glances up at the three of us, hesitating before deciding that she can confide in not just me but all of us. “It’s weird. I’d never really processed the fact that I can’t give that same answer anymore if someone were to ask me my height… I still mentally measure my surroundings on my own scale - like, I think of your hand as measured in feet, not in inches. As if the entire world has grown bigger. It just makes me feel weirdly self conscious when I remember it’s the opposite…”

There’s a tightness in my chest as I watch her grappling with her own reality. I can’t possibly imagine what it might be like for her, even after all this time. The fact that her height makes her feel “self conscious” pains me in particular, considering how much this amazing woman means to me.

I sigh and give her a half smile as I lift her up higher still and say, “I know it’s hard, but… Just know that there’s nothing wrong with you, okay?”

Moira scoots in from one side of me so she can touch her arm with one finger. “Agreed. You’re our friend no matter the height difference.”

Evie hugs the offered finger gratefully, and Diego leans in from the other side. “Yeah! Besides, three inches suits you. You wouldn’t be our lil’ shrimp otherwise.” He gently pokes the top of her head to muss up her hair.

This is probably the closest thing we can do to a group hug, and that’s not lost on the tiny girl in my palm. She briefly gets misty eyed, hugging Moira tighter, and chokes out, “Thanks, guys.”

Evie still seems a little off after that. Externally she’s acting like nothing’s the matter, jumping into conversation without issue over lunch, and frequently expressing delight over fall leaves and deer sightings on the trek back to the cabin. But I’ve seen her hide her feelings enough to sense that something might be up. She’s been acting a little weird all day, actually. I figure it might be because she’s overwhelmed by so much excitement and by constantly being around groups of people. But it’s hard to find a private moment with her to really make sure.

We’re pretty wiped by the time we get back to home base and it’s nearing late afternoon. The plan is to just relax in the covered patio for a while with some cider. I’ll need to start working on the campfire soon since I’m on dinner duty, but I still have some time to rest first, so I plan to hang out with everyone too. That is, until we get intercepted.

“Welcome back,” says Camila as she comes down the stairs to join us in the living room. “Hey, Aiden, can I get your help with something?”

I’m in the middle of unloading, Evie in hand as I drop my backpack to the floor. With a stifled exhale I ask, “Right now?”

“Yes please. I wanted to air out my room but the window’s stuck.”

“I can help,” Diego offers, having just put away his own bag.

“I don’t think your hand will fit,” Camila mumbles, gaze falling to the floor.

Evie pipes up just then, calling out to me. “Go ahead, I’ll go to the patio with the others. Can I get a ride, Kong?”

I reflexively lift her up for the upcoming transfer, keeping my eyes on her slight frame. Diego grins and reaches his arm out, touching his fingertips to the back of my hand. “Careful what you wish for," he tells her, "You want a drop tower or loop de loops?”

Looking particularly small as she stretches one leg out towards my massive friend’s palm, she pauses before her foot makes contact. “Uhhh. Moira, can I get a ride?”

“I’m kiddiiiiiing, c’mere Shrimp,” Diego laughs, and with a matching giggle my girlfriend slides off of my hand and is whisked away.

I follow Camila up the stairs, glancing around at the contents of her room. It’s a little messy in here, making me watch where I step as I pick my way across. The space is cluttered with blankets, pillows, clothing and shoes, and the tables are covered in makeup and skincare products. There’s a sweet fragrance in the air, a perfume of some kind, and it’s a bit stifling. No wonder she wants to open a window.

I investigate the latch and notice how rusty it is, and it takes me a while to wrench away at it, since I’m being careful not to brute force the thing and break it. Camila sits on the bed and hugs her legs into herself as she waits unhurriedly. After a minute of me struggling with the window she makes conversation.

“Remember that trip to Wisconsin?” she muses, “At Honeydew Ranch?”

She’s been doing this kind of thing more frequently since we’ve been on this trip, reminiscing on our family trips from when we were kids. It bothers me when she brings it up while everyone else is around, essentially gatekeeping our conversation from half the group with old inside jokes. But otherwise I haven’t really minded it, since childhood memories are one of the few things she and I have in common.

“Mm-hmm,” I hum as I think back, “That was my junior year of high school. I guess you were still in middle school?”

“Yeah. My window kept getting stuck during that trip too. Maybe I’m cursed or something.”

“I remember that, actually,” I chuckle. Finally the latch comes loose, but now I have to try to slide the faulty window up to open it.

Camila continues her trip down memory lane. “Yeah I figured you would, because I kept asking you to help me then too. Remember that day we stayed at the cabin while everyone else went out? And we just watched those weird Spanish reality shows all afternoon? Good times.”

I smile wryly as my muscles strain. Yeah, I’m sure she had fun then. Meanwhile the only reason I had stayed at the cabin with her that day was because I had a broken tibia and couldn’t go horseback riding with everyone else the way I would have liked. Guess she forgot about that part. I opt not to remind her, instead laughing awkwardly and agreeing, “Good times.”

Finally feeling a breeze leaking into the room, I grunt from the last burst of effort and let go of the window. I was only able to open it by an inch, and now it feels like it might be stuck like this. But the difference in air quality is immediate, so hopefully this is fine. I turn back around and falter for a second as I realize how intensely Camila is staring at me. She smiles wider and I shift uncomfortably.

“You all set here?” I ask, motioning towards the window. “I need to go make sure I know where the firewood is for tonight.”

Her eyes drift lower along my body for a second before she sits up and swings her legs back off the bed. “Yeah I’m good, thanks for the help. I’ll come with.”

I feel a little better once we’re in an open area downstairs. I locate the firewood in a designated log holder near the fire pit, and it’s easy from there to rejoin the rest of the group. Everyone is gathered around the patio table and in the process of laughing at something. And there’s my girl, standing on top of the table, currently the center of attention as she energetically tells a story. I smile warmly as I sit on the bench and my eyes briefly meet Evie’s as she speaks. Camila slides in next to me.

@Olo Yup, and at least they both know more of how Camila’s feeling. Which means they can completely avoid any and all issues regarding her now right

@Olo I hope it doesn’t disappoint