Just to warn you, the geography difference will likely be inaccurate here. I'm not from Miami, so have no clue about this stuff. Also this hasn't been proofread as I just wanted to get on with it lmao

Aiden's pov:

The moment, Aiden stepped out of the room, Aru burst out laughing.

"Why is your backpack as big as you are? And you bought carrier bags!" Aru snorted. She brought up her phone to take a photo. "Sending that Mini."

"Good. At least someone will be on my side," Aiden frowned deeply. Aru cackled harder. "She says you look like a tortoise on its 6th grade residential!" She gasped. Aiden watched, grumpy, as she continued to double over laughing.

"You done yet?"

"Almost," she let out another stream of giggles before stopping. "Finished."

"Where's you're bag then?" she lifted up her school bag, about as long as her upper arm. "That's it? Ok, you have definitely forgotten something."

"Nope," Aru answered. "I've got my clothes, pjs, blow up roll mat, heat-reflecting blanket, water bottle, toiletries and lip-gloss!"

"What about food?" Aru waved a box of pringles at him.

"Barbecue flavour. They're also good fire fuel." Aru told him. "And I've got tarp for a tent"

"How do you know all this?"

"I went to girl scouts for a free double session."

"You learnt all that in an hour?"

"2 hours. Double session." She checked her watch. "Oh we gotta go! And maybe swap to black sneakers." She picked up her too-small-to-be-true backpack and ran down the corridor.

~~~

"Welcome to our last 8 competing teams! Who's excited for the next challenge?" Theo's voice rung out over the crowd of teenagers. A few muttered "yes" unenthusiastically, while most just nodded sluggishly.

"I can't hear you? Who's excited?" No-one said anything this time. "Right. Well. You've all been sent an email of a map of the city. You will have to download an app to track your progress and get your clues. Remember to be at the Bayfront park before 8:15 and have camp set up before 8:45, so you don't disturb other competitors. Lights out will be at 10. Clear?" There were more nonchalant nods, and some clicks on phones. "Ok. After you find each object - they are all golden stars - alert us and then you can cash in the next clue. Your clue should come through on your phone in 3, 2,..."

Aiden's phone buzzed, a second before all the other mobiles joined in.

"Ok," Theodore finished, "off you go!" The other groups ran off in random directions, but Aru grabbed Aiden's arm before he could sprint away as well.

"We need to know where to go before we leave, unlike those doofuses." She said in answer to his questioning look. Based on her facial expression, he was also in the "doofus" category. "So wanna read out the clue?"

"Oh, yeah right. Ok. Word one: the country you're standing in. So, America, or American?"

"I'd say American." Aru agreed, before leaning over his shoulder to read. Aiden managed to ignore how close together their heads were. "Word two: lines through the skies, not a bird and not superman."

"Not a bird and not superman, so it'll have to be a plane?" Aiden thought out loud.

Aru added on. "Planes and lines through the sky. Plane-lines? Oh, Airlines!"

"American Airlines. There are quite a few of those, I think. Word three: where Katniss almost dies twice," Aiden asked.

"The Arena." Aru said instantly, stepping back. Aiden shot her a sideway glance. "What? I'm a hunger games fan!"

"So," Aiden said, back on task. "We have American - or American - Airlines Arena. Is that on the map?"

"Yup, about three quarters of a mile north from here. Let's go!" Aru used the arm she hadn't let go of yet to drag him - extremely hard - in the right direction.

"I would prefer this if my arm stayed attached," Aiden muttered.

Aru continued to march onwards, but fixed him with a look, "Less talkie, more walkie, soldier!"

"When did you get so motivated?"

"When did you start caring about me, again?"

He'd never stopped. But Aru didn't know that, and probably never would. There's no way he could just... tell her. He couldn't risk losing her all over again.

After a surprisingly short walk, they ended up at the American Airlines Arena. Aru tapped Aiden on the shoulder.

"Anything else in the clue?" she asked.

"'PS. Corn dogs are the best.' Random much?"

"There could be a corn dog shop around here?" Aru pointed out. They looked around the outside of the arena, and - to Aru's triumph - found a corn dog stall, complete with a teenager wearing a corn dog costume and holding an advertising sign. Aru walked up to the worker, smiling awkwardly. "Um, do you have any gold stars for us to collect?"

The corn-dog teen scratched their neck as if they were trying to remember something. "You 2 kids from the competition thing?" Aru nodded eagerly, before the employee turned around to pick something up.

Aiden wasn't sure what he had expected for the gold stars. Maybe some old placards, or little stickers , or even laminated paper stars. So, he was pleasantly surprised when the worker turned round with a bracelet, complete with a single, golden star charm. They handed it Aru, before saying, "Your next clue will be messaged to you in a second."

Sure enough, a notification popped up on Aiden's screen just after they'd spoken. Both Aiden and Aru thanked the corn-dog guy and walked away. Aru fastened the bracelet on her wrist, holding it up to admire it.

"It looks quite nice on me," she mumbled, to herself more than him or anyone else.

Anything would look nice on her.

"Huh?" Aru looked up at him, "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Nothing!" Aiden replied, trying to keep his voice even. Since when did he blurt out his thoughts? That was Aru's job.

Aru looked at him a little longer, obviously unconvinced, before looking back at the bracelet. "Whatever,"

"Whatever," Aiden echoed. They stood in silence with Aru sending him sideway glances long enough for Aiden to regret existing. "So... Do you want to check out the next clue?" Aru nodded.

On Aiden's phone screen, the words came into focus. Aru checked out the clue. "Word 1, what Miami is famous for, word 2, translate jardin from Spanish into English. Jardin means garden I think,"

"And Miami is famous for its beaches!"

"Beach garden..." Aru fished around for her phone, "Here we are, 'Miami Beach Botanical Gardens' that's where it'll be! Race ya," Aru took off, leaving Aiden in the dust.

"Hey, wait up!"

~~~

"That wasn't fair! You've got longer legs,"

"You're the one who challenged me to a race." Aiden argued, smirking at Aru's expression. Her braid had been ruffled by the race so wisps of near-black hair framed her face, making her frown look even more stormy. "I thought the mountain of bags you're carrying would slow you down,"

It was Aiden's turn to frown. "I've never been camping before, that isn't my fault!" Aru sniggered, before looking over to the side.

"Hey Kemi!" Aru waved wildly at the girl on the other side of the road. Kemi waved back, with the same level of enthusiasm.

"Hi Aru! How's the search going?" Kemi had her hair in twists, which hung around her face.

"Alright, just heading to the beach," Aru shouted across. Kemi pulled a face.

"Lucky! I've got to go to a public bathroom. Ugh, all the grime," she mimicked gagging. Aru snorted.

"Have fun, bestie!" Aru laughed. Kemi rolled her eyes, but laughed all the same. Walking away, Aru waved goodbye to her. Aiden smiled and gave Aru a nudge.

"When did you two get so close?" he asked, grinning.

"Last night. We just kinda chatted for a while. She's solid, and a bit awkward but nice and definitely a friend." she smirked, adding, "Why? Are you jealous?"

Aiden's eyes widened. Aru laughed.

"That was a joke, bro." She paused for a second before adding, "We're friends again, sort of."

Friends. That was an improvement. That was good.

So why did Aiden still feel weird?

"Yeah, we are," Aiden smiled at her, hiding his uneasiness. She grinned back.

For a second he was almost going to ask her. About that. Whether he'd been forgiven. But he saw Aru's face - how she looked happy around him for the first time in forever - and remembered how she'd been before. Guarded, cold, full of loathing. He couldn't risk it, could never let it go back to that. He didn't know what he'd do if it did, he didn't know how long it would take to recover again. If that happened at all, that is. No, he couldn't mention that, not now, not-

Aru's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, look, the gardens are up ahead!" She glanced over at him. "Hey, is everything ok?"

"Oh yeah, everything's great." Aiden said without missing a beat. He grinned at her and tried to make it reach his eyes. Aru's brow furrowed, but she didn't question him.

Maybe Aru wasn't the only one who knew how to lie after all.

~~~

They had made good progress over the day, finding 9 stars across the day. The app told them they were over halfway through, and it wasn't even the second day yet. And thanks to Aru's short scout training, they put the tent up in only half an hour. Once they had unpacked, they sat by an already-prepared campfire and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Rudy and Mini joined them quickly after, with wrapped sandwiches (courtesy of Mini) and 2 family packs of marshmallows (courtesy of Rudy). The sky had turned near-navy by that point, and a few stars were beginning to sparkle, scattered over the sky above. It looked like a photograph Aiden had taken years ago with his mom, when they had gone for a walk late in the evening to see over the city. Of course, now the city was behind him and he was with his friends, but the feeling was still the same. A soft, warm, gentle glow in his chest that seemed to flutter. He remembered something that Kara had said, hope is a thing with feathers. Maybe happiness was as well. Aiden liked that idea.

10 o'clock came much too quickly for Aiden's liking. Everyone filed into their tents after saying a quick goodnight and settled down into their sleeping bags. After a couple of minutes, even the quiet chatter from the other tents died out entirely. There was only silence, except from the gentle winds. Aiden laid still, staring up at the tent's ceiling above him, waiting for tiredness. It was a chill evening, despite how hot the day had been.

"Aiden?" He heard a voice, Aru's voice, quiet in the dark. "Aiden are you still up?"

"Yes," he replied, before adding, "shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Probably."

Aru chuckled, the only sound in the near-silence. "Do you think we'll do it?"

"Win, you mean?"

"Yeah." A beat of quiet. "I had hoped so, but it seems so close now..."

"I think we can. We can at least hope." He closed his eyes, searching for the right words. "We have to hope we can, otherwise we'll never have truly tried." Aru hummed in what he hoped was agreement.

Aru started to speak. "You're a good-" she paused. "I'm glad I know you Aiden."

"Me too, Aru." Neither of them spoke for a second.

"Night, wifey," Aiden could hear the grin in her voice.

"Night, Shah." He paused a minute before adding, "sleep well," but when he looked over she was already asleep.

Even after that he couldn't get to sleep. It was too uncomfortable on the ground. Next to him, he could feel Aru shivering. He looked over at her. Even in the dark, he could see she was cold.

After hesitating for a moment, he gently removed his hoodie and layed it over her, in hope of giving her some warmth. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would help. He wanted her to be happy - after all, they were friends, right?

He pulled his sleeping bag tighter and slowly his eyelids grew heavier. At some point he must have drifted off, as his mind slipped from cold tents and hard floors to gooey marshmallows and happiness dancing around on its wings

A/N hi Y'all! It's been a while.
I am sooo sorry, but a lot of stuff has got in the way (school, funerals, friends birthdays, ect.) so this is quite long to make up for it
buuuuut I will try to be more active from now on! So sorry!
Also thank you for your support so far, please continue to comment and vote, it's awesome to see a a writer
Love y'all! Byee!