"Should we wait up for her?" I asked, spinning a plate on my finger after wiping it.

"Isn't someone especially caring today?" Noah teased, grabbing the dish from my hand and putting it away.

"I'm just saying. It's kind of dark now," I pointed out, throwing the tea towel on a bench and collapsing onto a chair.

"She'll be fine." Olivia chimed in, "I may not like Trent, but I trust that she'll be safe with him,"

Daisy nodded in agreement, "Yeah, they usually get back kind of late anyway."

Eli yawned, "I'm so tired,"

"Same, and I literally slept all day," Olivia yawned.

"It's been a long day for some of us," Noah laughed nervously as he ushered Eli into their tent.

"I'll say," Daisy chuckled, "Goodnight guys!"

"Goodnight!" we all replied in unison.

As I zipped up my tent, I laid down with my arm resting on the back of my head.

I let out a deep breath and stared at the ceiling of the tent - I wasn't quite tired yet like the others were.

Today was a close call.

I nearly got found out by those random guys in the market - it would've been over for me.

Scout nearly caught on too.

I hoped and prayed that she wouldn't find out - she was nice but I couldn't trust anyone with my secret here. They could've turned me in instantly.t was far too risky.

I needed to be more careful. No more going into civilisation on a whim.

I was finally closing my eyes, tired after thinking so much.

I yawned and turned on my side to sleep.

A hollow thud sounded from outside.

My eyes shot open at the sound, "What the-"

And then I heard a faint, drawling voice.

"Please, I've seen the way you look at what's his face,"

And another one.

I could hear her unclear voice reply, "Cole is just a friend,"

I felt like I'd taken a punch to the gut.

To say it hurt was an understatement.

Curious, I unzipped the tent ever so slightly to take a peek at what was going on.

Just as I focused my eyes on the two, Scout looked Trent in the eye and slapped him in the face.

"Don't ever call me that,"

I mentally high-fived Scout at how well she was handling it. No one deserved to be treated that poorly

Especially Scout.

I wonder what he had said.

"Scout-"

"No, Trent, we're over."

My eyes widened at her harsh words.

"Go away, and never come back!"

And with that, her vague outline ran away in the direction of the lake.

I needed to go and check up on her.

After Trent had stormed off, I quietly made my way over to where I could see her sitting down.

She was crying, her shoulders shaking.

I wanted to give her a big hug and tell her it was going to be okay.

Sighing, I placed my hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her.

What I didn't expect was for her first to connect with my face.

Hard.

***

"You punch hard," I laughed, thanking her as she handed me an ice pack.

Scout smiled at me guiltily as she sat back down. "I'm so sorry, I've just not had the best night,"

"I could tell," I replied, wincing in pain as I moved my head to face her.

Her eyes widened, she knew I'd listened in.

A few tears came out of her eyes as she began to cry again. "How much did you hear?"

"Well, I heard you absolutely friend-zoning me, that's for sure," I joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

She hiccuped as she laughed through her tears, "Sorry, it's just-"

The poor girl could hardly speak.

I gave her a warm smile as I wiped a tear off her cheek, "Don't cry, okay. He's not worth your tears."

Scout returned a weak smile as she regained her composure, "He basically called me a whore,"

I blinked twice, unsure if I heard that correctly.

"He called you a what?"

She repeated herself, taking a deep breath, "A whore,"

My veins were popping out, anger colouring my body.

"Well, he doesn't deserve someone like you," I said, clenching my fists.

With one swift movement, I stood up and began walking.

"Where are you going?" she croaked.

I stopped.

"To find that douchebag and give him a piece of my mind," I stated, running my fingers through my hair.

"No, please don't!" she begged.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," I replied quickly, my hands shaking, picturing landing punch after punch straight into that no good loser's face.

"I need you to stay with me."

I turned around, my eyes softening when I saw her.

"Please," she croaked, her eyes boring into mine.

"Okay."

***

We spent the night talking about anything and everything.

Except for Trent.

I tried to take her mind off him as best as I could because I knew she didn't want to talk about it further.

Scout came back with a pack of beers and handed one to me, "Here,"

"No, I really shouldn't." I held my hand up, trying to decline.

"You really, really should." She laughed, taking a big swig.

I caved, cracking open the bottle and taking a sip.

"That's the spirit!" she exclaimed and clinked our bottles together.

When I finished my bottle, I looked over to see Scout had already downed three and a half.

My jaw dropped as I stared at the pace she was drinking, "Woah there, lay off the pints,"

"No way, loser," she giggled, playfully slapping me.

I snatched the bottle from her as I laughed, "Yeah that's enough of that,"

"No fair, you're such a buzzkill!" Scout pouted.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "You, need to go to bed ASAP. You're so wasted,"

"I'm not even tired, let's go for a swim," she giggled, stumbling over to the edge of the lake.

I let out a laugh, "No way, are you crazy? It'll be freezing!"

She looked over me, cocking her head with a smile, "Are you too much of a pussy?"

I scoffed at the very thought.

Me? A pussy? Never.

I watched as she slowly lowered herself into the lake, winking at me.

Shaking my head, I laughed at her sudden flirtatiousness.

There's no way she would've been like this if she were sober.

I took my shirt off as I looked at Scout treading water in the lake, still giggling uncontrollably.

Someone had to make sure she didn't drown.

***

I looked over the ice-cold water as I slowly dipped my feet in.

I gasped at how cold it was.

"Come on, slowpoke," Scout shouted, waving me over.

Here goes.

My eyes widened at the rush of cold that absorbed my body.

"Oh my god, my balls!" I could practically feel them shrivelling up.

I could hear Scout cracking up ahead of me.

I muttered curse words as I pushed through the intense pain I felt.

As I approached Scout, I was beginning to get used to the water.

I could finally relax.

"Isn't this great!" Scout shouted, nearly bursting my eardrums.

I laughed. "Scout, I'm right next to you, you don't need to shout,"

She pouted, "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Through her excitement, she began falling backwards.

Not wanting her to fall over into the water, I caught her and brought her close.

We stared at each other intently and my heart was beating erratically.

After a matter of seconds, I could feel Scout leaning in.

Every part of me wanted to kiss her, but I knew she wasn't thinking straight.

She was drunk and hurt.

Her lips brushed against mine as I stepped back, the water lapping at my waist "I-uhm,"

"Kiss me, Cole," she whispered.

Temptation was beginning to take over, but I knew that right now this was wrong.

I sighed, "I can't,"

"Why not? You hate me, don't you!" she cried, letting go of me.

"No, Scout, I could never," I replied sincerely.

She huffed, crossing her arms, still intoxicated, "Then why?"

"Because," I looked straight into her eyes, "When I kiss you, I want it to be a kiss you'll remember,"

▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭▭

Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoyed this one make sure to give me a vote and a comment to let me know x

Sorry for the late update lol, results day and dat ;)

But we got some Scole action again finally - twas long overdue hehe. What did you guys think of them this chapter?

Next update: 23/08/20

Teaser: the aftermath of yesterdays events - scout comes to terms with what happened last night and gets a surprise from someone she least expected ;)

Thanks for 600 reads, and until we meet again, stay safe and healthy - if you ever need to talk I'm always here xxx