We spent the day out in the lake, tanning on the beach, playing volleyball, and letting Tyler and Brenna serenade us. By dinner time I was famished. Dylan and Tyler were cooking on the hot pad that was connected to the camper. I sat in our tent impatiently waiting when I saw a zip lock baggy poking out of Tyler's backpack.

Snacks?

I pulled it out and saw that it was a brownie.

Why the fuck would he have just one brownie in a bag in his backpack?

I opened the baggy and the answer was revealed. This was a special brownie. I quickly took off a chunk of a corner of it and then put it back.

Here gone nothing.

I couldn't help but giggle by the time dinner was ready. Everything just felt so light weight an apparently that was hilarious.

Tyler looked at me strangely. 

"God your eyes are so pretty. Are they green? Are they hazel? I can never fucking tell. But they're pretty."

I thought I had said that to myself but judging Tyler's reaction, that wasn't the case.

He smiled at me, "Um, Alex, did you happen to find a snack in my backpack while you were waiting on dinner?"

I giggled, "Yep. It was yummy."

"How much did you eat of it, Baby?"

"Just a chunk out of a corner."

Tyler's eyes grew wide. They looked like a cartoon. So funny.

He grabbed a water bottle and handed it to me. "Drink some water, Baby. Let's get some food in you too."

Everything tasted delicious. It tasted like I had never had food before in my life. Tyler kept his arm around me. I found myself nuzzling into him.

I could hear other people talking but they were more like buzzing bees. The only person I could zero in on was Tyler. After dinner Tyler led me back to our tent.

I immediately started stripping down. I wanted to feel his skin on mine. My own skin was tingling. 

Tyler seemed to be trying to get me to stop and I couldn't figure out why. 

"Lexi, Baby, we have to get you to come down a little bit."

What did he mean by that? Come down? I was light as a feather right now. Who would want to 'come down' from that feeling? 

I just giggled and started kissing him. I was essentially naked and couldn't figure out why he wasn't. I started pulling at his shirt. Again it seemed like he was trying to fight me on it.

"Why don't you want to play with me?"

My voiced sounded like a child's. I couldn't help it though. I felt like he was being a big meanie head.

Tyler rolled his eyes and started to kiss me. I instantly became putty in his hands. I just wanted to be with him. He rolled partially on top of me. It felt like he was weighing me down to the ground. Otherwise I'd float away. I felt his tongue on my neck and started to moan. He put his hand over my mouth.

"You have to be quiet, Baby. Otherwise everyone will hear us."

I nodded sheepishly. I wrapped my legs around Tyler. I wanted to make sure he stayed with me. He started kissing me again. We hadn't ever really made out like this before. It usually led somewhere a lot further. But Tyler just seemed content to kiss me and I was more than happy to kiss him. It felt like kissing little bubbles when I kissed his sweaty face. I could feel every hair sticking up on my arms. 

And then I started to feel an overwhelming sense to sleep. I felt the world melt away. Darkness started to take over. The last thing I felt was Tyler covering us up in the sleeping bag.

I felt oppressively hot when I woke up. Tyler was laying on me. I had to wiggle slowly to make sure that I didn't wake him up. He was snoring loudly. 

Where the fuck am I?

It took me several moments to orient myself. I opened the tent and saw that it was the dead of night. The cool air on my face felt heavenly. Our fire was still going. It should have been put out hours ago. I had to blink to see but realized that there was someone still sitting next to it. I walked over slowly and saw Ari sitting with a blanket around him in an oversized chair.

He looked startled to see me, "What are you doing up, Gorgeous?"

"I could ask you the same."

"Couldn't sleep. Aaron saws logs that could wake the dead."

"Must be genetic because Tyler is too."

He chuckled and opened his arm inviting me to cuddle with him under the blanket. I took him up on the offer and got settled in. Ari kissed me on the top of my head. It didn't seem to be a romantic gesture. I didn't know what to call it. Brotherly? That would just be too weird. But it was closer to that than anything else.

He wrapped his arm around me to keep me warm. I appreciated the gesture. I realized then That I was only in a pair of shorts and a tank top with no underwear top or bottom. I wasn't sure how I even got that on. 

"What the fuck happened to me?"

"You ate a massive bite of a very laced brownie."

"It wasn't just pot?"

Ari chuckled, "Nope. You had Tyler freaking out. It was laced with shrooms too."

"Oh fuck."

"Yeah, next time, ask before you eat someone's edibles. You never know what they are."

I hit my head with my palm, "duly noted."

"Did you have a fun trip?"

I laughed, "It was fun, yes. I felt like I was floating most of the time. I could see the air."

Ari laughed, "Fuck, I need to eat a piece of that."

"Want to?"

"Lex, we would end up naked, petting each other in the woods." You were already trying to touch everyone earlier.

My eyes grew wide, "I did?"

"You don't remember?"

I shook my head, "It all feels like a fever dream."

Ari kissed the top of my head again. "You'll be okay, Gorgeous. We all had you." 

I lifted my head and went to kiss Ari on the cheek. Instead I managed to catch him on the mouth. He seemed surprised and waited there for a moment until I made my next move. I kissed him a moment longer and then pulled away slowly.

"Sorry, I was going for your cheek." I blushed. 

"I didn't kiss you back so it doesn't count." He joked.

"So it didn't happen?"

"Exactly. No fucking need to start a fire where there isn't one. Gorgeous, we are in a spot where we can be friends and Tyler isn't pissed off about it. I'm not fucking with that line."

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah it's not a line I want to cross at all either."

Ari looked at me then, "Are you happy, Lex?"

I nodded, "I want to be. I should be."

"But are you?"

I shrugged, "There's just a lot of uncertainty right now. I have to get used to a lot of change coming up and you know I fucking suck with change."

"Take it one step at a time. And lay off the drugs. You don't need a pot brownie to relax."

I felt my cheeks flush, "I was so stupid to take it."

"No, Tyler was stupid to bring it. He should have told you he had it and what it was."

"I think it's a little bit of both our faults then."

"Probably. But it's hard for me to ever blame you."

I chuckled. "I'm not a saint, Ari. I fuck up, a lot."

"You're overly critical of yourself, Lex. You know that right?"

I shrugged, "Maybe."

We fell silent then and started looking at the fire. I felt myself relax into Ari's arms. I knew I should get back to my tent before Tyler woke up but my limbs just felt too heavy to walk. The early morning twilight woke me up. Ari had his head on my shoulder. I realized then that I really needed to freaking pee. I did my best not to stir him as I got up and went to our designated pee area. 

Holy fuck it's cold out here with no bra on. I need fucking shoes.

I tiptoed back to the tent. Tyler was still snoring. I grabbed my hoodie and sneakers. I went then to the fire and started it back up. I wanted it going before the others got up. 

Ari started to stir. He smiled, sleepily at me.

"Morning, Gorgeous."

"Good morning, Ar."

"Did you wind up on me all night?"

I shook my head pointedly no, "As far as anyone is concerned, you fell asleep by the fire alone."

He nodded, "Fair enough."

He looked around. It was early enough that the others wouldn't be waking up for another hour or so.

"What's up?"

He smirked, "Want to go for a swim with me?"

"Clothes on?"

He laughed, "Yeah no, your boyfriend would drown me if we went skinny dipping."

I smiled back, "deal." 

Ari grabbed a couple of towels out of his baggage and we started down to the lake. We were camping halfway between the cliff's edge and the beach so it wasn't too far of a hike. When we got to the water I stripped off my hoodie and shoes. Ari went straight down to his boxers. I tried not to ogle him.  

PLATONIC. You can be platonic. Focus.

We waded out into the water. It was cool but not too cold. It would heat up as the sun rose. I could tell my nipples disagreed. I should have grabbed my swimsuit. I looked over at Ari. He was smiling widely back at me.

Perv.

We started treading water for a while and then I flipped onto my back. I let myself float in the water aimlessly. Ari did the same. We kept our finger tips touching so that we knew we weren't floating apart. 

I couldn't be sure how long we had been out there but I knew the others would be up soon. I signaled for Ari to head back to shore with me. We  toweled off and headed back up to the campsite. Tyler and Gavin were grilling eggs when we got there.

He looked up quizzically but didn't say anything. I felt myself blush. I walked over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Good morning, Baby." I said sweetly, using his pet name for me.

Tyler raised his eyebrow, "Have a good swim?"

"I did. I slept super early apparently. So I was up at the ass crack of dawn."

"I slept out here." Ari added like that explained it.

Tyler seemed defensive at that point. I wondered at what. He looked at Ari, "Your choice or do I need to kick Aaron's ass?"

Awe. He was being defensive of Ari. 

That made me feel like dog shit. I wondered if I should tell him about me coming out here too in the middle of the night?

"He was snoring too much for me. So I came out here. Wound up falling asleep."

Tyler looked to me then, "Same for you?"

Oh, fuck, you already knew. 

"I woke up overheated and came out to get some air. Wound up hanging out here with Ari. And you were snoring."

I was rambling. Tyler rubbed my shoulder, "Relax, Lex. You had a weird evening. I'm just checking in on you"

My palms were clammy. I felt the old familiar tingle of a panic attack setting in. I tried to calm myself by breathing.

Find calmness in the chaos. Just breathe Lex.

Tyler picked up on my mood and pulled me over to a log that was overlooking the bluff. It wasn't quite as high as we usually climbed up but it still had a nice view of the water. Tyler sat down and pulled me next to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and tried to just relax.

"We are going to be fine, Lex. I promise."

"I know. I just... have to get to a place where I believe it."

Tyler wrapped an arm around me and squeezed. "Just breathe. Let this silence take over and let it be your reality for a while."

I closed my eyes and tried to relax into the world.