Carlo.

My feet weren't going to take another mile. They ached up my leg and around my waist. My shoulders and back would've been saved from this terrible pain if Escalante just took the backpack from me. Said boyfriend was laughing at something Patrick was saying all the while glaring at Jasper.

The whole team was going camping surprisingly. Alex said since it might be the last time we would ever see each other, we might as well spend it with each other. Everyone agreed although Camila and Jacinta had other plans but still managed to forfeit it for us. Val wanted to go with us but changed his mind when he realized everyone was paired up. He didn't want to look like the third wheel in everyone's relationship. I knew how that felt so I didn't judge.

In front of me, MK was carrying Alex on his back as they talked about college programs with Jacob. Dave had his arms around my shoulder, adding to the weight of my backpack as we listened in on them.

Escalante was with Patrick, talking about stuffs I couldn't hear and loudly mocking my sister for being pissed about the camping decision. In front of them were Jacinta and Jasper and he had his arms around her shoulder since the start of the journey like he didn't want to let go of her. Too bad he had to because Jacinta wasn't known for long distance relationship.

"I don't think I can take any more step." Dave halted, forcing me to stop and that was one thing I didn't want to do because then I would really feel the burning sensation on my knees.

"Come on, a few more miles up the hill." MK glanced back at him and tilted his head in the direction we were moving.

To my dismay, Dave leaned on me and my knees gave way, letting me fall to the ground on my knees. If Dave didn't quickly grab on to me, I probably would have rolled off the hill. It was that steep.

     The little commotion stopped everyone from moving and Es quickly ran to me, taking the heavy bag off my shoulders. He looked down on me and asked softly, "Hey, are you okay?"

He didn't even wait for me to answer before he glared at MK who had dropped Alex down. "See what happens when you don't let people rest up. Let's just take a break then we start moving again."

"It's just what? 20 minutes to get there." MK frowned at him then looked back at me with a gentle look. "I don't mean to sound cruel but it would be a lot better if you rest up when we finally get there."

I nodded quietly before Escalante could bitch unnecessarily and with Dave and his help, I got to my feet. Dave must have thought it wise to leave us because Es was reeving in anger. As we continued on, I let Es support me as I walked because if I didn't he was just going to complain.

Honestly, I loved how protective he was of me but I found it deeply annoying. I had gotten just a little bruise on my leg from scraping it to the wall of the boat we had been on and he panicked as if I had had my leg eaten off by piranhas. Unbelievable.

Knowing something was going to change in our relationship the minute we got into it was undeniable. Sure, the kissing and shit should be all but it was like all the affection he normally showed to me were amplified. Normally, he just glances and smiles, but now he stares then winks. Normally, he ignores majority of what I say, but now he listens to everything I say. Normally, he's slightly protective but now, he's overly protective. Normally, he calls me a meidoso, a pussy, but now, he calls me brave, the most courageous person he's ever met.

     I didn't know if it was supposed to make me love him more but I guess it worked because I get crazy anytime he showed me any of those affections. Except the over protective one. That was really annoying because it made me feel helpless.

"See, we made it." MK yelled, turning to us with his backpack swinging.

Successfully jumping over a log, I saw a clearing but that wasn't what caught my attention. It was the view. With nature and trees just at the bottom of the hill, the woods spread so far out, it looked like we were right in the middle of nature. Far off at another part of the woods, black birds chirped so loud and swarmed together around a cluster of trees. The wind breezed past us, ruffling us a little and I inhaled.

"This is amazing." Escalante let go of me after he had made sure I could stand on my own. Not that I couldn't walk rather stand before.

     We all stood at the edge of the hill that if someone took another step, they were going to roll the fuck down and if that person made it alive, it was entirely up to them.

Dave exhaled loudly and asked MK who was beside him, "How did you find this place?"

"My dad used to be on the boys scout so camping was his life. Since no one was ever interested in boys scouting in the family, he took us here every time someone new joins the family." He said, taking several steps back and dumping the backpack on the floor.

"What do you mean when you say 'someone new joins the family?'" Camila asked as we both turned to look at him.

     MK got busy offloading the stuffs in the bag, which were the tents, as he answered, "I've got dads instead of a dad and a mum. My other dad, Luke, he loves children. He's like that mum that never had the chance to get a child but when she finally gets one, she smothers him with love." He looked up from what he was doing and smiled, "He's got that whole ideology that we're gonna go into the world, reproduce and give him grandchildren."

"Like a typical dad." I murmured, smiling back at him.

The rest of the gang finally came to set up the tents and the camp ground. Camila, Patrick and Jacinta went out to pick up woods and sticks to make the fire while Jasper, Escalante and Jacob helped bring the log I had jumped over previously closer to the camp.

Since I was good at making tents –my dad had forced father's day on me and we had gone camping. Worse two days of my life. Came home with a fever– I got into it, helping Dave and Alex out whenever they got stuck.

Twenty minutes and camp site was almost complete, save for the wood we were supposed to use to start the fire. Jasper dusted the dirt off before sitting down on the log. Glancing at the route the girls had taken, he looked back saying, "What's taking them so long?"

"Relax chico. They'll be back." Escalante spoke up immediately then came to stand in front of him. "How about we do something to while away the time?"

"What?" He rose a curious brow and Es rolled his eyes, pulling the red haired boy with him. If Escalante wasn't going to kill him with the way he dragged him off, then I honestly didn't know what they were going to do.

Just as I was about to follow the both of them so I could stop Es before he did anything that wouldn't let us come back to this country, Jacob shoved two futons at me. He wiggled the one he was with and said, "It's the bed for the tent."

I nodded at him, throwing the puffy item into the tent. With plans on doing it later, I took off in the direction I had seen them use and frowned when I couldn't see any of them.

Where had they gone?

     Trying to shake the nerves that Jasper might have tried to harm Es in defense, I took long-legged strides as I looked around, hoping to find a trace of red shirt Es had worn or plain white shirt Jasper had worn.

It took me a while but I did find them. Just a few miles down and I quickly hide myself from their view as I drew closer to them. Es had Jasper pinned against a tree. His hands weren't on him but the look he gave Jasper dared him to move.

"You still haven't told me what you wanted?" Jasper rose a neat brow, copying Es when he shoved his hands in his pocket.

     Es slowly moved to have his back to me so I couldn't decipher the expression he was giving him. Es shrugged, heaving his shoulders and tilted his head to the side before saying, "Why are you dating my sister?"

My eyes rolled at the dumb reason he was calling Jasper out. Jacinta was what? 22 years old? She could take care of herself because I mean, she basically took care of all of us. She was like the big sister that would rather watch over us than sleep. But I knew that was why Es was protective of her. Escalante's folks were all bunch of protective people.

"Jacinta is fine." He sighed, "Now can we go back to the camp before people start thinking something weird is going on. I mean you have a boyfriend to get back to."

"Don't talk about Carlo." Es took a threatening step towards him and added, "Why did you date my sister when you know it's no good?"

"Why did you date Preston when you knew it was no good? If you can answer it then I might have an answer?" He frowned at him, standing up straighter and probably trying to look intimidating, but Es was a freaking 6ft something. No one except MK and our dads could beat that intimidating height.

"I dated Preston to hide my feelings from Carlo. I didn't want to fall in love with him again and watch him treat me as a friend. But Carlo loves me so it doesn't matter. Why are you dating my sister? You're just going to leave her after everything like a-"

"Leave her?" His eyes narrowed into a slit and he stared angrily at Es, "I actually like her a lot. If there was anyone that misused our relationship it was her. She made it a no strings attached relationship and practically just used me for sex." Es probably wanted to say something but Jasper shut him up when he tacked on, "And yes we used protection."

There was a quiet moment and I guess Es was realizing he had the whole thing wrong. I never had qualms with Jasper. Whenever we met, we talked lightly and I even noticed the way he looked at Jacinta. It was different than the way he had looked at her when we all first met in Ariesa's cabin. There was a little sadness in his eyes but I never bothered to care because that was before that whole Preston thing went down. I was still stuck on proving to Es that Preston was an ass.

"So I got this all wrong. Jacinta was the tonto in the relationship." I guess it final hit him because he stepped away from him and added in a softer, friendlier tune, "Dude, sorry. I didn't know she was that kind of person."

Jasper shook his head, raking a hand through his hair. "Yeah whatever. Are all Puerto Ricans like that?"

"Nah. But I don't know any other Puerto Ricans in Australia. Anyway, let's join back with the gang-"

"Carlo! What are you doing here?" Jacinta called from behind me and I yelped, twirling around and almost jumping her for blowing my cover like WTF!!

     Patrick and Camila stared at me and looked over my shoulder at Es and Jasper who must have already seen me.

"Carlo?" Es called and I twirled to him, shock still apparent on my face. He rose a puzzled brow at me and asked, "What are you doing here?"

I had exactly one minute to think of something before they all realized I was eavesdropping. Thinking back, I really shouldn't have bothered following him. "I uh... I think... My phone fell so I came out here to pick it up." I got my phone out of my pocket quickly and smiled. "Found it."

"Great, he was eavesdropping." Jasper rolled his eyes at me before walking past me to catch up with the girls.

Grunting, I gave Es a pout the second he frowned at me. Not my fault I was just really terrible at lying.

"You've got to at least be better than that, Carlo." He huffed, slinging his arm around my neck.

"How did you know?" I asked as we walked to camp.

He smiled and flicked my nose making me sneeze. I glared and he answered, "See, I know you. When you lie or are nervous, I can practically read you like a book."

I gave him a dry look, pulling away from him when we finally got to camp. "Whatever. Go fix the futons or something."

     Es winked at me before skipping along to go what I told him to. Sighing, I sat on the log to rest my legs and covered my definitely beet red face I had managed to stall when I was with Es. Gosh, I was such a Puta.

***

The sun had gone down a few hours ago and everyone was seated around the fireplace. Alex had started the fire as MK had up these ancient long torches by the side of each tents. Something about the way the fire danced, casting its orange hue on the camp grounds made the scene eerie. As the night came, the air got colder and anyone who couldn't stand it had their blankets around them.

Everyone sat down with their pair, huddling closer to them so they could share their warmth. Dave began a scary tale as a couple of us ate the spaghetti Dave had made.

Half the time, I couldn't even put the fork in my mouth because Jacob, Camila or Alex would yell or jump in fright. It was until my third fork fell on the floor I decided to save the food for after the story.

"It wasn't very long until his camp buddy noticed that the boy was missing, and he told the camp leader about it. The rest of the boys were ushered back to their cabins, and the scout leader and a few of the dads gathered their flashlights, and set out to look for the boy." Dave paused and Escalante and MK took it as their cue to fool around with the flashlights making the scene look spookier than it already was.

Dave's story was about a boy called Davie who had ignored the rule to stick by his camp buddy and had wandered off into the woods to look for big foot. Personally, his reason for leaving his camp buddy or the camp in fact was so dumb I felt dumb for a while.

     "A short time after," Dave continued with his dramatic tone, "a terrible thunder storm blew in, making it impossible to keep looking for the missing camper. The dads decided it was best to turn back and continue the search after the storm had passed; after all, the little boy wasn't one of their sons. However, the scout leader refused to give up. With his hair plastered to his face by the rain and lightning flashing all around, he bravely walked into the woods, calling the little boy's name. The sound of him calling could be heard, over and over, until it faded away." He paused for it to settle in, and I drew closer to Es who had finally stopped playing with the light to cuddle me, wrapping his arms around me, protectively.

     "When the dads arrived back at the cabin, they discovered the little boy had found his way back in his own and, except few a scratches. The violent storm continued through the night, but all was still again by morning. However, there wasn't sight nor sound of the camp leader. The dads alerted the park rangers and a search party was formed, but not a trace was ever found of the missing leader."

"What happened to him?" Camila gasped, holding Patrick tightly as she sat on her lap.

"Listen baby. He's not done yet." She said, rubbing her back slowly.

Dave nodded and continued, saying as softly as he could, "That was ten years ago, but some people say you can still hear his ghost calling out the little boy's name, 'Davie, Daaavvieeee...' Listen, you can almost hear it now..."

     Everyone fell silent to listen, if we could hear the poor ghost calling the boy's name– "Davie!" Someone shouted and I didn't know how but I jumped off the log and fell on the ground.

     Everyone laughed as I sat back down but I refrained from saying anything harsh since I wasn't the only one affected by that little scare. Camila and Patrick had fallen off the log, Alex had his spaghetti on his white sleeveless shirt and Jacob was trying to calm down.

He glared at everyone and asked, "Who said that?"

"Said what?" MK asked.

"The last Davie dammit. I almost thought it was..." He trailed off, finally realizing it was all just a story. He glared at Dave when he started laughing again. "Why you-" He cut himself off then started to chase Dave off camp.

Es passed me a drink and said, "Nice story huh?"

"You know I can't stand horror movies." Scoffing, I took a swing of it before cringing at the bad taste of the alcohol. Reaching down to pick up my food, I asked, "How do you like scary shit like that?"

"How can you stand the sight of blood without going ball shit crazy?" He shook his head, then took a good gulp from his drink. "That's how I can stand scary shit."

"Blood's just red. There's nothing disgusting or scary about blood."

"Maybe it's where the blood comes from that makes it disgusting. I don't know. It just makes my skin crawl." He shivered visibly and I rolled my eyes playfully at him.

That must explain why he was so panicked about my little bruise the other day.

"I'm going to miss you guys. Like why do you have to live in Australia?" Alex whined, pulling the bright pink shirt over his head.

"I'm sorry." I started.

"What? I'm from Australia too and I even have the accent to show. Why don't you guys miss me?" Patrick complained.

"You've been in this camp for like what?" MK shook his head, "As long as I've been in it."

"That's a lie. I've only been here for four years." She frowned at him.

"We'll miss you too, Pat." Alex quickly said, shutting MK up before he could say anything else.

     Patrick rolled his eyes at MK, throwing his arm around Camila's shoulder and said, "Good because it would be a ton unfair." He whispered something to Camila and she nodded. They both stood up at the same time and Patrick said, "We are going to call it a night. Ya'll should sleep tight and don't let the Davie story bite." They waved at us before entering their tent.

The camp was filled with silence again and it was funny how someone said the creepy Davie name again and I still jumped out of my seat. Es helped me up but still laughed with the rest of the crowd.

"It's not funny, you know."

"I know." Jacinta stifled a laugh. "But it's funny seeing you all jumpy." She grinned while everyone laugh. Huge bet she was the puta saying Davie's name.

"I'm going. Goodnight." I frowned at them, took the last sip of my bitter alcohol, dumped the bottle on the ground and ignored Es as I quickly entered my-our tent.

The tent wasn't exactly like Harry Potter's that might look small but was a damn house inside. No, it looked as big as it could be. You could take a couple feet to one end and not get to hunch your back. Sadly, it was freezing cold in there and Es forgot to pack a blanket for himself.

See why I did these things for him.

Squatting, I crawled onto my futon which was beside Es' and buried myself in my blanket. Just as I was about to close my eyes and pull myself into a deep sleep, Escalante called my name as he entered the cabin.

Grunting at the disturbance, I turned to look at him. He stood by his futon and stared down at me. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I sighed, turning away from him.

There were a couple shuffling and soon, I felt the heat of Es' body against my back. He murmured a quiet goodnight to me and it quickly got quiet after that. After waiting for that arm to throw itself around me like it normally used to, it never came. This made me glance at Es to see he wasn't facing me as he laid on the bed.

Rolling my eyes again, I pulled myself closer to him so I could cover him with the blanket. He snuggled closer to me and I decided to wrap my arm around him. "Goodnight." I answered back.

Slowly, everywhere got dark and eerie silent. Someone had put out the torches and the only light present was the camp fire Alex had made. I closed my eyes in hopes for sleep to come but all that came were thoughts I really didn't want to think about.

And that was home.

When I get home, it wouldn't be just Es and me. It would be Es, me and a bunch of boys Es had made succumb to him. Then there was college. There would be men, varieties of men. People I wasn't used to and then my shyness would be back. Everything about leaving this camp scared me.

     Would Escalante cheat on my like he did with his other boyfriends? Would he go back to harassing men in the gym? Would he eventually leave me for Samuel?

     All those thought made me pull Escalante tighter to me. I didn't want to lose him because I couldn't stand up for myself. I didn't want to lose him at all.

"Carlo?" I heard Es call my name but I didn't look at him as he turned to face me because I didn't want him to see me crying.

     I started to turn away but Escalante pulled me in a hug, letting me bury my head in his neck.

"Carlo, what is it?"

"I love you a lot Es." I said between sobs. "But I don't know I-if I'm enough for you."

Es exhaled, hugging me closer to himself. "You are everything Carlo."

"So you are not going to look for someone better than me?" I asked. "Because there are a ton of people better than me. A lot of people who aren't insecure about their feelings, loves PDA, has way better sex than-"

     Es pulled away from me to stare at me and with the little light from the fire that was now dim, I searched Es's darken eyes as he said, "What are you saying? I love every bit of your insecurities. PDA is uncomfortable for you, fine. Not everyone loves public display of affection. And the sex, don't get me started on that. I would never let anyone take me but you. You complete me. You are perfect for me."

I was speechless. How could someone love me like this? I wouldn't love me. I probably would have hated me since I've been friend-zoning myself for years.

     His touch to my cheeks gave me goosebumps and I shivered a little, smiling up at him, "Why do you love me like this? Is it because I'm you best friend?"

"Best friend? No. If I knew you as any random guy, I would have dated you."

"But then any random guy you dated, you cheated on."

     Even with the darkness, I could still sense the eye roll. "I didn't cheat on everyone I dated. The assholes, yes. The people I dated for pay back, maybe. But there were a lot guys I dated and really respected the relationship. Because they were sweet wonderful people. I would never want to hurt those kind of people.

"And Carlo, being your best friend was what hurt the most. I stopped seeing you as a brother the moment we hit puberty. I loved you so much I scared myself."

And that was it. That was all it took to reassure me he loved me and every part of me. And I loved him too.

We cuddled against each other and I hummed when the warmth filled me. Es kissed my forehead and I buried whatever doubt I had about him as I breathed against his chest.

"I love you, Escalante."