rinder. I sat up slowly, the world spinning for a moment. Ethan was still by the fire, but he was alone now, star

live. He

r Tiffany, crashed back down on me. The rel

still angry and red. Without thinking, I got to my feet, my legs shaking, and stumbled over to the small s

o keep the wound clean," I said

and for a second, I saw a flicker of something unreadable i

tly dabbed the cloth around his injury. His

o?" he asked, hi

t him. I focused on cleaning the wound, my mov

ed my wrist. His grip was surprisingly strong.

at him then, my eyes as cold as I could make

rd, leaving him staring after me

, how to find clean water, what plants were safe to eat, how to make a simple shelter. While Sarah and Mike complained and Tiffany clung to Ethan, looking

it for him, too. I made a thin, nourishing broth from some roots and brough

s fingers brushing mine. I f

loe," he said,

uldn't bring myself to speak to him

s desperate for some real protein. My hands were cut and bleeding from we

Ethan said, app

ng mine aside. He worked with a quiet efficiency, his han

lipping out before I could stop them. It was a memory from a

smile touching his lips

I said, and the bitterness

way, my heart aching with the

orized when I carried Ethan. We found the others huddled in their makeshift camp near the beach. There were about t

ched the camp and I saw Liam coordinating the survivors, my k

er, and I heard their voices. It was th

ce a poisonous whisper. "She just left you for dead, Ethan. A

still, my eyes c

as firm, resolute. "She was the one who was ther

ught couldn't break a

rising in fake indignation. "She' s so selfish, so manipulative. She was alw

ver to where I was lying. I felt his shadow fall ov

gotten into you. Your foster parents would be so ashamed of your behavior. This isn't

ck, suffocating despair. He believed her. He believed every single lie. My

of my soul had been frozen solid. The pain was still there, a deep

had. I had saved his life at the risk of my own

had chosen Tiffany. He had chosen to beli

he shelter. The decision was no longer a thought. It

, I would erase Ethan from my life, just as he had er