Mark held Kaylea to him. She had stopped crying about 10 minutes before; now she just leaned against his chest and stared out in to space. He was petting her hair and whispered soothing nothings to her in a sing-song voice.

“Hush now little one, don’t be afraid. I will keep you save every part of the day. If you stay by my side, I will keep you out of harms way.”

Kaylea sighed deep and blinked. She seemed to come back to herself again. Mark loosened his grip on her and she pushed herself away from him; her head hanging in shame.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Normally, I’m not such a baby.”

Mark took her hand and they stood up together. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her further in to the jungle.

“I understand, Kay, really I do. I know that none of you think that highly of me and I know I’m a complete idiot sometimes. But I just don’t what to do with myself. I promised Alex and Kami that I would be more serious, but I just can’t help myself. I think it’s just the shock of crashing in to the middle of nowhere and having to provide for ourselves. I guess no-one is handling it really well.”

Kaylea leaned in against him and nodded. It made sense what he was saying.

“You and Alex would make a good couple, you know.”

Kaylea didn’t dare look at Mark while she said it. Mark seemed kind of surprised. He looked down at the top of Kaylea’s head and thought about her words.

“I don’t think Alexandra wants me. We might be good friends, but I’m not sure if she likes guys actually. And if she did, she wouldn’t like me, it’s pretty obvious”

Kaylea did look up at him at that point; she had to see his face to make sure he was telling the truth. His face had a calm serene quality to it; his smile was gentle and his eyes emitted a sort of truth. Kaylea almost felt herself drown in the look in his eyes. She smiled back and nodded.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. Well, not about the part of Alexandra not liking guys, she does like guys. I think she likes Oliver. She hasn’t said anything and probably never will, she’s like that, but I see her staring at him sometimes. So then you flirt with Alexandra to make Kami jealous?”

Kaylea said that last part with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Mark shook his head and leaned forward to give Kaylea a kiss on her forehead.

“If there is anyone that doesn’t like me on this island, it has to be Kami. I think I have enough bruises to prove that.”

Kaylea grinned; Kami had told her the story of what happened when they had found her passed out on the ground and Mark looming over her. Kami had attacked Mark, thinking he had done something to her.

“Well, Kami is just a little protective of her friends. We have been close friends for years now.”

Mark stared back over his shoulder in the direction he thought the camp was. If that was a little protective for Kami, he would hate to see what really protective was like.

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