Survival Of The Fittest

[[Hayley Kelly continued from Break Up and Break Down]]

It was a long trip.

Hayley couldn't lie and say she hadn't expected that. She had looked at the map before she'd headed out, after all, and seen that her destination lay quite far away. About as far away as the residential area she'd been too lazy to walk to from the greens. In other circumstances she probably would have groaned and kvetched for as long as doing so would prevent her from having to walk that god-fucking-far, but hey. Times change. Circumstances change. Lame as that is.

She had no idea how long the distance was, in miles, but she did know one thing for certain- by the time the beach came into view, the sun had set completely.

Hayley silently thanked God or Buddha or whoever that they'd made it to the beach when they did. The last bits of light had been leached away, and had they still been traveling they would have been in real danger of a sneak attack. As it was, some part of Hayley's mind acknowledged that they still weren't safe, but at least they were somewhere. And the ocean itself inexplicably made her feel a little more at piece.

She pulled off her bloodstained boots- they're not even worth trying to save at this point, really- and left them on the ground before stepping barefoot into the sand. She curled her toes in the soft sand. It was a comforting feeling. She let herself wear a real smile for a moment. Then she turned to the real issue at hand.

Gotta get all this blood off me. It's gross, and besides that, I'm gonna look all kinds of serial-killer-ish to anyone who runs into me. I mean, after the announcements tomorrow I'll be fucked either way, thank you oh-so-much Danya in advance, but at least maybe people who don't know my name won't think I've been off beheading people. That fact no longer got any sort of reaction from her. The kid she killed didn't matter, the kids that were upset at her for what she'd done, did. So...the ocean. That's water. I can wash in that. But...

Oh, fuck it. Whatever. Oh, yeah, the viewing public's gonna love this.

Sorry, mom. Sorry, God.

Hayley took a couple of steps forward. She dropped her bag in the sand, and after a few moments of concentrated effort, managed to release her vise grip on her sword, letting it drop as well.

She shook off her hat. She pulled her goggles off, over her head. She pulled her dress over her head, and dropped that in the sand, too.

She immediately kind of hated herself for the choice in underwear she'd made the previous morning. Her bra and panties were a matching set, black with red bows, so at least she wasn't going to be embarrassed by wearing clashing clothes on television, and she was actually rather grateful for the color combination- the blood that had soaked through her dress didn't show at all. There were bigger problems, like how the entire ensemble was mostly lace, and how much of it was see-through, and, most paramount to her at that moment, how the backside of her panties was entirely covered in ruffles.

I'm on SotF, I just beheaded a metalhead, I'm covered in blood, and I have ruffles on my ass.

Hayley allowed herself a moment of silence for the death of the small amount of dignity she'd had remaining before continuing to walk forward.

The island was lacking in man-made light sources. Hayley could only imagine that parts of the island were pitch black at this point. But here, where nothing blocked the light of the stars and the moon, and where the sand reflected the light like newly-fallen snow, everything seemed to be glowing. Hayley's white-white skin was no exception, and as the pale moonlight touched her she looked more than anything like a ghost making her way towards the ocean.

Her feet touched wet sand, the highest point that the waves touched. She knew she was going to have to be careful here. Go too deep in the water and BANG, no more head for Hayley. She took a couple more steps forward, feeling the water wash over her feet, then over her legs...

When the water was just under her knees, she lowered herself, slowly, carefully, into it. When a wave passed, the water would just skim over her shoulders. There she sat, letting the salty ocean water wash the blood from her skin. The water was cold, and she was cold, but at least I'm a little more awake now, right? Nothing I can really do, anyway, any water I'd find would be cold.

Hayley sighed. My second night on Survival of the Fittest and I'm basically naked. Hello, logical continuation of my life, right? Honestly.

She thanked God or Buddha or whoever for the water, and for the darkness.

((Kyle Portman continued from Break Up and Break Down.))

The trip was too short.

It had mostly passed in silence. There hadn't been anything to say. Kyle had dutifully followed Hayley. He had used the silence to think. And despite the length of the journey, his thoughts had never settled. Never decided what he was going to say. What could he say? What do you say to your girlfriend after she becomes a murderer and is basically ostracized by her friends? While Kyle agreed with her motives, it didn't make it any less murderous. He briefly wondered how the ones who won were treated when they got home. Were they jailed, quietly and without fuss? Or were they allowed to walk the streets, haunted by the memories, the dead eyes and bleeding bodies that littered their path home, no longer able to truly function in society. The Government usually avoided the subject of SoTF if it was brought up. It was a sore spot, what with Danya evading capture for so long. So those winners....

More importantly.... The thought had been niggling at the back of Kyle's mind since before he confronted Nancy. He wanted to win this game. He wanted to go home, to live. But.... For him to win, Hayley would have to die. The thought brought panic to Kyle's chest and tears to his eyes. It nearly made him throw up, although he quenched the nausea. He would never be able to do it himself. And letting her die.... The thought repulsed him. If they got to the Final Four together.... He would ask her to kill him. It was the only option. Although, that if was a pretty big one....

And now they were at the beach. Hayley wasted no time in taking off her boots and stepping into the sand. Kyle sedately gathered her boots and moved further down the beach to make a pile. The darkness around him seemed to mock the dark thoughts in his mind. The flashlight hidden within the day pack made his life that much brighter. He turned to show Hayley what he had found, but nearly choked. She had taken off her dress entirely, which... honestly shouldn't have surprised Kyle. She needed to clean up, and she wouldn't be able to do that with the dress on. He felt himself reddening. Despite some physical contact between them, they had so far remained celibate. From the dark whispering and bathroom graffiti, that made Kyle an outlier on the graph of relationships Hayley Kelley had had. He was aware of several of them; it would have taken much more subtlety than High School students were capable of to keep those rumors from reaching his ears. He had never confronted Hayley about it. It was her business who she dated, not any of his problem. As long as she didn't cheat on him, he was fine with her past.

A moment later, Kyle shook his head and looked down. Hayley had walked down to the water and was now, as best Kyle could see by the light of the moon (there was no way in hell he was shining his light on her with the cameras watching), crouching down in the water. Probably to allow the waves to wash off the blood and stuff. Still dutiful, Kyle gathered Hayley's dropped dress and placed it along with his other stuff. It was only now that he removed his shoes and socks, allowing the sand, still warm from the sun, to surround his feet. It was comforting. It reminded him of a long forgotten memory. No time for introspection, though. Kyle's injured hand... had it really only been a day ago? Nearly two now, he supposed. It felt like months. It occurred to him that the knife he still carried in his pocket had tasted blood once already. He might die before it got to taste blood again. A macabre thought. His injured hand twinged again, putting Kyle's train of though back on track. He quickly unwound the bandage to check the progress. It had stopped bleeding, probably hours ago. Probably even longer than that. No need to waste guaze on it then. He wrapped it with just bandages, noting that he was nearly out. He would have to hope they didn't become necessary.

With that taken care of, and a deep breath to steel his will, Kyle took his shirt off and followed Hayley's path down to the ocean. He paused at the shore, took his knife from his pocket, and tossed it toward his stuff. He didn't see where it landed, but a pass over with the flash light showed a glint where it was hiding. It was near enough to the pile of stuff that it was no worry. Kyle turned off the flash light and approached Hayley, making sure to splash loud enough that he wouldn't startle her. He didn't think she would hurt him, not on purpose, but you never knew.

"Hey. Do you... um... need help washing your back or anything?"

Oh God. It even tasted lame.

Hayley blinked at the splashing behind her but didn't otherwise react at first. The horrible killer instinct she'd picked up at the fun fair (she almost snorted, thinking the phrase fun fair - yeah, buckets of fun that was seemed to have dissipated for now. She felt calm here. Safe. The spell on her had broken the moment the sword had left her hand.

She knew Kyle was here, of course. She'd walked the whole damn way with him, after all. She didn't take her dress off for him, but she didn't feel the need to send him away, either. There was a long list of people who'd seen Hayley naked, or close to it, and there was an equally long list of people who could see Hayley naked without her giving a flying fuck. Kyle happened to be on the second list. Hayley frowned. See, if everything'd happened the way I wanted it to on this fucking trip this EXACT thing would've happened, except with a lot less blood and a lot less fear for our lives. And we'd probably be on a lake or something. And I'd probably just be legit naked. So yeah it would be kind of different. But, you know, still.

So when she heard the splashing she knew it was Kyle, but she didn't turn to look at him until he was already right there. She smiled slightly. Really, she was happy he was there, even though in all honesty she felt like she'd be more likely defending him. She hadn't even noticed if he had his own weapon. She did notice now, however, that he was currently shirtless. I approve. I'd approve harder if he was pantless, too, but, you know, probably not the time to suggest that?

Pantless isn't a word. Ugh, isn't the water supposed to be waking me up?

"Hey. Do you... um... need help washing your back or anything?"

Hayley laughed. Legitimately, laughed. It was just sooo the dorkiest thing Kyle could have possibly said at that moment, and it was completely adorable. He's so flustered! It's cute, though. I'm used to him getting all wordy when he's nervous though. This is new. Maybe I, like, broke his brain or something. Her laughter quieted and she smiled up at him, wider than before. Trying not to laugh again. Hoping he wouldn't take the laughter personally.

"I could maybe use your help not freezing to death in this water?"

She pulled him down to her, to her height in the water, so the two were side by side. She did not perform the tackle-makeout maneuver she'd been thinking would be perfect for this moment. Maybe later. Instead she curled up close to him, wrapping her arms around one of his, taking advantage of his body heat. She looked out into the distance.

Apologize, the waves told her. Hayley decided that when the ocean tells you to do something you best fucking acquiesce.

"I'm...sorry."

Kyle smiled and laughed a little when Hayley laughed at his failure of a comment. It felt good, like for a moment he could forget what had happened. He nodded when she said that he could help her keep warm. She pulled him down to a seated position, a move he acquiesced to without resistance, and snuggled against him. With only mental hesitation, Kyle wrapped his arms around Hayley, pulling her in a little closer.

"I'm... sorry."

The apology surprised Kyle a little. He thought about it. She would probably be feeling guilty, upset because of her friends being upset. But Kyle would never have apologized for that, not here on this island. Here, the name of the game was survival. Literally. It was right there in the title- he was getting off track.

"I don't think you have to be."

There it was. The thought that had occurred to him back then. There was only one way to survive, and that was to kill everyone else. Sure, playing got you marked, but anyone trying to take out Hayley would find themselves on the pointy end of his knife.

"I think that, in this case, your explanation was the truth, most importantly, and it was a good reason."

Hayley leaned into Kyle, the feeling of his arms wrapping around her calming her down even further. Something about the combination of the soft sound of the waves washing up on shore, the reflection of the moon on the water, the presence of her boyfriend...she felt safe. Relatively, at least.

Ignoring completely, for the moment, that she was mostly naked.

Thank God or Allah or whoever that I'm with Kyle and not like any other boy in this school, they'd be ALL OVER me right now. Not that I can blame them, I'm hot as fuck, but still. Like. This probably isn't the time. Not that there ever will be a time.

She frowned.

Fuck, if I die here, I'll have died having not fucked anyone for like...two months! Fucking Christ. That's not even, like, right. I do not approve. God I hate this game...

"I don't think you have to be."

She blinked. It had taken Kyle a moment to collect his thoughts, and she, lost in hers, was surprised when he responded. The response itself...didn't really surprise her.

"I think that, in this case, your explanation was the truth, most importantly, and it was a good reason."

Hayley made a point of not meeting his eyes. He's so willing to believe me. Just like Alex and Maddy were. They want to think that's the truth. What the hell am I supposed to say? "Yeah well I may or may not have subconsciously invented that reasoning so the rest of you wouldn't think I was a fucking psychopath?" That'll go over well with the others. Especially Charlene, seeing as she's such a big Hayley fan already...fuck, why am I thinking like this? That was the reason. I told the truth. I need to stop trying to convince myself that I'm a crazy when I don't have any proof.

No proof? Really? You're willing to go quite far to maintain your delusions, honeybee.

Shut the fuck up, you.

She didn't respond. What was there to say? He trusted her. Whether that trust was misplaced...wasn't something she wanted to think about.

Instead, she looked up and kissed him.

Kyle noticed the silence, and Hayley's mild discomfort with his statement. It wasn't overly surprising; she was obviously feeling very guilty. It was to be expected; very few people could murder somebody and feel nothing, and those that could didn't function well with the rest of society. Hayley wasn't a psychopath, she was a scared little girl who was in over her head. ... Something about that thought was unsettling to Kyle's stomach.

The Hayley did something that was unexpected. She turned around and kissed Kyle. He was a little surprised, not that it was unwelcome. Just that it didn't seem.... Didn't seem....

His mental faculties appeared to have left him, flowing out of his brain with the kiss. He let the moment linger before pulling back and looking into Hayley's eyes. He smiled softly, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face. He considered asking her what the kiss was for, but it seemed like a bad idea.

The cold water was beginning to get mildly annoying, because of his hands shaking from the cold. Annoying.

[It's hard to walk tall when you're small --> Ema Ryan]

Maybe leaving the dysfunctional group at the bridge behind had been a bad idea. Setting off into the felled forest, Ema had been cautiously optimistic, and confident that she'd continue to do alright at reading the map. After all, she'd made it all the way through the swamp without getting lost, right?

Well, it was right that she hadn't gotten lost in the swamp. But she'd had a river to follow, she'd had daylight to show her the way, and she'd only really had one direction to travel. For all the foliage, the swamp hadn't been particularly overgrown, so keeping to one heading hadn't been particularly hard, even if actually moving forwards had been an effort. Not so with the non-felled forest. Navigating a field of treestumps had been easy, but it only served to make Ema less prepared for the journey through the trees that had yet to be cut down.

With the setting sun on her back, the first few hundred metres hadn't been so bad. She kept an eye on the position of the sun, she made sure she wasn't going around in circles, and she kept up a brisk pace, covering ground rather quickly. Unfortunately, by the time the sun had finally dropped below the horizon, she was still amongst the trees. Not yet realising there was also a compass in her daypack, and making occasional detours every time she heard the slightest possibly-human noise, Ema quickly found herself hopelessly lost in the woods. Being familiar with the legend of Slender Man, even though she knew full well he wasn't real, that was not a good place to be.

---

By the time she made it out, the last of the evening twilight had gone, and the only lights left in the skies were the stars. Thankfully, there was no longer a leafy canopy to obscure them for the second leg of Ema's epic trek. Even with her aching feet crying out for rest, the determined girl made a point of not stopping, and not taking the shorter route past the Grounderskeeper's Hut and the Mansion. Originally, the plan had been to head for the Mansion itself, but a long walk's worth of thinking had changed Ema's mind, and she'd decided instead to aim for the beach - yes, on the very opposite end of the island to where she'd started.

And so, keeping to the more rugged eastern coastline of the island, Ema took the long route, with her mind maintaining that even a short break at a beach, given the circumstances, would be a fantastic means of rest and relaxation, and a morale booster... her feet were having none of it, replying with the rather primal response "Aching, aching, aching, ACHING NOW, HAVE YOU NOTICED? STOP WALKING."

But eventually, much to the relief of her tired lower-half, the fatigued young lady hit the final tree-line, and could see her destination. Her brain told her "Finally, I was worried this would take until bloody morning...", whilst her feet didn't change their tune at all, "We're here now. CAN WE STOP NOW?". But Ema willed herself on for a few more steps. As much as she would've loved to have lain down to sleep until the sunrise amongst the trees, something was bothering her. Perhaps it was just waves, and the evening darkness conspiring with her tired eyes to deceive her, but Ema could have sworn she saw shapes moving in the water. Just who the hell would be swimming at this hour?

Cautiously, she broke the cover of trees, creeping in spite of the soft sand underfoot, and approached slowly. Two people, apparently, and close together. Didn't look like the violent kind of close together, so probably the intimate kind. Ema would've backed away at that decision, headed back to the trees and remarked to herself how romantic it was to swim in the ocean together by starlight, ignoring the death and disaster going on all around. She would've, if she hadn't recognised one of the voices. Unmistakeable.

"...Hayley?"

Hayley was...she didn't want to say content, since then she'd be pretty much dooming herself to something awful happening in the next few minutes, but it still seemed like the right word. She took a moment to splash her face with the ocean water- clearing off the small amount of blood that had dried there, along with the last of her pathetically smudged eyeliner- and took a deep breath. She was content, content to watch the ocean, cold and quiet as it was, content to let the water do all the work in washing the blood from her skin, content to lose herself in the arms of he-who-would-(unfortunately)-be-her-last-love.

...Well, she was content until she started thinking about it like that.

Not willing to let her thoughts linger in that direction, she kissed him again. Harder, this time, with a tinge of last-chance desperation behind it. This time it wasn't him she was trying to distract. She needed to distract herself. Pretend for a little while longer that they weren't both going to die very, very soon, pretend for a little longer that they were on a goddamn camping trip and they'd just sneaked out for a romantic swim in the moonlight. Hayley was generally really really good at pretending and she damn well was gonna take advantage of that.

Maybe take advantage of a couple of other things, too.

Oh, whoa, hold on, brain, remember that 'not a good time for this' memo you got a few minutes ago? It meant that this is not a good time for this.

Her mind could say whatever the fuck it wanted, but Hayley's body had made up its mind.

She pressed into Kyle, pushing him down as far as she dared, getting as close to on top of him as she could without actually pushing him in the water. It felt good, somehow, acting like this. It felt normal. It felt like she was regaining a tiny bit of control in this really, really uncontrollable situation. It felt like a damn lot of other things that Hayley wouldn't have chosen to relate to her audience, though given her choice of action it was pretty obvious. One hand tangled in his hair, the other hand skimmed over his bare chest, and dammit, she was in her element.

Pathetic as that is. Whatever, how perfect is this, though? Like, in books that go like this doesn't the couple in love survive? Well, unless they fuck, then they're screwed. Literally. Haha...hah...wait, that's horror movies I'm thinking of. This is like, some young adult fiction bullshit. The couple in love always lives. Well, at least one of them does. Oh whatever with my fucking thoughts right now-

"...Hayley?"

She froze.

Hayley, maybe just a bit reluctantly, separated from Kyle, trying to wrap her mind around the voice she'd just heard. It's...how'd she find us? Where has she been? Is she okay? Has she fought anyone? Did she get a decent weapon at least? Is someone helping her? Is someone protecting her? And a smaller voice, further back in her mind- Why'd she have to come NOW, of all times?

But all that was overpowered by one thought, simplistic as it was.

Ema.

Ema's here. Ema's okay. Ema's alive.

Ema. Emaemaemaemaemaema-

She stood and ran for the voice, quickly spotting the figure on the sand, another ghost in the moonlight. Even in the pale light that hair burned orange, and Hayley could have cried out from joy at the sight of it. She was prepared to keep running, hug the hell out of her ex-girlfriend, possibly knock her into the sand out of pure enthusiasm, but suddenly she remembered a couple of things.

I'm soaking wet. I'm wearing basically nothing.

That was never more true than now, seeing as the scraps of fabric she still had on were made even more see-through by their dampness.

...And I was just all over Kyle. Could she see that? ...She definitely heard it.

...And now we genre-shift to fucking soap opera.

She was right in front of Ema now. She didn't reach out to her. If she was right about what Ema had seen, or heard, and if she knew Ema- and she was pretty sure she did- there was a verbal beating waiting for her. Hayley didn't really care.

"Ema...you're alive. I was...so worried..."

Hayley's bloodied sword lay in the sand nearby, the metal glinting way-too-obviously in the moonlight. Hayley resolved to ignore it for as long as was humanly possible.

The whole 'yeah I'm like naked in the ocean with my boyfriend who is totally not you' thing is bad enough without the whole 'oh and I also decapitated some boy' thing.

...God, this is my life, isn't it?

Kyle was not surprised by Hayley's increased affections. She was trying to distract herself from the severity of the situation they were in. 'And here you are, ruining the moment by overthinking it, just like always.' The thought, though harsh, was true. Most harsh thoughts are; truth bites deeper than lies. He tried to relax and just go with it, enjoying the feeling of Hayley's lips against his, her hand on his chest and running through his hair.

And then a voice- female, calling out to Hayley. Hayley sat up, pulling away from Kyle to look at the shore. Then she stood, nearly jumped, and ran for the shore. Kyle rolled over, pushing himself up. Hayley was already on the shore, facing the newcomer without wariness. Kyle heard a part of what she said- the newcomer was named Ema, and Hayley cared for her. Kyle mentally encircled her with the group of people he should strive to defend- a frighteningly small group. He stood, approaching the shore slowly, giving himself time to think. Not slowly enough; he was soon standing awkwardly by Hayley's side.

"Who's your friend?"

He tried to keep his question from being too gruff, but it came out a little short, which felt like an incredibly assholish way to put it.

Not what Ema had been expecting, not in the slightest. She figured by now, with 19 deaths yesterday and today practically over, her odds of running into someone she knew were about 1 in 250. She'd never even considered that, if there were anyone at the beach, they would be none other than Hayley Kelly. She hadn't expected her to be practically naked, either. Quite against her will, Ema's face began to flush red, difficult to notice in the gloom, but it probably wouldn't be in a minute or two.

"Ema...you're alive. I was...so worried..."

Wait, really? She'd been worrying about her? Ema wasn't sure whether that was hard to believe or not, weighing up the circumstances. Two days worth of murder and fear had been more than enough to purge Ema's own thoughts of much more than whatever was immediate - namely her own safety. But Hayley had clearly linked up with friends early, perhaps they'd had enough mutual safety to stay worried about those that weren't among them. Ema had not expected Hayley to be practically naked, either.

"Who's your friend?"

The second shape arrived, revealing himself to be a young man, shirtless, fairly tall, wearing glasses. Ema felt she should recognise him, but couldn't put a name to the face. She could, however, safely assume he was Hayley's latest vict--, no, boyfriend. "Come on, Ema," she told herself "Grow up, you're supposed to be over her. No bitchyness, even in your head."

So he was her boyfriend, and as to why they'd been together in the water, mostly undressed.. well that seemed like a no-brainer. It never occurred to Ema that Hayley had actually been washing off the blood of a recently deceased fellow student, those sorts of thoughts hadn't quite become the norm for her, not yet. She really hadn't expected to see Hayley practically naked. Her face was, by then, positively scarlet, in no small part due to the fuel Hayley and Kyle had provided her overactive imagination.

Ema tried to answer Kyle. Her throat had dried up again. Surprise surprise. Again, only a strained croak came out, sounding more like "Eurrk" than her name. She coughed, rubbing the front of her neck, hard enough that she momentarily choked herself for a split second, giving rise to even more embarrassing coughs and splutters. If her complexion could possibly have gotten any redder, it would have done then. She wasn't ready for this.

But eventually, finally, the words found their way past Ema's lips. "I'm Ema, we, err.. Hayley and I used to, uh... we used to date, last year, actually..." "Yeah, and in all that time, you never got this lucky, did you?" added the bitchy, smart-ass part of Ema's mind, the same she'd told to grow up minutes before. She wanted to shut it up again, but it did have a point this time around...

Hayley managed- somehow- to hold back her laughter at the color Ema's face was slowly turning. Pfft...she's starting to match her hair, I swear to god...Still, like, I guess it makes sense. We dated for like two months and we never got anywhere near this and now we're on a fucking island trying to kill each other and I'm like. Naked. But...like...it's so funny... Somehow, though, she managed to stuff it, keeping her visible amusement limited to a small smile on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but then-

"Who's your friend?"

Oh yeah, this isn't going to be awkward at all.

Hayley looked beside her, and yep, there was Kyle, all tall and shirtless and wet and sexy as hell. Not that that's gonna do me any favors right now...urgh. This is some Degrassi bullshit right here.

"I'm Ema, we, err.. Hayley and I used to, uh... we used to date, last year, actually..."

AWKWARD AWKWARD AWKWARD AWKWARD AWKWARD

"Yeah, er, I thought you two had met?" Lies lies lies. Hayley knew damn well the two had never met, hell, she'd made a point of ensuring the two never crossed paths. The sure to ensue drama had steered her away from trying, not that that was working out particularly well for her now. "Uhm, Ema, this is Kyle...my boyfriend. Kyle, this is Ema, my best friend." She put some emphasis on the best friend bit in order to not linger on this whole boyfriend-meets-ex-girlfriend awkwardness, not that she expected that ploy to do much.

She turned back to Ema specifically, given that Kyle was fully caught up on the events-at-hand.

"So, like, I've been looking for you with Maddy this whole time! I got really fucking lucky and woke up by the groundskeeper's hut and Maddy was RIGHT THERE and we were just all, like, oh shit, let us go forth and adventure and find us some Ema Ryan! And some other people, obviously, and we ended up running into Alex...you know Alex? Alex Campbell? We ran into him down at the greens, and he was with this girl Charlene and this guy Jon, but he was being a dick, so he left-" she realized she was probably putting in too much detail as it was and so left out the shooting- "and then the greens turned into a dangerzone so we were like ohhh shit and we ended up at the fun fair, which was, for the record, in no way fun, and that's where we found Kyle, and then-"

Fuck. The run-on sentence cut off as Hayley took a breath and realized she'd forgotten that she was going to have to tell big fucking lies here. She'd just found Ema, she didn't want to scare her off already. Lies of omission are still lies but...eh. Oh well. Truth's all gonna come out in the morning anyway.

"...and then we were going to stay there for the night, but I wanted to go off on my own, and Kyle wanted to come with. So we came here because...because I wanted to wash up. Can't be all gross just because people getting all stab-happy, right?"

She grinned a fake, fake grin. Better to have her think that I came out here to fuck my boyfriend than to have her think I'm a murderer.

She's going to know in the morning either way.

Whatever. Give me a couple of hours of peace. Enough to sleep, maybe, that would be awesome. Deal with the drama and bullshit in the morning.

Whatever makes you happy, honeybee.

"So...yeah, we're all clean now. I figure we're all in desperate need of sleep, and here seems like a good place, so..." Hayley realized a possibility and frowned. "Assuming you want to stay. Uhm...please stay? I...don't want to lose you again." I must look REALLY pathetic right now. That aside, it was clear that she was now being nothing if not honest. "We could take shifts, make sure we all get at least a little sleep. We're meeting up with Maddy and Alex and Charlene at the groundskeeper's hut in the morning. I left all my clothes there, so I can get some new ones..."

She realized a little late that she'd revealed a bit too much. Her dress was obviously out- it lay with her sword, also soaked with blood and now sandy in addition. She was going to have to make her way to the hut mostly naked. In broad daylight. Fun times lay ahead! Fuck, if nothing else, best distraction technique ever. But for now she was going to have to distract Ema from the slip-up she'd just made.

"...I'm sorry about all this, by the way," she said, motioning to herself, scratching her head a bit sheepishly. "I...wasn't exactly expecting company."

Kyle nodded greetings to Ema. Hayley's ex, eh? The undeniably male part of Kyle gave it's approval- girl on girl is hot, after all. But those lower brain functions were mostly useless and served only to embarrass Kyle at inappropriate times. More important was the terminology Hayley insisted on- "best friend" instead of "ex-girlfriend." Hayley was trying to shield Kyle's feelings. How cute. He would have to make mention of it later, tell her that it was unnecessary but adorable. Still, he would use the terminology that she insisted on. She also lied. Kyle wasn't always the best with memory, but he knew he had never been introduced before. In fact, Hayley seemed to have taken special care to avoid mentioning her exes. A note to be made.

More important still was Hayley's story of events. Kyle knew slightly more- no mention of the shooting was made- but still learned a bit about what Hayley had been doing before they reunited. Most importantly, she did not mention the... incident. Probably a good idea. Ema looked... well, she looked like a tomato now. But Kyle didn't know her well. Her reactions to Hayley's incident were unknowable. Hayley extended an offer to Ema, for the purposes of joining their merry band. And she suggested sleep- a semi wonderful suggestion, except for... Kyle wasn't tired.

That's not to say he wasn't fatigued- that he was, and he would be sore come the morning. It was that... sleep wouldn't be easy to reach. He usually had troubles sleeping without his pills anyway- restless fidgeting and the urge to arrange things on his bedside table into groups of three kept him awake. Here though, there were additional problems. For one thing, completion of his normal nightly ritual would be impossible. For another thing, and it was a thing that would likely plague Hayley too, he could still see that boy's face in his mind. The blood would never be entirely washed away, from him or from Hayley. He kind of hoped that those who had stayed behind would bury the boy, or at least perform some sort of last rite. Last thing they needed was restless dead coming after them.

"If we do sleep here, I'll keep watch. I'm not tired."

"Yeah, er, I thought you two had met? Uhm, Ema, this is Kyle...my boyfriend. Kyle, this is Ema, my best friend."

She thought they'd met? Unlikely. For all Ema could recall, the only times she'd even heard mention of Kyle was vicariously through Hayley, and decidedly vaguely at that. As if she didn't want anyone knowing who she was with... or rather, she didn't want someone knowing. Thinking about it, and factoring in just how awkward the situation was right then, Ema couldn't blame Hayley for trying (and succeeding until then) to keep her and Kyle apart. Deceptive, definately, but for the best? More than likely. Off the island, who knows how a meeting like this would have gone?

The other part that Ema picked up on was her own designated title. Not ex-girlfriend, as she'd established already, but best friend. Best friend? It had taken everything Madelyn had to get the two of them to be anything more than civil to one another, so now they were best friends? But, as with before, Ema began to understand. Kyle didn't know her, much better to let him go on not knowing the pair's less-than-pleasant history, and pretend they'd always been on the friendly terms they were currently. Either way, she was pleased by the promotion.

"So, like, I've been looking for you with Maddy this whole time! I got really fucking lucky...

Well this wasn't uncomfortable at all. Certainly not. The sheer awkwardness definately had nothing to do with Hayley non-stop monologueing, nor anything to do with Ema's absolute silence the whole time, despite the desire to speak up, many times.

...because I wanted to wash up. Can't be all gross just because people getting all stab-happy, right?"

Even Ema felt out of breath after that. It had certainly been one hell of a long sentence, probably longer than the sum of everything she'd said on the island herself, so far. Odd thing to come to mind, really. Regardless, in Hayley's haste, most of the information had gone right over Ema's head, amounting to a list of places and names that didn't mean much to her. The only thing that really registered was Madelyn's name, as, besides Hayley, Maddy was probably the only other person Ema considered trusting on faith alone. She almost asked where her other friend was, but quickly realised Hayley was hardly going to bring the whole group along to watch her washing. The other thing she almost asked was why it had been so important to wash off right away, without any clothes to change in to, but Ema decided against that as well. Maybe it was personal.

"So...yeah, we're all clean now. I figure we're all in desperate need of sleep, and here seems like a good place, so... Assuming you want to stay. Uhm...please stay? I...don't want to lose you again. We could take shifts, make sure we all get at least a little sleep. We're meeting up with Maddy and Alex and Charlene at the groundskeeper's hut in the morning. I left all my clothes there, so I can get some new ones..."

Broken up by uncomfortably silent pauses, but still comparably long, Ema waited until the end of Hayley's diatribe to offer "You could borrow some of mine until then... if you want, that is, I mean..." she stopped herself there, not wanting to go off on a tangent about sharing clothes, and simply ended with "...yeah." But wait... what had she been wearing before getting into the water? Surely putting dirty clothes back on was preferable to nothing at all, particularly at night? It didn't really make sense to Ema, but she reasoned to herself "Don't sweat it, you're tired, just sleep and think about this tomorrow. Probably a good reason for it.". Good old inner dialogue, so wise and helpful.

"If we do sleep here, I'll keep watch. I'm not tired."

Ema nodded. She hadn't gotten any decent sleep for over twenty four hours, and the mention of sleep had started tiredness washing over the girl's mind. Her eyes were already feeling heavy, rightly so, and she certainly wasn't about to argue with Kyle if he was offering her a longer rest.

"...I'm sorry about all this, by the way, I...wasn't exactly expecting company."

She nodded to that as well, shrugging her camping luggage off of her shoulder and into her hands. Walking off towards the patch of trees she'd arrived at - rather inviting with it's soft, loamy soil and shady canopy - she dug down to the bottom of the main compartment, producing a towel bearing the Irish flag (a slightly embarrassing gift from her parents that she'd actually grown rather proud of, over the years), and a soft black blanket. She offered both to Hayley, with a rather yawn-ridden "You might want those."

You know, this is going almost well. In a really fucking awkward kind of way.

Hayley had to resist a literal sigh of relief when Ema didn't question the reasoning behind her actions, or why she just didn't put her old clothes back on, or any of that fun-to-explain stuff. The other girl was...quiet, too quiet, almost as though she had thought through the possible reasons of Hayley's awkwardness and general failure at lying and had simply decided she didn't want to know, or just didn't really care.

Yeah, Ema's smart, she's gonna know something's up, but...

But tomorrow she'll know for sure. She won't trust you.

She won't trust me if I tell her now! How the fuck do you think she's gonna sleep if she finds out now that I killed someone?!

Think she'd rather find out now from you, or tomorrow from Danya?

She couldn't respond to that, even mentally. There was no answer.

"You could borrow some of mine until then... if you want, that is, I mean...yeah."

Hayley blinked. There's a distraction if I've ever heard one.

"You brought your clothes with you...? Damn, girly, you must be exhausted. I left all my crap back at the hut, didn't want to carry around more than I had to..."

The phrase more than I had to made her remember her backpack. Remembering her backpack made her remember her bread. Remembering her bread reminded her that she was still really really hungry, but since her bag was with her bloody sword and dress- hell, it was bloody itself- she decided against it. Best to ignore her hunger for now. It could wait until morning.

"I think I'm alright for now. Maybe in the morning?" She decided to leave out the fact that she normally slept naked. Ema was tomato-like enough as it was.

"If we do sleep here, I'll keep watch. I'm not tired."

Hayley looked over at Kyle in surprise. "How are you not tired?! We've already been up for like. Probably thirty-something hours now? Unless you slept on the first night, cause I know I didn't." Despite her shock, Hayley was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. No use complaining at extra sleep. I'm SOOO tired. There's no way it's earlier than, like, midnight right now- though she had no way of knowing it, she was about right in her estimation- and if I'm gonna not pass out tomorrow I need to sleep.

Hope Kyle will be okay, though...

She followed Ema over to what was apparently their chosen campsite, which did, admittedly, look pretty comfortable. Hayley was about to complain that she didn't particularly want to sleep in dirt- she had just washed, after all- when Ema produced a blanket and towel. "You might want those," Ema said, yawning, prompting Hayley to yawn as well. She smiled appreciatively, spreading the towel out on the ground and curling up on top of it, getting cozy under the blanket. Oh man, I'm gonna sleep like a baby. But then, frowning suddenly, she looked up at Ema.

"You can fit too, right? Come on, it's so comfortable. I can't even."

Hayley's exclamation of disbelief in Kyle's lack of tiredness was met with a shrug. The explanation of why he wasn't tired would be one he would not tell, due to it involving secrets kept from Ema. He walked up the beach to where he had dumped his stuff and pulled his shirt back on. It stuck to his wet skin, making him itch slightly. His pants were covered in sand. It was strange- he couldn't think of how it had happened. Perhaps his walking kicked sand up onto his pants, where it stuck. The stuff was pervasive- Kyle was certain his daypack had been closed, and yet when he sought his water inside, there was sand at the bottom. If he were more philosophically inclined, he would muse on the similarities between sand and... something... else. Whatever.

While Ema and Hayley were setting up their sleeping arrangements (Kyle bristled slightly at Hayley's casual suggestion that she and Ema lie together- it was an uncommon display of jealousy, and he mentally crushed it before it could continue), Kyle gathered Hayley's blood covered dress and sword. The sword he wiped off (using, as it was the only thing close to hand, Hayley's dress) and placed by his supplies, while he placed the dress at the bottom of his bag. It was rolled up unceremoniously and without care- the dress was probably ruined anyway. He picked his knife up from where it lay, knocking the sand off gently before placing it in his pocket, then transported his and Hayley's supplies up to the small campsite. He leaned the sword against a rock, then leaned against the same rock, the sword close to hand. It was a far more useful weapon than his own knife. Out of deference to the third wheel, Kyle did not give Hayley a good night kiss. No need to make Ema uncomfortable.

There would be enough discomfort in the morning- with two nights gone past without sleeping, Kyle would be reaching the limits of his energy the next day. He was fortunate to be well hydrated from daily life, and he had rationed his water carefully to keep himself feeling hydrated, but hydration only did so much for energy before sleep deprivation destroyed that bonus. And the announcements, just a few short hours away.... Hayley's name would be among those called out, the players and the played. If Kyle were Alex and the others, he would probably not want Hayley with them after that announcement; it made them seem dangerous, which would certainly get them hurt.

Time would tell.