"Why are you helping me?" I broke the silence that hung in the air between us. His fingers paused on my skin briefly, he took a sharp inhale when his warm fingers burned my ice-cold hope bone. He'd finished cleaning the wound, taking out the stitches that had been upset and was now preparing the alcohol on the cloth. He'd been silently working, not responding when I told him how to do it; he was concentrated- beyond the point of noticing the hair that had fallen over his eyes. Pushing away to urge to push it back I sat up slightly.

This brought us closer together- our position uncomfortable at best. He was still sat between my legs, leant over me and I leant back slightly in order for my stomach to not be folded over. My breath caught each time his fingers brushed the skin that wasn't being treated, each time they did his eyes would rush up to met mine- ensuring I was okay. He assumed the effect he was having on me was pain, but it was the opposite- it was trust, denial and surprise.

"Even the saviours need saving sometimes, right?" He mumbled as he began to dab the cloth over my wounds. This hurt more than the last time due to how far in the knife had made it. Some how it had missed everything important and the bleeding was minimal. Why was I the one that got lucky? I didn't deserve it.

I ground my teeth together as he continued to clean it, my toes curling in response to the sharp shooting pains that I couldn't ignore. My whole body had tensed up and I couldn't hide that from Jesse, his spare hand that was already next to mine reached for it and grabbed onto mine. At first my heart stopped, distracted by the odd gesture from the boy but the way he'd position his hand mad sense. We wanted me to dig my fingers into his hand, rather than into the sheets of the bed.

So I did just that, I dug my nails are hard as I possibly could into Jesse's palm biting down on my tongue as he finished with the alcohol. I didn't hold back, allowing my anger and frustration for the boy flow out in the form of pressure. As soon as the cloth was set aside his hand pulled out from underneath it. He didn't comment on the four crescent shaped dents that had blood forming from them he just continued to work.

I'd already explained to him how the stitches should work and he'd insisted that he could handle it- claiming to have watched someone do it before. I didn't have any other options so I sat back as he prepared the sewing kit.

"You know, you seem to make a habit out of following me places." I teased, although the silence had been comfortable- him not bitting my head of or snapping at me was even more uncomfortable. "Should I be worried about having a stalker."

"What happened out there." He breathed it out like he'd been dying to ask since he found me, yet her somehow made it sound like he didn't really care- like it was no big deal.

"It's no big deal- really. A misunderstanding, that's all." My fingers going to fidget with the hems of my singlet, which was up just below my bra now.

"I've never had a misunderstanding that ending with two people being stabbed." He chuckled slightly, his chest barely raising- but it was a laugh. A rare and glorious sound that I could listen to forever, "You don't have to talk about it- I just need to know if he needs his arse whooped." This caring side of Jesse was foreign; I was left unsure of how to exactly respond- confused beyond reason by attention was caught by the hanging hair again.

"Don't worry, he's already had his arse handed to him. I left him with more than just that stab wound." Jesses lips tugged up into a smile but it was gone as quickly as it came. "I can handle things my self, Blake."

We grew back into silence as he continued to work on the stitches, my eyes locked onto the thick curls over his forehead. I watched as his brows furrowed together with concentration, there was a small gash on his hair line- hidden behind his curls I almost missed it. It wasn't deep but it was still puckered- no signs of healing down on it's own.

"You're all done." His voice startled me, stopping my fingers from reaching up towards his face. Thank god for that. Before he could reach for the bandage I grabbed it and wrapped it around myself- I didn't need him to get even closer to me. Plus the more he helped me, the more in his debt I was.

"I guess you can leave now." I muttered, my eyes still attached to the cut on his forehead as his eyes were searching mine. His eyes smiled up at mine- amusement pucker at his lips.

"One day I'll get a thanks from you Princess." As he spoke my hands had already reached with the rag and brushed it over his forehead. He caught his breath and almost froze as I made contact. My head was screaming at me to stop but my hands were moving on their own. I reached my other hand up to brush aside his curls, my fingers hesitated there for a moment too long and I felt his warm breath over my arm. Quickly I brushed his hair back, pushing it aside and avoiding his question gaze.

"Stop." His hand reached up to grab my own, this simple move sent my heart off. I ignored his protesting and continued to clean away the dried blood from around and within it. He released a deep sigh and dropped his hand when I showed no signs of giving up. "You don't have to do this."

"Maybe this is just my way of saying thank you." My fingers reaching out for the stitching kit- silently working to give him three stitches. The air between us was thick, the silence was uncomfortable and I just wished that his eyes would stop searching my face. "All done."

My eyes finally met his and I really wished they didn't. My stomach churned, the uneasy feeling waved over me again as my fingers struggled to drop from his face. My fingers ran from the top of his forehead down the side of his face all the way down to his chin. My fingers tingled as they trailed up to his lip, my thumb falling over the small split that had blood crusted over it. I don't know what had come over to two of us but we were in an unspoken trance. I slightly pulled down his bottom lip to inspect the cut- It was clean- nothing to worry about.

My eyes traced over the other grazes on his face, there was nothing major- nothing more than what everyone else. My hand dropped from his face before I could let myself reach up to feel his curls again. I could feel myself becoming overwhelmed with the feelings I got with him- the rage and anger something I was becoming used to. I hated how I couldn't even control my hands; I hated how out of control I felt when I was around him.

"Looks like you're all good." I stated, sharply bringing my hands together to stop myself from doing anything else. "I need to get back to work now." I stood up, brushing past him eager to be away from him.

"You're welcome Princess." I heard him chuckled but I was too determined to distance us, stalking away as quickly as I could.

~~~~~~~~~

"Dru, there's nothing for you to do- everyone's been looked after. Just eat some food for once- okay?" Caila was insisting that everything was okay, that there was nothing I could do at this moment to help. But there was always something that I could be doing. Someone that needed my help. "Jesus. Dru. Eat, look after yourself for once."

We were all sat around the fire, the only people missing were Cara's group, Jesse and Vincent and the sick that were in quarantine. For the first time in a long while the air was filled with laughter, friendly chatter and light conversation. If they weren't engaged in conversation they were sat there silently- just like I was. My eyes met Chadna's, this was the first time I'd seen her with her head out of a pillow or without tears staining her cheeks. She was quick to look away, I noticed Mason besides her- his hands were still fiddling with the wires and parts of the plane part he had.

Mason would only look up to see Chadna, his eyes softening when he saw her. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I did notice the ends of her lips tugging up into a brief smile. This small smile lit up Mason's entire face- his features possessed by a large smile himself.

Just as I was about to reach for the fish before me a voice besides my ear stopped me.

"They're gone." My head whipped around, as did Caila's, our eyes finding Jesse and Vincent. "Come, please." Vincent's voice arouse worry within me, immediately jumping up I started following the boys as they lead us away.

~~~~~

It was all gone. All the gear that the teenagers had, all the blankets, bottles, containers, food and even the shelter they'd slept under was gone. Cara was gone.

"We've searched everywhere for them and what they took but we can't find them anywhere. They've gone." Vincent ran his good hand threw his hair, he paced back and forth around where their small tent was just that morning.

Caila continue to speak to the boys, I was distracted- by the small piece of material that was sticking out from under a rock. It was tiny and I would have missed it if it wasn't for the wind that was fluttering it around.

Sorry, I have to look after them.

That's what the note read. Cara. My heart stopped. She had gone with them, with Wyatt who had threatened her life. Why? Because she felt a responsibility to Jeremy or because she felt like they wouldn't be looked after on their own. Cara was out there on her own with some dangerous people, people that I couldn't protect her from if I had no idea where she was.

"Why would they leave? What do they expect to do when the rescue teams come?" Caila sounded calm, so did Vincent.

"I may have told Wyatt to stay away, I also may have threatened him a little. But I didn't tell him to leave." Running his fingers threw his hair in frustration, Jesse finally spoke up. "I didn't think he'd do anything like this."

Rage ran threw me as I walked over to Jesse. He was the reason Cara was out there, defenceless and injured? He was the reason that six more people could die. He almost looked sorry about it too, but not sorry enough.

"At least he's gone so he can't cause any more damage." He offered up, hoping that would sooth the look in my eyes. It didn't.

Unable to control myself any longer - my fist went flying, before It made contact with his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~