Chapter 4

I woke up with Jamie still snuggled up against me. For some reason it didn't seem as uncomfortable as before. Maybe it was because I was slowly realising I was becoming infatuated with this strange young woman. I hadn't even realised it, but I had gone from just being concerned for this person who had saved my life in the forest, to wanting to be with her even if it meant moving into this cave in the woods. It felt like a sudden shift, like suddenly all I could think about was her but I realised it had been a gradual thing, with her slowly moving from someone I wanted to rescue from the wilderness, to someone I was in love with.

I realised she was still something of a mystery to me and maybe not ready for that kind of relationship, or maybe even not capable of it. I resolved to put such romantic thoughts to the side, not an easy matter when she was pressed against me, but I tried. She needed my help first and foremost. At the end, if we came out of this as friends or something more, then we would see where it went.

I felt her stirring against me, she opened her eyes and looked deeply into mine and just smiled. She then stood up, gently slipping out of my grasp and went to the entrance of the cave.

I got up, following her out of the cave. It was night already I guess we had been more tired than I thought. Jamie stretched out and then lowered herself to the ground, sitting there for a bit with her belly close to the ground and a look of concentration on her face. After awhile she nodded to herself and stood up.

"What were you doing?" I asked Curious.

She looked at me for a bit then gestured to a tooth like strip on her torso, "This allows me to sense vibrations and also scents. The are called pectines. They are special to scorpions," she said. "I was just checking for people."

"OK. Assuming the coast is clear, would you like to take a walk down to the lake?" I asked.

She nodded hesitantly. "Great, I'll grab my water bottles and fill them up while we are there," I said.

I grabbed my stuff any then we strolled down to the lake. It almost felt like a first date, it was the first time we had been anywhere together like this. I tried my best not to stare at Jamie as she walked beside me the moonlight glinting off her armour. I felt my heart beat faster though and thought I saw a slight smile appear on her lips.

When we reached the lake, Jamie perched herself on a rock as I refilled my bottles. When I was finished, I walked over and sat down next to Jamie who was just watching the lake. She nervously shuffled closer to me and I reached out and very hesitantly put my arm around her, checking to make sure she didn't mind. We looked in each others eyes and then went back to watching the lake glitter in the star light, Jamie resting her head on my shoulder. I guess last night had changed things for both of us.

Jamie said very quietly sounding a little unsure of herself, "I like you, I don't want you to leave."

"I like you too, Jamie," I said giving her a squeeze which due to her armour was probably a futile gesture, "I'm not going anywhere."

After a while we decided to go back and get some tea. Jamie very hesitantly took my hand and we walked back to the cave hand in hand. There, we sat in front of the fire waiting for the water to boil. I decided to try and get Jamie to open up some more if she was falling for me the way I was falling for her. I wanted to get to know her, and the only way I could do that is if I could get her to talk to me.

"Tell me about yourself," I said. She backed away, frowning slightly. I reached down and held her hand stroking it's smooth surface. "If you don't want to tell me how you got here, that's fine, wait until you are ready for that, but I want to know more about you."

She stared into the distance for a bit then said, "I don't like the colour pink or roller coasters." She looked back at me questioningly I suspected that was the most I was going to get for now.

"But you like Pinky bear?" I asked pointing to the slightly bedraggled but still recognisably pink teddy bear she had.

"Well that's different, it's cos of how I got it." She looked very sad, likely to burst into tears.

"I can't say I'm that fond of pink either. Though roller coasters are something I really like," I replied, trying to keep her talking.