Chelsea chatted away while she helped Bevis change into her pyjamas; at least she had stopped shivering, and the blanket lay neatly folded, ready to be returned to the team who had brought her best friend back to her.

"Can I get you anything else?" Chelsea asked.

"Food and coffee?" Bevis said, hopefully.

Poking her head outside the tent, Chelsea brought the plate and mug into the tent, placing it within Bevis' reach.

"Anything else?" Chelsea asked.

Bevis shook her head, "Thank you, Chels."

"For what?" Chelsea whispered.

"For caring, for raising the alarm, for looking," Bevis said, as tears rolled down her cheeks, "I really thought I was going to be left behind."

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't be left behind," Chelsea said, kneeling next to Bevis and pulling her into her arms, "Jason would never allow it."

"Imagine the damage it would do to his company if he did lose a client," Bevis chuckled through a sob as she clung to Chelsea, "I'm sorry I'm blubbering all over you."

"You've been through an ordeal," Chelsea said, "I don't blame you for submitting to emotion."

"I promised myself I wouldn't," Bevis said, disengaging and wiping her face, "I told myself I would be strong."

"You have been strong," Chelsea said, frowning, "sometimes I've wondered how long it would take before you dissolved in a puddle, but you've done things this week I never knew you could."

"I was terrified the entire time," Bevis said, shaking her head, "I thought that if I didn't think about it and went through the motions, I could get through this week easily enough."

"You did a good job," Chelsea said, "you okay to be on your own?"

Bevis nodded, "I'm okay now. Thanks."

"I'm right next door if you need anything," Chelsea said, "eat and drink, then get some sleep."

Stepping from the tent, Chelsea noticed Charlie standing a little from where they slept, watching the river; he glanced her way, flashing a smile.

"Everything okay?" she asked, moving toward him.

"Couldn't sleep without finding out if Bevis was okay," Charlie whispered, "for someone who doesn't know anything about what we're supposed to be doing, she did a great job of surviving this week."

Chelsea smiled, "She is a strong woman," she sighed, "sometimes too strong."

"Perhaps, but sometimes it's more appreciated than someone who throws themselves at everything that has testosterone," Charlie sighed, "seems as though Micheal and Tiffany may work something out ..." he shook his head, "I just wish Jo would be the person I met and grew to love," he rubbed his hands over his face, "this person is ... I don't know who she is," Charlie groaned, "she doesn't see anything wrong with her behaviour nor can she understand why the other women have walked away from her and chosen their men."

"I've seen the whole ruling college thing can become addictive," Chelsea said, "she was very popular in college with her "girls" being Mandy and Tiffany; she can't see why life can't continue in the same way. Was she with the others when she met you?"

Charlie shook his head, "They were supposed to be, but their families wanted them to attend some functions or gatherings. She was normal, delightfully funny, honest and kind-hearted. Then she discovered the others lived in our neighbourhood, and this person appeared," Charlie sighed, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to end the marriage, I love her, but I'm not going to be subjected to some version of what she thinks she must be," he ran his hand through his hair, "I want my wife back."

Chelsea felt his pain pulsating off every limb and throbbing from every pore, "Have you spoken to her?"

"I've been trying since we've been on this trip," Charlie sighed, "tried again tonight ..." he looked around, "I'm sorry to dump all this on you ... I just wanted to know if Bevis was okay," he glanced toward Bevis' dark tent, "I'll let you get some rest."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Chelsea watched him walk away, sighing as she moved toward the tents of the other crew. She spotted Travis still up just outside his tent entrance. Moving toward him, Chelsea flashed a smile.

"Hey, Travis ... right?" Chelsea called.

He stood staring out into the darkness until the light shone on her; he smiled, "Hey, it's the frantic girl who isn't frantic anymore."

Chelsea grinned, "Chelsea is the name," she looked around, "is everyone else asleep?"

"Yeah," he glanced over his shoulder, "I'm repacking our rescue and retrieval kit; as team leader, it's my problem."

"Oh, then I guess I return this to you," she said, "thank you for going to find Bevis. She's been my best friend since I can remember ..." Chelsea swallowed as her emotions raised tears to her eyes, "I really don't know what life would look like without her."

"Best friends," Travis nodded, "we were wondering how friendly you two were, but best friends make sense."

"I guess we could expect that," Chelsea said, "we didn't know what kind of trip we were doing, just that it was outdoorsy."

"You didn't know it was a couple's trip?" Travis asked, frowning.

Chelsea shook her head, "I got the tickets from a colleague at work who just wanted to get rid of them since he had broken up with his girlfriend," Chelsea chuckled, "I wanted to get Bev away from the city ... Brad had broken up with her just last week," Chelsea sighed, "she was in so much pain I just wanted to give us both something different to do. Another place, time ... other people. Away from Brad," Chelsea shrugged, "I guess I didn't ask too many questions."

Travis stared at Chelsea for a moment, "You took the tickets with outdoorsy as an explanation," raising his eyebrows questioningly, "knowing neither of you is really an outdoor person."

"We do some outdoor things," Chelsea said, "not a lot but some."

"Name them," Travis said, folding the blanket correctly and packing it away, "give me five outdoor things you do."

Chelsea's brow puckered in thought, "We swim," she watched Travis nod, "... hike," he nodded again, "... beach walks," he shook his head and started laughing, "What's so funny?"

"Okay, so nothing this outdoorsy," Travis said, "when did you discover it was this outdoorsy?"

"The night before we left," Chelsea said, grinning, "we unpacked our gift bags and had panic attacks." Chuckling, Chelsea shook her head, "by then, it was too late to do anything about it, and we had to move forward."

"Move forward," Travis repeated, frowning, "where did that come from?"

"It's become our mantra since the breakup," Chelsea said, "Bevis really tried to fit into any part of Brad's life, but she was belittled every time she tried," Chelsea frowned, "I guess you stop trying when nothing you do is appreciated."

"I saw the kick she delivered," Travis said, grinning, "one of the guys has it on their phones and keeps talking about the angle and the sweep. Wasn't that her injured leg?"

Chelsea nodded, "I've never seen her behave like that, never mind kick anyone."

"Has she always been prim and proper?" Travis asked.

"Not until recently," Chelsea said, her brow puckering, "actually, she totally changed soon after Brad arrived on the scene."

"Sounds like he wasn't right for her," Travis said, "did you talk to her?"

"Many times," Chelsea said, "but she just kept saying that relationships were built on compromise."

"Did Brad compromise?" Travis asked.

Chelsea shook her head, "Not once."

"That isn't a relationship," Travis said, "not even a friendship."

"I'm glad she's out of it," Chelsea said, smiling, "she has a chance to return to herself."

Nodding, Travis squatted, pulling a card from his bag, "We may not see you tomorrow if you could give this to Bevis," he handed it to her, "... that leg of hers is rather bad; my sister is an emergency nurse and would be happy to look at it for her."

"You haven't spoken to your sister already?" Chelsea asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Travis frowned before grinning, "I would have by the time she gets to the hospital."

"Nice save," Chelsea said, taking the card, "I'll drive her myself, thank you."

"Besides all this happening, it has been nice to meet you both," Travis said, pushing his hands into his pockets.

"It's been nice meeting you as well," Chelsea said, looking around, "it looks like it's just the two of us awake ... it has been nice talking to you, but I need to sleep."

"Nice talking to you as well," Travis said, his voice dropping to a hushed whisper, "sleep well."

"You too," Chelsea smiled, backing away, "have a good last day of your trip."

Travis nodded, raising his hand as she turned and walked away.

Chelsea paused at her tent, looking back; Travis was still watching her. Raising her hand, she ducked inside.

"Oh, that man better not have a girlfriend," she whispered as she took out her sleeping bag and prepared to sleep, "and his sister better be his sister."

Lying down, Chelsea sighed, "Wonder if I'll ever see him again?"

Slipping into a deep sleep, Chelsea slept with a smile.

On the sandy shore, not far from civilisation ... tents propped up, the quiet river flowing by while the previously blazing fire smouldered in the pit. Nothing moved except the leaves on the trees. The scene was idyllic as Bevis slipped from her tent and sat just in front, watching it all. Life after this would never be the same.