The Lodge in the Forest

Marty was outside, clearly waiting to go in. Standing, they were almost at eye-level. His eyes were very dark green underneath the curtain of blonde hair.

"Hey." He said, flashing a one-sided grin.

"Hey." There wasn't much room in the corridor between the bathroom and the shower. They were very close together and Marty had to squeeze out of the way so she could get out.

"Thanks." Dana made her way back to her seat and joined the conversation which had somehow branched into sex stories, which it often did. Since she only had one, she stared at the passing shrubbery, trying to ignore them.

"I heard you hooked up with the prof, Dana." The red-haired girl pointedly pretended to be vividly interested in the blurry landscape whizzing by. She wasn't getting into this until she had consumed at least two bottles of cheap wine.

"Dana?"

"Leave her be, Kurt, she doesn't want to talk about it." Came Jules' quiet but authoritative rebuke.

"The whole campus is talking about it!" Pause, probably accompanied by daggers from his girlfriend. "Fine."

"I haven't heard about it." Marty's voice was louder from her right.
"That's because you live in a pot haze, Marty." Reprimanded the blonde. He didn't reply to that.

Dana knew her face must be an unhappy mask because she had always been terrible at hiding her emotions.

"What happened?" Marty carried on.

"Marty! She's right there."

"I know that, I just..." He trailed off uncomfortably and Dana felt his eyes on her but she didn't let herself give in. Yes she would almost certainly talk about it - extensively with crying and cursing and fully-clothed showers - but not now.

The first half of the journey was relaxed. Kurt took some of the driving to give Holden a rest and the boy was immediately interrogated by Jules - where was he from? Why did he transfer? Did he have any skeletons in his closet? Dana had known Jules for long enough to be embarrassed for her, not because of her. The girl was all good intentions but no thought.
She acted out of instinct - what you saw was what you got. Holden seemed slightly taken aback but took it all in his stride which, out of anything she'd seen him do, made Dana respect him. After Jules grilled him on his entire study plan and his history with the team, Dana decided it was time to step in.

"Jules, this isn't a homicide case, why don't you stop with the backstory." The blonde bit back whatever question she was going to ask next and smiled bashfully.

"I was just being friendly!"

"It's ok, really," Holden consoled her, "I don't mind." He had a cute smile, and Dana felt herself warming to his all-round good guy act. Next to her, Marty was actually asleep this time. His breathing was soft and regular, tiny snores erupting every once in a while. They reached a gas station but Dana didn't have the heart to wake him. The bags underneath his eyes said he needed the rest. Holden hovered half a metre away as she leafed through some magazines obliviously.

"Hey," he began awkwardly, but the red-haired girl was engrossed in the journal so he had to try again. He said her name and she looked up. She had such huge blue eyes.

"What - what are you studying? I think Jules said but..."

"Art. And sociology. And art history. What about you?"

"Politics, economics and business."

"Wow, that's quite a lineup!"

"I guess..."

"How do you know Kurt?"

"Football. I was the new guy and we hit it off pretty much straight away."

Dana nodded understandingly just as Marty came stumbling sleepily into the store, hair sticking up in random places where he'd ran his hand through it. His eyes focussed on Dana and Holden and he waved a vague hand.

"Caffeine. Need caffeine." He stated hoarsely and shuffled off in the direction of the fridge. Dana laughed.

"Marty, what a character."

"Quite. Driving with a bong was pretty impressive."

"Yeah, I guess. Kinda stupid though." They shared a knowing smile before they were cannonballed by Kurt and Jules, loaded with candy, chips and soda galore.

"Let's roll guys! Marty, get that sweet ass over here."

"My sweet ass will be with you in two minutes!"

"Well hurry it up, we're leaving!"

The small blonde man trundled past, arms cradling a selection of iced coffees, muttering to himself about 'having a little patience.'

"Do you need some help there, Marty?"

Dana reached out to grab some of the more precarious-looking bottles from the pile and the blonde's mouth turned up at the corners gratefully.

"Thanks Dana."

"No problem!" She followed him to checkout and helped him deposit the drinks on the counter.

Marty dumped a fist full of change next to them.

"Three cartons of your cheapest cigarettes, my good lady."

The cashier looked a little confused at Marty's way of talking but complied to his request. Dana guessed she was used to it, but he did sound like he was from medieval Britain sometimes. Back in the camper, the party was back on and Jules wanted to sit next to Dana, who had offered to drive the next bit. Marty was forced to sit behind Jules while Holden and Kurt talked football at the table.

"Sooo...you and Holden were getting pretty cosy in there." The blonde began conspiratorially after they had been driving for a few minutes. Dana sighed. Why did Jules always make such a big deal of things?

"We were just talking, Jules."

"Yeah, but you like him, right?"

"Look, I dunno. I'm not sure I'm ready for whatever you think...this is."

"So it's a thing?!"

"Yes...no! Jules, do you think you leave me to make up my own mind, if that's at all possible?" Jules let out her breath explosively and sat back dramatically in her seat.

"I'm just trying to help, Dana. After that whole professor blah blah whatever, you really need to, like, move on already!"

"Stop trying to force me into it! It was a...bad time for me, ok? I'll get there at my own pace."

"Ok, ok, I'm done. Whatever happens from now on is all down to you."

"Thanks."

"That's ok. I'm sorry I'm so pushy sometimes. I just want you to be happy with hot Holden!" She winked delightedly and Dana rolled her eyes. It was a bit of a roller-coaster ride being friends with Jules, but she always had the best intentions.

"I'll get there, Jules. At least give me some alcohol first!"

"Yes! This is going to be so much fun." Switching her gaze back and forth between Jules and the road, Dana saw a look that could only be described as 'sneaky' pass across her friend's face. Oh dear.

"Oh no. I don't like that look. What are you planning?"

"You know better than to ask me that, Dana."

"Yeah, but Jules-."

"Nope."

"But-."

"Na-ah."

"Y-you just said-."

"Stop. I have an idea. And it might just work."

Dana sighed, her heart sagging in her chest.

"Oh god. Don't you dare...dare me to make out with him. It's not gonna happen."

Jules laughed loudly.

"That's not what I was thinking, but that would be really funny."
Dana groaned.

"I'm just gonna shut up, cause clearly I can't talk without giving you ideas."

The red-haired girl spent the rest of the journey not mentioning Holden or Professor Manning or anything to do with men in general. Marty offered to drive, but, unconvinced of his sobriety, Dana declined. He looked hurt, but she didn't think too much about it because it was still her choice and if he was too stoned to drive, then she would be putting them all in danger if she let him.

They reached the cabin sometime around 10 in the evening. Dana was half tempted to go straight to bed after five hours of driving and, to be honest, everyone seemed quite keen on having alone time. Ten hours in an enclosed space together was somewhat intense.