Page 83 of Stranded

“Something about it drew me in. I picked it up, and the owner said something about it being a great present for my girlfriend. I didn’t want to admit I didn’t have one, so instead I bought it, hoping that one day I would find someone I cared about enough to give it to.” His eyes finally lift to mine as he gives me a small smile. “And I did. Like I said, it was always meant for you.”

“I love it, thank you!” I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me close for a big bear hug. That story just makes the gift so much more special.

“Zee,” he whispers against my neck, holding me so tight I can’t turn to see his face.

“Yeah?”

“Will you be mygirlfriend?”

“I—”

He cuts me off before I can answer. “I already feel like you’re mine, I just wanted to officially ask you. And I hope you know this isn’t just while we’re here. When we get back to the real world, I’m not giving you up.”

It’s like he looked into my head and read my mind. But I couldn’t commit to life off this island with him, not when I’m planning to stay.

“Weston,” I whisper, tears forming in my eyes. “There's nothing left for me out there, not anymore.”

He pulls me back and stares at me, a look of worry in his eyes. “Your family?” he asks, and I shake my head.

“It’s just me now,” I finally admit.

“You’re not alone anymore, Zee. You have us, we’re your family now.”

I don’t have the nerve to tell him that I don’t want to leave, but part of me also wonders if I could. If I have him, and Bower and Kingsley, maybe leaving this island would be possible.

As we walk hand in hand back to camp, I consider everything Weston said to me. He called us a family. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of those. Which makes me wonder about his parents, and Bower and Kingsley’s, too.

“Weston? Do you have any family? Back on the mainland? Parents, siblings?”

“My parents are still alive, but we don’t speak. And I have an older brother, Brian, but he wants nothing to do with me either.” My heart clenches in sadness for him. Unlike me, his parents are alive, and yet, they don’t talk to him?

“Why don’t you talk? If you don’t mind me asking.” He glances at me, his eyes dropping to the seashell around my neck before he lets out a deep breath.

“I suppose, as mygirlfriend, you should know the truth. But you might think less of me.”

Butterflies take flight in my stomach when he calls me that, but I think he’s going to finally open up about his past, so I hide my reaction as I tell him, “I won’t judge you, Weston. You can tell me anything.”

“We won’t judge you, either,” Bower’s loud voice catches our attention, making me jerk in surprise. I hadn’t realized they were sitting on the beach.

“Fine, why don’t we take a seat?” Weston directs me to sit beside him and we sit facing the other two in a sort of circle. “You all know I was a pilot in the Marines.” The three of us nod and he continues.

“On my last mission, I picked up a group of soldiers out of a restricted zone, where they’d just completed their assignment. We were maybe a quarter of the way home when the plane’s electronics just stopped working, like an EMP had gone off and fried everything. The plane spun out of control and hit the ground, tail first. Which is the only reason I survived. None of the soldiers made it.”

I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth in shock. “You’ve survived two plane crashes?!”

“Technically, I wasn’t in the second plane when it crashed, but yeah, you could say that.” He narrows his eyes at the other two as he speaks.

“Why are you looking at them like that?” I ask as my hands lower to grasp my new necklace, its presence bringing me comfort.

“Because those idiots pushed me out of the plane.”

“What!?” I gasp, turning to the other two in surprise. Their sheepish expressions show their guilt. “You didn’t, did you?”

“The plane was going down and there was only one parachute. So we forced it on him and pushed him from the plane. We thought we were saving his life.”

My eyes widen in surprise. They’d never explained the details of their crash before, and I’d always wondered why they didn’t come to shore together. “You two sacrificed yourselves for him?”

They nod slowly, their eyes moving from me to Weston and back again.

---