Day 1 – Getting Lost Somewhere

"Cause it was you and me; we were living the dream as we were seventeen."

'This is your fault.'

'No it's not.'

'Hey, you're the one who said you could "navigate the wilderness" or whatever.'

'Well, it seemed like a better idea in theory. Sue me.'

'Oh I'll sue you, alright -'

Vin held up a hand, scanning the endless expanse of trees around them. 'Shut up a minute, would you?' Dark clouds were gathering in the sky overhead, and the wind was whistling rather violently around them, making it difficult to focus.

Zero folded her arms and bristled at the bluntness of his statement. 'Care to say that again?'

'Yeah. Shut up. I'm thinking.'

'Don't tell me to shut up -'

'Could you ignore your self-righteous dignity for one minute, please? I think we're gonna have to go tree-climbing.'

She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled in frustration, scowling heavily. 'I suggested that five minutes ago, dumbass. But guess what, you didn't seem to agree with me!'

He waved her off, finally turning back to face her. 'Alright, alright, you're clearly the smarter of us. I'm a moron.' He spread his arms akimbo and tried for a placating smile, but was met with one of the most deadpan expressions he had ever seen. 'Can you just go have a look, please?'

Her nose twitched, but she sighed heavily and looked up at the nearest pine tree. 'I'll need a boost.'

'Yeah, alright.' He turned around and linked his hands behind his back so she could climb to his shoulders, before risking a leap to the lowest branch (which was actually pretty damn high, mind you), grabbing on with her hands, and swinging herself up with the grace of a gymnast.

Vin, as always, pretended he wasn't jealous. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he gradually walked backwards through the foliage to better see her scale the length of the tree, right until she disappeared amidst the upper forest canopy.

Damn Pinkerton and its woodland isolation. This had happened way too often to be funny anymore.

'See anything?' he called, squinting to try and see her silhouette through all the leaves, which were whipping back and forth violently in the wind.

It was quiet for a moment, before she replied. 'Yeah, we've gone too far north, but we're close. We'll get back before it gets dark, anyway.'

Well, that was a relief to say in the least. The only reason they had gotten stuck out here in the first place was because of some mad, killer robot thing that Macbeth had set loose, and if it was going to make him late for dinner, he wasn't going to be happy. It was bad enough that they had been out of phone range for most of this escapade, but making him miss Pizza Night was way below the belt.

Zero had begun her trip back down the tree, leaping from branch to branch as she tried to find a suitable path. Finally, when she was about eight or nine feet above the ground, and on the lowest branch, she stopped.

'Well, shit,' she said simply, cocking her head to the side.

'What?' Vin asked, confused. 'I've seen you jump from higher places.'

She scowled at him. 'Yeah, and I was always landing on someone else. You have any idea how much this kills your ankles?'

Vin rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. 'Fine, I'll catch you. But lose the boots; they hurt.'

She actually looked rather offended about that, but reluctantly unbuckled her combat boots and kicked them off. He wisely chose to dodge them as they fell – they had given his shins more scars than he'd wanted over the years. Personally, he had a bit of a vendetta against them, and with good reason.

Zero looked down at him with an arched brow. 'This is going to hurt you more than me. Just thought you should know.'

'How? I'm bigger than you.'

She scowled. 'No you're not.'

'Dude, I'm taller by an entire foot. You had your time, five years ago.' He gave her the biggest shit-eating grin he could muster. 'I'm the macho-man now.'

It was safe to say she had no qualms with dropping on top of him after that.

He yelped in surprise as his knees gave out from under him, and his back hit the ground with enough force to wind him for a moment. Zero fell squarely on top of him, and their heads knocked together with a painful crack.

In all honesty, this was the kind of compromising position he normally would have loved to be in. But right now? He was more concerned about whether his nose was bleeding.

Though she was breathing rather heavily, Zero started to laugh, her head dropping into the crook of his shoulder to muffle her giggles. And, though he was still aching all over, Vin couldn't help laughing either, because this whole situation was just goddamn ridiculous.

'Wow, you are useless,' she told him, bracing her arms on either side of his head to lift herself up slightly. She looked him straight in the eye, blue to blue, and with her usual lopsided grin, repeated, 'Useless.'

'Gee, thanks,' he replied sarcastically, poking her nose. 'Much appreciated. By the way, you are nowhere as light as you look. I think my shoulders died.'

She wrinkled her nose and upper lip in a half-arsed attempt at a sneer. 'That's because it's pure muscle, genius. I'm not Barbie.'

'And thank God for that,' he agreed. It was true; her strength had gotten them out of more tight situations than he could count.

He had no idea how long they stayed like that – he hadn't been the best at noticing things – but the moment was eventually broken when Zero yelped and rolled off him, looking up at the sky. 'Think it's starting to rain.'

He squinted in an attempt to peer up through the treetops, though it was hard to tell with all the wind. 'Nah, couldn't be.' Not yet, anyway, because that would be just unfair.

And then a great, fat raindrop hit him squarely on the forehead.

Zero tilted her head, looking triumphantly smug. 'You were saying.'

'Oh, shut up. Anyway, it's only spitting.'

Just like that, it promptly began to pour.

Vin most certainly didn't shriek, he was simply concerned about the welfare of his hair. He had spent twenty minutes on it this morning, after all. Zero laughed, getting to her feet and spinning around, embracing the turn of events with nothing short of utter delight. Once Vin had safely situated himself beneath the shelter of the nearest tree, he paused to watch her.

In all honesty, he couldn't blame her for liking the rain. It did feel nice, even if it was destructive to works of art such as himself, and it was clear that Zero seemingly had an appreciation for the simpler things in life.

And it wasn't like simplicity was a bad thing.

The downpour was relentless, the raindrops bouncing back off the ground with the force of small hailstones. Though Zero's hair had been braided, the shorter, loose strands were plastered to her face, and her eyeliner was running down her cheeks. She didn't care.

Seeing her this unashamedly happy stirred something in Vin's chest. He hadn't the faintest clue what it was, and he wasn't all that concerned; in fact it was a rather regular occurrence around her. But this time it felt slightly different. It was like he felt content.

Giving up on trying to save his hair, he walked back out in the rain to stand by her. 'Hey, it's Carrie White,' he said, grinning widely.

She punched his shoulder, though there was no force behind it. 'This is rain, not blood, moron.'

He sighed theatrically. 'Technicalities.'

She rolled her eyes. 'C'mon, I'll race you back.'

'You say that like there's actually a chance of it being a competition.'

'I'll kick your ass and you know it.'

'In your dreams.'

'Fine.' She smirked at him, and then took off. He let out a yelp and sprinted after her, shouting obscenities as she laughed.

It took a while, but later that night, as he lay in bed and stared into the dark, he realised something. That feeling, the one he couldn't quite identify, it wasn't just contentment. It wasn't just affection, or caring, or even love. It was a sense of belonging.

To him, she was what home really meant.

Chapter title - "17", Avril Lavigne
Quote - "17", Avril Lavigne