The sky was beginning to fade to tones of pink and orange as Gerard stopped them again. Dominika sank to the forest floor dramatically with a huff as he took his jacket off and threw it the ground, wiping his brow. He cast his eyes up at the sky, frowning.

“We’re going to have to stop for the night kid, we’re getting close to the edge of the woods now and there’s no way we’re gonna chance crossing through the city in the dark” he said.

“I thought you said we’d be there tonight” she complained. He came and sat a small distance from her, leaning against the base of a tree.

“It was an estimate, new ETA tomorrow afternoon” he glanced at her sideways “we’d be a lot quicker if you didn't dawdle so much”

“Do these look like hiking boots to you?” she asked, gesturing to the once white sandals on her feet.

“I’ll admit they’re not the best hiking shoes but I've never seen anyone on the run for their life walk that slow” he leered. She waved her hands at him dismissively.

“Sorry, I’m lacking in your expertise training”

Dominika stayed on the ground, combing her fingers through her hair as Gerard wandered in and out of their little space between the trees. She watched him curiously as he disappeared a few minutes at a time, returning with bundles of sticks, branches and dried leaves under his arms. He began to arrange them in a square pile, stacking them on top of each other like a little tower. He filled the center with dried leaves and smaller twigs.

“What are you doing?” she asked. He pulled the shiny chrome lighter out of his pocket.

“Well I’m not skiing, kid” he laughed “Building a fire, haven’t you ever seen one before?”

“Apparently I missed that part of ‘girl guides’”

He flicked the lighter and held the yellow flame to some dry leaves before placing the smoldering bundle in the middle of his stick creation. He fanned it with his hands and blew air onto it gently till flames engulfed the little leaf pile, licking along the edges of the wood. When he was satisfied it was properly lit, he stood up and turned to her.

“I’m going to walk into the woods a little that way” he said, gesturing into the trees ahead of them “stay here, call out if you need me, I’ll hear you”

“Where are you going?”

“Just wait here”

She watched him fade into the trees until he was no longer visible and lay back against the carpet of dried leaves on the ground, watching the soft wind rustle the canopy above. Now they were apart for the first time in two days she finally felt the tension in the atmosphere lift.

Ever since the other day when she’d visited him at his house and he’d declared his intentions a strange charge had seemed to pulse between them, a mixture of confusion, hesitation, and something else she’d never felt before. It was a foreign and consuming feeling she couldn't seem to shake, and every time she looked at him something prickled deep inside her, a longing, but for what?

She reasoned with herself that their relationship dynamic had been shifted by what they had experienced together, something she’d never expected to go through, least of all with Gerard. With her family gone, Gerard was now the person who knew her best out of everyone. It was a sobering thought.

She heard footsteps in the distance and tensed for a moment before he appeared from behind a huge tree.

“Only me” he chuckled, “were you expecting someone else?”

“I’m kind of on high alert right now” she replied. His face snapped back to serious and he moved closer towards her.

“Don’t be afraid, kid, no one will find you here”

“I ho- what the hell is that?!” she jumped backwards and gestured at his left hand in horror.

He held up his prize, a bundle of brown fur that dangled limply from his hand. A rabbit?

“What, this?” he replied “This, is our dinner”

---

An hour later, the forest around them was completely dark, save for the blazing fire that cast a wide radius around them in flickering light. They sat apart, Gerard watching the flames almost hypnotically, tiny embers flying into the air and sparking out, falling back to the ground as ash. Dominika’s hair and face were orange in the glow cast by the fire and her eyes glistened, reflecting the light.

“That was by far the most horrible thing I've ever eaten” she said, dropping a bone to the ground and wiping her hand on the hem of her dress.

“It’s just rabbit” he replied “be thankful I didn’t feed you toad”

“After two days I probably would have still eaten the toad”

“I’m with you there, kid”

“Speaking of toads and rabbits…shall we bring up the elephant in the room, or the woods, that is?”

He stared at her for a moment “Oh Dominika, whoever gets paid to write your jokes should immediately be fired”

“I don’t get out much” she retorted. A smile pulled up the corners of his mouth and he shook his head.

“What’s the deal? I’m listening”

Now that he seemed to be playing dumb she instantly regretted mentioning it. Was he really going to make her spell it out for him? The answer was yes, probably just to make her squirm.

“Well…where does this leave…us? You haven't even brought it up this whole time”

“You and me? As far as I’m concerned, nothing has changed. In fact, right now there I’d like more than to come over there and plant one on you” he winked at her, “But, you've had a rough few days, Domi, probably the worst you've ever or will ever have. I understand that, and I respect your need for space at this time. Just know I’m here for you, and if and when you ever want to have more between us I’ll be here waiting”

She pondered his words in silence for a moment.

“So we’re not ‘engaged’ at the moment or whatever you’d call it?”

“It is whatever you want it to be”

“You’re no good at answering questions” she muttered.

“And you’re no good at being direct, Domi” he chuckled. She looked back to the fire, trying to choose the most pressing question on her mind out of the thousands she could have picked.

“So if we’re…together, and I go back to America and you stay here, what happens then?” she asked.

“I’d come back” he reminded her, “they rarely deploy us for more than twelve months at a time”

“Twelve months?” she choked.

“It would be over before you know it and I’d come back to Russia with you when it was safe, if you wanted”

“You’d come back to Russia with me?” she whispered.

“Russia, America, it’s all the same to me, I’ve spent equal parts of my life in both places now” he shrugged like it was nothing to him but Dominika was touched.

“Are you tired?” he asked. She nodded and he got up and began to kick dirt and sand into the fire.

“Why are you doing that?! We’ll freeze overnight!” she shrieked.

“Have to, kid, makes us way too obvious in the dark, not such a problem while we’re awake, but I don’t really feel like being ambushed in the middle of the night”

She groaned and turned away from him, pulling her dusty white cardigan over her torso. At least the residual heat from the fire would warm her legs. Gerard lay down a foot away from her and did the same with his jacket.

“Are you trembling?” he asked softly.

“It’s cold” she replied, hugging her arms around her torso. She heard the rustling of stiff fabric and he placed his jacket over her body. It was big enough to cover most of her body and relished in the warmth it held from his body. It smelled like him and she blushed as she pulled it tighter around herself.

“Thank you, Gerard” she whispered.

“You’re welcome”

Notes