Sammy stumbled, catching her foot on an exposed tree root, only for Yaz to tighten the grip of the arm she had slung around the other girl’s waist, arresting her fall and hauling Sammy back onto her feet.
“Thanks - thanks Yaz”, Sammy smiled up at her friend, pausing to catch her breath as she regained her footing.
“You OK there Sammy?” Yaz smiled back, readjusting Sammy’s arm over her shoulders to better take her weight, and cinching her friend in close beside her with the arm Yaz had wrapped around the other girl’s waist. “Just a little further now, we’re nearly at the boat.”
Sammy looked ahead to see Kenji and Brooklynn reach the edge of the forest and stop to wait in the shadows for them to catch up, scanning the clear ground between the tree line and the docks for any sign of danger.
“Thanks girlfriend”, Sammy gave Yaz a quick squeeze. “You’re the best! I don’t know what I’d do without you. Actually”, Sammy’s smile slipped a little but she looked up at her friend no less earnestly, “I don’t think I’d even be here without you…”
“That - uh - that’s OK Sammy,” coughed Yaz with a touch of embarrassment bringing colour to her cheeks. “What are friends for, right?”
Girlfriend! Yaz thought to herself, a little thrown by Sammy’s choice of the word. She knew that Sammy only meant it in a friendly way, like, as in ‘You go girlfriend!’ but still, with her own arm wrapped tightly around the other girl’s waist while Sammy squeezed her back and said such things… Yaz couldn’t help but hope, or maybe even dream, if only just a little.
“Hey slackers! Are you coming?” The moment was broken by Kenji’s shout from up ahead. “Let’s get going while the going’s clear!”
Yaz scrunched up her face, taking a deep breath and desperately willing her reddened cheeks to go back to their normal colour. “Kenji’s right. We should get moving again, right… g… girlfriend?”
“Sure thing Yaz!” Sammy grinned, giving Yaz another briefly heart-stopping hug. “Let’s go!”
Together the two friends began picking their way carefully through the undergrowth once more and managed to reach the edge of the forest without any further delays.
“Everything OK?” Brooklynn asked as the two girls reached her position at the edge of the forest. “Its clear to go now, but if you need a little bit of time to rest Sammy before we make our last dash out in the open to the boat…?”
“Nah I’m good”, Sammy responded. “Yaz’s got my back, haven’t you Yaz!”
“Of course I do!” Yaz chimed back. “I’m with you every step of the way.”
“Awesome.” Kenji detatched himself from the tree he’d been lounging against and stretched out his arms. “Then let’s do this!”
Brooklyn and Kenji broke cover first, racing across the open ground and down the slope towards the boat, not looking back until they’d reached the dock at the bottom, whereupon Brooklynn called the two girls down to join them with a wave, while Kenji moved to theatrically re-adjust his captain’s cap and headed on to board the boat.
“Ready?” Yaz asked, arm still wrapped around her friend’s waist.
“Ready.” Sammy nodded, taking a deep breath.
Together Sammy and Yaz moved out into the open and began picking their way carefully down the hillside, making sure of their footing as they went and taking it as easy as they could so as not to overtax Sammy’s still weakened condition.
Finally they reached the bottom without incident and began making their way to the boat as Brooklynn gave the tree line behind them a final once-over before running on to the boat herself.
Sammy puffed a little more tiredly and leaned her weight even more heavily against Yaz as the two of them walked down the dock towards the boat’s gangplank. “I really mean it Yaz. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She stared down at her feet. “When you said back at the camp, that we… we weren’t even friends… and I - I know you didn’t mean it!” Sammy hastily added, “That’s when it really hit me. You’re my best friend Yaz. I don’t think I could keep going if I didn’t have you.” She gave Yaz another squeeze, this one more awkward than before. “I need you…”
Yaz choked back a startled response as her cheeks suddenly reddened once more. “I’m sorry Sammy - I really didn’t mean that! I was scared, and - “
“I know, I know. You didn’t mean it.”
“But when you - when you were dying - and I thought I might never see you again - that’s when it really hit me too!” Yaz’s own gaze determinedly looked up at the boat. “I don’t want to lose you either.” She swallowed. “And now I’m scared that when we get on the boat and leave this island we’ll never see each other again.”
“No!” Sammy cried, gripping Yaz’s arm tightly and looking up to meet the other girl’s eyes. “I need you and I’m not going to let anyone take you away. You’re my best friend. I love you Yaz. I love you!”
In response Yaz’s cheeks turned an even deeper shade of scarlet. Tamping down her emotions she steeled herself inside. Best friend. Friend. Sammy means that she loves me as a friend. Still gripping the other girl tightly around the waist Yaz carefully framed her response. “And I need you too Sammy. Even if we can’t see each other as much once we get off this island, we’ll still see each other. We’re best friends! There ain’t nobody’s gonna keep us apart! Not now. Not ever!” Yaz smiled a little stiffly. “Come on, let’s get up and onto the boat. I think you need to take a break and rest until Darius and Ben get back.”
Sammy went as if to say something more in return, but stopped herself and glared up at the gangplank instead. “That’s right. I’m not letting you go anywhere without me.”
Side by side the two girls carefully climbed up the gangplank together, reaching the top and pausing as Yaz hopped off onto the deck of the boat and then lifted Sammy down to join her. They looked around to see Brooklynn sitting up at the prow of the boat, staring back towards the island, and Kenzi standing beside the boat’s wheel in what could only be described as a studiously captain-like posture.
Laughing softly at him Yaz looked down at Sammy. “Come on, let’s find you somewhere to lie down and rest.”
Softly giggling at Kenzi’s posture as well Sammy grinned back, “Sure thing girlfriend. You’re the boss. Let’s find me a bed.”
It didn’t take the girls too long to find a bedroom down on the boat’s lower level and, somewhat reluctantly as they crossed the cabin towards the bed, Yaz began releasing her hold around Sammy’s waist, allowing Sammy’s legs to properly take her own weight once more.
But as Yaz did so she felt Sammy’s weight suddenly shift and drop, and so she quickly reached back around Sammy to try and catch her - although not as quickly as Sammy’s own arms shifted around Yaz’s back to catch her and pull Yaz down along with her as she fell backwards.
Almost as if she had planned it Sammy fell back onto the bed. And Yaz, caught in Sammy’s embrace, fell forward to land on top of her.
“Ouch!” Yaz shut her eyes as her head bumped into Sammy’s forehead. Brushing her hair back off her face to rub her tender forehead Yaz opened her eyes to find Sammy looking right at her from only inches away. She could feel Sammy’s breath on her cheek. She could feel Sammy’s heart beating quickly beneath her. She could see Sammy’s lips parted - close - so close. Almost on impulse Yaz pursed her own lips and began leaning forward to kiss… then stopped. Sammy. Beating heart. Lips. She was face to face with Sammy. She was lying on top of Sammy. She was about to kiss Sammy. This was a mistake! What was she thinking? If she tried to kiss Sammy then surely she would lose her forever! No way would Sammy forgive her for that… “Oh, Sammy - I’m sor -“
Then Sammy’s hand reached up behind her and pulled Yaz forward into the kiss she had just tried to avoid, Sammy’s eyes closing as she pressed her own lips upward, opening them slightly to meet Yaz’s mouth. The kiss seemed to go on forever before eventually Sammy let go and relaxed back onto the bed, smiling shyly and uncertainly up at Yaz.
Her arms still wrapped around Sammy’s back, Yaz stared down at her friend, still not quite sure what had happened or what to say.
Hesitantly Sammy asked, “Was that OK? I’m sorry I didn’t ask first, but I thought that, maybe, you wanted to, and so I thought it would be alright if I - because it looked like you wanted to - and I know that I wanted to - and - and…” Sammy turned red herself now and covered her face with her hands. “I’m such an idiot!” she wailed.
“No!” Yaz snapped out of her shocked hesitancy. “No!” She peeled Sammy’s hands back from her face and smiled down at her. “I wanted to! But I thought that you wouldn’t - that you didn’t - that it was just me who…” Yaz trailed off and leaned down to give Sammy a soft peck on the lips. “I love you Sammy,” Yaz whispered. “I mean it. I don’t know what I would do without you. I was afraid that you only saw me as a friend and that if I said anything then - “
“But I don’t. Girlfriend!” Sammy leaned up and softly kissed Yaz in return. “You are my best friend, but I do love you as more than just a friend.” She grinned hesitantly once more. “And if you did want to be my, you know, my girlfriend, then that would make me the happiest person on this damned island!”
Yaz just couldn’t contain her joy and she pulled Sammy into the biggest hug she could manage. “Of course! I love you! And I would love to be your girlfriend! Just thinking about life without you…” Yaz broke off speaking and brought her lips round into another enthusiastic kiss.
“Aah…” As their lips finally separated once more Sammy let out a sigh and grinned up at Yaz, all hesitation and uncertainty now banished. “So, what now?” Sammy’s grin became more than a little wicked as she shifted her body around beneath Yaz on the bed.
Yaz flicked her eyes over to the doorway of the cabin. “Well, I don’t think either of those two will come looking for us any time soon…”
“Good!”
Yaz’s eyes suddenly widened and she looked back down to Sammy - her best friend - her girlfriend - as she felt one hand slide up the front of her shirt to rest on her breast and another slide under the back of her shorts and come to a stop on her buttock underneath her panties.
“You said I needed to have a rest, “ Sammy’s wicked grin spread, “and I think that nothing would make me feel better than to take a break a nice, long, break here - right here with you.” Her fingers began to pointedly make their way around towards the clasp of Yaz’s bra strap.
In response Yaz stretched forward and nibbled softly on the side of Sammy’s neck. “Nothing. Not a T-Rex, not a Scorpios Rex, nothing could could stop me. And there’s nothing I could possible want more.”
And with a mixture of joy, love, and longing, Sammy and Yaz reached out for each other and entwined their bodies together and so the two friends, the two best friends, began to cement their love for each other as they started out on both another adventure and a brand new journey together, this time, as girlfriends.
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The End
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