Tides
The next morning, Sebastian woke up before you and left you a note on top of your phone on the nightstand, 'Went to grab coffees. Be right back. Love you baby.' He scribbled an adorably wonky heart underneath it all.
He came back and kissed you as you still lay in bed waiting for him. You drank your coffee as you got dressed and put yourself together for a day out in the park of seeing the sights and riding the buses from attraction to attraction. You weren't feeling quite as tired after having gone to bed early and getting a good night's sleep.
The two of you met up with everyone else for the breakfast buffet and then the whole group headed out. You went to see all the thermal features, including Old Faithful and the other dozens upon dozens of pools and geysers in that area.
Thor wanted to take a picture of Chris and Sebastian on the path with one of the spewing geysers in the background as everyone took a break from walking along the narrow and winding raised paths. It was a large, raised platform area with benches all huddled in rows to watch the feature there. Sebastian jumped on Chris's back and they were all goofing around too much for your comfort level. You were sitting on a bench, talking to Jane, Sharon and Nat, who whipped their heads in the guys' direction when you clutched at your chest and gasped when Chris stumbled slightly, "Oh my God!"
You shouted out to them, "Hey!" Chris had already set Sebastian down and you continued, "Be careful! You could get seriously burned if you fall off that path!"
They both laughed and Chris shouted back, "Okay, Mom!"
They strolled back over to you and the other girls. Chris sat between you and Sharon and Nat scooted over so Sebastian could sit next to you. He and Chris were still softly chuckling and he spoke as he lowered himself to sit, "Sorry, baby.", he kissed your cheek.
You punched his arm with one hand and then the other right after, "You scared the shit outta me!"
He leaned away slightly, chuckling, but his face surprised, "Ow-how-how!" His hand went to his arm.
The few people in the group around you were all chortling.
Chris laughed at his friend's misfortune, but you whipped around to face him, "You too!", and gave him a punch in the arm as well.
Sharon was a little uncomfortable with the exchange, but did her best to hide it.
"Ah! Hey!", he laughed gripping his arm, "Jesus, Seb, what are you feeding her? Those little fists hurt!"
"That's personal.", Seb was fighting laughter, but still managed to smirk.
Nat cackled in amusement, Chris made a face that was both surprise and amusement, which came out in a whisper while he couldn't help smiling, "Shhhhi-oh my God." He laughed; that was a good joke.
Anyone else that heard Sebastian's comment was now laughing also and you turned to him with your eyes narrow in sarcastic displeasure.
He pulled you to him and kissed your cheek again, "I really am sorry, doll, but that was just too funny."
"I know, thank you.", you laughed. "You're pretty funny yourself."
Chris had calmed down and put a hand on your back, "I'm sorry, (Y/N). Won't happen again.", he smiled.
The next day you all went one of the buses to the top of the steep zig zag trail that lead down to the waterfalls in the canyon. The only areas on it with railings were the switch-back turns to the next level at each end. Everyone started down the trail, when you noticed Chris and Sharon where stopped where the trail began and not following the rest of the group. She looked really nervous and Chris had his hand at her back and was talking quietly to her.
"Honey...", you nodded up at them.
Sebastian turned to look, then swiveled forward again and cupped his hands around his mouth to shout to the others ahead of you, "We'll catch up, guys!"
Thor stopped, turned and gave a thumbs up, then continued.
You and Seb both went back up about 10 feet to them. You smiled at Sharon as you approached, "Hey, what's up?" Her eyes were wide and darting.
Chris looked at you sadly, "She's afraid of heights."
"Oh, okay.", you said sweetly. "Here, let's go sit down for a minute, okay?" You took her hand and she looked at Chris and he nodded reassuringly.
She followed you and you both sat on the low brick wall near the parking lot. Chris crouched in front of her, taking her hand and you put an arm around her. Sebastian stood on the other side of you and rested a hand on your upper back as you started, "You've been to Yellowstone before, is that right?"
She nodded, glancing at you for only a second, before looking at her feet.
"Did you go down any trails like this before?"
She shook her head, "No." She looked at Chris and he smiled softly at her.
"I used to be terrified of heights.", you said. "They still make me a little nervous, but I'm pretty okay about it. So we can do it together."
She looked from Chris to you and said nothing, so you continued, "Okay, so how about this? You can hold my hand and walk behind me, close to the inside of the path. Chris can hold your other hand as he walks between you and the edge, slightly ahead of you and Sebastian will walk slightly behind you, between you and the edge too."
Sebastian nodded in agreement of your proposed plan.
Chris looked at you with a small, closed lipped smile. His heart was swelling over how sweet you were being to his girlfriend. This... This is exactly why he loved you; you cared about everyone.
"I don't know...", she replied quietly.
You could tell she was considering it, but not there yet, so you went on, "You'll have two people holding onto you, three people guarding you, two of which are big, brick shithouses of men-", you nodded your head enthusiastically, your eyes wide.
The guys both huffed out a quiet laugh and she chuckled nervously, "Yeah."
You went on, "and you saw how quickly Sebastian caught me when I fainted, right?" You added more quietly, "Which I don't do anymore, thank God."
Sebastian pressed his lips together remembering that terrible night and rubbed your upper back gently as Sharon looked at him, "Yeah.", she smiled a little and he mirrored her expression, but with confidence, then he nodded.
"My guy's got the fastest reflexes I know of and he'll be at your rear flank, where he would see anything happening first, okay?"
You studied her face; she was almost there...
"So, that's one, two, three,", you lifted fingers on a hand one at a time as you counted, pointing to Chris, Seb and yourself, "Plus, the path is paved; no slippery dirt--", you straightened another finger, "And- Let me see the bottom of your shoes."
She lifted her shoe bottom towards you.
"Plus, bad ass traction on your boots!", you popped your thumb out, holding out all five digits. "That's 5 advantages; you're so set to do this!", you beamed at her.
She started smiling, "Yeah."
You face became serious for a moment, "No one's going to make you do anything you don't want to, but we won't let anything happen to you, Sharon." You paused. "So, you ready to go experience with your friends one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen?"
She nodded at Chris and smiled bigger, "Yes."
'She said they're my friends.' Something in her clicked and she finally felt like she fit into the group... Well, at least with the three of you and that was a start.
You all started down the path as planned, letting Sharon set the pace. Whenever people were coming back up, you all stopped against the inside of the path and waited; You still holding her hand in front of her, Chris behind Sharon with his hands on her waist and Seb waiting behind Chris. At the switch-backs, everyone had to switch sides, but you never let go of her hand until you had the other and the guys just maneuvered around behind you and Sharon, taking their places again. It took a while longer than it normally would, but you didn't mind. You knew what it was like to be afraid of heights, so you had all the patience in the world... And so did the guys, because, well- it was Chris and Seb. They were the best guys you knew.
Once you all got to the bottom, Chris hugged her up, "You made it! Good job, babe!" She smiled and giggled.
Everyone else greeted the four of you.
You and Sebastian walked to the edge of the chain link fenced concrete platform directly overhanging the top of the waterfall, he stood next to you and snaked an arm around your waist and kissed your head.
You gripped the rail of the fence tightly and felt your stomach turning a little. Yep, still a bit afraid of heights. You called out over the loud noise of the falling water and over your shoulder, "Sharon! Come look at this! It's so beautiful!"
Chris took her hand and led her over, she looked nervous again and when they started getting a few steps away, she stopped. Chris got behind her and latched his fingers together around her middle and said near her ear, "I've got you."
"Look,", you said to her as you reached around to your back and moved Seb's hand so that you could hold it, "I'm a little scared too." You took a tiny step away from Sebastian so that there was a small space between the two of you, "Just come look between us. Chris's got you. You HAVE to see this. You'll regret it if you don't."
Sebastian smiled at you lovingly; you were so sweet that it hurt his teeth. He then hitched his head towards the waterfall to encourage Sharon.
She moved forward, Chris right behind her. She looked over your shoulder between you and Seb. You looked at her face and it was painted with timid wonder, "It is beautiful." She sighed and stepped back against Chris and he followed her movement, "Okay, that's enough.", she giggled.
On the way back up, Sharon was comfortable enough that she was okay with just holding Chris's hand as he walked near the edge, her on the inside.
You and Sebastian followed behind them. He leaned over slightly to talk quietly to you, "You are THEE most fucking amazing person I know, doll. How you helped Sharon was unbelievably kind. So proud to call you my girl." He kissed your head.
You smiled at hearing his validating words, "Thank you, honey."
The rest of the week was filled with more sites, a boat tour of the lake and you saw lots more wildlife. You were still in awe at their beauty, but didn't break down again. Luckily, no one had ran into any bears.
There was lots of time spent with everyone visiting each other's rooms and just hanging out together. There were even several more love making and fucking sessions between you and Sebastian. He was the best lover ever... And he felt the same about you.
When it came time to leave, everyone was sad it had come to an end, but also looking forward to the familiarity of home. You all had made some really great memories with each other. Everyone was telling Tony and Pepper thank you for the trip throughout the morning as you all prepared to go.
You were feeling tired again that morning, but just chalked it up to all the excitement over the week and that your were expecting your period soon.
Once everyone and everything was loaded in the buses, off you all went; homeward bound. The trip home was spent much like the trip there with games, movies, reading and hanging out.
Chris came upstairs while you were reading on one of the beds, "Hey,", he lowered himself onto to sit as you sat up.
"Hey.", you smiled.
"I just wanted to thank you for helping Sharon at the falls. It was really compassionate. I was glad to see the two of you together like that. I don't think she's ever really felt like she fit in... And I think you changed that for her. Thank you.", he leaned over and hugged you tight. "You're the best, (Y/N)."
"I'm glad I could help her."
Halfway through the day you started having cramps and you were glad that your period decided to show up when the trip was ending. You got what you needed out of your bag and went into the bathroom, then joined the others again.
About 30 minutes later your cramps were getting a little worse than what you were used to so told Sebastian you were going to go lay down upstairs. You fell asleep for a while and at some point, Sebastian came to lay with you and fell asleep as well.
You woke up having to pee and the cramping hadn't subsided any. When you moved to crawl over Sebastian, he woke up and spoke groggily as he layed his hands on your hips when you passed over him, "You okay, doll?"
"Yeah, I just have to go pee."
You went into the upstairs bathroom at the top of the stairs and sat to do your business, pulling up your pants when you were done. You started washing your hands and a sharp pain in your pelvis doubled you over the sink. You panted and tried to gather yourself. You felt a gushing in your pants... That wasn't a period gush, it was bigger. You were breathing a little more heavily now as you shakily pulled your pants down and found blood, so much blood, it was even slowly seeping down your pants. You were panicking as the pain was worsening from what it had been before. You pulled your pants back up and started to cry sitting on the toilet lid, bracing yourself against the pain on the walls of the tiny room. Your fear came out in a distressed shout, "Sebastian!"
He instantly jumped up and ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He was trying to stay calm, not knowing what he was going to find on the other side. He could hear your whimpering sobs, "(Y/N), unlock the door, honey."
You reached over and unlocked it shakily.
Chris had ran up the stairs when he heard you call out for Sebastian, Sharon following after him. Everyone else went to the bottom of the stairs, looking upwards and listening.
Chris and Sharon made it to the top of the stairs just as Sebastian opened the door. He stepped in and saw the blood on your pants between your legs. His eyes widened in shock, his voice laced with panic as he crouched down, his hands going to your arms, "Oh my God, baby. What happened?" He put a hand gently against the side of your head, his eyes were darting everywhere across you and his heart was pounding; he didn't know what to do.
Chris and Sharon could see your state now and Chris felt terrified, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
You answered through sobs, one hand gripping Sebastian's forearm, the other grasping at your lower abdomen, "I dunno. I thought it was my period but there's so much blood and it hurts; it really hurts." You squeezed your eyes shut at another wave of pain.
Sharon spoke up calmly, "Chris, go make sure we stop at the next exit and call 911."