They’d finally arrived back at the hotel. After a day full of events and finally a dinner the entire team attended, everyone was gathering back at the hotel. It was time to go, especially if they wanted to get back at a decent hour that night.

So Dustin had chanced it. He’d texted Marah, initiating contact first. He crossed his fingers and hoped Kapri didn’t hear the PAM go off. But he just had to chance it. He didn’t want to head back to Blue Bay Harbor without saying goodbye.

Now he waited patiently in the stairwell for her to come, like she said she would. He’d had to sneak out while the others were loading the vans. Honestly they probably thought he’d just wandered off, and would turn up just in time to make them late.

Before he could get very far into inventing a cover story, the door opened and Marah entered the stairwell. She had her back turned to him, as she eased the door shut. So she didn’t see him till she turned. And they broke into simultaneous smiles.

“Ya know, I actually think it was easier for us to meet in Blue Bay,” Marah laughed.

“Easier, yeah, it is that,” Dustin agreed. Back home they had time to themselves. But here in LA they had each supposedly been on a group vacation, so it was like people expected to know where you were and stuff. “But we couldn’t go out in public like we could here.”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter where we go, does it?”

Dustin shook his head, no. ‘Cause he knew she knew just as well as he did.

It wasn’t about going out. ‘Cause the place didn’t matter. It was the company. Sure, it had been fun to be out in public. But that wasn’t what this was about. All these months they’d worked so hard to find time together ‘cause well, they wanted to be together. Didn’t matter if they were meeting at the track, or Blue Bay Pointe, or whatever out of the way spot they’d found. What mattered was them.

So they quickly said their good-byes, knowing that they’d have to get back soon. Her hand was on the door, ready to open it and duck back out into the hallway when she turned.

“Dustin?”

“Yeah?” he asked, wondering what had made her stop.

“Ryan,” she opened the door and glanced back at him. “It was Ryan.”

“Uh, okay. What did he do?” he wasn’t sure at all what she meant.

“Kapri said he was voted out.”

“Oh!” he exclaimed as it all came back to him. “”Survivor”, right. Hey, thanks. We’ll get Hunter good.”

She giggled at his obvious glee, and whispered, “’Bye Dustin.” Then she stepped out into the hallway, letting the door close quietly behind her.

“’Bye Marah,” he said as the door closed. He leaned against the wall, giving her time to reach her room before he left as well.

The back of the van sank a little as Blake sat down on the rear bumper next to her. When she glanced over at him, he offered her a can of Sprite. "Soda?"

Tori smiled. "Thanks." She popped the top, her eyes wandering back to the chaos that was their friends and most of their stuff. Her stuff was already in the van. So was Blake's, which surprised her a little. He'd gone to the trouble of loading up before he went to say goodbye to the vending machine.

The same could not be said for Cam, who had propped his backpack up on his duffel bag in the middle of the parking lot and was leaning back against it while he worked on his laptop. Nor Dustin, who had only recently returned from who-knows-where and was now pestering Shane about "Survivor." Hunter was doing something in the back of the Storm Chargers van, but since he was riding with her she was pretty sure it didn't involve actual loading of luggage.

She'd decided not to care today. She was ready to go, after all, and she didn't have to work in the morning. So what did it matter if they left now or two hours from now?

Blake nudged her shoulder with his. "You know we can take off anytime you want, right?"

Tori returned his affectionate shove without a thought. "Kelly's van is set up for cargo, not passengers. Dustin's only got room for two."

"Yeah," Blake agreed, not like he hadn't known. There was a pause, and then he repeated, "You know we can take off anytime, right?"

She laughed aloud. They both knew they'd never do it. They also knew that Shane had automatic shotgun privileges whenever Dustin drove. Which meant, indirectly, that Blake had joked about leaving his brother behind so she could get back to Blue Bay Harbor faster...

It was just a silly game. Blake was a flirt and a kidder and he knew how to make people smile. But he was her flirt, her kidder, and he only teased the way he did because he cared. She smiled to herself as she sipped her soda.

Then Hunter shouted something uncomplimentary from the back of the Storm Chargers van, and the smirks that flashed between Dustin and Shane were not innocent. "Any idea what's going on?" she asked idly, tempted to swing her legs a little. Just for effect.

"Hunter's trying not to find out who got voted off of Survivor," Blake answered. He didn't look too concerned, either. "Which Shane and Dustin have basically made impossible."

Tori cocked her head, listening to her friends discuss the most recent episode with pointed enthusiasm. "Ryan," she said after a minute. "Right?"

Blake shrugged. "Apparently," he agreed.

She just shook her head. Another game, she thought, watching the boys make a big show of lowering their voices when Hunter climbed out of the van and stormed past them. Lowering their voices to the point where they were just talking loudly, instead of yelling so that the entire parking lot could hear them. The volume increased again as soon as it became clear that Hunter was pretending to ignore them.

Tori watched him stomp around Cam and snatch at the carrying handle of Cam's backpack. "Move," he said curtly. But he didn't lift the backpack until Cam leaned forward. He picked up the duffel bag too and headed for the van with what was probably feigned irritation.

Cam didn't thank him. But he didn't protest either, and Tori caught the sideways look that followed Hunter's movements. Okay, so maybe he wasn't working so hard after all. But even if he was, she thought, he was still here… in every way that mattered. Just like the rest of them.

Hunter arrived at the tailgate with a thoroughly unconvincing scowl. "Either help or get out of the way," he informed them, hefting Cam's stuff in a not-very-threatening manner.

Tori and Blake exchanged glances. "Now he wants to load the van," she remarked.

"Say the magic word, bro," Blake teased.

"Play games on your own time," Hunter grumbled, dropping the duffel bag so he could swing Cam's backpack around behind Tori without bumping her.

"Nah," Blake countered. He lifted his soda can to Tori in mock salute. "The Games are what brought us here."

She shifted to one side, allowing Hunter to slide Cam's duffel into the back of the van and coincidentally bringing her a little closer to Blake. He didn't move over, and their shoulders pressed up against each other. Hunter glared at them both, but it was only a token look.

They all knew how the game was played.

Tori tapped her soda against Blake's, and the half-full cans made a soft clunking sound as they were brought together. A little odd, discordant maybe, but it worked. And it was, somehow, entirely appropriate.

"Here's to the games," she said with a smile.