𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁... 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲. [roman kemp]

𝑰𝑽

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍-𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅. The four campmates had all woken up early in the morning, but the sun had already risen and the tropical birds of paradise were trilling loudly from their perches in the trees.

Myles had cooked a nice breakfast for them using the spare food they'd kept from last night. It was weird waking up in the jungle; there had been no need to get dressed, as they had all slept in their jungle attire. Each celebrity had used the dunny, concluding it was not the most pleasant experience, and brushing their teeth over the small sink by the dunny was strange and surreal.

Nadine and Myles had offered to go and collect some more gas from the pumping station, leaving Roman and Lana to wash the dishes together.

"How are you doing today?" Roman asked, sitting on a small grey boulder opposite Lana.

"I still miss them," she said, dipping her hands into the warm, soapy water. "But I actually feel a lot better."

Roman said nothing for a moment, scrubbing out one of the empty food tins. "I miss my parents too," he admitted finally. "My dad - he's like my best friend. We talk every day, so this is gonna be weird."

Lana smiled at this; it was nice to hear that Roman had a good relationship with his parents. She thought for a moment and then spoke.

"What does your girlfriend think about you doing this?" It was a tentative question, testing the waters, and she wondered how Roman would react.

"Girlfriend?" he snorted, and she felt a strange emotion; almost like a sort of... happiness?

"I haven't got a girlfriend," Roman continued. "I haven't had one for... what is it, must be around a year and a half now."

"Oh, Roman, I'm sorry," Lana said quickly, hoping he wasn't upset. "I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," he said, looking unbothered. "I got over it a long time ago." Pursing his lips in thought, he squinted his blue eyes at her. "What about you, anyway? Surely you've got a boyfriend."

"No," she said simply. Normally she felt self-conscious admitting this, but with Roman, she felt she could be herself with no judgement. "I haven't had a proper boyfriend since secondary school."

Roman's jaw dropped. "No way," he said, shaking his head. "You? Single since secondary school? I don't believe you."

"It's true!" she laughed. "I finished university last year, and dated a couple of boys there - but nothing I'd count as a relationship."

"Wow," said Roman, setting down the fork he'd just cleaned. "I was not expecting that."

Lana shrugged, suppressing a smile at his reaction. "Well, you know. I guess - I guess I was just waiting to meet the right guy." She glanced at him shyly now, and he met her gaze, a lopsided grin spreading across his face that made her heart flutter.

"I've finished," she said, wiping her hands dry before he could say anything else.

"Great," he said, "now you can help me."

But just as she reached for the saucepan on his right, Roman dipped his hands in the soapy water and flicked several suds in her face.

"Roman!" she shrieked, laughing as she wiped water from her eyes. "Oh, I'll get you back for that!"