Because the Night

truth or marshmallow

"He's back!" Came the voice, long before Lily could see through the clearing. 

"I wasn't gone for long," Diego huffed. "Do you all have a tracker on me?" 

"We can't get this party started unless the Moody is in the building," the guy said, throwing his arms around Diego. He was nearly as tall, but looked doubly as friendly. In the fire, Lily immediately recognized him as the ginger guy who worked at the customer service desk and helped people plan out their days. She'd never met such a smiley person. Maybe Diego liked being around him because it melted him out. 

"We're not in a building, Finn" Diego said, then sat on the log, where there was enough space for a single person. 

Lily lingered in the background, staring at the group. No wonder she didn't come. These people fit in together like they'd been in this pose for the past six summers. It seemed like a camera crew was going to burst out at any given moment and say, "That's a wrap on Summer Resort, starring only gorgeous people." 

Finn, the ginger lumberjack, noticed Lily was standing by herself. "You trekked all the way to get her and you don't even get her a seat, Diego?" 

Diego turned around and saw Lily , was floating around. "She can figure out where to sit. She's a big girl."

The thing is, there wasn't anywhere to sit. There were four logs around the campfire. Clearly, the party had been curated to include only the number of people who could fit. She'd never felt like such an outsider. 

Across the fire, she could see Emma's smirk in between the embers. She leaned over and whispered to one of her friends. They laughed, and Lily felt transported back to high school, when every laugh was associated with a joke that might break your heart if you found out what it was. 

Locking eyes with Emma, Lily knew what she had to do. She walked over in front of Diego and sat on his lap. 

"Do you mind?" She asked, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "There aren't any other laps I can sit in."

"I would hope not," Diego said, and then repositioned her so they were more comfortable. "But don't lean back, because otherwise, I might drown in your hair." 

Lily leaned back for an instant, and felt Diego's arms wrapped around her. He gave her  a squeeze. "All right, I guess I know how to swim," he said, laughing. 

Was this a ploy to get her into his lap? Did Diego know what he was doing when he brought them closer together? She decided to let the questions flicker off like fireflies and concentrate, instead, on the feeling of her thighs on his thighs, her back on his stomach, and like they were some Russian nesting doll of summer. 

"Are we ready?" Finn said, breaking through the conversation's natural lull. "One more round?" 

"You don't have to play if you want," Diego said. "It's juvenile."

"Did you just call Dare or Marshmallow juvenile?" Finn said, turning toward Diego. "Good. Because in that case, you get to go first. Truth or marshmallow?" 

"Truth," Diego said. "But only because I took the marshmallow option last time, and I think it's  a health hazard to eat more than six of those in one night. What even is a marshmallow?"

"Quit deflecting," Finn said. "All right. I'm trying to think of a way to take advantage of the fact that we have Diego pinned to a question that he has to answer, or else. This is a major opportunity. Any ideas, people?" 

Emma smiled. "I have one." 

Behind her, Diego tensed. She could tell from a split second that he was suddenly aware of prey, stalking the distance. 

"Who's the best kisser in this circle?" Emma said, literally batting her eyelashes as she did. Lily didn't know that people did that. People didn't do that. 

If Diego tensed before, he was ramrod straight. Finn got up with an ice-cold water bottle, and held it on top of Diego's head. "Remember, if you plead the fifth, you will pay." 

Diego sat there, silent, for a few seconds. And then a few more seconds. 

"Dude, are you seriously not going to answer?" 

Diego then told Lily to stand up, and he shifted a bit so he was sitting up as straight as possible. "I'm really not going to answer." 

"Your rainbath," Finn said, shrugging. Then he opened up the bottle and emptied the contents onto his head. Lily noticed the way his wet shirt clung to the hard chest she'd just been pressed up against. 

Diego shook his head a few times, like a dog. His hair, when wet, covered his whole face. Of course, Lily couldn't help but think of how he'd look emerging from the lake. In the morning. With the sun glistening off the droplets on his —okay, Lily, we get it. 

What she didn't get, however, was why he couldn't answer. Was she that bad of a kisser? Was Emma that good of one? 

Diego sat in front of the fire to warm up, and wordlessly, Lily took his place. She watched as the game went on without her. No one else chose the rainbath option. 

Not even Emma, who was asked to put up, on her fingers how many people around the campfire she'd been with (four). Or a girl named Clarissa, who confessed to hooking up with a guest last summer, even though Diego could get her in trouble or that. Or even Finn, who revealed to the group that he once sent a rude customer on the hardest hike just so he'd be gone for most of the day. A few people did take the challenge to eat as many marshmallows as they could in one bite, to hilarious effect. 

Finally, it got to be Lily's turn—and there was no way she was choosing the marshmallows. Diego couldn't see her with her cheeks puffed out to double the width of her head, essentially. 

"Our newcomer," Finn said. 

"Diego's pet," Emma said. 

"She's not my pet," Diego said. "She needed a job. And we needed people."

"Yeah, because Adriana left. Because of you," Emma snapped. 

"I'm not doing this," Diego said, getting up. "i'm dry. I'm ready to walk home."

"No," Lily said. "Wait. I want to go." The crowd leaned in closer, she swore it happened. "Hit me. Truth, not marshmallow." 

"I'll ask it," Diego said. And the fire was the loudest thing around that campfire, as they waited. "Are you happy you're here?" 

"That's it? That's the question?" 

"Yes, but you have to tell the truth." He looked at her, searching. He wanted to know, she realized. He really wanted to know how she was. . 

As if he had any doubt. Of course she was happy. 

"Yeah," she said. "I am." 

Diego smiled, then, and she was happier than she'd been before.