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Peyton's phone buzzed at her, and she grouped along the desk beside her bed until her fingers found it. A book lay open in her lap, the same large hardcover she'd been reading through when Jack had so rudely interrupted her. She'd finally gotten back to it, and her eyes slid along the page, finishing up the paragraph on War Horsemen before jumping to the screen of her phone as she hit the button to light it up. It was a text, and an immediate smile light up her face as she saw who the sender was. Immediately she shot a reply back, letting him know she was on her way, then folded down the corner of the page she'd been on and set the book aside.

Since she wasn't going out side she didn't bother bulling her boots on, but she did stop in front of the mirror. It was still warm on the island, but she'd actually pulled on a pair of sheer knee-highs that laced in the back at the very top. They were paired with a pair of white-washed cut offs, a pale blue camisole, and an earthy t-shirt hanging off one shoulder. It was cute, which was what she was going for, but it did very little to hide the bruises healing along the left side of her jaw and around her throat, and only half covered the burn on her chest. She looked like she'd just gotten back from some crazy mission, but in reality it had all been a very violent encounter in a common room.

She still didn't know what the ******** had happened. Jack was d**k, but he'd been behaving weirdly, even for him. Hell, come to that, Peyton hadn't been feeling completely herself either.

Another strange phenomena to add to the list of other craziness that plagued the island.

Bruises were common place on the island though, so she gave them only the barest of narrow-eyed glances before heading out the door and down the wall. When she reached Noah's room she knocked, slipped her fingers into her back pockets, and rocked back on her heels as she waited for him. "It's me Handsome."

A ready smile was turned up to greet the young man when he opened his door, but it froze in place at his worry, fading around the edges as a hand came up to her neck, covering the necklace of purple marks, before letting it fall away. "I'm okay, it looks worst than it is." Reaching out, she took his hand, drawing it up so she could lay a kiss on his knuckles. "And yeah, Jack happened." She'd mentioned a fight, but couldn't remember if she'd clarified that it had been a brawl in the common room, rather than a spar. "I don't know exactly what set him off, but we got into it pretty bad just down the hall." There was a subtle twitch of her lips, eyes narrowing, but any signs of anger faded quickly. She didn't want to think about Jack, or the fight.

"Warricks gunna make all these ugly bruises go away, and I'll be good as new, don't worry." The smile was back, reassuring this time, and she stepped forward so she could slid her hands up his arms. "So what do you have for me?" There was the softest of purrs to her voice as she rose up on tip toes, head tipping back for a kiss.

The girl leaned into the kiss, and managed to leave a second quick peck at the corner of his mouth before he could fully straighten. Later, if he wanted to hear all about what had happened between her and Jack, she'd fill him in, but at least for now she'd rather focus on far more pleasant things. Worried features smoothed out at her reminder, and she couldn't help an amused sound as he led her into the room and towards the desk. His hopeful smile was much preferred to that anxious uncertainty, and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze before turning her attention down to the desktop and the little potted plant that sat in the center.

"You remembered." One little piece of a larger conversation, in the middle of a jam packed day and a rather memorable evening, and it had stuck with him. This was why she liked him so very much. Little thing like this, that reminded her that he cared about her, that he thought about her, and that he wanted to make her happy. One small hand reached out so she could touch the tip of a finger against one soft leaf, and she grinned as she leaned back against the much taller trainee. "Thank you, I love it." The little care manual was picked up, and she flipped through the pages as she drew one of his arms more securely around her shoulders, cheek pressing into the warmth of his bicep.

For a quiet minute she read through the first couple pages of the little hand typed book, then she closed it again, setting it back on the desk as she tipped her head back against his chest so she could look up at him. "I've never had a plant to take care of before." Her father hadn't been much into house plants, and they'd not really bothered to do much more then maintain any of the yards that had belonged to the houses they'd lived in.

Pink had been his first choice, and that made the dainty Sun smile even brighter. "Green is great." Anything would have been okay with her, but the fact that he'd worried over the color of the planter had her turning her head to press her lips to his arm as she hugged it against her a little more snugly.

Watching how his eyes light up made her hearth melt just a little, and it was easy to lean back into him as he went over strawberry plant care. When he stopped she blinked, head tilting. "That's no reason to be embarrassed." She loved that he had something he was passionate about. Plants had never been something she'd really paid that much attention to in the past, but Noah knew so much about them, and there were so many interesting tidbits she was learning from him.

So she reached up to give his chin a soft pinch, giving him a reassuring, happy smile before looking back down at the plant. There weren't any berries yet, but it was covered in cute little flowers, which, she had learned, meant berries weren't far behind.

Lilac eyes rolled back up as she tipped her head against his chest and the smile she gave him was radiant. All warmth and fondness, and maybe, just maybe something a little deeper that she wasn't quite ready to label yet. "I don't really know anything plants, so it's not boring at all. I like it." She liked to learn. Something she hadn't even really realized until she'd been allowed to settle into a "safe" environment.

To his question she gave a small shake of her head, still leaning back against him, and she played her hands down his arms where they still draped around her shoulders. Then she turned so she could hug him back. "Soda sounds nice, if it's not any trouble."

An afternoon spent curled up wit Noah, a cool drink, and learning about strawberries and other plants sounded just about right. It was low-key and relaxing, and Peyton definitely needed it after the eventful few days she'd been having. He gave her an extra squeeze, and she lay a kiss on the logo of his tee-shirt before he slipped away from her. An exaggerated all suffering look met him as he grabbed his wallet, but it melted into a adoring sort of smile. "Grape if they have it? Or anything but diet."

He disappeared out the door, and she stood there for a long moment looking down at the little potted berry shrub. It was such a thoughtful gesture, and a wash of warm fuzzy tingling spread from core to extremities, ending with a distinct fluttery sense of wings in her stomach. It drew a soft, content noise from the Sun.

<Noah and Peyton sittin in a tree...>

You betcha. Now shut the ******** up.

He actually did, and she was shaking her head as she moved around the desk, glancing at the titles embossed on the book spines that sat in a neat row. There were a few familiar titles of fiction, but in among them were almanacs of various plants, one among them boasted exotic plants from all over the world. With an interested hum she slide it free from the rest, then turned to brace her butt against the desk top.

When she opened it a few pieces of folded paper dropped from between the pages, opening as they hit the floor and she blinked down. It looked like sheet music, but there wasn't any notes, only words scribbled across the pages. She thought at first it was a song he was writing, but it wasn't Noah's handwriting. It wasn't recognizable at a glance.

She would have just refolded it and tucked it back within the book, but a line caught her attention, then another, and another, and though some of it was nothing, the worried self doubt of another person, there was enough to have chased off that happy, fluttering feeling to replace it with uneasy twisting.

Warrick, what did I find?"

He didn't have a comforting answer for her, so he hovered in her mind like a reassuring weight.

It didn't take a huge deductive leap to figure out who had written the pages, and put together a rough estimate of when the contents were written, when they were given to Noah.

She didn't look up immediately when he returned with the sodas, she was rereading over the last few lines on what must be the last page. When that uncertain, anxiety ridden sound filled the sudden tense silence the pages lowered to rest against her thighs. Questions came to her, resting on the tip of her tongue, but she discarded the most obvious ones as completely improbable. Noah wouldn't cheat on her, he just wouldn't. That wasn't him, he wasn't like that. But why hide the letter? Why keep it a secret and not tell her?

Finally she lifted her head, and the look on her face was lost. Not exactly hurt, not yet, but close. "Noah?" God, he looked so guilty, and it did nothing to comfort the hard, anxious knot in her stomach.

It had been perfect. They were going to have a perfect afternoon filled with cuddling and smiles and she was starting to think that like was no longer the appropriate word for what she was feeling for him. She'd been talking to the other girls, trying to work it all out in her head so she'd be able to articulate herself properly to him. She'd been wanting to talk to him, about taking things a little further, trying things.