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“You must be a good cook,” King says with a smile.

“I don’t know about that. I don’t think he’s particularly picky. He eats insects, after all.”

“Is he the only lemur that’s friendly with you?” West asks, from where he’s sitting beside me. We’ve given her a wide berth, so that she doesn’t feel crowded as the three of us sit on the opposite side of the fire from her.

“Sometimes his family comes around, they’re friendly, too. But Mo-Mo is my best friend, the others don't come without him.”

“Does he have a big family?” I ask curiously.

“There are probably about a hundred lemurs on the island, I’m guessing. Mo-Mo’s immediate family is his girlfriend, Coco, and his buddies Sam and Dean.”

“Sam and Dean, as in the show Supernatural?” I ask with a laugh.

She smiles at me and nods. “Yeah, I used to love that show. ”

My eyes dart to the other two in surprise. What she just said proves she didn't grow up on this island. Not that I thought she had, based on the way she doesn’t act like a total savage, but sometimes it’s hard to tell with her, the way she swings from vines and butchers pigs.

“Do they have girlfriends?” King asks, obviously wanting to keep the conversation light.

“Coco is their girlfriend, too,” she says, making me almost choke on the water I’d just tried to swallow.

“You’re saying, Mo-Mo, Sam and Dean all share a girlfriend?” King asks for clarification as I try to control my coughing.

She just nods, frowning at me, while King, West and I all share a look of surprise. Was it that easy? Three men sharing one girlfriend?

Before any of us can prod her further, she grabs one of her man-made cooking sticks and her knife and starts to cut a piece of meat from the fire. “It looks ready, bring me your banana leaves and I’ll cut you all some to eat.”

“Eep!”

“Yeah, yeah, you too, Mo-Mo,” she says with a roll of her eyes.

We all grab one of the pre-gathered banana leaves and line up beside her.

“Can I do that for you?” West asks, gesturing to where she’s cutting the meat. I have to admit, it did seem weird having her doing all the work for us. I wanted to be able to do things for her, but we have no idea what we’re doing out here.

“After. You need to eat first, you guys are probably starving.”

“Aren’t you?” he fires back.

She shrugs as she answers, “I’m fine.” Liar. I haven't seen her eat anything all day, and she’s been doing far more than we have .

When we all get a big chunk of meat, West stays standing beside her, holding out another empty banana leaf. When she looks at him in question, he explains, “Put some on here for yourself. I’ll cut a piece for Mo-Mo.”

“I can do it,” she says, leaning back in to cut another piece.

“I know you can, but you don’t have to, let me help,” West says. His fingers twitch with the struggle to not take the knife from her. But she’s so quick, cutting a chunk off and handing it up to Mo-Mo on her shoulder, that West doesn’t stand a chance at helping her.

His shoulders sag in defeat as she cuts herself a piece of meat and places it on the leaf he holds out before taking the whole thing from him. “Thank you,” she says quietly.

West huffs in annoyance. “Don’t thank me, Zee. You did all the work.”

Everyone takes a seat around the fire and I watch Zee as she frowns in West’s direction before looking back at her food.

“Are you mad at me?” My eyebrows rise in surprise at her question, wondering who she’s talking to, and when West lifts his eyes to her, she’s staring back at him, looking worried.

“Who? Me?” he asks in confusion. She nods, nervously biting her lip. “No, Zee, of course not. I just wish I could do more to help you.”

“Oh,” she says, her cheeks turning pink as she picks at her food.

West is right, though. She’s done so much for us and we’ve done nothing for her.

We need to think of a way to repay her. My mind drifts to our meager possessions and an idea starts to form.

How long has it been since she’s used shampoo?

When I’ve been close enough to smell her, she had a faint floral scent, so she must be using something natural to wash with, but I doubt anything can beat a good hair wash, especially with long hair like hers .

“How about tomorrow, after you show us the mangos, you let us do something for you?” I ask, smiling at the thought of my idea.

“Like what?” she asks with a tilt of her head.

“It’s a surprise,” I tell her with a grin. She narrows her eyes at me, making me laugh. “It’s a good surprise, I promise.”

“We’ll see.”

“Great!” I say with excitement. King looks at me in question, so I mouth the word later , and he nods.

“Zee, this meat is delicious,” King says right before he takes another huge bite.

“Forgetting the fact that we’d probably be dead or seriously injured if you hadn’t saved us from Brutus,” I say, gaining her attention, “we probably would have starved to death pretty quickly out here. I don’t think we’ve said it yet, but thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”

Her cheeks grow red as she averts her gaze, biting into her meat as she nods in answer.

“Getting us all the fruit on our first day really helped us out,” King adds, putting it out there that we know she’s been helping us before we even met her. “Not to mention those logs you found for us to help keep the raft down.” My eyes move to her in surprise. I hadn’t put that one together yet.

“And you left out the waterskins for all three of us, didn’t you?

” I ask, suddenly realizing how much she’s really been helping us since day one.

I try to imagine what it would have been like here, without all that fruit, without the waterskins, without the hut.

We would be struggling, that’s for sure.

I watch her carefully as she finishes her mouthful of food before she responds. “It’s not a big deal,” she says with a shrug .

“It was to us,” Kingsley tells her. She just shrugs shyly and takes another bite, avoiding eye contact with any of us.

After we finish eating, Zee shows us how to make the fire smolder for the jerky drying process.

It’s crazy how much she knows, proving she’s been out here awhile.

I’m dying to ask about the grave, and if she knew the person buried there, but this is the longest she’s spent around us and I don’t want to wreck it.

“Tink, I’m going to go fill our waterskins before it gets dark, do you want to come with me?” I ask, hoping for some more time with her before she inevitably runs off for the night.

“Sure, mine’s empty anyway,” she says, shaking her own waterskin.

“You should have told us earlier, Zee,” West says in frustration.

She just shrugs and moves to join me as we exit camp, taking the path towards the waterfall. She tries to take one of the guys' waterskins I’m carrying, but I pull it away from her with a smile and shake my head. “Nope, I can carry them.”

“But I want to help.”

I laugh at her, and without thinking, grab her hand and shake my head. “Tink, you’ve done so much for us already. Let me carry the water. It’s the very least I can do.”

When she doesn’t answer, I glance at her and see her staring down at our entwined hands as we walk along the path.

Shit. I’m supposed to be giving her space, the incident with the hug earlier should have me remembering to take things slow.

But since she doesn't look like she’s freaking out, I decide to see what she does.

She doesn’t say anything and eventually she gives my hand a tiny squeeze, like she’s trying to figure out if she likes it. Then she turns back to watch the path in front of us, leaving our hands connected .

Somehow, that small victory makes me feel like I’ve just climbed a mountain with her, and I can’t stop from smiling the rest of the way to the waterfall.

As we fill the waterskins, I can’t help but ask her questions, dying to know more about this enticing little creature.

“So, Tink. Tell me something about you.”

“Like what?” she asks, watching the water flow into her waterskin.

“Anything, we barely know anything about you.”

“My favorite color used to be green.”

My eyebrows lift in surprise at the randomness of that fact. “Used to be?” I ask for clarification.

“Before I came here. Now, surrounded by green twenty-four seven… I’d give almost anything for another color. Maybe pink? I haven’t seen anything pink in such a long time,” she says wistfully.

“How long, Tink?” I ask quietly, desperate to know the answer to that burning question.

Her lips press together tightly and she shakes her head.

I’m feeling desperate for answers, so I ask, “Why won’t you tell us anything, Zee? Why keep it a secret?”

She stands up quickly and takes a step back from me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But why?”

“I have to go, it’s getting late,” she says as she turns and runs towards the trees.

“Zee, no wait! I’m sorry! You don’t have to answer anything!” When she disappears between the trees, I yell again. “Zee? I’m sorry!” I wait a few more minutes and when she doesn’t return, I gather our three filled waterskins and walk back to camp full of frustration and guilt.