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"Where is my daughter?" Brad Miller yelled to his crew who were frantically rushing around the large clearing setting up camp before the sun set. He cursed internally at himself, fuming he hadn't put extra watch on Evelyn. The girl was just like her mother, the sense for adventure and excitement flowed freely through her veins but her clumsy actions always left him cautious. Her curiosity always won over though, and he cursed his wife for her fiery characteristic.

Nobody answered as they kept setting up but Brad knew they had heard him and were too frightened to admit they lost sight of the curious girl. They were all too scared to say something in fear of them being left alone to fend for themselves in the jungle when it was time to leave.

Despite the manly name Brad inherited, he was actually a scrawny man. His frame was short standing at merely 5'6" with a thick build however his aging body carried the extra kilos on his stomach. At fifty four years old, the scientist had long ago started turning grey with wrinkles forming on his forehead and around his eyes, and his physical strength had significantly decreased.

Brad had spent every waking minute the past six years to get a grant to conduct his research on the isolated island nobody has ever been on and the stress endured from the experience put his aging a few years quicker than usual.

He worried for his daughter, but he knew that he himself would not be able to venture out into the jungle to search for her. His body would be too weak to handle it and although he could command his crew, his nice nature would only guilt trip them into going out there. But he would do it for the safety of his daughter.

An hour later everything was set up, including tents, food storages and lab equipment all securely sealed so animals couldn't get into them. He banged the pots together, grabbing everybody's attention and calling them in for a meeting. The first man to appear, Tyler, too was concerned for the whereabouts of Evelyn.

The young lad was not the most attractive man out there, but his caring personality always won the hearts over. Brad had been for years trying to get Evelyn to fall in love with him so she would be able to settle down soon but straight away Evelyn had thrown him into what kids call 'the friend zone', not even seeing her dads ultimate plan.

Tyler possessed feelings for Evelyn but they weren't dominant over everything else. He thought the talented, smart young girl was truly amazing and would absolutely love to win her heart to adore and be able to love her unconditionally.

"Men, young Evelyn snuck from camp." Brad told everybody. A few groaned, knowing they were to go search for her but others saw this coming from a mile away.

Brad, Tyler and Mark were the only scientists on the camp. Evelyn took vast interest to join the expedition but the other odd 10 men were all the muscle of the group for setting up carrying, protecting and moving on the two week expedition.

"It's getting late and we need Evie back at camp. I want two groups of 5 and stay together. I can't have anyone valuable in my life and expedition getting injured." Brad said. All the participants held a soft spot for Evelyn too as she was the daughter off the boss and willingly agreed to search for her with little persuasion.

"I wish I could say don't return without her, but you are your own people, your safety is just as important as hers." It pained Brad to say that but it was the facts, he didn't want anyone hurt on this trip. "Come back at your own will or in the face of danger, but please bring her home with you." With those words the men broke off into groups and set off, making Brad feel miserable that he couldn't help find and protect his daughter.

***

Four hours later, and Evelyn had completely exhausted herself. Angus had taken her exploring once more and from Evelyn's clumsy self, there was lots of mishaps that required strenuous exercise for the few hours. Once they arrived back to the hut, Evelyn was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. The sky had long ago turned dark and in a rush Angus hurried her back to safety to insure they didn't run into any dangers the night brang with it. Angus himself was fine with it, but Evelyn's exhausted body would not be.

Not the Angus was complaining, but he needed to scoop Evelyn into his arms again as they crossed the bridge back into his box. Her body was limp in his arms but her eyes stayed open as he hugged onto him.

It has only been a few hours of knowing each other but Evelyn felt as though she had known Angus for years. When with him, she was living a dream. Out in the wild with not a care for reality, discovering new fascinating things is what she dreamed of doing and now she was. She laughed softly to herself, Imagine what dad would think of that.

Then her eyes snapped open and she was wide awake tensing in Angus' arms. He snapped to attentions wondering why she was scared until she squirmed in his hold making him place her on the ground.

"Oh my god," Evelyn muttered panic rising in her. "Angus, I need to go.' She spoke and turned to walk hurriedly back down the stairs.

Angus felt shocked watching as she rushed out on him. He wasn't pleased by this and followed her watching as the paused before nervously placing a foot on the bridge.

Angus wasn't pleased with this and he sprung forwards, the memory of her losing her balance last time paying in his mind and he didn't want that again, especially if he wasn't there to protect her.

In a few large strides, he was behind her and holding her upper arm to pull her back.

"Angus let go." She protested. "Angus, I need to leave."

"No." He declined her wish and started pulling her back to the safety of home.

"Angus, stop," she pleaded, her nails digging into his skin as she tried to take her hand off her arm so she could return to her father.

Her dad, how could she have possible forgotten.She just left him, with a stranger and forget about him as she explored all but herself. She felt ashamed of herself, her heart hurting from the knowledge that she betrayed him.

"You stay." In his anger and worry of her trying to leave him, the small grammar Evelyn had taught him was left behind in his brain. "You said, would."

"For a little while," She explained and he halted in his tracks. "Angus, I need to return to my camp. My dad is there, he's going to be worried sick about me."

Any other excuse and would have forced her into the home and locked her in, but he knows how hard it is to be separated from his dad. The grip on her arm loosened but didn't remove as he thought about this, he felt caught. He wanted her to return to her dad but he also wanted her to himself.

"Stay night, go morning." It was too dangerous at night to Evelyn to be out in now that it's dark but Evelyn couldn't understand that in her haste to see her dad.

"Angus, I need to leave now." She knew he wouldn't let her leave by herself and all she needed to do was persuade him. "Please," she pleaded.

Her green eyes widened so much, pleading with him it pulled on his chest. All she wanted was her dad, so why did he feel so protective of her?

'Dangerous. Leave at light.' He spoke quietly. He was confused on why it pained him this much to have her leave.

"Angus, I'll leave by myself if I have too. I need to get back to the camp now."

"Too Dangerous.' He said firmly. When she was about to open her mouth in one final protest, he placed his finger gently on her lips making her freeze up. "Please, Evelyn. It's dangers travel at dark."

She stayed silent as he dropped his finger, a look she couldn't detect from the dark in the sky.

"Okay." She whispered. Angus hated how detached she sounded, how she sounded as though she was upset. He reached out to hold her but she took a small step to the side, avoiding him. He frowned, his lip pouting slightly but he let it go. Instead he strode over to his bed and lifted up the scrappy piece of material and held it up, gesturing for Evelyn to get under and stay warm and protected incase the temperature dropped overnight.

Evelyn couldn't help but feel disheartened. Her sad eyes looked at the blanket and the hopeful, caring, soft gaze from Angus but all she wanted was to reassure her dad that she was fine somehow and just return to him. Being an absolute unthankful bitch, she turned her head and sat down neat the pulley, the open hole in the floor providing her with the grassed and flowered dirt surrounding the water source to look at.

"Evelyn?" Angus' deep voice questioned but she remained silent, sitting with her knees at her chest and gazing at the ground.

Why did she have to leave in the first place? Evelyn felt horrible, she forgot about her father and Angus had been nothing but nice to her but here she is shutting him out. She feels as though it would have been inevitable to meet him so staying home in the safety of the camp and waiting for the exploration parties was what she should have done. Despite what her dad thought, Brad Miller was a fragile man.

Emotionally and physically, he wasn't the bravest person. He was a sweet, caring, humble man who only wanted the best for everyone and he was sure he would be stressing about his eldest daughter.

"Evelyn," the way her name rolled off his tongue sent a shiver down her spine as he physically shuddered. The way he had to think about the word and the pronunciation but made sure to get it just right was such a small way to say he really did think when he was around her and putting in an effort. She felt the blanket being draped over her body, Angus worrying she was cold. It smelt a bit funny but Evelyn didn't mind too much.

"Sleep?" Once again she ignored him, too caught up in her thoughts. Her day had been going so wonderfully until reality had set in.

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Her sleep was very bad during the night. Long ago she had closed up the hole to stop the cool breeze from rising into the room and she had wrapped herself so tightly in the blanket the bad odor dissipated until she couldn't smell it anymore.

The room was very hard, nothing there to provide softness as the uncomfortable tree trunks kept her awake. When she finally drifted off to sleep, it was only for about half an hour until she woke again only for the process to repeat.

Angus didn't mind the uncomfortable feeling of the room, after all it's what he's used to. Usually he slept like a rock at night as he tired himself during his acts to survival, however tonight he couldn't sleep. He knew Evelyn was wide awake for most of the night so far. Soft snores came from across the room as she would drift off only for them to stop when she woke up again.

He felt guilty, but for why he didn't know. She was unhappy due to his decision but her safety was in mind when he made it. Angus knew this jungle, during the day he loved it but at nighttime animals settle in different spots all the time, and even Angus doesn't know when until he stumbles across them which is a fate he would never wish on anything. He results to staying inside when it's dark unless it's necessary to leave and there's no way he can risk Evelyn.

She hadn't said another word to him yet since he put the material over her and since then he's been lying dead still on his back with his arms behind his head.

Soon, soft snored filled the quiet room and he knew she had drifted off to sleep for the third time. If the past was anything to go buy, she would be awake again soon. Quietly, he sat upright. He glanced at her and through the moon light he saw her huddled in a small ball. He couldn't contain his self-control and he quietly got up, using his hunting skills of silent foot-steps he walked over to her.

He crouched down and watched her. He was infatuated with her. Her green eyes were hidden from him unfortunately, but the small brown dots on her face littered the skin freely. Her nose was a slightly odd shape however on her rounded face however it made her look exotic and even more beautiful in his eyes. Her legs and arms however, he loved. Something about the muscle coated in pale skin with only a small amount of a tan was defined but soft. Nothing in this world was soft until he met her.

He reached out and gently picked her up into his arms. He couldn't stand being far away and alone as he made his way back to the padded floor. Almost instantly Evelyn had woken up, her eyes groggy as she looked around seeing the ground moving. Her small hand clutched onto his bicep in fright but he sent her a soft, reassuring smile. Her eyes widened pretty quickly from shock.

"W-What are y-you doing?" She asked her voice slightly panicked.

"You sleep." He stated and bent down to place her on the padded floor where he lay sleeplessly before. Her small body didn't fill as much space as what he did and when she tried sitting up to protest, he objected by lightly pushing her back down. She saw no room for argument and moved closer to the wall and lay on her side, facing where Angus crouched.

"Thank you,' she whispered under her breath as she locked eyes with him, before once again hiding her intriguing pale green orbs.

"Beautiful,' he whispered under his breath as he gazed at her. Evelyn heard this but chose to stay quiet. Her ears were on high alert as she tried to depict what he was doing but when she heard no movements she assumed he had stayed right there crouching near her. Feeling a sense of security, she relaxed her body, thankful for the small amount of comfort Angus had placed her on.

Only a few minutes later, Angus thought when her body relaxed she fell asleep. Gently, he lay down next to her on high alert in case she didn't want him there. Over the space of a few minutes, his heart beat picked up as he slowly slid next to her, gradually cocooning himself around her small body.

The softness of her body felt wonderful against him and he wished to freeze time so he could always feel so content. He froze when she unconsciously snuggled in closer to his body, her head resting on her lower arm tucked under her head as a pillow as she nuzzled her head into this firm chest.

What he didn't know, was that Evelyn was awake the whole time.

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