Please note: The characters in this story are all 21 years, or older. This story deals with taboo situations among family members. This is part of a five part story.
The next morning, Matt and Angie had a quiet, early breakfast, followed by a final visit with their parents. They packed the car and left for their camping trip without barely a word to each other. They stopped for coffees on the way out of town, then road in silence for the better part of twenty minutes.
The previous night's event was on both their minds, but their thoughts differed. Matt was still confused about what had happened. His sister had never shown any intimate curiosity towards him, but last night it seemed she had somehow seduced him. He had played events over in his mind and felt the only way the evening, or maybe even the day, evolved the way it did was through her own efforts. He felt ashamed for participating. It had been a trick, he was sure. And yet he couldn't dismiss how amazing it had been.
Angie had decided to let Matt stew on his feelings. She knew he would be torn between "OMG that was awesome," and "OMG I committed incest!" Angie felt that he needed to make the next step on his own. He needed to come around to her thinking, but he had to find his own way, and his own justification. In case he didn't come around fast enough, Angie had already planned for some subtle, follow-up ints to help him figure it out.
Matt cleared his throat.
"About last night," he started. "I don't really understand how that all happened. I think I was drunker than I knew."
Angie sipped her coffee and said nothing.
When she didn't reply, Matt continued. "I mean, we were both drunk, and that movie, it just created a weird environment. I mean, it was all about sex, and there was so much of it. I think it just fooled us into feeling a little too adventurous."
Matt glanced towards Angie, who continued to look ahead.
"Can you say something? Anything about what happened?"
Angie put her coffee in the cup holder and turned towards Matt.
"Matt, I'm not alarmed by what happened last night. To me it was a continuation of something we were curious about when we were younger. This time we just let it play out without interruption."
Matt's brow furrowed.
"So you're OK with it, then?" he asked, looking over at Angie.
"Yes," she said. "What's done is done. Now we can focus on our trip."
Matt nodded slightly, but he was unsure if he was happy to have put the incident behind them, or sad because it may have been a one-time thing.
The conversation evolved into a discussion about the climbs located near their campsite. Both Angie and Matt had scoured maps and climbing groups online to learn about the routes in the area. Angie was particularly interested in one climb that was an easy 5.7, but had a side element that was a 5.9 or 5.10. She wanted to challenge herself.
Matt wasn't sure he was up to that challenge, but said he would try. Angie assured him if he felt overmatched by the slope, they could back out of the route for an alternate. The routes they were targeting were all two to three hours in length. They could get in a couple of routes a day without rushing.
After a couple hours of driving, they arrived at the trailhead. They donned their packs and hiked the three miles into the campsite area. While there had been a couple other cars at the trailhead, there was no one at the site when they arrived. It was midafternoon and they were both tired from the mostly uphill hike.
Matt dropped his pack and went to look around the area. He needed to take a leak, too. The area was a mix of pine trees and chaparral. They were at around 6000' of elevation, and it was arid. The ground was dusty, and covered in small critter paw prints. Matt spent some time searching the immediate area around the site and found no prints larger than a raccoon, or deer. He was interested in cat or bear tracks. He didn't find either and felt they were probably safe. They would still keep their food away from the site, though.
Angie walked to the edge of nearby clearing and looked out at the climbing area. The west side of the valley, about a quarter mile away had grant rock faces that were up to a thousand feet high. They looked very flat from the distance, but Angie knew they were full of climbing routes, from easy to advanced. She walked back to see what Matt was doing.
Matt was pulling the tent out of his pack, along with poles, and a ground cover. He saw Angie approaching.
"Where should we put the tent?" he asked.
Angie looked around. "I think someone built a pad there," pointing towards a flat area in the shade of some trees. The ground had a healthy pile of pine needles for padding, and there were no visible rocks.
"That's the spot," Matt agreed.
After he set up the tent, he put their mattresses and sleeping bags inside.
Angie opened one of their bear containers and pulled out a couple of oranges. She threw one to Matt and they sat on a fallen log to eat them. It wasn't long before the squirrels and chipmunks showed up to investigate the oranges' sweet scents.
Matt and Angie laughed at the antics of the small animals trying to get to their food.
"You know," said Matt. "There is a stream a little ways over there." He pointed to the east. "The water level is high enough that some of pools would be nice for sitting in."
