I Hate You All (I'm not kidding)

She asks them for a ride since they're heading in the same direction. Sam is opposed to the idea, but Max convinces him to help her out. All the way, they have to hide their relationship from her. Sam grumbles that he can't take skinny dips at rivers anymore, that Max has to share his sleeping bag since he loaned his to Darla, but they can't even cuddle (or show any affection towards one another) in front of her, etc. But Darla isn’t stupid.  

She asks uncomfortable questions and forces them to confront their relationship and the way it is presented to outsiders. Gradually, she understands what they are — something that her town's preacher called "abominations." But once she learns more about them, she fails to see what’s supposed to be so abominable: they coexist, take care of one another, share resources, support each other emotionally, etc. In other words, they've learned a way to start a family in a world that tells them this is impossible. Darla will make her own conclusion that her decision to pursue her dreams instead of coping with a dull life her parents have chosen for her can work out if she gives it her all instead of backing away in doubt.

But I need to figure out what exactly she learns and how. Say, at night, she's sleeping on Max's bedroll, and Sam and Max share Sam's since it's bigger, but they sleep back to back. Then, in the morning, Darla wakes up to see that Sam has turned around in his sleep, his arm now looped around Max's middle, keeping him close. And that happens early on — day 1 or 2 of their travels together. She pretends to sleep when she realizes Max is waking up. Sam wakes up, too, and they have a bit of banter about Sam's need to hold Max in his sleep, thinking that Darla hears none of it. 

A day later, they stop at a lake, and Sam goes out to have his skinny dip while Max keeps watch over their camp. Before Sam goes, Max blesses him for good luck, but Sam sneakily kisses him in response, saying that "this feels more like good luck to me." Max shoos him away, slightly flustered. Darla might hear or see some of that and think: "Wait a minute... they are both men, right? Max is a priest, too, so... is this appropriate? Do they not care?” She would probably ask Max since he seems more approachable. She'll ask something like: "You two seem awfully close to be business partners only. Is there something....?" Or even better: "Father Maximin, are priests allowed to fall in love? In our church, Father Brian says that love is off-limits to a pastor unless he's fallen and cursed…”

I think the two of them would circle the subject without denying or admitting anything. She sees them live their day-to-day life; they try to hide what they have, and at the same time, they gradually admit internally that it's pointless. 

And then something ridiculous happens: on day five, Max gets attacked by a beaver when he tries to steal some wood for their campfire from a beaver dam, and Sam tends to his wounds, chastising and reprimanding Max, while Max laughs his head off, and Darla sees that this looks... fun. Much more fun than her parents have ever had together. Sam tries to lick Max's wounds first, before they even get to camp and to the medikit, completely forgetting that Darla is watching – just operating on pure protective canine instinct. If Darla ever asks Sam afterward – say, while they're sitting at the campfire and Max is resting in the coach – Sam would totally deflect with "damn instincts still showin'." She'll ask him if this is the same as with non-anthropomorphic dogs, when they care and protect their owners or puppies. Sam will smirk and say, "Who's that nutcase in the collar to me, you think? An owner or a puppy?" She'll shrug.