Li looked at her watch. Ten more minutes and she could wake up Alex to get him to take over the night watch. Good – she was feeling exhausted, what with spending the whole day hiking then offering to take the first watch… she didn't mind the exhaustion too much though; it meant that she had been useful, and the time on watch gave her some much needed alone time – something hard to come by when spending time in the field with Alpha Force.
Turning round to look at her teammates, Li had to stifle a laugh when she noticed Hex's arm encircling Amber. Did they really think that it wasn't obvious to the rest of the team that they were interested in each other in more than just a friendly manner? Oh PLEASE. For two people who had been adamant when they met each other that they would forever hate each other, it seemed that they were getting on pretty well. Li had even heard from an unnamed and possibly unreliable source (Paulo) that Hex had spent last Christmas with Amber; and from a slightly more reliable source (Alex) that something a-bit-more-than-friendly (in Alex's words) may have happened during that trip. Whatever had happened, Li was sure it would come out soon enough. Hopefully in the next month as she had a bet with Paulo riding on it – and she never lost a bet.
To her left, Alex stirred in his sleep. Li grimaced, she knew he would have the hardest watch – the 1am to 3am slot was by far the coldest, and if you weren't careful it would be easy to fall asleep, leaving the group without a lookout when they were at their most vulnerable. However, Li knew that Alex was the best person for the job; by far he was the most skilled when it came to survival, and the most knowledgeable in field surveillance, mainly because his father was a member of the SAS and had taught his son all he knew. If Li could trust one person with her life, it would be Alex. She would be sure to make him some tea before she woke him up for his watch, hopefully it would make it a little more bearable for him.
Shaking out her roll mat, Li realised that the only piece of ground close to the fire which was big enough for her to fit in was next to Paulo. She could barely see his face from where it was hidden under his mass of hair, but she could tell from his breathing that he was probably asleep. Good. She could do without his flirting right now; she was too tired to be able to respond with a witty comment or a biting comeback, and she needed to keep up the appearance of nonchalance when it came to his interest in her.
Because she really couldn't fall for him any more than she already had. Their line of work was dangerous, and Li knew that she wouldn't be able to handle it if she got any closer to Paulo and he got hurt or killed.
Li sighed and lay down in the gap between Paulo and the fire, staring into the flames as she attempted to fall asleep in the cold air. Eventually, sleep started to take her, but before she drifted off she felt herself being pulled closer in by Paulo. Too tired to react, she let his closeness warm her up. Tomorrow she would just laugh it off and tease him for trying to "share his body heat" with her, but for now she was content as she finally fell asleep.
A/N - Hope this is okay and not too cliche, and also that it makes sense as i haven't written for a while
thank u 4 reading