Sorry it's taken me a while to post this update. I was so busy last week that writing completely slipped my mind. I'm still not sure about this chapter and I'm sure there are a few grammatical errors dotted throughout - sorry! I listened to Better Things by Passion Pit whilst writing this - you should all go and listen to it. Also, if you have any songs that remind you of Tom & Nicki leave them in a review or tweet them to me OhSarahxo :)

"No good can possibly come of this!" Tom huffed as the minibus shuddered to a halt.

Rolling her eyes at his sullen expression and fixing him with a pointed glare Nicki descended the steps of the vehicle. Admittedly the thought of spending the weekend in the middle of nowhere on a team building retreat with her colleagues didn't exactly fill her with joy but her innate sense of adventure had kicked in and she was ready to give anything the weekend had to offer her best effort. Part of her was hopeful that if they could all prove to Michael that they could work well together this weekend, he might reduce the number of early morning meetings he had been scheduling recently – she was sure that an extra hour of sleep would go a long way to lifting everyone's spirits in the morning.

There had been some grumbling from other members of staff regarding the excursion but Tom had far surpassed all of them in the grumpiness stakes. In fact, his constant complaints about the earliness of the hour, the long drive and his reservations about team building were something which she would have expected from Grantly, not him. Glancing at him as he reluctantly disembarked the minibus she was concerned; this was a side to him that she had never witnessed before and she wondered what was bothering him. Whatever was on his mind she hoped he would confine in her soon. She had been counting on him to make this trip bearable – usually he never failed to make her laugh with his teasing and sarcasm.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Michael calling for their attention.

"Right, find your assigned partner and assemble your tents. We'll reconvene back here in half an hour ready for our first activity!"

Grimacing at Michael's gleeful expression she made her way over to Tom, her 'assigned partner'. She admired her boss's enthusiasm, really she did, but she couldn't foresee this adventure ending well for him if he continued to address them like year seven students on their first trip away from home. Taking the tent pole that Tom was holding out to her she began to build their shelter.

"Is everything alright?"

The silence between them, a stark juxtaposition to the loud chatter and occasional laughter of their colleagues had become almost unbearable.

"It's fine!"

Redirecting her attention back to the tent she pondered over his snappy response. It upset her more than it, rationally, should have and she chided herself for feeling so hurt. In the several weeks that had passed since her birthday they had grown closer – of course she didn't expect him to tell her everything but, as he kept reminding her, they were friends and friends talked to each other when something was worrying them.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of activity and thoughts of Tom and his hostile mood quickly slipped her mind. Evidently Michael had been serious about fitting as much into the weekend as possible – the afternoon had be spent competing in hiking, orienteering and canoeing challenges. Luckily her army experience had put her team, which consisted of Sian and Maggie, at an advantage – they had won two of the three challenges.

The momentary wave of relief she felt when Michael announced that they would be heading back to the campsite for the evening was swiftly replaced with dread as she realised that dinner would undoubtedly be something awful cooked over the camp fire and earlier in the day Janeece had insisted that they play Truth or Dare after they had eaten. Also, during the afternoon's activities it had been easy to forget about the tension between her and Tom but, sitting down in the circle that had formed around the fire, it began to niggle at her again.

Unfortunately, much to her disappointment, it turned out that her dread was justified. Tom's mood didn't show any signs of improving whilst they ate. He was keeping his distance from her and remained unusually quiet. Doing her utmost to ignore him she engaged in discussion with Sian and Maggie instead – celebrating their team victory.

"Truth or Dare time!" Janeece's sing song tone captured everyone's attention. "I thought we'd change things about a bit to make it more exciting so, instead of only being able to ask questions that can be answered with true or false we can ask anything."

There was a collective groan from the group.

Ten minutes into the game Grantly was shirtless, Matt was wearing lipstick and Sian had – very reluctantly – and only after reminding everyone that it was an incredibly inappropriate question, confessed that she found Tariq Siddiqui attractive.

"Truth or dare Nicki?"

She deliberated for a long moment, eventually choosing the former.

"Do you think Tom's attractive? Do you fancy him?" Janeece asked.

"That's two questions." She protested in an attempt to bide her time and avoid answering either.

Trust Janeece to think that this was an appropriate opportunity to put her matchmaking skills into practice. Realising all eyes were on her and she hadn't answered yet, she glanced in Tom's direction. He was doing his best to look uninterested but she could tell he was curious to hear her answer. Of course she found him attractive, he was ruggedly handsome, she didn't want to admit that to everyone though. They would laugh at her, make her feel embarrassed – a feeling she despised more than anything.

"No…" She began unconvincingly, then tried again with more force "No, I don't."

"No you don't think he's attractive or no you don't fancy him?" Janeece probed further.

"Both."

Her gaze flicked back to Tom. There was a murmuring of disbelief from her colleagues but she wasn't listening properly, more concerned about the dejected expression he now wore and the hurt that, even in the dim light of the camp fire, was evident in his eyes. He refused to meet her gaze and she felt a familiar feeling of guilt overcome her. Why couldn't she have admitted her feelings for him rather than lying and upsetting him in the process and why did it matter so much that their colleagues might laugh at her if she did – she knew they wouldn't intend it to be malicious or hurtful and, anyway, it wasn't like her to care so much about what other people might think.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse it was Tom's turn and he chose dare.

"I dare you to sleep with Nicki."

She began to choke on the sip of water she had just taken. Looking at Tom she noted his face had turned an interesting shade of red.

He began to protest but Janeece interrupted him.

"Relax, I don't mean sleep with her like that I mean, sleep in the same sleeping bag tonight." She spoke slowly as if talking to a child.

She shrugged as he looked to her.

"Okay, fine." He agreed.

Janeece squealed and with a look of delight upon her face announced that she was sleepy and it was time for bed. The rest of the group nodded and began to make their way to their respective tents. The secretary marched purposefully over to Tom and Nicki's tent, grabbing one of the sleeping bags before leaving.

"I wouldn't want you to be tempted not to complete the dare!" She called over her shoulder before disappearing inside her own tent.

Nicki followed Tom inside, closing the zip behind her and turning to face him - he was already settled in the remaining sleeping bag. Sighing she slid in beside him and wriggled around to get comfortable. It really was far too small for two people.

"Stop wriggling." He protested as she turned onto her side, kicking him in the process.

"Shut up."

Her response sounded childish even to her own ears but she wasn't feeling particularly agreeable. After all, it was his fault that they were stuck in such a close proximity, he'd accepted the dare.

She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.