everything from the other chapters applies :)
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At a quarter after one they all decided to try and get some sleep, deciding that it wouldn't be wise to try and hike 5 miles on four hours of sleep. After saying goodnight to everyone Frank retreated first, crawling into his tent like someone on their death bed. Miles and Eva followed shortly after, both unable to keep their hands off of each other any longer. Stephen and Natalie had long ago moved from their spot on the table and were currently seated side by side in the back of Frank's truck, their hands linked and resting on top of his thigh.
"We should probably put that fire out and try and get some sleep." He whispered, pressing a kiss to her head.
"Mhm, but I don't want to move." She laughed when he let go of her hand and tickled her.
"You moved!" With that he jumped up and made his way to the ground, extending his hand as soon as he was standing firmly. "Come on, we can talk in the tent."
Taking his hand she hopped down next to him and grabbed the blanket they had been laying under. "Fine, but you're putting the fire out, I'm gonna go change." She gave him a wink with the last part before heading towards the tent.
Stephen made a growling sound before pouring water over the fire. After he made sure that it was out completely he picked up some of the trash that was laying around the site and threw it out, jumping slightly when he heard a high pitched squeal coming from Miles and Eva's tent. He gently beat against the side of it and whispered an angry 'cut it out' before walking away. Once he made to his and Nat's tent he tapped the side lightly. "You decent?"
"Yes." She called out, smiling when he unzipped the door and slid inside, zipping it shut behind him.
"You are definitely not decent Natalie." He growled, attempting to leave the tent.
"This is what I sleep in Stephen, if it's going to be a problem than maybe you should sleep in Frank's tent." She gave him a wink before laying down on her sleeping bag, pulling his over top of her.
"I don't think it was such a smart idea for us to open these up and share them." He sighed, yanking his t-shirt over his head, his dog-tags getting caught in it in the process. "Dammit." He muttered as he tried to untangle them.
Sitting up she reached out and took a hold of his shirt, holding it with one hand while untangling the chain with the other. "Why do you still wear these things anyways?"
"In case I die, you can identify me." He said with a smile, tossing his shirt into the corner, his belt joining it.
"I think I know what you look like." She gave him another wink and laid back down, pulling the cover back over her.
"Uh huh." With that he kicked off his jeans, leaving him clad only in his boxers. He smiled at the shocked look on her face, "This is what I wear to bed, if it's gonna be a problem than maybe you should sleep in Frank's tent."
"Don't mock me." She poked him in the chest and turned onto her side, making sure not to face him as she did.
"Sorry." He climbed under the covers behind her and reached out to touch her hip, smiling when she jumped. "Come here." He didn't give her a chance to respond and just pulled her towards him, wrapping his arm around her stomach.
Sighing she turned back towards him and smiled, "You said we could talk?"
"I did? Because if you had wanted to talk you should have put on more than just a tank top and underwear." He smiled, pulling her to his chest.
"Stephen?"
"Natalie?"
She gently slid out of his grip and sat up, pulling her knees to her chest, her arms moving to wrap around them. "This is exactly why I didn't want to share a tent with you." She said quietly.
Sighing he moved to sit behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her back against his chest, the other gently rubbing up and down her smooth leg. "What's really going on Nat?"
"I didn't want this to happen." She sobbed, turning her head to look up at him, "I didn't want us to just go at it and not talk about things. I don't want it to be all about the sex."
"Nat, it's not." Reaching up he ran his hand through her hair, pulling her head up so that he could kiss her nose. "We're not going to just 'go at it' and we are going to talk, but I don't want to do it right now."
"But when Stephen? If we don't talk now when will we talk?"
"We have all weekend." Seeing the look on her face and then feeling her struggle to get loose made him sad, "Look, Nat, we will talk, I promise." Placing a kiss on her head he snuggled against her. "But for right now I just wanna hold you and try to sleep. It's been a long day and I don't think either one of us has the strength, nor the energy, to sit up and have the kind of talk that we need to have." He placed another kiss to her head and sighed. "I'm not going anywhere Nat, but right now I think the best thing for both of us to just relax and try and sleep, okay?"
She nodded her head and without another word she slid out of his arms and laid down, turning towards the outside of the tent, her tears still falling. Sighing he gently slid down to lay behind her, pulling the blanket up over them both.
"Try to get some sleep hun, I'll be here if you need me." With that he placed a kiss on her cheek and moved back to his side of their make-shift bed, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep, the sound of her crying never ceasing.
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