"Time to get up." I vaguely heard Richard whisper sleepily, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke. We were still lying in the same position as we had fallen asleep together. My back snuggled into Richards chest, with his arms wrapped tightly around me.
"What time is it?" I murmured.
"5:30am, but people will be starting to get up soon, and may get a shock if they catch you coming out of my tent." He chuckled. He started to free his arms and sit himself up, but I cheekily pulled him back into position.
"Five more minutes." I bargained with him.
"Two and a half and thats my final offer." He counter offered, snuggling his face back into my hair. I could have lay there with him all day perfectly contented, but I didn't particularly want to be the subject of camp gossip either, and besides, we were leaving at 7:00am. David had figured that we would need a decent nights sleep after a whole day of walking, before embarking on the return journey, so set the leaving time a little later than yesterday. The two and a half minutes seemed to go by in seconds, and before I know it Richard was up and pulling me up from his cosy bed.
"When will you be back next?" I asked gloomily.
"Ben will probably want to see me in a few days. In the meantime please don't go gallivanting around the jungle again. I feel much happier when I know you're safely at the barracks." I was touched at the fact that he seemed to care about me so much. But was that personal or did he feel an obligation to keep me safe at Jacob's request? I wasn't sure but hoped that it was the former.
We briefly hugged goodbye before he lead me by the hand out of the tent, and from there, watched me reluctantly trudge back to my own crappy tent.
I freshened up, got dressed and headed back out to see if there was any chance of some breakfast. By then a few people had emerged and had started getting ready for their day. Some sat round the camp fire and others busied themselves with tasks. I sat down at the fire, and David appeared shortly after.
"Sleep well?" he asked.
"Took me a while but I did in the end." I confirmed. We were offered bowls of porridge which we gratefully accepted. The morning was chilly and damp, not the idyllic weather we had had yesterday.
"Looks like it's going to rain." David remarked, looking up at the sky.
We set off as soon as we had eaten. The hike back home wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the previous day. It was probably partly to do with the weather, and partly to do with knowing that Richard wasn't going to be there at the end. The day was long, but we eventually made it back to the barracks by nightfall, tired and weary.
As I walked through the centre of the barracks, a familiar face came into view.
"Hey, it's great to see you." Juliette greeted me.
"You too." I beamed at her. "We should catch up. How long will you be around for?"
"Not long." She rolled her eyes. "I'll only be around a couple of days. Are you free tomorrow evening? I'm thinking food and wine on my porch?"
"Perfect." I replied.
I had never been more pleased to climb into bed that night, and I looked forward to seeing Juliette the next day. If I couldn't have Richard near me then she was the next best thing on the island.