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ALEX
“Pine needle tea?” she repeats, an amused look on her face. “Now this I have to see.” She’s smirking at me now, biting the inside of her cheek in a way that tells me she’s trying really hard not to laugh at my suggestion.
“Are you mocking me, Laney?” I ask, smiling back at her, a brow raised in question.
She laughs, shuffling the wood in her arms. “Alex, would I do such a thing?”
I let out a loud laugh. “Fuck yes you would,” I reply with a wink, tipping my head toward the cabin. “Come on, let’s go back inside before we both freeze our asses off.”
We head into the cabin, dumping the wood by the fire so it can dry out before we have to use it. I’m really hoping I don’t have to start cutting more, because the axe I found is pretty shitty. I watch as Delaney throws another log on the flames, poking the wood with a stick to get the fire going. I smile at how naturally this is all working now. That without words, we both know that the fire is vital and not something we want to let go out.
“Okay, grab some pots of snow and get some water boiling,” I tell her. “And prepare to be blown away!”
She laughs out loud, the sound genuine and I swear, it makes me so fucking happy. Watching her try to control her fear at the situation we’ve found ourselves in is tough. It’s part of why I try so hard to mask my own fear, because I don’t want to freak her out any more than she already is.
“Are you making us pine needle tea, Scout Leader Alex?”
Chuckling, I shake my head as I walk over to her. “Very funny, cheeky girl,” I say, pinching her side. “But you won’t be laughing when I make the best fucking pine needle teaandwitches’ butter mushroom pasta you’ve ever tasted.”
She gives me a dramatic swoon and eye roll, her hand over her heart as she says all breathy and shit, “Oh, Alex, my hero.”
Unable to stop myself, I slip an arm around her waist and haul her against me, my mind flashing back to earlier, when we came so close to taking things further. “You better fucking believe it,” I whisper against her mouth, before turning and heading back outside.
I spendan hour or so collecting supplies, never straying too far from the cabin. It’s still snowing like crazy, the wind blowing the powder everywhere, but Laney never moves from the porch, watching me as though she’s afraid to let me out of her sight.
By the time I’m done, the pot I carried with me is filled with random things I’ve found. I’m also freezing my ass off; my fingers and toes practically numb despite my gloves and boots.
“Fuck me, it’s cold,” I stay, stamping my feet at the door.
Delaney takes the pot from my hand and pushes me toward the fire. “Warm up, Alex, I don’t wanna have to chop your fingers off because of frostbite.”
Laughing, I shake my head as I pull off my gloves with my teeth. “Okay, weird that that’s where your brain goes, but good to know.”
Delaney joins me by the fire, the two of us standing in silence as we warm ourselves up. She’s got two pots of water sitting on the stove, both of them hot and steaming and ready for use. It’s still early afternoon, not even close to dinner time, but we’ve kind of been eating whenever. We try to stick to our rations, usually only having two meals a day, but it’s also kind of boring being trapped in this cabin and aside from eating and keeping the fire going, it can be hard to find shit to do.
I mean I can definitely think of thingsIwould like to do to fill the time, but I’m pretty sure given this morning’s failed attempt, that suggestion is off the table for the time being. Which is fine, sort of, because this time, when it happens again, I want it to be for real. Because it’s something we both want.
Not because we’ve finally both pushed each other so far that we’ve snapped and given in.
When I can finally feel my fingers again, I walk over to the table where Delaney placed the pot and start pulling out all the things I’ve found.
She watches as I start to pull the needles off the pine branches, a small smile on her face. Glancing up, I smirk as I hand her a branch. “Feel free to help,” I tease.
She rolls her eyes at me but starts pulling off the needles. “So do you even know what kind of pine tree this is?”
Nodding, I reply with, “The Jeffrey pine is the most common for this area, which is good, because it’s safe for us to eat.”
Delaney pauses, her eyes wide as she looks at me. “And what about that stuff,” she asks, pointing the branch at the pile of mushrooms I collected. “Are they safe? I thought some mushrooms were like poisonous?”
Shrugging, I pick one of them up, as I say, “Only one way to find out,” before taking a bite and swallowing.
“Shit, Alex, wait!” she says, lunging for me.
I immediately widen my eyes as I pretend to choke, my hands going to my throat as I start gasping for air. Delaney rushes around to me, her hands grabbing for mine, a look of panic on her face that has me dropping my hands and laughing out loud.
“You shit head!” she yells, slapping me on the chest.
Grinning, I grab her wrist and pull her close, wrapping my arms around her back and pinning her arms to her side. “You worried about me, Laney?” I tease, lowering my face so it’s only inches from hers. “You scared you were gonna lose me.”
