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Since Abigail was taken, there wasn’t a night that you could fall asleep before the sunrise. Hearing the camp waking up and resuming their activities was the only sound that would make you feel at ease. Your body was already starting to rebel against your new routine.
As the night began to fell, you moved with dragged feet towards the gathering, around Dutch’s tent. There wasn’t much room for laughter anymore, folk kept worrying about what would come next, and by the looks of it, Dutch hadn’t been sleeping as well.
“Listen all, I know you are scared! But we can’t give up now.” his voice sounded confident, “they came and took one of us, but tonight we leave, we’ll bring Abigail home!”
“I don’t feel safe around here no more, Dutch.”
It was Tilly who said that, her past catching up in the light of her friend’s kidnapping.
“That’s exactly why I will be asking for some of you to stay behind and protect the camp.” Dutch said, glancing at Hosea.
“Me and Dutch went over this, and if everyone is alright with it, we would like to divide you in groups... just for the night.”, the older man said.
You didn’t liked where this was going one bit. Rubbing one hand on another, you locked eyes with Charles. Shit.
You could feel your cheeks turning hot and red, trying to look away, and getting out of there, you stepped on Micah’s toe.
“Watch it!”, he barked, “And hope that you ain’t ending up on my tent!”.
Dutch had a sheet of paper in his hand and Mrs. Grimshaw waited impatiently beside him.
“Karen, Tilly and Hosea this way please” she said, pointing at a nearby tent. “Reverend Swanson you was paired with Y/N and Charles, we don’t want you pulling any nonsense tonight, is that clear?”
The man nodded, searching for you and his new tentmate. You were so thankful that he was also going to be there. You did not trusted yourself or your emotional nature a whole night around Charles.
“I talked with Dutch. He said we’ll be using my tent.” Charles said, while you tried to seem like the world wasn’t falling apart, “you need any help bringing your things there, Y/N?”
It was a objective question. And you failed to answer. The words “my tent” kept echoing around your head.
“I, uh...”, you kept stuttering, “No, thank you! It’s fine, really.”
“Alright, then.” As he said that, Charles headed to his tent. Your tent. God.
He was just across the tent and this restless thought wouldn’t leave your mind. Swanson’s snores sounded like it could blow the tent any second now. You stared up, in the shadows, picturing Charles in his own bed.
“Are you asleep yet?” he asked in a hushed tone.
Your heart thumped in your chest just by the sound of his voice. The dark, the proximity between you two; contributing to the feeling that if something was to happen, it would be this night.
“No, Swanson sounds like a pig getting drowned.”
His soft chuckle filled the room. You kept listening to his movements, the sound of his clothes rubbing against the mattress, as he turned to face you.
“I’m so tired... but at the same time I can’t fall asleep.”, you confessed, more out of sleep deprivation than expecting him to do something.
The pale moonlight that leaked through the flaps of the tent allowed you to discern Charle’s figure out of the shadows. He walked on the tip of his toes, trying to balance himself and not step on Swanson.
Was this really happening or you just passed out and was having a ludicrous dream?
And as soon as Charles fitted his warm body beside yours, the Reverend woke up sitting in his bedroll.
“Who’s there?” He said in a dragged speech “One night when I was feeling frisky....”
Swanson passed out again as sudden as he had woken up. Charles hand muffling your laughter from the absurd midnight singing.
“Shhh” he said, finding it funny as well.
“I don’t think he would wake up even if we throw a boot in him.” you whispered in his ear.
“Wanna try?”, he asked with his breath tickling your ear.
You could just focus on his skin, slightly brushing against yours, anticipation filling you with hope. And Charles was aware of that, placing his hand on your hip and settling with your head on his chest.
“Wanna try getting some sleep?” he asked, caressing your back.
You wanted to tell him that you had other things in mind, that you wanted to be with him until the morning but... you didn’t. If he knew how you felt and didn’t make any moves until now, you should be felling glad that he was even in that bed with you.
He noticed your hesitation. Moving his head up a little, it was like he could read your mind. Charles placed his lips against yours, his soft lips rubbing it gently.
In a mix of surprise and incredulity, you pulled away.
“Is it... just because we was forced to be here together?” you asked, not wanting to feed any useless fantasies.
“No. I was just waiting for a good opportunity.” he said, holding your face tenderly with his large fingers, “and I founded it very worthy”