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They’ve been on the trail almost six weeks. It’s been fun, tiring, but fun. Every night, they collapse into their sleeping bags and are dead asleep in minutes .
Since that one night, she hasn’t walked into any not-safe-for-work situations, for better or worse, and it still baffles her how he had the damn energy to jack off after a full day of hiking. God knows her sex drive takes a full-on nosedive when she’s thru-hiking. Are their hormones really different? Aren’t omegas and alphas meant to be equal opposites?
On June 4th, they get to a shelter early. It’s only three, and they could keep hiking, but the night before went long, so it’s a good night to set up camp sooner rather than later.
There’s not a creek nearby, so Rey pulls out her baby powder and ducks behind a fallen tree to clean herself off. When she reemerges, Ben has a corner of the shelter staked out. Their backpacks are leaning against a wall, sleeping bags are rolled out. It’s not what they typically do- usually she likes to keep her sleeping bag rolled up until she’s ready to go to bed- but since they’re the first ones to settle in, why not indulge in a prime corner of the little shack?
Ben follows her lead and pads off towards the tree’s pulled-up roots to dust himself off. A few minutes later, he walks back to the shelter dressed in his second set of hiking clothes, and they both use a little bit of their water to rinse off the clothes they had worn while hiking. Once everything is properly powdered and set to dry, Rey curls up with her copy of The Hobbit, her favorite read for overnight hiking trips. She’s excited to hit the halfway point because one of the things she’s arranged to pick up in her drop box is the first Lord of the Rings book. At her current reading rate, she’ll probably be on her third read of The Hobbit by the time they make it there; she’s already read it once, and they still have another six or eight weeks before they’re halfway done.
Meanwhile, Ben starts a little fire. She catches herself staring, admiring his growth since they first started on the trail. It had taken him nearly a week’s worth of fires to get the basics down, but six weeks in, he’s a full-on whiz. He gathers the right kindling and pine straw, lighting the little teepee setup with ease. The flame steadily grows, and its delicate flickering entrances Rey for a moment before she snaps herself out of it and returns her attention to her book.
Soon, though, her thoughts drift again. She had hated her little spat with Rose the night before. Even though she knows arguments are just part of loving someone and that Rose meant absolutely no harm, both her friend’s words and the argument itself had struck a certain nerve within her. It’s hard to explain. She’s just glad they got it figured out earlier, even if sleeping with it unresolved had been a bitch. But now everything’s okay, and she and Rose are perfectly at peace.
Over the next couple of hours, the campsite remains deserted, save for Ben and Rey. They flit around, busying themselves with menial tasks until it’s late enough to cook dinner. Rey gets the water boiling and pulls out an MRE for each of them.
“Which ones are you making?” Ben calls as he approaches.
Rey looks up. “Chili mac, they call it. It’s macaroni and chili.”
“Oh.” Ben looks disgusted , and Rey laughs.
“It gets really good reviews. I did some research a while ago, and American troops tend to say it’s their favorite.”
Ben shrugs. “Okay, I trust you.”
Rey throws him a grin. If there’s anything she appreciates about him, it’s his inherent trust in her and what she knows. Despite their rocky start, he’s quickly learned that she knows what the fuck she’s talking about, and it’s better to just go with it than argue. She’ll go off for hours if he tries otherwise.
She heats up each packet and gets everything prepared, then calls Ben over from where he’s lounging in the shade of the shelter. They relax near the fire and eat their meals. Ben, thank god, enjoys it. It’s nothing to write home about, it’s an MRE after all, but it’s a welcome bit of variety.
The sun dips below the horizon, and no one joins them to share the cabin for the night. Ben seems totally fine with it, but Rey’s a people person, and they’ve barely seen anyone for nearly a week, so a lot of her wishes she could interact with another person. There’s a voice in the back of her mind, though, that’s absolutely thrilled at the prospect of having more time with her alpha.
No, not my alpha.
Maybe if she thinks it enough, her omega will stop insisting he’s hers.
Around eight, they pack up dinner and settle in. Finding a flat rock right outside the cabin, Rey meditates, then does a bit of yoga to relax her muscles and ground herself. She holds tree pose the longest, pulling her typical hippie bullshit and channeling her energy through her root chakra and into the earth.
The air is muggy with typical southern humidity by the time she pads back to their sleeping bags. Ben is sitting on top of his, his shirt off and a book in his hand.
“Which one is that?” Rey asks, knowing he’s been swapping between two paperbacks. The social genius she is, she’s completely neglected to ask what books they even are.
Ben looks up, then tilts the book so she can see the cover. Her eyes follow the winding text. “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” she reads. “Huh, what’s that about?”
“A kid whose dad was killed in the 9/11 attacks,” Ben states blunty.
Rey winces. “Jeez, a bit heavy, huh?”
All she gets is a shrug.
Oh well.
Rey wanders out, mumbling some combination of “going” and “bathroom” before she’s out of his earshot.
She does have to pee, she just also feels stupid.
After stopping behind a denser bush, Rey wanders aimlessly. She can’t see much, but her sense of direction keeps her aware of her surroundings. Her sense of time, though? Lacking, apparently.
“REY!” Ben’s voice calls from the direction of the shelter. Worried, she stomps through the leaves and back to the campsite.
“What?” she asks, incredulous, as she passes the tree line. Jesus, she thinks, who stuck a stick up his ass?
His rigid posture relaxes once she steps into the firelight. “Are you okay?” he asks, busily moving towards her. She watches as he reaches towards her, then freezes, his hands suspended in the air between them. In that moment, all she can hear is the buzz of the cicadas and their heavy breathing. As if he’s in slow motion, Ben lowers his hands.
“Are you okay?” he repeats.
Rey furrows her brow. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You left,” Ben explains, “without your light, and you were gone for a while, so I got worried and assumed the worst.”
Bristling, Rey snaps, “I can take care of myself, you know.”
Immediately, Ben throws up his hands, and Rey realizes she maybe took his comment the wrong way. “I know, I know,” he soothes. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Rey takes a deep breath and nods. In through the nose, 2, 3… and out through the mouth.
Throwing him a quick smile, she walks past him towards the shack. Before she can step next to him, his hand comes out to catch her shoulder. It’s not an aggressive touch, just a gentle ask for her to stop. Ben turns to face her.
“Rey, I…” he starts, but trails off.
Just like a minute before when he had been reaching for her, time seems to stop. The cicadas chirp on, but nothing exists in this moment besides the two of them. The weight of Ben’s hand on her shoulder is welcome and grounding. Rey can feel the heat it’s emanating bleed through her body, as if carried by her blood. She feels like she’s glowing.
Ben’s eyes are gleaming. The gentle yellow light of the lamp hanging from the porch of the cabin reflects in his eyes, turning the dark coffee color into a shining bronze. There’s a depth there she hasn’t noticed before; it almost looks like affection.
Their eyes search each other. Rey doesn’t know how long they stand there, drifting closer and closer, inch by inch. It could be seconds, or minutes, or hours. No matter- all that matters is the way his eyes look like they’re begging her for something. She doesn’t know what, but soon the trees in her peripheral vision start to warp, and the world turns gooey.
Then, suddenly, he leans forward and kisses her, and everything explodes into stardust. She doesn’t know how to explain it, except that it feels right . It feels like everything in her life has led up to this, like their fates are with each other and their souls are finally intertwined.
His scent wraps around her, cloaking her in warmth. This close, he smells like fresh coffee grounds and chocolate so dark it’s bitter. He smells like fresh-cut teakwood. He smells like ripe bergamot fruit. He smells like home .
Gently, his tongue traces the swell of her bottom lip, and she, in return, opens her mouth, letting her tongue slide past his.
She braces for a storm of anxious thoughts, but none come. Her head is perfectly clear, perfectly focused on the kiss and the alpha standing in front of her with his arms keeping her close. All she can think is that she feels safer than she’s ever felt in her life. She could get used to this, and while that thought might scare her, with Ben, it feels more like a promise. It feels like her dreams manifested. It feels like forever.