5

Light snores fill the space in the tent, settling upon Nicholas' eardrums as he looks at Richard's chest rise and fall in a slow rhythmic beat while he lays asleep. Sighing contently to himself, Nick shuffles out of the tent and into the cold night, securing the flap shut after himself. Outside, he immediately finds the chill clinging on to his skin, forcing him to zip up his jumper till the very end and stuff his hands deep inside his pockets.

He turns around, not really expecting anyone else to be there, and finds a gasp wrenched out from him at the sight of Keithia lying curled up on the ground beside the simmering fire. "Fuck," he mutters under his breath, staring at Keithia with wide eyes.

The blonde lies there on the cold, hard ground, bare of any sleeping bag or duvet, curled up inside herself with her hair splayed about her form in a shimmery halo. Not quite being able to believe his eyes, Nicholas curses yet again.

He notices a couple of blankets set by her head, untouched. Nicholas moves forward to spread them on top of her so that she has at least some source of warmth in lieu of the dwindling fire. Doing so, Nick holds his breath, uncomfortable with the thought of being caught awkwardly alone with her lest she wakes up. Draping the blankets over her sleeping form and now satisfied with his work, he stands straight back up and looks down at her for a while, wondering how this strange girl has managed to come into their lives.

A couple of seconds pass before Nicholas shakes his head to himself. No use in pondering over such things, he decides, as he moves to go to the destination he has in his mind.

The group of friends had decided to make camp for the day at a clearing found by Keithia. She had donned the area safe, announcing that not many animals would be coming their way because the clearing was close by to the cliff's drop-off.

And as soon as Nick had heard the word drop-off, he'd had his mind set on going there at night, to contemplate whilst stargazing, if nothing else. The idea of being alone with his thoughts to accompany him and the view of a million stars and trees and mountains in the far off distance serving as the perfect scenery, was something Nick had taken fancy to almost instantly.

Nicholas isn't lonely, no. Neither is he entirely too broody and pensive. It's just that he enjoys quality time with himself, a tad bit more so than most people. When it's just his own self to keep him company, he finds himself at ease, shedding all layers of awkwardness and timidness until all that is left is his own pure and unadulterated soul, his thoughts and his life experiences. No reason to be conscious of his actions, no one to shield his demons from.

So, that's where he's headed now at this late hour of the night when almost every other living being in the surrounding vicinity is fast asleep. Nick is seeking out a place to go to sit in solitude at.

He passes by a number of trees, their slightly damp branches brushing the sleeves of his jumper and leaving behind their wet mark, as he hurries along. Usually he'd be more careful, trekking through the forest in the dark, but right now he's in too much of a hurry to finally reach the edge of the cliff, too desperate for the release since he hasn't had a moment to himself the whole day long. Instead of looking down to watch out for fallen log or large stones, Nick's head remains firmly straight as his eyes search for the small clearing before the drop-off.

It's because of this haste of his that he rushes forward the last few steps, stumbling out into the clearing and still unable to quite stop himself and lessen his speed even though the cliff's giving way just one feet ahead of him. Panic sinks into his bones while he tries and fails to stop his momentum. Then the edge is just a few inches from Nicholas' feet, his eyes frozen in horror, his feet still propelling him forward, when a hand forcefully tugs him back to safe ground.

Nick feels himself wrenched back from the point of imminent death, crashing into a body before he's falling down with a painful thud, his saviour landing right on top of him.

The first thing he sees is dark blonde wavy hair splayed out all over him, and the unmistakable warmth of a body as shaking slender hands wrap themselves tightly over his arms. The girl lifts her head, and Nick is met with a pair of stark blue eyes, still twinkling through the dark of the night.

And suddenly he's not so sure whether he feels winded and shaken up because of almost having died or because of the sudden fall... or because of the girl laying on top of him, the one who is constantly finding a way to occupy his thoughts and his mind, even though he'd much rather her not.

"Valeria?" he says, breathily.

~~~~~~~~~~

Valeria stirs awake at the sound of footsteps outside the tent. Drowsily, she frowns to herself, wondering as to who would be loony enough to go out at this hour and that too on such a cold night. But then she hears the person outside muttering a curse, and instantly she recognises the voice, promptly realising in the following second that she'd be crazy enough to follow the loony person outside into the windy night.

A couple of seconds then pass by where Nick remains quiet, shuffling around somewhere nearby the tent. In those seconds Val contemplates as to whether or not she should go out to him.

He'd more or less shunned her off the first night she'd caught him alone outside, albeit it had been after only a few hours of meeting him. But then today he'd helped her, had talked to her. He had been nice to her, she recalls. Well, not particularly nice, Val admits, but at least somewhat friendly.

And that is enough for her, she decides. Enough for her to take the next step and try to push forward her shot at friendship with this infinitely strange guy whom she's just met but can't quite seem to stay away from for long.

So when she hears his footsteps quieten down, indicating that he's finally leaving the camp, Valeria makes quick work of pulling on and buttoning up her cardigan, and stepping out into the night, securing her hair in a loose knot atop her head. Pulling the sweater close round her frame, she hugs her arms to herself and starts to move forward, before she catching sight of Keithia, the vision causing her to gasp in sudden shock.

Cooped under some blankets, the ethereal girl lays fast and blissfully asleep, almost smiling to herself in her dreams. And once again Val's stumped, thinking that her mind must be playing tricks on her, for who could manage to brave such a cold night with such a practiced ease.

Valeria moves toward Keithia, her hand reaching out to wake the girl and ask her to go kip it in inside the tent, when she realises just how at peace she actually looks. Covered in blankets which, it seems, she doesn't even need, she looks ever like her sunny self, despite the biting cold, the wet and uneven ground. Caught between being amused and bemused, Val retracts her hand to herself, involuntarily shuddering at the thought of someone actually sleeping here out in the cold.

For a second or two she keeps staring at Keithia, before finally remembering who she'd actually come out looking for. Not really being one to judge, Val shrugs Keithia off as someone who's maybe just eccentric. She then turns around on her feet and begins walking toward the trees surrounding their small camp.

Remembering how Nicholas' eyes had lit up at the mention of the cliff's drop-off being nearby, Val figures that that must be where he's headed to now. So, she carefully picks her way through the trees, keeping her arms tucked close to her body at all times so as to avoid being touched by their cold and clammy fingers. The moonlight and the stars provide enough light for her to find her way forward, along with the signs of hurried destruction left in Nick's wake.

It's not long before she catches sight of his dark form up ahead, rushing forward at high speed. She's just begun to think that he should slow down, that the small clearing before the edge would be quite near now, when she watches him stumble out into the open, unable to stop himself from propelling forward and off the edge of the cliff.

Instantly her hand shoots forward — she finds herself praying for her to be able to reach him in time — and her fingers curl around the fabric of his jumper. Valeria pulls back with all the force she can muster up, pulling Nick back to herself and sending the both of them stumbling to the ground.

"Valeria?" he asks her, his voice laced in disbelief.

Still tightly clutching onto his arms — she finds she can't quite let go just yet — Val nods in affirmation. Her breathing haggard, her heart racing, she sits back up and finally let's go of him.

"What-what are you doing here?" he asks her, still a tad bit breathless.

"I uh..." Val stutters, not knowing what to say. Swallowing, she decides on the truth, "I'd come after you actually." When he raises his brows at her, she takes in a deep breath and continues, "I heard you leaving and I'd gotten curious." Val looks up to find him staring at her silently, and she takes that as her cue to keep talking. "I'd wanted to come along, I guess. I couldn't really fall asleep so I'd thought that I'll join you—"

It's only when Nicholas begins to laugh, quietly at first before it grows into a booming, happy sound, when she stops her rambling to look at him and start laughing herself. Mouths wide open in disbelieving glee, hands over stomachs, the two people celebrate being alive after almost having died a sudden and tragic death.

Suddenly Valeria realises that it's the first time that she's heard Nick laugh. Before it there had only been awkward almost-smiles, or those rare genuine and soft smiles fleeting across his features until he realised that someone was looking.

And so this is the first proper laugh: loud and brilliant and somehow uniquely his own in his quiet and still yet completely encompassing ways.

First time — Val looks at Nicholas from the corner of her eyes — though she doesn't want it to be her last, she decides firmly.