Till all the stars go blue [Chaennie]

Chapter 4

Jennie woke in the dark, shivering. Everything was so still that the rasp of her own breath was deafening. She waited a few moments until her eyes adjusted to the light, then she stood up, hugging her sleeping bag around her and stepped out of the tent.

The fire was still burning, but it was just bright coals with the odd flicker of flame. Against the soft glow she saw that Rosie sleeping curled next to the fire. Hiking up the sleeping bag around her Jennie padded softly toward the sleeping figure. As quietly as she could she placed her sleeping bag down next to Rosie's and snuggled herself back inside.

She watched the still figure, allowing herself to fall into the soft rhythm of the girl's breathing, feeling the warmth of the fire start to penetrate the chill. Boldly, she wriggled closer until she was practically right up against Rosie's back. So close she could reach out and touch if she was so inclined.

Rosie had bunched up the denim shirt she was wearing earlier and was using it for a pillow. A sleeve was unfurled and draped down over her back. Without thinking Jennie let her fingers traced lightly over the fabric of the shirt, caressing the faded denim, surprised by the softness. With shaking fingers, she reached up and stroked a tendril of blonde hair that had strayed out of her braids. Warm again and newly content, Jennie closed her eyes and was asleep almost immediately.

Day Two

Rosie's eyes fluttered open and she knew immediately something was different. The fire had gone out, but there was still the faintest ghost of warmth clinging to the ash. Dawn was just lifting her veil and all was washed in early morning quicksilver, splattered and sparkling with mist and dew. She heard her horse snort softly and it eased her mind.

Then she became aware of the soft, steady breathing just over her shoulder and realized that Jennie was sleeping tucked up behind her. Gingerly, she shifted in her sleeping bag and rose up on her elbow, casting a look over her shoulder. Jennie was sleeping soundly, one hand curled up underneath her chin and the other clinging loosely to the sleeve of Rosie's denim shirt. Rosie felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she rolled fully onto her back. "This is just so not happening," she thought to herself.

In all the time she'd been doing this work, this was a first. Sure, there had been some casual flirting, even mild attraction, but nothing, nothing like this. As though reading her thoughts, Jennie stirred in her sleep, shifted closer, her fingers reaching out and curling around Rosie's bicep.

"Oh..." Rosie huffed softly then exhaled deeply, running her fingertips absently across her eyebrow. It was something she did when she was anxious, a tic of sorts. She liked being close to the girl. In fact, she really liked it a lot and had thought about nothing but being even closer for much of the last evening. Truth be told, she wanted to curl herself into the sleeping figure beside her, to bury her face in the soft chestnut brown curls and shield her like a blanket. Instead, she was distracting herself by mentally running through a laundry list of reasons why that should not and could not ever happen.

Gently, she pried Jennie's fingers off her arm. The girl grunted unhappily, fluttered her fingers across something ticking her face and went still again. The touching. The constant touching. That was going to be a big problem. Rosie made a mental note to herself to stop. At the very thought, her fingertips flew immediately back to her eyebrow.

Rosie was already nursing her second cup of coffee of the morning when Jennie finally stirred herself awake. She sat up and stretched, yawning. The girl's hair was adorably mussed and there were wrinkles on her face where she'd been laying on the zipper of her sleeping bag. Rosie winced suddenly, sat her coffee cup down and hurriedly closed the distance between them. Jennie was still too sleep-fuzzy to notice until Rosie got right in front of her. Rosie smiled at Jennie and reached down with her hand. Jennie's eyes widened as she thought the girl was going to caress her cheek, but then her hand swept past her face to her shoulder and she brushed away a large black spider that was crawling up the front of her shirt. Jennie screamed, scrambled to her feet and frantically kicked the sleeping bag away. The spider scuttled off into the brush.