Only The Brave

Complications

The next morning, Darren was the first to wake up. As much as he wanted to treat his boyfriend like he did when they were sleeping in his bed at home, after their exertions last night, what he wanted to do was snuggle in close, and never leave their tent. The latter was out of the option, but Dare wiggled until his cheek was resting against Jace's chest, and he kept his eyes closed. He was already alert, though, the bird sounds distracting. Should he have gone as far as he did with his boyfriend last night...? They were only sixteen, and he wasn't setting very clear boundaries. He hadn't been the one to stop Jace last night, so who was to say next time he'd know to stop before it went any further?

After last night... He didn't want to think that was all Jace would be around for. He wanted to prove to him that he was worth more than that, and after weeks of making him so jealous, and how he'd dealt with it so quietly for all that time... He had to make it up to him somehow.

Guessing it was about seven in the morning, Dare shimmied back into his pants, figuring he would change into clean clothes after showering later. He didn't notice the shirt he'd grabbed was Jace's until he had it on, and he wasn't about to change it. Looking back to the blond, he leaned over him and kissed his cheek, whispering good morning, even though he knew he was still asleep. Crawling over him was the challenge of the morning, as last night, when Jace did finally roll off him, he'd rolled toward the opening of the tent.

Once it was out, it was being quiet he was worried about, as he dug around for breakfast foods, and the peculator to make coffee. When it came to coffee, he wasn't much of a drinker, but he wasn't sure about Jace. He liked to wake and bake, personally, and proceeded to hit the pipe twice before he actually started preparing breakfast. It got him creative enough to think he could cook, and apparently that was what he was trying to do.

Eggs, bacon, some bread that he stabbed onto their marshmallow sticks like sails on boats. The sticks were leaned against the metal wall of the fire pit. Grabbing a few pieces of wood, and kindling, Darren got a fire started, a few embers left burning against the dirt from last night helping the fire to burn brightly.

From inside the tent, it smelled amazing. Jace opened his eyes, groaning as he reached for his boyfriend and found nothing, “Do you smell that? Dare?” His eyes opened, puffy and red. Birds were damn loud, and outside the cocoon of blankets was cold. He was a heavy sleeper, but how the fuck Darren didn't yelp him awake just feeling this cold air was beyond him. Stretching, and slipping on his pants, and Darren's leftover shirt, he peeked his head out the tent door and caught a glimpse of the scene before him.

Burnt pieces of toast on a plate, and black eggs, and some undercooked bacon. At present, his boyfriend was doing his best to get the boiling coffee off the fire without an oven mitt. Jace came to the rescue, grabbing one of the roasting sticks and pushing it to a corner of the grill that wasn't over the fire, “Good morning.”

“Shut up.”

Jace laughed, moving the bacon back over the flames before hugging his boyfriend around the waist and kissing his cheek, “You did great; the campsite's intact, and nothing was burned down-”

He bit his tongue the moment it left his mouth, “What the fuck did you just...?”

“Dare, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it!” His heart sank, and as he felt the mood around them change, the morning glow suddenly shattered, he gripped on to Dare and kept him in his arms. He couldn't believe he'd said it without thinking. He hadn't meant to reference the tender topic of the fire from their youth in anyway, but he knew his Darren... And he knew from that look on his face how he was going to take it.

“No, what..? How could you say something like that? What the fuck, Jace? I was just...” It hit him hard, realizing the next line out of his mouth was the same he'd said to his own parents as a kid, “I was only trying to do a nice thing.”