Rain had put out the campfire and tapped steadily on the tent. Tom insisted in taking care of dinner and set to cook at the gap between the tent's and the rainfly's doors—so the inside of the tent wouldn't smell of food so badly later on. Alex went out to refill their bottles in the stream, and when she came back, she found him sitting on the ground, completely focused on the small burner and the pan on top of it.
He glanced up at her and nodded at her wet jacket.
"Hang it out here. Dinner's ready."
"Yessir," she muttered, taking the jacket off to hang it from a pole.
Tom frowned as she took her hiking boots off as well and crawled into the tent, zipping up it behind her.
Alex sat on her sleeping bag and felt she'd rather lay down and go to sleep. For a year. Lucky her, before she fell asleep sitting there, Tom opened the tent to give her a dish overflowing an explosive scramble of steak, eggs, cheese and bacon. She managed not to gawk and gave him a beer in return.
"Thanks," he said, sitting inside the tent but keeping his feet out, to eat straight from the pan.
"This is awesome!" Alex murmured, devouring her dinner.
She cleaned her dish and found out she was still hungry. To her surprise, Tom noticed how fast she'd eaten and tried to give her more from his own food. She shook her head, embarrassed.
"It's your first real meal since yesterday's breakfast," he said, parent-serious. "It's only natural you're hungrier than usual."
She hesitated. Until she saw he was actually about to scold her like a child. After all, he's right. So she allowed him to refill her plate.
Tom finished eating and waited for her to do the same. When she gave him her empty dish, he left everything by the burner, took his hiking boots off to bring his feet into the tent and closed it.
Alex frowned, curious, when he stretched out his hand to her. And her brow cleared to let her mouth shape a perfect, "oh..." Tom was giving her a chocolate bar, keeping another for himself in his other hand.
She took it to her nose, smelling it with delight. Then it hit her. How come she hadn't found the chocolate among his things?
"Where were you keeping this?"
Tom met his eyes, chewing his bar, and raised his eyebrows. Alex laughed out loud: broody Tom Sutton had just made a joke.