Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Chapter 17 - The Art of Canoeing

I wake up in Sam's arms again, only this time I welcome the feeling of his protective embrace. I can feel his gentle, slow breaths on my shoulder and his blond hair which is tousled and messy tickles my neck. I smile softly and slowly trace circles on his toned arm, my eyes inspect his soft skin which is turned a honey yellow colour by the morning sunlight drifting through the thin curtains. A content smile spreads itself across my face as I sigh happily and lean into Sam, resting my head on top of his. These moments will always be my favourite. The moments where it is only him and I, perfectly safe, perfectly happy, perfectly calm. The rest of the world seems irrelevant in moments like these and thats just how I like it.

I feel Sam shift slightly beneath me and he lets out a small groan, burying his head deeper into the crook of my neck. He mumbles something that could possibly be my name and his arm around me suddenly tightens as if he's trying to stop me from leaving, which I have no intention of doing. I push his fluffy hair back from his forehead and plant a kiss there.
    "Morning," I murmur, my voice slightly gravelly. Sam lifts his head up and smiles brightly.
    "You're here," He says, his tired voice deeper and slower than usual. He grins lazily at me, "You're here,"
    "Of course I'm here, idiot. I'm not sharing a room with anyone else," I chuckle. Sam shakes his head softly.
    "You were gone yesterday. When I woke up. I missed you," His arms tighten around me again and my heart melts slightly as I grin down at him.

Slowly, Sam and I untangle ourselves and climb out of bed, barely speaking but smiling the whole time. Sam follows me into the bathroom and we brush our teeth, his free arm loops around my waist and stays there the whole time. Once we're both dressed, Sam starts trying to drag me back to bed.
    "Let's go back to sleep, no classmates to get in our way," He whines, tugging lightly on my hand. I laugh gently and shake my head at him.
    "We need breakfast Sam," I murmur, resting my head on his shoulder. He sighs deeply.
"Okay fine," He replies, annoyed. I grin and shake my head.

We head out of our cabin and towards the dining hall, slowly separating from each other. Sam keeps glancing at me and I'm pretty sure he's having an internal fight with himself about wether or not he should sit with me. I give him a reassuring smile to show him that whatever he wants to do is okay with me. I don't want to pressure him to come out and I definitely don't want to put him at risk of getting hurt. He gives me a little smile in return, I can tell he feels guilty. When we get into the dining hall, we head to get food and once my plate is filled with a stack of toast covered in various condiments, Sam and I part ways properly. He heads over to the large group of boys from his team whilst I head over to where my friends sit on the furthest bench in the corner.

When I sit down, Kai and Amir are having a heated debate about Pringles. Alec immediately turns to me, giving me a knowing smile and I know he's about to start questioning me, but thats when I notice that his hand is resting casually on Conan's leg. I gasp and grin at him.
"Since when is Alonan real?!" I whisper shout at him. He turns bright red and Conan suddenly turns to us.
"What in the world is Alonan?" Alec hisses, his cheeks growing even redder as Conan leans closer to him so he can hear the conversation.
"It's your ship name, obviously," Felix chimes in, grinning at the pair. Alec and Conan glance at each other and share a small smile.

"We talked last night. We haven't really labelled it yet, we're just giving things a go," Conan explains, not taking his eyes off of Alec. They smile at each other again and Felix and I 'aw' in unison. Alec opens his mouth to say something else but is cut off by Rob who is standing at the front of the room with Margo and the coaches. He claps his hands, trying to get everyone's attention. After a few moments, the room settles down and Rob begins talking.
"Okay! Today we will be in the same groups as yesterday and we'll be swapping activities! So the group that was with me yesterday will now be with Margo doing the scavenger hunt! And the group that was with Margo will be canoeing with me! Okay, finish up your breakfast and lets get going!" He grins around at everyone's blank faces.