When Sam woke up, he groaned softly. His night had been restless. He had woken up again and again and had looked at Penny, who seemed to be lying peacefully curled up in her sleeping bag among the other women. He didn't even suspect that she hadn't slept much better than he had.

At least she didn't look like she had fiber and after breakfast he watched closely as Helen changed the bandage on her hand. He had to find a plausible explanation for sleeping next to her again next night, otherwise he would be crawling on his gums back into Pontypandy. This hike took its toll on everyone both physically and mentally. He didn't want to give the lack of sleep a chance to drag him down even further. What impression would he make on Penny if he showed himself to her like that?! Although he himself noticed that the journey had not left her without a trace, she was still the blooming life every day. He, on the other hand, was more in the mode that he was on the verge of falling asleep standing upright. But still better than, for example, Ben, Tom or Lizzie. They looked like the others were going to have to think about building stretchers soon.

However, he had noticed that Jodie had brought Ben his breakfast this morning and woke him up for it. Since then the two of them sat together and it seemed to him that they were having a good time. He quietly dared to hope that Ben would get away from Penny thanks to Ellie's sister, and he had a feeling that Penny wouldn't be particularly upset about it, as uncomfortable as she seemed to have been with Ben's looks as he sang his song. Sam, on the other hand, since last night at the latest, couldn't wait for the day to end, and even less to take the guitar from Elvis and sing a song again. Everyone was excited when he sang, but none of them smiled as beautifully as Penny did - no one else interested him when he sang for them.

As they continued on their way, he often noticed that Moose kept sneaking up on something, jumping on it and then letting it disappear into his pockets. He also didn't miss the fact that Jodie and Ben were talking animatedly to each other all day. He kept picking up on details, but overall it seemed to be conversations about the sea and its inhabitants. As the day went on, Sam became increasingly relaxed that the two of them got along so well. He hoped that they would grow together a little more, while it made his stomach ache that around lunchtime Tom and Malcom also started collecting something from the bushes.

The women had been moaning for an hour when they finally found a clearing by a stream in the evening and Sam decided that it was probably better to give everyone a little rest instead of insisting on the missing kilometers that they still had to walk, to reach the daily goal. The mood generally fell throughout the day, but never as much like today. Hardly anyone said a word for a few hours. Everyone looked tired and worn out, but even more so in the evening than in the morning.

As Sam put his things down and turned away to collect firewood, he noted that the women were all laying out their sleeping bags and taking off their shoes to knead their calves and feet in the hope that the pain would subside. Even Penny was among them that evening, he noted worriedly...and Ben. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. He couldn't believe what a wimp the macho guy really was.

"Hey, Sam." He stood up again and pushed the stick he had just picked up under his arm to see Malcolm, who had joined him and was also collecting wood. He greeted his friend with a smile. "Are you and Penny okay?"

"Why should something be wrong?" Sam replied confused and continued to collect. He had no idea what his friend was getting at, but he wasn't going to let him get him off his guard. Presumably someone had revealed something to him during their hike, because everyone knew so much more about their emotional world than they did. This gossip was terrible.

"You haven't talked to each other at all today."

"Here everyone talks to everyone and everyone wasn't very talkative today, in case you didn't notice." Malcolm just smiled and continued collecting wood.

"What are you going to sing for her today?"

"I'm singing because your sister ratted me out and everyone wants it and not for anyone in particular," he lied, bending down to pick up another branch.

"The way you look at her, you'd think that was the case." Sam didn't reply. He decided to concentrate on collecting wood and pushed another stick into the pile under his arm, which he could barely hold. "You would make a nice couple."

"Malcolm please. Not you too."

"What? Haven't you noticed how she looks at you when you sing? Besides, she always seems to have her eyes on you."

"Really?" Sam couldn't help himself, but immediately shook his head as he realized his reaction and also noticed Malcolm's knowing grin. "Penny always keeps track of everything."

"She's sitting in camp right now and I don't think she would complain if someone massaged her legs."

"I don't think anyone would complain about that today and I'm certainly not going to start with that. I can see everyone clamoring for a massage as soon as I've even laid a hand on Penny...if she'd even let me." Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Malcolm shaking his head, smiling. He could hardly believe that his otherwise confident and courageous friend didn't know what to do with a woman. But he knew Sam and it only made him more serious about it.

"If I could make a suggestion, sing Uncle Kracker's Smile today. It fits perfectly."

"Because I'm such a kind person?"

"Because you act exactly like the lyrics when you're around her." Sam just snorted and decided he'd had enough wood. He made his way back to the camp and Malcolm quickly caught up with him. Grinning, Malcolm punched his friend in the shoulder and Sam couldn't help but smile, secretly happy about his friend's intercession.

As they got closer to the camp, they could already hear that it was filled with singing and good cheer while the guitar played, no doubt thanks to Elvis's help.

"In my wildest fantasy, Somewhere, just beyond my reach, There's someone reaching back for me, Racing on the thunder, And rising with the heat, It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet, yeah," they heard Ellie chime in singing a little off-key and the two men looked at each other half confused and half amused. Their grin grew even wider when suddenly several more joined in with the chorus of Bonnie Tyler's Holding out for a hero.

"I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night, He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, And he's gotta be fresh from the fight, I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light," all the women sang as they sat together, clearly having fun the moment the both men returned to camp.

"Oh look, Penny. It worked!" Ellie shouted with a grin and drew everyone's attention to Sam. "Your hero is already here." Sam's stomach began to flutter excitedly as he wondered what Ellie meant by that and his eyes snapped to Penny, who seemed a little shocked at Ellie's statement and embarrassedly started rummaging through her backpack for something. Apparently, in the exuberance of her good mood, Ellie had forgotten what it meant to be a good friend.

Sam immediately noticed how embarrassed Penny was by the situation, while the other women were still smiling at Ellie's comment. He decided to act as if nothing had happened and went to the fireplace where Moose was lighting leaves and brushwood.

Elvis also noticed that his blonde colleague was a bit overwhelmed by his girlfriend's comment and decided to lighten the mood. He struck up Loi's Gold and, as much as Ben resisted, Jodie pulled him to his feet to dance with him, just as Helen had done with Malcolm. Ellie and Tom and Lizzie joined the others and soon everyone was dancing around them, only Sam, who was putting wood on the fire, looked up at them with a smile, happy that the mood had changed so obviously. When he looked down, he spotted Penny still sitting on her sleeping bag, smiling and watching her friends and colleagues. He spontaneously went over to her and held out his hand. Smiling, she grabbed it and let him help her up before they started dancing. While everyone danced more or less freestyle around them, they held hands, Sam put his other hand on her waist and she put hers on his shoulder as they did a lively dance on the wooden dance floor to Elvis's good mood music.

Elvis then played two more songs, during which one after the other gradually faded out and instead took a deep breath and put his food on the fire. Sam and Penny were the last to separate and sank back onto their seats, smiling and satisfied, without being able to take their eyes off each other for a few moments before they too placed their food on the embers to heat it up. Everyone's mood had noticeably improved and there were lively conversations among everyone again. How much a little exuberance could help.

"Woah, guys, really?" Ben said frustrated as he was already opening his dinner. He was one of the first to give up while dancing and to concentrate on his food. "The same crap again as yesterday? Can't it be something different, or at least seasoned? I've enough." He stood up and cursed to himself as he walked through the camp, constantly looking up into the trees or into a bush at the edge.

"Are you looking for something, Ben?" Moose then asked him confused.

"The cameras." Everyone looked around and noticed that their colleagues were just as confused as they were. "No one would send a few people on such a trip with such modest food rations if they didn't monitor us. They watch us and have fun They've fun at our expense. I would swear I heard a drone today."

"That was definitely the waterfall we had passed, Ben," Penny objected.

"This is driving me crazy," he growled before he thought of something. "Didn't you have a radio?"

"Uhm, yes, but only for emergencies. I..."

"Give it to me!" he asked her and held out his hand. She wanted to say something, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. "Give it to me, please!" he said, but from the sound of his voice everyone could tell that it wasn't really a request, but rather desperation. She looked over at Sam, who nodded at her. Better to let him have his way than for Ben to send everyone into turmoil and panic. So Penny pulled out the radio and handed it to Ben, who immediately turned it on. "This is Ben Hooper. Steele, please come in." He repeated the radio message two more times before someone finally answered. Everyone watched Ben, waiting and a little curious to see what his radio message would bring, as he walked back and forth in the middle of the camp. No one noticed that he brushed against a branch that Moose had not fully placed in the embers. The branch swayed, fell from the stones that bordered the fireplace and rolled down to Penny's sleeping bag, which she had spread out like everyone else and was sitting on.

"This is Pontypandy Fire Station. Boyce on the line. What can I do for you, Ben."

"Oh, I've just found the right person. Do you enjoy our suffering? Do you think it's strange to send us through an unfathomable wilderness with nothing but basic equipment and stale food? That alone isn't even enough to fill you up from the fact that it does not cover our minimum requirements of proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates that we need."

"The food has been coordinated with a nutritionist and you will be back in two days. We have ordered a rich buffet for your arrival, if you are interested."

"I don't give a damn about your buffet. I'm a ocean rescuer and not a rascal. Get me out of here!" he shouted into the radio, making everyone jump.

"You've made it this far, then you'll be able to do the last two days too. I hope you'll make it back in time? Not that the buffet is getting cold." You could hear Boyce laughing quietly and it wasn't just Ben who was annoyed about that. "Get some sleep and tomorrow the world will look like new again, Ben. Over and out." That was it then. Boyce became unresponsive to anything Ben unleashed in his tantrum. Everyone looked at each other confused. What should they do to calm Ben down?

Jodie finally found the courage - or rather enough compassion - to try. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go for a walk, Ben," she suggested, taking the radio from him to hand to Penny when he gave in and they walked past her. She nodded at her with a smile and in her mind Penny wished her good luck as they disappeared into the forest together, Ben still cursing and fuming at Boyce.

"Tell me, do you smell that too?" Sam now drew the attention of everyone back to him and everyone sniffed.

"Smells like something is burning? Did someone throw something on the fire?" Helen objected in confusion. In the next moment everyone jumped back, especially Penny, because her sleeping bag burst into flames at the foot of it.

Sam jumped up and grabbed one of the two pots of water on the fire while Elvis grabbed the second. However, Elvis stumbled on the way over to Penny and fell, knocking Sam over with him and the water poured over the fireplace in front of them.

"Looks like the evening is over for the night," Lizzie murmured, half amused, while Penny quickly smothered the burning sleeping bag with her jacket. Sam jumped up and helped her with his. They had barely put out the fire when Elvis came back from the river with the filled pots and...stumbled again. This time he poured water on the sleeping bag, which hissed and lost the remaining heat from the fire into the cooling water, but Sam didn't stay dry either.

"Sorry, Sam," Elvis mumbled embarrassedly and reached for the pots again when Ellie quickly snatched them away from him.

"I think I'd better go get some water. You've cooled us down enough for today, babe."

"Babe?!" everyone else's chorus echoed and Ellie turned bright red, which Penny commented on with a wide grin before Ellie fled. Meanwhile, Elvis grabbed his guitar and tried to distract everyone with a song.

"I'll put on a dry shirt," Sam mumbled and walked over to his backpack. He hung his wet shirt over a branch before putting on a new one. When he turned around, his eyes met Penny's, but she quickly went back to examining her sleeping bag. Moose had been able to turn the fire back on and he saw a slight blush on her cheeks. Had she been watching him?

He watched as she hung the sleeping bag to dry over a branch in the tree behind her. The bottom half was completely charred and would no longer be able to provide her with much warmth, not to mention the unpleasant charred smell that would be in her nose all night long. He spontaneously grabbed his and brought it to her.

"You can have mine."

"I can't accept that, Sam. You'll freeze just because I was careless."

"I don't think it was your fault, Pen, and even if it was, you still shouldn't have to freeze. The nights aren't that cold. My jacket will be enough for me," he replied with a smile and Penny took the sleeping bag from him with a smile.

"So. While you all had your fun, I took care of our protein intake," Moose called out, beaming and visibly proud of himself, who now sat down on his sleeping bag armed with a pan that he took from the fire. He took out a spoonful and put it in his mouth before passing the pan to Tom next to him. He also tried a spoonful, then it was Malcolm's turn and even though he also tried it, he couldn't stop himself from making a face at first.

"Oh, that looks fun," Elvis commented on the contents of the pan and also took a spoonful before passing the pan on. "And so nice and crispy," he then added.

The pan was passed to the women, who grimaced in disgust and continued to pass the pan.

"What is that, Moose?!" Sam asked skeptically.

"Well, roasted locusts and maggots. We wild men collected them today. Very digestible and definitely a little bit of variety on our menu." Elvis immediately turned white as a sheet while Sam looked at Penny, who had just received the pan.

"So, Ms. Morris? Want to win a star?" he teased her with a grin and she looked up at him with a smile.

"If you get one with me."

"It's worth it to me," he said with a grin and watched as she hesitantly filled her spoon in the pan and needed even more effort to actually eat it. Her look touched Sam's heart and he wanted nothing more than to go over to her and somehow relieve her of the disgust that was almost painful on her face. On the other hand, it also appealed to the mischief in him and, oddly enough, he had to hold back from grinning while Ellie took the pan from Penny and brought it over to Sam.

"Come on then, big master. If our two bosses dare to do it, maybe I'll do it too."

Sam swallowed and looked at the roasted crumbs in the pan in front of him. He looked up at Penny again, who at that very moment swallowed and shook herself briefly. "Woe betide you if you pinch!" she warned him before she coughed briefly to suppress her gag reflex. The whole time she tried to think of something else, knowing that it was all in her head.

Sam took a deep breath, thought about chips and quickly pushed his spoon through the pan before letting it disappear even faster into his mouth. He just wanted to get it over with quickly, but he realized that it wouldn't be that easy. The taste wasn't bad, the consistency was strange, but it reminded him of cornflakes. The ones that were on top were usually still crispy, while the ones that had been in the milk for a long time were already sticky. But his head just wasn't cooperating and he had to fight the urge to gag several times before he finally got it all down.

"Now you," he turned to Ellie, but she just tapped her forehead.

"Certainly not. Don't always believe everything I say," she replied with a grin.

"Where are Ben and Jodie?" Malcolm then asked.

"They definitely don't want to try it," countered Lizzie.

"Regardless, haven't they both been gone for quite a long time?"

"Right, maybe we should look for them?" Helen objected, confused, as the two of them came out of the forest and were visibly trying to arrange their clothes.

"You've come at just the right time. Do you want something too?" asked Moose enthusiastically, who then took the pan from Sam and held it under the noses of the two of them, who immediately protested in disgust.

"Come here, buddy. If they don't want to, there's more for us," Tom asked his friend and Moose just shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to the pilot to tackle the leftovers with him.

Sam looked at the two of them in horror for a moment before shaking himself slightly and turning his attention back to the others, who had now started getting ready and packing themselves into their sleeping bags.

"Can we get another goodnight song. Sam?" Penny asked him with a smile as she came back from the stream where she had brushed her teeth. How could he deny her something, so he let Elvis give him the guitar and briefly considered whether he should listen to Malcolm, but considering that she would be sleeping in his sleeping bag tonight, he thought of something else. So he played Warm by Moncrieff.

Penny gave him an amused smile. She knew that he was referring to his sleeping bag with this song, but she also knew that he said much more with his songs. It came from the heart and the fact that he always looked at her when he wasn't closing his eyes made her heart race and hope grow in her. Hope that her prayers wouldn't be disappointed.

She lay down in the sleeping bag and enjoyed the scent that emanated from him for a moment, even though she would have preferred to sleep next to him. She was always more relaxed when Sam was around, even in her sleep.

When he finished his song, Sam didn't seem to be in a hurry and complied with Helen and Ellie's request for an encore. He played the song Malcolm suggested earlier and enjoyed seeing Penny smile like that. He could keep playing all night if it meant she smiled at him like that. It was almost as if it was just the two of them and nothing else around them mattered. But he also saw the tiredness in her eyes and decided to let it go as he let the song end and wished everyone goodnight as he put the guitar back to Elvis and went to the stream himself to get ready too.

When he came back, he was amused to see Ben and Jodie and also Ellie and Elvis snuggled up together. Apparently Cupid's blessing was on this trip. He wished with all his heart that his arrow would hit Penny too as he lay down and covered himself more than well with his jacket.

He dozed off, but only restlessly. The temperature had dropped to 10°C that night and while he wouldn't get chilblains, his jacket alone wasn't enough to keep him warm enough to hide the slight shivering he was feeling.

After what seemed like an eternity, he heard a rustling noise, then the sound of a zipper coming from one of his colleagues. Surely someone had to step out, he thought, and he didn't let it bother him any further, continuing to act like he was sleeping, hoping that he would actually get some sleep soon. The rustling got closer and he opened his eyes as someone carefully took the jacket from his body, only to replace it with something else. Just a moment later, Penny laid down next to him. Very close to him.

She had covered him. With his sleeping bag, which she had opened and now lay over them both like a big blanket. Immediately the cold disappeared from his bones and he felt himself turning bright red, just like her.

"Looks like you need someone to keep you warm," she whispered quietly to cover her shyness as she gave him a sheepish smile. There was nothing he could do to stop a smile from appearing on his face before he closed his eyes just like she did and quickly fell asleep this time.

To be continued...