Offline/Ask Nicole what she wants to do
"What now?" you ask, glancing at the scattered onlookers.
"Let's... let's go," she replies.
The search for underpants no longer a concern, the two of you make a hasty exit out of camp and back down your trail. Nicole doesn't have much to say on the way. Witnessing Emma being caught effectively naked in the middle of camp may have killed the thrill that was feeding their mutual secret exhibitionism, emphasis on secret.
Nicole selects a few choice items from around the cabin then ducks inside to find privacy. She emerges wearing shorts and a t-shirt and informs you that you can change too, if you want. You take your turn and change into similar attire as Nicole, even more similar than you'd expected since all your clean t-shirts were used as towels last night making it a touch dank and wrinkled.
You spend a bit of time here, and frankly you'd be fine with hanging out at the cabin to finish out the rest of the day but Nicole is eager to try to be normal for a while and that unfortunately involves being around other people. So the two of you do your best to blend in with your fellow campers, sitting around the campfire, playing with other kids, sharing in stories, and somewhat awkwardly shoehorning yourselves into the activities happening around you that you've indulged in all week but neither of you are particularly interested in right now. It's especially weird because you've actually enjoyed playing and fooling around with your cousins and family thanks to Nicole, so it's odd that Nicole is also the reason that it all feels so forced now. You're going along with it just because Nicole says she wants to, but you can't help but feel like she's mostly doing this to distract herself.
You don't manage to spot your sister again after Asha pulled her away, although you overhear mention of her streaking through camp. Intrigued but cautious, you don't risk asking any questions in case you manage to implicate yourself. Knowing Emma she might have actually been crazy or stupid enough to full on streak after going swimming, but it could just as easily be a reference to her wet t-shirt walk of shame down to the river with her butt hanging out.
Eventually the sun has fully set, the laughter of kids subsides, and there's little else for you and Nicole to do other than head to your cabin, too old to drink and too young to enjoy the references and cringy jokes of your elders. You both left your flashlights back at the cabin so you have to feel your way through the forest in the sparse moonlight. Your butterflies return as you creep along your path. It takes longer than normal but you do arrive without much fuss, the trail familiar enough by now to stick to. The two of you test Nicole's sleeping bag outside. It's still damp. Your butterflies suddenly become woodpeckers.
There's still not much conversation as you ready yourselves for bed. You expect Nicole to maybe change outside or wait for you to get ready, but she steps inside the cabin with you when you announce you're going to strip down. Finding and turning on your flashlights, you prop them up against a wall then stand next to Nicole, each of you prancing and fidgeting. You warily strip off your shirt while Nicole plays with her waistband. Shoes, socks and a a pair of shorts later and you're standing next to her in your boxers while she slowly strips.
After you stuff your clothes in your pack and straighten out your sleeping bag, you turn to see Nicole standing in a pair of pink panties still peeling off her top. Underneath the t-shirt is a plain white bra. Sort of. It's more like one of Emma's training bras (not that your sister needs them). It's just a thin strip of fabric wrapping around her chest with elastic edging and paltry spaghetti straps over her shoulders, one of which has slipped off. But unlike Emma, this thin tight fabric is doing a great job of defining each of Nicole's small boobs, nipples popping proudly. That's very much the opposite of her loose t-shirts which have done a great job of hiding her otherwise slight chest.
"You... you don't mind if I sleep like you, do you? In my underwear?" She asks while straightening her shoulder straps. "I just don't know about my PJs and it's kinda hot with the windows closed."
Did she ever bother to check them? "Sure. Whatever," you reply as nonchalantly as possible standing across from her. You nervously eye your sleep partner up and down, mostly because she's doing the same. It's like a game of chicken where you're only allowed to ogle someone because they're also ogling you. Nicole is the first to flinch, pulling out her ponytail. You turn away to open your sleeping bag and slip inside. Nicole is right behind you. You leave the flap of the bag open not as an invitation but because Nicole is right, it's definitely getting hot in here.
Nicole left the flashlights on against the wall, so you watched with great focus as she climbed into the bag beside you, her slender frame sliding down into the bag. She pulls the flap over just enough to cover her from the waist down and cuddles up next to you, but since she left the flashlights on she seemingly isn't looking to go to sleep just yet.
You try to keep your hands to yourself but it almost doesn't matter when the entire length of her petite form is invading your personal space. Even though you have a little more room than last night with the flap unzipped you're still forced to touch each other. She's angled herself toward you, her stomach or hip (bare skin either way) pressing against your side. Although you're not sure that her legs need to be quite so close to yours, especially since she was the one who established boundaries this morning.
"Have you..." she starts, quietly. "You ever slept with one of your girlfriends before?" asks Nicole after an excruciating silence that you were having a hard time breaking.
"Noo," you reply, voice cracking. It would help if you'd had a proper girlfriend before. You clear your throat, wanting to kill the frog that became your larynx's roommate this past year. "Have you ever slept with a boy?"
"No way," she answers quickly. "I mean... you last night."
"Oh! Yeah," you nod. You didn't realise that's what she meant. "Um, I guess me too then. With you I mean."
Nicole looks down and adjusts her flimsy bra then crosses her arms to grab her shoulders, clearly very self conscious of what she is (or isn't) wearing despite how daring she was earlier. The thing is, she could have left her shirt on. She was the one who took it off. So despite her nerves she wants to be laying next to you like this, her body protected by nothing but some thin undergarments. Or she's actually just warm and modest and you're being a giant perv. It's kind of a toss up really.
You're similarly inhibited at the moment, unsure of what to say to a girl that's laying next to you almost totally naked. The fact that it's your cousin should make it no big deal. If Asha was next to you right now dressed like this you'd probably be fighting her for elbow room. But because it's Nicole it so very different. She's may be family but with the time you've spent together, just the two of you, she's way more than just some relative now. And you'd really like to make this less awkward for that very reason.