Only you can save me (A Paul Walker fanfiction)

Chapter Five: Lunch with a beetle

I was in luck, it seemed. The director had enjoyed our chemistry and decided to *not* jump down our throats when we got out of the car. I sheepishly grinned at Paul who smiled back and made a small "we are so lucky" noise.  The crew started unscrewing some camera equipment and it was decided to let them work in peace and have our lunch first before moving on to the next scene. I was extremely unsure about how to proceed though. In the car we had been in a little bubble and now, back in the outside world if you like, I didn't know how to act. I felt awkward as I joined the rest on the short trip to the catering area which was located on a nearby beach. Paul fell back from the head of the group and, without talking, took my hand in his for the short walk. He almost had himself a balloon to hold on to as I felt as if I was levitating several inches off the ground. 

Once we arrived I made my pick of sandwiches, making sure I had one from the upper rows this time. I love a good sandwich, but I prefer one without actual sand in it. Everyone scattered around to get a seat on the beach chairs or benches that were strewn about, and chatter erupted immediately. I don't remember what it was all about. I found myself a spot in the sand and let my thoughts run free. What had just happened back there? I knew that on a set, tongues were a big no no, yet we had just kissed. Was it the heat of the moment, was he teasing me back. Or ... but I wouldn't let myself think about that one for too long. In a way the "or" didn't matter even if he did mean it, because I was Jessica and she was happily entangled with Cash Warren leaving me no wriggle room to start something with Paul. We had, at best, that grey area in which we had been playing a few weeks now. Only, the boundaries of the grey area had been shifted that morning till they almost no longer seemed to exist.

A soft tickle on my leg woke me up from my thoughts and I turned my head to find a tiny beetle crawling over my left calf. It was absolutely beautiful, the shields over its wings an iridescent green turning to blue and yellow as the sun hit it. I put my hand in its path to see if it would be so kind as to get into my palm and sure enough a moment later it was walking over my left hand snug as ... well as a bug I suppose. I turned my hand this way and that, admiring the different colours brought out as if by magic. 

"Those are poisonous you know"

His voice startled me, the words even more so and I abruptly dropped my newfound friend in the sand, a safe distance away from me. The beetle took off at high speed for what seemed a highly offended stalk across the warm sand. I tried to examine my hand to see if anything had stung, or bitten me, when a low laugh behind me made me suspicious. I turned to face him and saw he was shaking with almost silent laughter. I could think of only one thing that was so funny ...

"It's not poisonous, is it?"

His eyes were almost lit up, the colour of a beautiful sunny sky or the azure water behind me. It was clear I was the butt of his joke, but his joy was so contagious I just laughed along with him. I shook my head, half annoyed that I had been fooled so easily. People started to pack up to go back to work, and he pulled me out of the sand with one arm, then kissed the top of my head.

"Do you always believe everything they tell you?"