The Blood Lake

The Outburst

It is pretty early on in our relationship to be living together but my parents seem to be on board so I try not to worry, I conclude the tour in my room being careful to leave the door open to avoid trouble with my parental unit.
"So that's it. Did I show you where we keep the extra towels and toilet paper?"
"Yes, only three times." He responds.
"Sorry I'm a little nervous, this is all so sudden.." I start to ramble but catch him smirking at me
"What?" I ask
"You are so cute when you're flustered." He sits on the bed
"I am about sick of your charm Mr. Hart." I blush
"I like your room, it's sweet and cozy." He avoids my remark. I look around my room through his eyes, it's simple with a few touches of color, a white bed but with a sage green quilt and a pillow shaped like a daisy, in the corner is a floor lamp but the shades on the multiple bulbs are yellow lanterns, my dresser is white with gold handles and above it hangs a pink framed round mirror. On top of the dresser is a pink heart tray made of ceramic and it holds two gold rings and a tube of mascara gifted to me by Mel. The wall where my reading nook is located is covered in mirror butterflies that I got for Christmas three years ago. I see what he means, simple but sweet.
"Ok we better get out of here before my parents kick you out, then you're screwed." I joke
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to sleep in my Jeep." He laughs, and shifts closer to me still seated at the end of the bed, "Thank you again Delly, you need to stop saving my ass though, that's supposed to be my job." He pulls me in and kisses me before jumping up and lifting me onto his shoulder.
"Let me down!" I scream. He laughs, I'm glad he thinks this is funny
"Nope." He starts to walk down the stairs. When he reaches the bottom my Mom sees what is going on and starts to laugh at me. "What's going on there Dellah?" Mom taunts
"He won't put me down!" I say kicking and screaming
"Hey, Elenor...can I take Dellah to the lake?" He asks, and everything goes silent. He puts me down when he realizes his choice of words. "I am so sorry, I didn't think about the...umm...I was just trying to see if we could go...swimming.." Suddenly he's rambling and trying so hard to explain himself. I feel terrible.
"Hey..." I say trying to grasp his attention, " You are ok, the only difference in trauma we are experiencing is I witnessed it." "You are facing the shame backlash, it's fine I'll grab my suit and we can go to the lake." he smiles and mouths the word sorry. I turn to my Mom
"Can we go?"
"I don't know how I feel about that Dellah.." I frown and go to walk away. "You know what..just be safe." I smile and run upstairs to get changed. I put on my swimsuit. It's a yellow, faded one-piece with a low back and a tie that goes behind my neck to keep the front up. I throw my hair in a claw clip and put my jean shorts back on over my swimsuit so I am slightly more PG as if wearing a one-piece swimsuit isn't enough. I grab two towels and run downstairs, Mom has given Miles a pair of Dad's swim trunks. They fit perfectly to my surprise, he looks at me up and down and smiles "What?" I ask
"Nothing, that color just suits you." I shoot him a glance. "And your hair is up, it brings out your eyes." I blush, my Mom Is trying to make herself scarce but I see her spying from behind her book.
"Let's go, you big cheese ball," I say trying to end the awkwardness.
"You kids don't forget the lunch and sunscreen I packed" Mom interjects.
"Ok," I say grabbing it off the counter on the way out. We hop in the Jeep and then we are off, I find it weird that I have zero trouble getting in but getting out is impossible. I catch Miles looking at me again.
"Keep your eyes on the road." I snip
"But you're just so beautiful." He smirks "I've never seen that much of your skin before...you wear sweaters in July." He laughs. I start to pout then catch myself,
"I don't get hot easily and I hate being exposed, ok?" I quip.
"It's ok I think it's sweet you're so modest." Modest?
"I am not!" I yell.
"You are too.' He responds
"Just wait till you see the back of this swimsuit, your mind will blow," I say
"Looking forward to it." He says with a smile. I turned red. We reach the lake and I almost let my hair down to cover my back since it's about twenty inches long and will do the job but I don't, for some reason, I am feeling defiant. Maybe it's the rush from this morning. He comes over to my side to come to get me like always but this time he turns around so I jump on his back.
"A piggyback ride?" I protest
"It's either this or jump down, my hands are full." He says "I'm sorry."
"Fine," I say. I jump on his back and wait till we reach the dock and I jump down.
"Was that so bad?" He says
"No, I guess not." He smiles and lays out the blanket and sets down our lunch.
"Swim first or eat first?" He asks
"Swim." He nods and slips off his shirt "You first."
"Not happening."
"Please." He begs
"Fine." Why can't I say no to this man? I walk to the edge of the dock and slip off my shorts. Then I let my hair down so I don't lose my clip. I hear Miles whistle.
"Shut up you perv." I throw the clip and my shorts at him. I look down at the water and take a deep breath, I don't want to hear the splash, I swallow hard.
"Dellah...are you ok?" Miles notices my hesitation "Here" he puts his hand on my lower back to console me. "I'll go first." I plug my ears and he jumps in. When he comes back up he smiles
"Are you ready?"
"I don't know..."
"Swim to me, I'm right here you will be fine."
"Ok, are you ready?" I ask and he nods, I jump in. As I come back up I'm gasping for air. I feel panicked but I don't tell him that, he scoops me up and pushes a strand of wet hair out of my face. "See that wasn't that bad." He says I stare at him. It was that bad but I can't say it. "Hey..." he says calmly "you're ok, It's you here with me, you're not at the cabin." I take a deep breath, he pulls me closer and we just float there for a moment while I calm down. "Do you want to get out?" He says. I nod and he moves us to the ladder on the side of the dock. He lets me climb up first and he follows, he grabs a towel and wraps it around me. After he dries off he uses the second one to cover my legs and then gives me a ham and cheese sandwich.
"You good?" He asks
"I feel better now, thank you."
"I get it." He says
"Get what?" I responded.
"What it's like to feel like you are in danger when you aren't."
"How so?"
"When Mel and I were little she was obsessed with magic tricks.."
"Magic?" I laugh
"Yes..." he smirks. "and it gets better."
"Oh boy.."
"Could you not taunt me? I'm sharing my trauma." I nod trying to hide my smile
"...Anyway, Mom would force me to be her assistant..." I held back another laugh but it's too hard when I'm imagining a sparkly one-piece and I let it out. "Stop.." he snips
"Okay, okay, I'm ready," I say trying to be serious
"...So one day we did the locked box trick and let's just say I wasn't paying attention when she taught me how to pick the locks...and she lost the key." He doesn't meet my gaze "I was stuck for six hours, they looked for the key for two and then tried to coach me into picking the locks for one, then tried breaking the box for one more, then they called the authorities who took a half hour to show up and another thirty minutes to get out the equipment and the final hour was spent getting sawed out of the thing." He looked at me.
"So now you are..claustrophobic?" I ask
"Yep, anytime I'm in a tight spot, my hands sweat, and I hyperventilate." I feel closer to him, like now somebody finally knows what I'm going through.
"Thanks for telling me that..." I say
"That's what I'm here for...so you're not alone." He puts his arm around me and pulls me in. I can't help but wonder what else I don't know about Miles Hart.