Imperfect

Twenty - Callan:

"Hey!"

I turned to see Elliot glaring at me. "Stop being a lazy little bitch and start paddling."

Beside me, Ben started to cackle while I rolled my eyes and swung the oar in my hand around so it hit Elliot on the back of the head. "Fuck!" he muttered as I knocked him from the little wooden bench. Ben's laughter only intensified, the bellowing sound echoing off the mountains around us as Elliot spluttered from the floor and rose to reveal his clothes damp from the puddle of water at our feet. "Prick," he hissed before sitting back down.

The kayak rocked with every movement and I was surprised we hadn't tipped upside down yet and drowned ourselves. It was early afternoon and the sun was high in the sky, creating a blistering kind of heat that could only be relieved by the cool water of the lake. When we reached the centre, where the water was deepest, we chucked the oars onto the floor.

We'd left our shirts on the shore and only wore swimming shorts so we wouldn't have to waste any time before diving in. I went first, cannonballing off the side of the rotting old boat and causing a tidal wave across the surface. The cold water was like a shock to my system but I revelled in it, diving as low as possible to escape the heat rippling on the surface.

When I finally burst back up, needing to release the breath I was holding, I saw Ben standing in the boat. He steadied himself by holding his arms out on either side and stepped up onto the bench at the very back. Noah and Elliot sat on either side of the boat to keep it balanced. "Ready?" he called with a grin.

I rolled my eyes but nodded and he leapt from the bench at the back to the one in the middle before again launching forwards to the next. At the bench at the front of the kayak, he wobbled and slipped to the left, forcing all of his weight onto the one side before toppling in. "Shit!" Noah grumbled as he fought to right the boat but I howled with laughter as the realisation crossed his face that he was much closer to the surface than he realised. His head dipped under and he flipped upside down with his legs waggling in the air before following the rest of him beneath the water. The boat was next to follow, with it completely vertical now and Elliot nosediving towards where Noah had just vanished.

I laughed as he plunged under the surface and the kayak rocked for another moment before settling upside down, the oars now sinking in the lake. I dove down to grab one and saw Ben swimming back up to the surface with the other.

"Nice going, dickhead," Elliot grumbled as he broke through the surface of the water and glared at Ben.

I laughed louder and the sheepish look on the boxer's face. "Sorry."

"Come on," Noah called, "we may as well push this thing back to the shore." He positioned himself behind the boat and placed his hands on one side before starting to swim. I swam over to join him until my knees brushed the sandy shore.

Alyssa sat on a rock not far from the shore, her hoodie lay out beneath her so she was only in her leggings and a strappy top. She just sat there, staring off into the distance and didn't seem to notice as we approached. "Fancy joining us?" I asked her as I crossed the small, sandy embankment to where she sat. "The water is nice and cool."

She only shook her head and I sighed. "I thought we had a deal?" I said, referring to the conversation we'd had only this morning before she'd stormed off. It seemed no matter what I said or did, I managed to upset her and a part of me wanted to give up and stop trying. But another part of me was stubborn and didn't want to give her the satisfaction. And an even bigger part of me knew she needed someone to try and help her since she clearly wasn't going to help herself.

She glared at me. "Next time."

I turned to see the guys climbing back into the boat. "Coming?" Ben yelled in my direction.

I glanced back at Lys and rose an eyebrow. She only shook her head. I felt my shoulders sink a little but nodded. "Not right now," I yelled back and with that, they paddled away. I waited for them to get far enough away that they couldn't hear us and sighed. "Why can't you just try and enjoy yourself Lys? You might find you actually start having fun."

Her glare intensified. "I don't want to be here," she snapped. "This is your vacation with your friends. Not mine."

I watched the guys pissing about on the water and rubbed a thumb across my lower lip. "This isn't punishment you know. I genuinely thought you might be happy out here, away from everyone, having some fun rather than being couped up in the house, worrying about Ryan and the press and everyone else."

I saw her roll her eyes and release a small breath of amusement. "And you thought I'd be better off here, surrounded by a bunch of guys that don't like me?"

I stared at her. Her widened eyes that looked a little glossy. And then followed her gaze to where the guys started to launch themselves off the side of the kayak again. "You're safe with us, Lys. None of us would hurt you."

"That's not the point," she mumbled, so quiet I almost didn't hear it. "You could if you wanted to. Any of you could and there is nothing I could do about it, nowhere I could go, nobody I can ask for help."

I felt my stomach sink at her words. I hadn't even considered that being surrounded by a bunch of guys might make her even more nervous than she was at home, fearing just one guy. And the worst part was she was right, she was trapped with us and all it would take was one of us to decide we wanted her and there would be nothing she could do. Of course, that wasn't going to happen, but I couldn't reassure her of that, especially not after what she'd been through.

My silence must've told her everything because she lifted a had to her face and I could only assume it was to wipe a tear. I couldn't know for sure because I couldn't look at her. I thought my heart might actually break if I did. I couldn't imagine what it felt like, to feel so incredibly helpless and defenceless.

"What if I taught you?" I suddenly suggested, finally twisting to look at her. She looked back at me, completely confused, and I continued. "I could teach you how to defend yourself, how to stop anyone from hurting you."

She looked taken aback as she stared at me and then blinked and shook her head. "I still wouldn't be strong enough to stop someone from hurting me, I'm not big enough to fight against someone like you."

I shook my head and resisted the urge to reach out and touch her. "I promise you, I can help you. You don't need to be big to be able to defend yourself, you just need to know where to hit to cause the most pain and then you need to be able to run."

Her gaze was fixed on the sand around her feet as she thought over what I said and I waited as patiently as I could, despite the hope sparking in my chest at the idea. "You really think it would help."

I nodded. "I promise."

She didn't say anything but slowly nodded her head and I smiled. "You need to start building up your strength," I explained, "that starts with eating properly. We need to drive into town and go to the store later this afternoon to get food for tonight so you can grab some stuff that you like to eat while we're there."

AN:

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