Trigger - Part 1

CHAPTER 15 - How Beautiful You Are

...Three!

Feeling like Earth's gravity reached her hand out and firmly wrapped it around me, I hit the water feet first, knocking the breath from my lungs. A sudden wave of peace comes over me seeing thousands of little bubbles swimming up around and against me. My instincts take over and I drift up erupting through the surface, taking a breath.

"F! But A for effort."
I look towards Shane swimming towards me.
"Are you serious!?" I splash water towards him and see his grin growing wider.
I feel his hand wrap around my waist pulling me closer. The grin fades and I feel like I am not just swimming in water.

"I used to stop here every time I had to go to HQ..."

Threading the water I look around and see a couple of fish swimming around us.
"That's a far way to just take a swim..." I say looking at the rocks below us.

"Not just for the swim, you'll see why later... Are you coming?"

Confused, I look at Shane.
"What? I just got in... Where do you possibly want to go now?"

"To the top..." I feel his grip subsides and watch him swim towards the edge and climb out.

Left with no choice I follow. My heart starts beating faster and I feel a tingling sensation build as I watch him rub his hand over his hair.

Damn you're perfect...

"Sage?"

I look at Shane realizing I was drifting in thought.

"Lets go..." He stretches out his hand and I place mine in his and walk behind him.
Not long, we reach the top of the waterfall and my eyes can hardly filter the beauty around me.

"Shane, as amazing as this is, the sun is gone... Shouldn't we start heading back?" I take the towel from his stretched out hand.
"Welcome to your bed for tonight, Ma'am." Shane says as he takes out a blanket and starts opening it on the ground.

"What? Are you crazy? Why are we going to sleep here?"

"Because I want to show you the reason why I come here."
He places his towel on a large stump next to the blanket and walks towards a few branches, picking them up and placing them in a neat pile in front of us.
I take a seat, wrapping the towel around my body and watch him as he lights a fire and fiddles with it until the flames were higher than the sticks.

"Aren't we like going to get eaten by things out here?"

I ask taking the water bottle from the bag.
"Things?"

"Yeah you know, like wild creatures or something."

A low chuckle fills the air as Shane moves closer to me.

"We'll be okay... I've done this many times."

I smile and take a sip. Shane starts unpacking the bag and hands me a sandwich he packed earlier. I take it from him and immediately take a bite feeling my stomach rumble.

"So... This is nice..." I say feeling uncomfortable with the silence.

"Uh-mm." Shane mumples as he chews on the last piece of his sandwich.
He straightens himself and falls back stretching his arm up resting his head on it. His eyes fall on me causing a feeling of butterflies to form. Stretching out his other arm, I quickly finish my sandwich and lie next to him with my head on his chest. His heart beat amplifies every feeling I have.

"Shane I-"
"-Shh, look up."

I look up and instantly feel the wind being knocked out of me.

Looking like something that should only be in movies I gasp at the sight of millions of stars as far as the eye can see, lighting up the sky.

"Wow..." I take a deep breath, unable to look away...
"It's beautiful..." I say feeling like I am floating in a sea of stars.
"Not as beautiful as you..."

I move up a bit looking at Shane...
"Agh come-on... don't ruin it now..."
"I'm not... You are beautiful Sage..."
Feeling my cheeks burn I sit up but fall back against Shane's chest.

I move towards his lips slowly feeling like I'm being sucked by a magnet.
His hand moves from under his head and I feel his warm touch against my face... The flames dancing in his eyes leaves me hypnotized. Feeling guilt show up like an uninvited guest I place my hand over his.

"Shane... I don't want to ruin anything but we haven't really spoken about the other night... and now the whole Aiden-Devan thing."

"The other night?" A confused look washes over him.

"When we kind of did it and I freaked out because I thought... You know..."

Smiling, he places his hand on his chest.
"There's nothing to talk about... You have been through a lot... I told you it's okay... and as for Devan and Aiden, that's your past."

I lean in resuming what I interrupted but stop as I feel Shane lightly pull away.
"Sage... Let's not rush things okay..."
I pull away feeling embarrassed knowing he is right.

"Of course... I agree."

I say quickly and lay back down resting my head on his chest. His arms wrap around my body like a blanket, I bask in his warmth.

I feel like I can lie here forever, he makes me feel safe. He makes me feel alive.

I look back at the stars feeling content.
"Shane..."
"Yeah?" he whispers, tightening his hold around me.

"Thank you for showing me this..."
"Of course..."
I run my fingers against his chest.

"Shane..."
"Yeah?"

"Just for interest sake, why?"
I feel his chest rise as he takes a deep breath and slowly exhales.

"Because I wanted the stars to see how beautiful you are."