From Me to You [Complete]

62

For some reason, after three days of not swimming and not really thinking about the idea of swimming, I somehow forgot about fainting in Lake Huron, and almost drowning in the process. It all comes rushing back as my feet splash into the cold water at its edge. I dance back out of the water, feeling a little dizzy at the memory of cold water pressing around me on all sides. It also doesn't help that my breath is still heavy from the run and the intimacy of the night.

"Are you okay?" Michael stops softly beside me, maintaining a slight distance, but I can still feel the heat of his body. He hesitates, about to reach for my hand, but then runs his hand through his curls.

"I'm not sure," I say slowly, trying to think straight, which I'm finding difficult now that we are standing naked next to each other. I tear my eyes off of his body and dip one foot in the water, shivering as the arctic bonds with my toe.

"It's kind of freezing, anyway," Michael says, sounding the teensiest bit disappointed. I see him dip a foot in the water and shiver.

"I'm sorry," I say sincerely, looking at him. "I just...forgot. If you can believe it." He looks warily at me, and I try to organize my thoughts a bit better. "Like, we've avoided the water ever since Tuesday's...incident. And I guess I just didn't think this through with that in mind. I was... Honestly," I pause, finding his eyes in the darkness. "I just wanted to swim while I'm on a beach. On our last night together..." I trail off, feeling a little bit sad about the reality of what I'm saying.

I see him watching me in the dark, considering. "Why don't we just take it slow?" he suggests. "And...you don't go off by yourself at all," he says pointedly.

"Yea, okay," I say, knowing how right he is.

This time he doesn't hesitate before he grabs my hand to squeeze it. Our hands brush his upper thigh and we both tense for a second. He laughs, and takes a deep breath. "Ready?"

I nod and swallow, amazed that I am standing here completely naked next to a guy in the middle of a beach. Michael slowly steps into the water, and I follow him, both of us shivering a bit at the coldness of it. Michael's hand is firm in mine, but he looks back every so often to make sure I'm still okay. The first sandbar is only a few metres in, so we are able to reach it before the water even reaches as high as Michael's thighs –up to my thighs though. When we stop, Michael doesn't let go of my hand, and if I wasn't freezing cold and nervous about being in this water, then I would probably enjoy it a little more.

"Well, I'm glad you aren't in here by yourself," Michael says, clearly seeing something cross my face. "Not only do you badly need some swimming lessons," he teases, although truthfully, "but it's the dead of night, and I have a feeling you are a little distracted from what we've been up to."

I flush, wishing I could see how he feels about that same activity. But at least in the dark he hopefully can't see my cheeks burning. His gaze is still on me, so I nod quickly and look around, trying to forget about the very naked man standing next to me.

"Hey." Michael's voice is soft, not teasing anymore. I look back at him, feeling his eyes on me again. "I'm glad we got together this week, Amanda."

I breathe, feeling a little lightheaded again. "Me too," I say, a little more breathlessly than I intended to.

"I've been waiting...for this." Michael says. His thumb rubs my hand, as he tilts his head to one side to watch me.

"Yea?" I say shakily, trying to cover it up a bit with a laugh.

"Yea," he agrees. "And you?"