Rachel's POV
I opened my eyes and saw Flynn holding me by my hair. I reached my hand up and he grabbed my arm, then pulled me up. I flopped down next to him and breathed heavily. He dragged me into my feet.
"Now is not the time to rest." We bolted across the narrow cliff. I heard barking behind us and saw the dog standing on the ledge with four police officers.
I heard Flynn swear and I looked ahead of us. Two burly men with orange sideburns stood in our way.
"Nice to see you again." Flynn said to the men. He sounded annoyed.
"I could say the same to you, but it would be a lie." The one on the right said.
All of a sudden, the boy lunged at Flynn and, quick as lightning, Flynn pulled me over the edge of the cliff. I heard the water churning below me. I didn't know how to swim. I was going to die. I squeezed Flynn's hand as hard as I could as the icy water consumed me. Our grasp on each other loosened as the current ripped us apart. It whipped me around violently. My back hit rocks a few times and my lungs started to ache from lack of oxygen.
I never thought about death too much. Mother had never taught me how to die. Mother. I should've stayed home. I was safe there. But instead I had to be a brat and run off with some vigilant stranger. I just wanted the safety and comfort of her small arms. I wanted to go home and eat her wonderful soup. I wanted to celebrate my eighteenth birthday. My birthday. The fireworks. This adventure has taught me so many things I would've never known if I stayed in the house. It showed me different people. Good and bad. It showed me Flynn. Teaching me that even criminals can be good. I was going to die happy and proud. I wasn't going to die a hermit.
All of a sudden, I felt someone grab my hand and I was dragged out of the water. I gasped for breath as my face broke the surface. Flynn helped me to shore and we flopped onto the damp grass together, panting and coughing up water. I survived.
When I could finally breathe again, I said "Let's do that again."
***
"Hold still." I said gently as I wrapped a scrap of my shirt around Flynn's hand which had been slit by a rock on the way down.
"Thanks." He said as he flexed his hand and flinched.
I warmed my hands by the crackling hearth.
"Did you think you were going to die? In that current?"
He shrugged. "Every moment I think I'm going to die. I'm a walking risk. My only thought in that current was you. I couldn't let you down."
I smiled. "I thought I was going to die. I thought that if I just stayed in the house I wouldn't be in this situation. Mother always told me to just stay in the house and I would be safe, and that's true. But I would've never seen so many beautiful things if I just stayed in the house."
"You know what that story reminds me of?"
"What?"
"Carl Grimes."
"Excuse me?"
"You see, Carl was always told to stay in the house, and he never did. But if he never left the house one day, his father would be dead." He shrugged. "Fate happens. There is no going back now."
I pulled my hands away from the fire and folded them in my lap. I looked up into Flynn's hazel eyes. They were full of mystery and wonder. Like looking into the eyes of a fallen angel. So beautiful, yet, you don't know why the angel has fallen. They seemed to have a dark side to them.
I scooted a bit closer to him. He didn't move away, he just kept staring into my eyes. I leaned towards his face. I don't even know what I was doing. My body seemed to have a mind of its own. Did I want to kiss him? He was like twenty and I was seventeen. I tried to pull myself away but I couldn't seem to do it. I didn't even know how to kiss. All I ever knew was mother's pecks on the cheek and a picture I found in mother's yearbook of a happy brunette couple kissing.
"I'm going to go grab some more firewood." He stood up hastily and I pulled myself back.
"Yeah. I'll watch our stuff." I immediately knew I said the wrong thing when I realized our "stuff" was a small satchel of Flynn's.
"You do that." He chuckled as I watched him walk into the forest.
I smiled to myself and watched the fire crackle before me.
"Comfy out here?"
I turned my head and saw her.
Mother.