Chris watched her as she picked the berries with her mom,he wanted to go for a walk by the lake and he wanted her to accompany him so he walked over to the garden.
Her mom left her standing by the garden all by herself when she spotted him coming their way. He stared at her back as she received a call. He couldn't hear much but he definitely heard her say miss you too.
His chest hurt with jealousy,whoever that was,she missed him or she ,did she not want to be here? That person might have been the one keeping her company all these years. He thought.
He had no right to be jealous,or did he?. Mia turned to him. It looked almost as if she was shocked or hiding something.
" hey,didn't see you there" she said rubbing her palms frantically on her jeans. She was trying to stop her hands from twitching. He noticed. She couldn't fool him,he knew her more than she knew herself. He chuckled.
" everything alright? Cause you looked kinda ...."
" yea,I'm fine,why wouldn't I be?" She pretended to pick more berries.
" so I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk down by the lake" he placed his hands in his pocket. She hoped he hadn't heard anything from the call. She pondered on her thoughts not listening to him.
" sorry ,what?, I didn't hear you"
" a walk,I wanted us to go for a walk down by the lake...so..."
"Sure,I don't see why not" she had totally forgotten about the lake,her most favourite spot in fox hood creak. She hadn't been down there in years.
"Let me just drop these by the kitchen" she bolted to the house with the basket of berries.
****
Mia and Chris raced to the lake but as always Chris won. She giggled so heartily, she hadn't laughed like this in a long time. She remembered the last time they came to the lake.
As usual Chris beat her to the lake and he laughed at her. She always hated it when he beats her at sports but one thing she always won at was a Cook off . He could never outrun her skills in the kitchen and she was glad.
" not fair,you totally cheated"
",its not my fault you have short legs, maybe one day when you get taller you'll actually....who am I kidding you can never beat this" he turned around as they both laughed.
"Not fair ,you cheated..you always do"she pouted like a child.
" I didn't cheat,its not my fault you have short legs" they both laughed. The lake still looked exactly the same,
She closed her eyes as she breathed in the cold air. He watched her amazed at how much she loved coming here.
" time to go for a swim" Chris pulled his black T-shirt over his head in a flash. He moved to remove his pants when his eyes flicked to hers, she turned away like it was nothing.
Without hesitation,he pulled them off leaving his briefs on. Jumped into the lake before she could blink. Her entire body shook as she looked down on his clothes. It wasn't like it was a foreign act.
He always did this whenever they went for a swim. But somehow,everything seemed different. At least she was different. She was always shy in front of him back then but no more.
She tried to convince herself that there was nothing to be ashamed of. After all,he'd seen her all. She didn't want to act like the naive 17 year old anymore. They were adults now.
"Aren't you coming in" he asked watching her. Yes she wanted to just take her her shirt off and jump in the lake like him but she couldn't.
The last time she was that exposed to him ,something happened and he thought of it as a mistake. She couldn't let it happen again.
But still she must prove to him that she didn't care anymore that she'd moved on. " just a sec" she turned around as she gathered her courage. " you've got this mia,no shame,courage"
Who was she kidding,she couldn't do it, she wasn't sure she could be that courageous just yet. She removed her hands from her buttons as she turned to face him again.
"Um I don't think I can, the water looks cold" she mentally slapped herself. Just great mia,you still act shy in front of him,seriously?
She hated herself now,she still hadn't changed,how was she ever going to prove to him that she'd moved on if she couldn't take her clothes off in front of him.
"Come on ,its not so cold,its relaxing" Chris tried persuading her once more.
"I'll be fine,I'll just sit by the rocks over there,maybe next time" she hurried towards the rocks a little bit off shore but not too deep into the lake.
Chris sighed as he swam backwards enjoying the water. Mia sat silently raking her brain for a topic to discuss when she mistakenly voiced her thoughts.
"God,why am i so nervous,its not like he's naked......" She said absent mindedly as she pushed her legs back and forth in the water.
"What..?" He asked not quite sure of what she said.
"What?!" She replied as she realised what she'd said. oh my God mia ,why are you so stupid,did I just say that aloud?
"I heard you saying something,."
"It was nothing,I was just saying ..um ..the water felt cold" she lied. He grinned seeming to know when she lies.
"Okay, what's that behind you?" Chris pointed towards the woods as he drew closer. Mia turned around trying to see what it was,then he pulled her into the lake.
She was immediately soaking wet as she tried maintaining her balance in the lake. Chris was immediately by her side trying to steady her. She splashed the water in annoyance as she glared at him.
"What did you do that for?... My clothes are all wet," she whined.
"Doesn't the water feel relaxing,you need to relax,you've been so stuck up and it isn't that cold either" he said
"No I've not,...uh you just ruined my clothes....I'll get you back" she announced like a child.
Chris swam further into the lake in a bid to escape her but she swam after him. "You can't catch me if you can't beat me at swimming" he said playfully. He continued to swim forward until he could no longer hear her swimming behind him.
He swam backwards as fear gripped his heart,did she drown,oh no mia but she can swim ,at least a little bit,its all my fault ,he panted as he looked around the lake but nothing.
"Mia!...... Mia!" He called out but no answer. He panicked as his heart went frantic. Where is she,please don't die on me mia..he thought.
Mia suddenly grabbed him from behind as she yelled in his ear" got cha"
She laughed ever so loudly,as she saw his face. " I got you,..." She continued to laugh. Chris just stared at her as she laughed wholeheartedly.
He realised just how Much he still cared for her, and that if anything were to happen to her he'd die for sure.
" you scared me mia,I thought you drowned " he said swimming closer to her as he pulled her in for a hug.
Mia froze as he flung his naked arms around her. The hug was so tight that she could feel his heartbeat. It was so loud mixing with hers. She could feel his toned abs pressing into her and his strong arms keeping her in place.
Her senses went haywire as they remained still in the middle of the lake. The whole world seemed to stop in front of their eyes. Chris couldn't understand the waves of emotions that flowed through him as he held her.
It was nothing like he'd felt before,and it got him confused,she wasn't someone to feel such things for or at least he thought so.
***
Mia noticed they'd been walking for a while now. Her feet hurt and she was freezing. She rubbed her palms together as she tried getting warm. They'd been walking in silence.
Her clothes were still dripping wet even after she had squeezed the water out after leaving the lake. Chris noticed she was cold so he decided it was time to head back to the farm house.
"I'm sorry for getting your clothes all wet,are you cold?"
"A little bit" she shivered. The sky roared with a heavy thunder followed shortly by lightning ,it was going to rain. It would also be dark soon.
"Um ,I'm not cold so you can wear my shirt before we get back to the house,"
"What ,I'm...not that cold,I can manage" she gnashed her teeth.
"you can change behind that tree,here" Chris replied ignoring her. He handed her his shirt. Mia stared at his hand,as he extended the shirt to her.
"Really,I'm fine..not...co..." She sneezed. Chris grabbed her,his hand touching her forehead ,she had caught a cold.
" you're burning up mia,go and change now" he handed her his shirt as he pushed her towards the big oak tree. Mia took the shirt and hesitantly turned towards the tree.
" now!" Chris gestured towards the tree. "Okay okay,I'm going " she walked towards the tree.
Mia peeled her shirt off staring at his shirt. She smiled, "he cared at least".
She came out from behind the tree still shivering. Chris turned and his eyes widened,the shirt looked so big on her,he loved the way she looked in it. Her fair legs on display for his scrutinizing gaze.
But then he noticed how pale she looked and she was still shivering hard.
He rushed to her," are you okay,?" He grabbed her shirt from her hand. "I..I'm fine," mia muttered. She was so cold.
Chris spotted an old abandoned cottage ahead of them,so he picked mia up bridal style as he raced towards it to seek shelter from the rain. Mia had drifted off as he carried her towards it.
He placed mia by the window as he looked around for pieces of wood to start a fire. He gathered the twigs and grabbed two rocks as he lit the fire. It was hard but he did it. He learned this from camping.
As soon as the fire was lit,the rain started pouring hard. The small cottage had holes all around the roof so the rain was hard to avoid. Mia had grown weaker. Chris sat beside her,arm around her shoulder as he tried keeping her warm.
The fire was luckily away from raindrops so it didn't Putoff. Chris could feel her fragile body shaking beside his. He felt guilty, it was all his fault, if only he hadn't pushed her in the lake.
Minutes later,the rain still hadn't stopped. But mia wasn't shivering so much anymore,it seemed she was warmer. He circled his arms around her completely as he drew her closer to his body. Mia opened her eyes as she realised their position.
Chris had fallen asleep and she was engulfed in his embrace. She looked at his face as he slept, he looked so handsome but uncomfortably close to hers.
She stared at his face,his eyes,his lips,his nose ,she smiled but then, her eyes noticed something attached to his neck. She gasped ,it was the his part of the puzzle piece they shared.
Her hand reached for it as she traced the corners of it. "He still kept it,I thought he....." She raised her eyes to his face only to see he was fully awake. She gasped.
One of his hands reached towards hers ,still holding the puzzle piece pendant. She hadn't noticed it at the lake so where did it come from.
"Of course I kept it,I would never loose it " he said sounding husky because of their closeness.
Her eyes drifted down to their hands still holding the pendant and she noticed how close they were. She could feel his chest beneath her trembling hand. She had to break this contact now so she tried removing her hand from his only to be shocked when he removed his hand first.
He reached his hand to her face ,pushing loose hair strands from her face. Her heart went restless, thumping away in nervousness. Chris on the other had no idea what he was feeling being close to her,someone meant to be His best friend.
He felt a million sparks as he held her face and stared into her blue eyes,his eyes drifted to her pale lips. " I would never dream of loosing you,.... "He trailed off as he leaned in involuntarily.
Mia stared in awe as he leaned in. Her heart waiting for his kiss but her mind telling her to pull away. She didn't want history to repeat itself. She knew this was her weakness,she wouldn't be able to control her emotions if she got this close to him again.
Involuntarily, she raised her chin to his face ,getting closer and closer to his lips, she felt his breath on her face now and lips hovering above hers less than an inch away.
Chris had no idea what he was about to do but it felt so right in the moment, it was like his lips had a mind of their own as they drew closer to hers.
Just as they were about to connect,an heavy thunder blasted through their ears and the moment was broken. Mia leaned away instantly leaving Chris in a confused daze.
" oh my God mia,what's wrong with you " mia flushed in embarrassment.
Chris got ahold of himself as he realised what was about to happen. " um it seems the rain has stopped,we should get back now" he stood up abruptly as he reached for her hand.
Mia hesitantly placed her hand in his as he pulled her up. "You should have your shirt back,its gonna be cold outside" mia suggested.
" no don't worry,I'm fine,you need it more than I do anyway" he went to put off the fire.
Mia hugged herself as the room got cooler with the absence of the fire. " get on" Chris motioned to His back as he bent down to reduce his height.
"Don't protest and get on ,I'll carry you to the farm house" he stated.
****
Mia held on tight to his shoulders as he hurried through the forest. She felt safe on his broad back ,but a little nervous considering he almost kissed her earlier.
He approached the farm house ever so casually ,as if he wasn't carrying anything on his back. His thoughts remaining on the 'supposed to be kiss' earlier. The only thing he could feel was her tight arms on his shoulders and the wet bushes touching his pants.
It was already dark by the time they made it to the front door. Mia insisted he dropped her now but Chris bluntly refused.
He swung open the front Door which was surprising unlocked making his way to the couch to lay mia down when his eyes caught an unknown figure by the piano seat.
The figure suddenly turned as the front door was closed shut,seeming surprised at the view in front of him.
Chris' expression changed from warm to a questioning glare. Mia noticing Chris' halted movements raised her head which was laying on his back to see the reason why he stopped.
Her eyes widened as she recognized the figure, which was glaring daggers at Chris realising mia was on His back.
"Oh my God ..Nate....How did he....,what's he doing here,?" still shivering she jumped down from Chris' back landing on shaky legs.
Love
Kira.