Ella watched David's approach, and she kept her question silent until he was nearer. Then she asked softly, "When were you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?" He came closer, somewhat concerned about her tone.
"The surf club." She quirked her eyebrow and her voice got more strident and she advanced, saying, "The fire."
He rubbed his ear lobe. "Oh." This was not expected at this moment. He knew he would have to tell her, but not before she tells him that she loves him.
She glared, quirked her other eyebrow. "That's all you have to say. Oh?" She marched forward. He backed up, until the backs of his legs and his back made contact with his car door and she jabbed a finger on his shoulder. "You could have died, and all you say is, Oh?" Jabbed again. "Honestly? That is all you have to say?"
"You're being a tad melodramatic." He placed a hand on her fingers on his shoulder and smiled gently, "It is ancient history! Why bring it up, now? Does it matter?" He squeezed her palm and his thumb caressed the skin on her hand. "In any case, the fire brigade and..."
"They didn't stay with me." She extracted her fingers from his grasp and slapped his palm away and jabbed again. "You." Jab. "Stayed." Jab. "You!" Jab. " Idiot!" Jab. "The place was exploding." She slapped his palm away as he tried to subdue her. "Are you mad?" She braced both arms on her hips.
David reached forward and took her by the shoulders and forced her to take up the space between his legs as she attempted to shuffle backwards, "You're over reacting, hon. Just remember, it was ages ago."
She saw red. "Ages? Exactly. You haven't told me about that. And don't tell me I am overreacting!"
"Gaby..." He began, only to be interrupted by her.
"You shouldn't have gone in. You should have waited for the firemen. Outside!"
"Gaby..."
"And if you were stupid enough to go in, you shouldn't have stayed when you saw the smoke! You should have left, immediately! Leave it to the firemen, they train for that!" He lifted his palm, hoping to stop her, but she continued. "You could have waited for the police or the paramedics!" She was practically nose-to-nose, and he could see that she was really upset. "You went in! Like a fool!" She tried not to yell. "You went into a burning building, with incessant explosions all over the place! What the hell were you thinking?"
"Well if I'd known you were going to be this grateful, I wouldn't have bothered." He retorted.
"You might have died." She hissed at him.
"So might you." He planted his palms on her shoulders and tried to roped in his own feelings. "Why are you so angry anyway?" But he saw her concern in her eyes. "Gaby, it was ages ago. It is just history. Ok."
"Ok?" She looked at him in complete incredulity, "I'm not ok! I can't remember the last time I was this furious. Don't you have any common sense?"
"Obviously not." His own temper ignited. "Why are you so angry?" He leaned in so that she leaned back, with nothing to hold on to but him, she had two choices, hold on or fall over.
"Absolutely livid if you must know." She glared, caught her lips between her teeth and then mumbled, "I can't remember the last time I was this scared." She added quietly, "You could have got yourself killed." She looked directly at him, so that he could see just how much she cared.
He looked at her. Saw she was really bothered. He said softly, "Gaby, I was scared when I heard you were in there." He added, "But I was already in. And when I was told you were in there, I had to stay to find you. Love doesn't come with common sense. It comes when you don't expect it. And when you realise that you are in love, with someone who can't stand you, and suddenly, you are in a situation where the person you love is in trouble. I heard you were in there and I had to get you out. My head and my heart had the same agenda. Find you and get you out." He shrugged. "Simple as that. I was not going to let you go."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"At the time, I was so rattled by the way I felt, accepting the fact I loved you. And as time passed, I couldn't tell you, as we barely talked. I didn't want you to talk to me just because you felt obligated. Like now. You feel obliged..."
"Rubbish!" She glared at him, then she stood on her toes, threw her arms around him, and she kissed him.
The anger, the worry, the care, the love, the fury intermingled as they kissed. David wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and carried her towards the house. He reached for the door handle, and he heard her giggle when his shoulder bashed into the doorway when they entered the house. No sooner were they in the house, he kicked the door shut. Through sheer luck they continued to kiss, made their way down the corridor, given they had not broken off the kiss. They made their way to the sofa. He bent his elbows so that he lowered at the same rate that she did, and he kept his mouth fused to hers. When she was flat on her back, her legs bent at the knee, her hands gripping his tshirt, he lifted a hand and stroked his way down her side, to the hem of her skirt.
She said, "I love you David."
"What?" It stopped David's fingers in their tracks. His gaze met Ella's gaze.
"I said," She said more loudly, "I love you."
"Finally!" He said and he pulled his tshirt over his head.
"Finally? That's all you want to say?" She grinned at him just before he kissed her.
Without breaking contact with her mouth he slid his fingers up her thigh, gently raked at the sensitive skin on her inner thigh, before threading his fingers past the elastic. With two frantic tugs he ripped the gusset of her knickers and trapped the sound of surprise that escaped from her lips. She giggled.
"You owe me!"
"About to pay." He grinned. With much haste and little skill he unzipped his pants. Two seconds later she felt him penetrate, hard, and hot. Her breath caught.
He stopped. "This brings me back to my original question."
"What? What question?" She squirmed, trying to get him to ease the tension that was building within her. "David, can we keep this conversation for later?"
He chuckled. "No. I don't think so."
"David, please." She begged, lifted her hips, and tried to achieve a tiny climax.
"Ella!" He knew she knew what he was talking about. With her hip glued to his hip, he pinned her to the sofa and he planted his palms beside her head. He quirked an eyebrow and waited.
She huffed and attempted to force him to restart, but he just shook his head at her.
"I didn't tell you because I want you to be really sure that I'm the one you want." She told him breathlessly.
"Of course I..."
"No David," She sighed, "one of the things I do know about you, is that you have an over-the-top sense of doing what is right." She looked at him. "I love you, David." Ella said softly. "I knew that before I was told you rescued me! I love you."
"You don't have to say that if you aren't sure." He told her, doing his best to hold off any further movement.
"What?" She braced both arms on either side of his head, straightened her arms.
"You don't have to say that just to please me."
She would have smacked him if she could, she settled for glaring at him. "I don't have to say anything. I love you! And I knew that before Seth told me about the rescue." She glared at him. "Surely my actions showed you just how much I love you. You idiot!"