Brielle POV
I tipped my weight back and let myself fall back into the water. I wasn't lying, by the way, I don't know how to swim. Now, why on earth would I do this? Because in order for the lake to do its magic for washing off potions, you have to be fully submerged.
I made sure to take a big breath before I went under just in case, but sure enough after about 10 seconds of slightly panicked waiting and some thrashing to literally be saved from drowning, I felt Harry's arms wrap around me, one arm under my legs and the other one supporting my back (the princess carry if you were wondering) and move towards the surface. I immediately wrapped my arms around Harry's neck as if I was holding onto dear life. As soon as I felt the water surface break and the air come around me again I gasped for much-needed air,
"What on earth was that?! What were ya fuckin' thinking?!"
Harry scolded as soon as he got his air back too. I coughed some, seeing as I'm not used to being underwater I definitely inhaled some water on accident. I swept the hair out of my face and looked up at him, he looked like a crazy mixture of upset and freaked out,
"Invigorating isn't it?"
I calmly replied before coughing some more. I realized that the weird unnatural feeling of giddiness and unnecessary shyness was gone, but the lovely butterflies and the nice feeling from yesterday stayed. His eyes widened at my calmness,
"Ya call that 'invigorating'?! Bonnie lass ya scared the livin' daylights outta meh"
I had to still act like I was under the spell, yes, but I have a feeling that that won't be too difficult,
"Aw, I did?"
I said as he swam us both at least to the shallow end,
"Yeh, ya fuckin' did. What were ya thinkin'? If ya were just coming out 'ere ta clear yer head were ya going ta do that when no one was 'ere?"
I thought for a second before telling him a little bit of the truth, seeing as I was going to have to go underwater no matter what to get rid of the stupid spell,
"Well... yeah"
And I didn't think he could look anymore upset, turns out I was wrong,
"Yer telling me that ya can't swim and ya were just gonna pull that stunt out 'ere alone?! Ye could easily drown out 'ere all by yerself, ya know that right? That's it, I'm not lettin' ya out of my sight"
I giggled some and decided to over-exaggerate some, you know because that's what the spell I was under was doing,
"But you saved me"
I said, purposely sounding overly smitten. He sighed,
"Yeh, what else was I supposed ta do? Watch ya drown in front of my very eyes?"
I slowly reached one of my hands up and moved his hair out of his face,
"That's what a villain would've done"
I whispered, he looked down at me with those softer eyes again as I finished fixing his hair,
"But I am a villain"
He murmured,
"And yet you were in the water to save me in seconds without a second thought..."
I whispered right back,
"... hold still your eyeliner is a mess"
I added as I gently swept my thumb under his eyes. As I did I noticed that he had a bit of a blush to him. I smiled a little and tilted my head, acting like I didn't notice,
"There you go, much better"
I whispered. He seemed to be in a trance of his own now, he seemed to snap out of it,
"Let's get ya out of 'ere"
He murmured as he took me back to the gazebo and somehow lifted me up onto the ledge of it,
"Now, no more jumping in 'ere got it?"
I giggled at his overprotective tone,
"Alright alright I'll refrain from doing so"
"Good, ya can't go scarin' meh like that, bout gave me a heart attack"
I rang my hair out as I looked down at Harry who was holding onto the edge of the gazebo,
"Did I really scare you?"
I said as I felt the natural feeling that I love so much get a little bit stronger,
"Yeh! Ya really fuckin' did! I have very high respect for ya bonnie lass don't get me wrong but I have no clue what came over ya"
He said with a more raised voice, not angry but if anything he sounded genuinely scared. I crossed my arms as a chill hit me from the breeze. I began to shiver some. Harry hoisted himself up next to me and sat on the edge next to me. He glanced over to me for a second before reaching back to something. I glanced behind us to see he had taken off his jacket and had left his hook behind before leaping into the water after me.
He grabbed his hook and hooked it back into his belt loop and grabbed his jacket and unexpectedly wrapped his jacket around me and pulled it snug. I looked up at him and tilted my head some,
"You do have really pretty eyes Har"
I murmured. He glanced back to me,
"Ya think so?"
I smiled and nodded,
"Yeah, they match the sky"
I said as I looked from him to the sky,
"Yer eyes are a mix of hazel and green, they turn a hazel gold when the suns in yer eyes and in more dim lighting they're more green"
I looked back down at him,
"Really?"
He turned and leaned up against one of the pillars and smiled some,
"Yeh, like right now they're that light gold hazel color... they even sparkle a little bit"
He murmured. I smiled and felt natural heat rise into my cheeks,
"That's lovely, I've never noticed that myself. Your eyes sparkle too, they get dark though when you're upset and I'm assuming angry, but I've never seen you angry"
He chuckled,
"They sparkle eh?"
I nodded and uncontrollably smiled at him,
"Shall we head back?"
I said as I stood up, he did right after. I coughed a little bit more from standing as another cold breeze came my way,
"I want ya to take a warm shower when we get back, don't want ya catching a cold eh?"
He said as he readjusted the jacket around me and carefully brought an arm around my shoulders,
"You're being quite the gentleman, more of a gentleman than most of the princes here"
He raised a brow and looked down to me as we walked,
"Yeh? Don't tell the VKs cause they'd have a fit"
He said with a chuckle. I giggled some and nodded,
"Wasn't planning on it, are you like this all the time?"
He really started laughing now which kinda confused me but made me laugh some, his laugh is wildly contagious,
"Ah nope, most certainly not. Especially on the Isle, acting like this on the Isle is a death wish lassie. Ya may not know this, but on the Isle, the worse ya are the higher up on the food chain ya are. Either ya wanna be at the top or ya wanna be allied with those at the top"
I slowly nodded and hummed,
"Interesting, so the eviler you are... the better off you are?"
"Sounds bout right, let's just say if someones drownin' ya best just stand there and laugh at their struggle"
My eyes widened some and a shiver ran down my spine, just the thought of that alone was kinda scary. He noticed my shiver and slowly shook his head,
"Meh ma didn't raise me like that though. It's 'stand there and laugh' if ya don't like the person, but if ya like the person it's 'leap after em and try yer best ta save em'"
I sighed in some relief,
"That's reassuring to know, so you like me then?"
I looked up at him and noticed that that light dusting of pink hadn't left his cheeks,
"Yeh, I do. Yer really the only person 'ere I get along with, better than the other VKs ironically enough. If I were being selfish I would say that I don't want the only person I like here ta drown but I honestly didn't even think about it"
I furrowed my brow,
"What do you mean you didn't think about it?"
He paused for a second and took a deep breath,
"I kinda just... automatically took my jacket off and threw meh hook aside. Ye were right earlier, I didn't even think twice before jumpin' in after ya"
I looked up at him and smiled,
"Told you so, dare I say... you're my hero?"
I said with an overly cheesy smile. He flushed red and looked away from me,
"Yeh yeh whatever ya say, princess"
I giggled and decided to really seal the deal of my plan to outsmart the VKs. I was genuinely feeling something towards Harry yes, but that doesn't mean I throw the safety of my kingdom to the wind. I had to play their game for now.
I stopped walking and acted like I was in a daze again, by actually getting in a daze just a natural one this time and stared at Harry with soft eyes. He paused walking as well and was about to say something when I just threw my arms around his neck and gave him a hug. Once he cautiously hugged back I sealed the deal,
"I think I'm falling for you Harry, did I mention that?"
Since he couldn't see my face, I let a weird mix between a dorky smile and a conniving smirk appear. I felt his breathing hitch and his entire body heat up, something I wasn't expecting. It was like he himself wasn't expecting it,
"I think I'm fallin' for ya too Brielle"
Harry whispered ever so quietly. I won't lie, it sounded so genuine I started to really question what was going on here.
A/N
Hiya! This chapter was so fun for me to right yall have no idea :D Chapters like this that I reread just for fun because I like them so much is honestly why I got into writing actual books like this :) I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do, also spoiler alert: The way Brielle worded her little confession there is a hint to a bit of a musical number she pulls later on ;) (If you were a Teen Beach Movie kid you'll know what I mean) Remember to drink some water today :D
-Brooke