Subliminally Taken

9. get over me

"This is way too fucking long," I pout, my legs growing tired of the long hike.

"You gotta work out more," Joey jokes and I push her playfully.

"No, how much longer?" I ask, wiping a bead of sweat off my forehead.

"About five minutes," Claudia smiles. Finneas, Claudia, Billie, and Joey are unfazed by the amount of walking in this heat while Braz and I are clearly struggling.

"Nope, I'm done," I stop in my tracks trying to catch my breath, causing everyone to either groan or laugh at me.

"Get over here loser," Finneas chuckles, bending down and I don't take a second to think about it before I hop on his back, and hand Billie Oby's leash.

"Who's gonna carry me?" Braz asks playfully.

"No one bozo, suck it up," Billie sticks out her tongue, and I watch as he jokingly pouts.

A few minutes later, the small trail between the trees opens up and I gasp at the view. A few weeks ago while Finneas and Claudia were out on one of their daily hikes they found this watering hole in the middle of the bushes and wanted to show us. Today was the perfect day since no one had anything up.

I jumped off of Finneas' back, agreeing with everyone that the long walk was worth it. Oby's eyes lit up as he saw the water and I grabbed his leash from Billie, letting him loose and watching him run happily into the water.

"Okay Peaches, you turn," Claudia unhooked her from her leash and she slowly walked over to the water, sniffing it and deciding to lay on the little patch of sand instead, making us laugh.

"Ion' know about you guys but I'm going in," Braz pulled his shirt over his head and ran into the water almost as quickly as Oby did.

The rest of us took off our clothes, leaving us in the swimsuits we had put on underneath. Billie grabbed Claudia's hand and they ran into the water, falling in together as the water got deeper. Joey walked in much slower, shouting and whining about how cold it was. I smiled at them, feeling content just watching everyone.

"You see that rock up there?" Finneas asked, pointing to a steep rock on the opposite side of the water.

"Mhm," I nodded, instantly understanding what he was getting at. We both ran like five-year-olds to the rock and when we reached it I shook my head, thinking this would be impossible to climb.

"How the fuck are we gonna get up there?" I asked.

"I'll give you a boost," he said, bending down and holding out his hands. I got up successfully and stood at the top, waiting for him as he struggled to get to the top.

"What are you guys doing?" Claudia shouted, just now realizing where we were.

"What do you think?" I laughed.

"No, that's way too far of a drop," Billie shook her head.

"We'll be fine," Finneas shrugged.

"No, I'm serious. Mady please," she begged.

"The worst thing that could happen is there are rocks at the bottom and they crack their heads open on it," Braz joked.

"On the count of three?" I whispered to Finneas, watching him nod. We counted down together before taking a running start and leaping off the tall rock.

When I came up from the water Braz, Claudia, and Joey all cheered as Finneas and I swam towards them. I swam to Billie, with a large smile on my face. "That could have ended so badly," she huffed.

"But it didn't," I smirked with a wink.

"Mads, I'm serious," she sighed. I frowned slightly and pulled her into a hug, letting her lean her head on my shoulder as we floated around.

It's been a week since she admitted her feelings for me. I often forget and begin to playfully flirt or place a kiss on her cheek. I'm trying to tone it down because we both know she needs to get over me. I don't want to lead her on and make it more painful than it already is for her. It's hard though because we've always been touchy and flirty, it's just the type of people we are. We were touchy and flirty even when I had a boyfriend, the only thing we didn't do was kiss. I guess we are back to that.

After goofing off in the water for a while, Joey and I decided to soak in the sun, laying down on our towels next to Oby and Peaches. I sat down, holding myself up by leaning back on my hands, watching as everyone floated around in the water.

"Billie seems okay," Joey mentioned softly.

"Yeah, she's doing better I think," I nodded as my eyes stayed glued to Billie.

"Did she tell you what was wrong?"

"Yeah, she'll be okay," I smiled, Bille's eyes suddenly meeting mine. They stayed connected for a beat before Finneas began a splashing war.

"How's Zayden?" Joey asked, snapping me out of my daze.

"Same old. Snobby, stuck up, bitchy," I listed.

"Give her a break. You used to be like that."

"Nah, never," I protested with a chuckle.

We fell into a peaceful silence as I watched the others in the water. Eventually, they all decided to join us on the sand.

Billie laid down on the towel next to me and I found myself examining her body and every detail it holds. She really is beautiful.

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A/N: Sorta a filler chapter.