Walking a fine line✔️

20. Knight in shining armour

Brittney led the way, followed by Griffin, then Holly, leaving me to take up the rear. The beginning was pretty easy. We first had to climb up a ladder attached to a tree to get up to the first platform and from there we crossed between trees in a variety of ways.

Around us in the trees other groups were also swinging on ropes and crawling through tires. Occasionally we heard a shout of dismay as someone fell off the course and was brought safely to the ground. After about twenty minutes in we came to a junction with our ribbons going in both directions.

"Well this is fun," Holly said.

I followed both paths through the trees with my eyes and quickly realised they joined back up around four trees down.

"The paths meet down there," I said. "We need to split up."

"Obviously." Brittney crossed her arms. "I refuse to go left, I can never make it across the bridge."

In the trees a few metres away was a bridge with gaps in. My eyes widened as I realised just how big the gaps were.

Holly nudged me. "Rory, you should go with Griffin, you have way more skill than me at this."

"Okay," I agreed somewhat reluctantly. "We'll meet you guys at the next intersection."

"Good luck!" Holly called to us as she and Brittney went right while Griffin and I took the left hand path.

"Are you still ignoring me?" I asked as I followed Griffin up a ladder. He didn't answer. "I'm going to take that as a yes."

I unhooked my clip and attached it to the next rope. Looks like this would be a silent detour. We reached the bridge and I went first, crossing it with only a little bit of difficulty. I realised almost immediately that the key was to keep moving rather than stop on each thin plank.

I made it safely to the end and hooked myself onto the platform then I turned to watch Griffin. He made it three quarters of the way across, then began to wobble after accidentally stopping to catch his footing. I realised that while I had found the small planks relatively easy to stand on, Griffin's feet were quite a bit larger.

Without too much thought I took a step back onto the rickety bridge and held out my hand. "Grab a hold of me."

"No."

"Stop being so stubborn."

He leaped, ignoring my hand. One of his feet landed on the next plank and then the other landed on thin air. His hands flailed wildly and for a moment I was sure he was going straight down to the ground. Somehow at the very last second he managed to grab hold of the wooden plank with his hands, leaving him hanging from the bridge.

"Now you can't keep ignoring me," I said, looking down at him.

Griffin finally looked up at me and I tried to ignore how my heart skipped a beat. "I haven't been ignoring you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I talked to you last night in the kitchen. Can you help me?"

"That didn't count." I continued looking down at him. "I should let you fall."

His arms began to shake. "And lose points? That's not like you."

He was right. It wasn't like me. "And neither is it like me to get involved in my brother's business. Whatever history you have with my brother is not my problem. Please don't make it mine—"

"Your brother's an asshole," he interrupted.

"And you're being one as well." I sighed. "I have no clue what happened between you two but—"

Griffin scoffed. "Sure."

"Hey Mr Egotistical, newsflash: not everyone knows who you are. Jack never mentioned you before champs."

He was silent for a few seconds. "You really don't know what happened between me and your brother?"

"I have no clue about anything except that you beat him last year. That's it."

Griffin hesitated. "I've been an ass."

"Yes, you have."

"I'm sorry. I thought..." he trailed off then his eyes suddenly widened. "I'm slipping. Rory I know I deserve to be dropped but—"

I leant down and grabbed his wrist before he could fall. "I've got you." I gave him a small smile. "Monkey grip."

"Monkey grip," he echoed, then added, "I am truly sorry."

"Don't worry about it." I gave him a teasing smile, covering up the relief that I felt now that he was talking to me again. "I can't lie though, it was a nice break from your annoying presence."

Of course Griffin of all people still managed to smirk while dangling many metres off the ground. "You missed me."

I ignored him and slowly began pulling him up. "You're so heavy." I managed to get out.

Eventually he managed to grasp onto the edge of the tree ledge and pull himself the rest of the way. He was breathing heavily by the time he stood up and clipped himself onto the tree behind me. "Thank you, princess."

I laughed. "Don't you mean knight in shining armour."

"You'll always be my princess," he replied and I suddenly realised how small this tree platform really was. I was pressed with my back to the tree trunk and still there was hardly any room for us to stand.

He reached his hand above me, trapping me in a cage. My pulse quickened. "What are you doing?"

His hand came back down and he dangled the red ribbon in front of my face. "Getting this."

"Oh." I watched him tuck it into his pocket.

"It's a shame we're on different sides," he said.  "We make a good team."

"Too bad we're opponents."

"Too bad indeed."

A/N:

Any guesses as to what history Jack and Griffin have?

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SouthernAlps over and out...