The Sweetheart

Chapter 6

"I love you." The words echoed in my head. Do I say it back?Did I really love him? I don't want to be rude...

"I love you too," I whisper.

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"Come on Ella! Stop being slow!" Louis shouted. He wanted to go hiking, so we found a trail and were almost at the top of a steep hill. I had nearly caught up with him, and he just stopped. When I did catch up, I looked and saw he was staring at a dead pigeon in the trail.

"Lou?" He picked it up, and examined it.

"I'm keeping him. His name is Kevin," he said. I fell on the ground, I was laughing so hard.

"Don't mind her Kevin. She doesn't understand," he said trying to sooth the dead pigeon. This only made me laugh harder.

"Louis! That pigeon's dead!" I said between laughs. Louis pretended to ignore me for the rest of the hike, talking quietly to Kevin and staying ahead of me. But there was one part of the hike that scared the hell out of both of us. The path went on the side of a tall mountain. When we began the trek up the mountain, the path grew narrow.

I was just a few feet behind Louis, and we were almost at the top. I heard a noise behind me, I jumped and quickly turned to see what it was. Because I turned so quickly, I lost my balance and slipped. Before I could fall off the mountain, I grabbed hold of a small ledge sticking out from the side of the mountain.

"Louis!" I cried. He hadn't noticed my fall, and was still continuing up the trail. He thought I was shouting for him to slow down, so he ignored my cries.

"Louis help! I can't hold on much longer! Louis!" I cried. He finally turned around, and when he saw me his blue eyes widened.

"Hold on Ella!" He started moving back down the trail quick as he could. When he got to me, he held out a hand.

"Ella, I need you to grab my hand."

"I'm scared Louis!" I whimpered.

"I know you are, but you need to grab my hand so I can pull you up. I promise I won't let you fall!"

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now grab my hand!" I let go of the ledge with one hand, slipping a little and cutting open my other hand. I winced, and grabbed Louis' hand. He pulled me up, and into his arms.

"It's ok, you're ok now," he soothed. I cried into his chest as he held me there.

"I was so scared Louis," I whimpered.

"I know, but it's over now, it's over. Let me see your hand." I pulled up my bleeding hand so that he could look at it. I winced at his touch.

"Sorry. Let's get back to the cabin and wrap this up." He led me down the path, and when we reached the bottom, he put an arm under my knees, and the other to support my back, and picked me up bridal style. I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried as he carried me effortlessly back to the cabin.

When he'd washed and wrapped my hand, he sat by me on the couch.

"I'm sorry, El."

"For what?"

"Not turning around when you screamed. I thought you were trying to get me to slow down, or you wanted to come back here or something. I should've turned." I took his hands in mine, and looked into his beautiful pale blue eyes.

"It's ok, I forgive you. It's not your fault. I should've been more careful." I lightly pecked his cheek, and lay down, putting my head in his lap. He gently stroked my hair, and turned on the TV. He played 'Monsters Inc.' and just sat there stroking my hair.

"El? You still awake?" The movie had ended, and I felt so relaxed he must've thought I'd fallen asleep. I nodded slowly, feeling really tired. He picked me up and carried me to the bed. When he had covered me with the blankets, he changed, got in the bed, and pulled me into him.

He kissed my forehead, and I snuggled into his chest, falling asleep almost instantly.