Granted Wish

Chapter 12

Soon after Claire re-joined us,informing us about the long wait at the restrooms and how disgusting the toilets are. Nathan thought it would be a good idea to carry me around the pool bridal style for like an hour, following my orders to where he should go next. And of course, Claire just had to keep on teasing us for being the cheesiest couple in the entire area and making smooch faces whenever we'd pass her. She's overly annoying right now. I close my eyes while he slowly glided me through the water and as I look back up at him, I get to see the cutest smile he's ever had.

Reaching up, I gently touch his cheek,caressing it with my wet hands. No matter how beautiful this moment is, of course Claire and, to my surprise, Alex had to ruin it by splashing water all over us. Nathan finally lets go of me, both of us turning to face our little group. "Enough cuddly time! It's time to battle! Couples must be separated!", Claire pulls me away from my boyfriend. "But we're the only couple! And what kind of battle?", I ask, no standing a few feet away from Nathan. "Chicken fight! Everyone form groups of two!", she demands, grinning widely.

I look through our group and I notice Anna slightly off, watching all of us in amusement. "Do you want to pair up?", I ask her, earning a bright smile and a nod. Alex and Mika decided to team up, so there's only Nathan and Claire left."Are you guys ready?", Claire asks in my direction and we all nod. Lowering myself into the water, I wait for Anna to climb onto my shoulders, steadying her with my hands. I can feel her fingers push back my wet hair as we both wait for the others to saddle up.

The game starts and we each charge for the others and of course I head for Nathan, hoping that Anna can manage to pull Claire off of him and sure enough, while my boyfriend and I grin each other, he loses his teammate in mere seconds and with a big splash the blonde girl falls into the water. "Good job!", I cheer, turning to face Alex and Mika who are already struggling with keeping their balance so it was an easy win. Lowering myself again, I let Anna slide off of my shoulders, hugging her carefully and both of us cheering for our victory. "New team up!"

The next constellation is my sister on my shoulders Anna on Claire and Mika on Nathan. The guy team seemed sure to win and without hesitation they first pulled Alex into the water then Anna, although Claire tried to escape in the opposite direction. It was very funny to watch them though.

Third game is Alex on Anna, Mika on Claire and finally, me on Nathan. We focused on Claire first since she's probably the hardest to get to fall but we didn't calculate with Anna and my sister but the rammed us like maniacs, causing both Nathan and I to fall into the water with laughter that almost caused us to drown.

"This is fun.", I admit, giggling as Nathan pulls me closer to his chest, "Although we suck as a team." My boyfriend pretends to be offended but soon starts to laugh again. "True!", he pecks my lips gently. "So, next round?", I ask, all eyes on us again! "Sure, boys on girls!",Claire smirks, since most of us guys are bigger than the girls here but I'm not going to doubt their strength. So, our next set up was a little different, Nathan on Claire, Mika on Anna and I decide to straddle my little sister, who looks at me in annoyance. I'm not that much heavier than her, or at least that's what I think. It takes longer to get ready this time but in the end we are all ready to fight. Alex tries the same tactic from before, launching both of us against another team which would be Mika and Anna, the gray haired boy holding on and fighting back by gripping my arms.

Suddenly, a third pair of hands joins us and I look up at Nathan who winks at me before violently pushing me off of my sister. I giggle as I breach the surface, high fiving my sister and watching as the remaining two teams continue their battle. But in the end, Nathan managed to push Mika off.

We did this for like another hour before we all decided to give it a rest and take a break outside the water, finally back in the shade of some trees. As I look at my boyfriend, I notice just how red his shoulders are and frankly it didn't stop there, chest and back were red as well and he seems to be in pain. "Nathan, didn't you use sun screen?", I ask, gently brushing over his skin and earning a flinch and a sharp inhale. "I'm sorry.", I apologize, retreating my hand back. "I didn't, I forgot.", he tries to joke but as soon as he lays on his back his face twists in pain.

"That looks bad, do you want to go home?", I ask in worry, watching him closely. "No, it's fine.",he tries to assure me but I can see through that lie. "It's not,we're going.", I turn to face the rest of the group, "I'm sorry guys, Nathan forgot to use sun screen and now he's pretty burned so we'll be heading home. Can someone drive Alex home once you guys decide to go?", I ask and sure enough, Mikas hand shoots up almost immediately and I nod in his direction. "Get her home in one piece.", I warn but crack a smile, so does he. "No problem."

I help Nathan back onto his feet, which was harder then expected since I didn't know where to touch without hurting him. "See you later guys.", we both said our good byes and headed for the car. The drive back was a little tense, Nathan had to concentrate quite hard to keep his focus on the road and not on his aching upper body. I didn't dare to say anything, not wanting to distract him.

We get out of the car and I take our things, leading the way and unlocking the door. "You might have to talk me through this whole sun burn thing, since I'ver never had one.", I admit, scratching the top of my head, which did ache a little bit. "Me neither. But, could you get me a glass of water,please?", he asks, a hand steadying himself against the wall. "Of course.", I immediately head for the kitchen and get him some water, in the meantime he has made his way over to the living room and onto the cold leather of the couch. "Shouldn't you change first? Your trunks are still a little wet.", I state, handing him the glass. "Thank you.", he looks awful although neither one of us noticed anything while still in the water.

"First we both need to shower.", I explain, the water in public pools is really disgusting so I think it's better to get cleaned first thing when back at home. "I...wanna...", he mumbles his words too much, making it impossible for me to read them. "Nathan, I can't read when you talk like a two year old.", I gently scold him, trying to talk quiet since he probably has a headache. "I don't wanna get up.", he repeats,more clearly this time. "Well, life's a bitch. Get up.", I help him back on his feet but before heading up the stairs, I force him to drink the rest of his water.

"I won't be able to help you with everything.", I state not wanting to have to shower with him."Please, I can't really lift my arms.", he wasn't even joking or teasing, he really couldn't do anything. "Okay.", I sigh but my heart is literally pounding inside my chest, and my hands are starting to get sweaty. "Let's just keep our trunks on.", we both head for the shower and I help him out of his shirt, trying to be as careful as possible. I take mine off as well and turn the water in the shower on, trying to figure out what would be the best water temperature to cool his skin down. Deciding to keep it rather cold.

I help Nathan into the shower, noticing his body immediately relaxing under the soft spurt of water, his eyes squeezed shut. "Is this good?", I ask, carefully joining him and closing the glass door. He simply nods, turning around to let the water run down his chest. Quietly, I watch him spin in slow circles until he opens his eyes again and looks at me. "Damn it, I pictured our first shower together a little different.", he chuckles lightly, the pained expression has subsided a little. "I see you can still joke around.", I giggle nervously, earning a close look."I'm not joking, Sky.", Nathan steps closer sneaking an arm around the side of my body, keeping a little space between us so I'm not pressed against his burned chest.

"Nathan.", I whisper, looking at him wide-eyed. "Skylar, I love you and...", he stares at me and there's a hint of desperation on his face. "It's nothing.", his arm leaves my body and he turns around again, grabbing his shower gel with a pain expression as he lifts his arms. "It's okay.", I take the black bottle from his hand and squeeze some of it's content into the palm of my hand before gently and carefully applying the cold, purple gel onto his shoulders which seemed to be burning underneath my touch. "Tell me if it hurts.", I whisper, trying to ignore my insanely fast beating heart as my hand roams over his muscular chest and stomach. Working myself back up to his arms before squatting down to get his legs. "Turn around.", he does as he's told and I carefully apply some soap on his back.