Stardust (Complete)

Walk

Rebelution: Closer I Get

The closer I get, I can't relate, this ain't our place, let us go far, far away,

Find a new home, rules of our own, you and me both are the same

I was glad we stopped when we did.  I didn't want to give him the wrong impression, or make him think I was a tease or anything.  It had been nice, just slow and intimate and innocent, his hands in my hair, instead of all over me, in places I shouldn't let them be.  I didn't want to tell him I'd only ever kissed one other person besides him.  He didn't need to know how much of a loser I really was.

Now that the rain had stopped, we decided to walk to the waterfall in the forest.  He told me, after it had rained, that all the water from high up in the hills collected in the river and the waterfall would flow really fast.

The trees dripped on us and the wet grass soaked through my shoes, but I didn't mind.  It was still warm enough that I rolled the sleeves of my jumper up.  By the time we got to the waterfall, we were both pretty damp.  Once, I might have minded, but I was starting to learn a deeper appreciation for small, insignificant things, like the way the water made my skin feel, how it somehow unlocked the scent of the forest until it was all you could smell in the air.

The waterfall was flowing fast, faster than any other time I'd been here, the normal gentle trickle a deafening crash as the torrents tumbled down.  I followed Kyra over the rocks toward one of the rocky pools, big enough for several people to play in, yet, not quite as big as the one we had been in the other day.

He crouched by the side and dipped his fingers in, swirling the clear water, then looked up as I knelt across from him.

"It's warm, still," he told me, and I put my hand in the water, as well.

The water was lukewarm, like a heated pool, and I reached my hand a little deeper in, up to my elbow.

"It's nice," I grinned.

"You want to get in?"  He wondered, and I laughed.

"We didn't bring any other clothes," I pointed out, but he shrugged.

"We're already wet, anyway."

He unlaced his boots and slipped them off, setting them aside, then tilted his head.

"You coming?"

"Okay," I said, a little hesitantly.

We stripped off down to our underwear and Kyra wasted no time submerging himself into the water.  I was slower, realising that it wasn't quite as warm as I originally thought as it crept up my belly, my chest tightening with the cold.

"You alright?"  Kyra asked, amusement glinting in his eyes when I made a small squeaking sound.

"It's cold," I gasped, and he laughed.

"Come on, princess," he teased, grabbing my arms and dragging me all the way in.  I squealed as the water splashed up my chest, then over my shoulders, lapping around my neck.  He put his own arms around me, and I pressed myself closer to him for his warmth.

It wasn't so bad, now that I was all the way in, but I still clung to him, anyway.

"Better?"  He asked me, trailing his fingers over my back, and I nodded, sliding my arms around his waist.

This was so much better, he had no idea.

My lips found his, hesitantly at first, then more confidently as he responded, lifting me up to wrap my legs around his waist.

I could feel him smile, and I drew back, glancing away, down at the water between us.  Normally, I would be embarrassed, by being so forward.  Normally, I wouldn't be so forward. 

Maybe, it was something about being submersed in the natural world that brought me out of my shell.  Maybe it was the water from the rain and the mountains and the river that cleansed my soul.  Maybe it was the energy of this place and these people that made me feel braver than I really was.  

Maybe it was just him.  

But I felt like everything was exactly how it should be.  I was content for the first time in a long time.

It was beginning to grow dark, and it had started raining again, so we climbed out of the water, struggling to pull our damp clothes on again, and began the walk home.