Love and Cool Water

Love and Cool Water Chapter 26...

Well guys the Story of Luke and Rhylee is coming to an end, i'm really excited and sad that its ending as i have grown very fond of the characters but with everything, there needs to be an end.

And here for all of you is the last chapter .*sniff*

hope you enjoy :)

Shy

xxx

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Chapter 26...

I stepped up onto the starting blocks and rolled out my shoulders as I let out a large breathe, trying to relax my raging heart and calm my mind. The water stretched out ahead of me shimmering in the light as the lights from the roof reflected off the gentle ripples running across its surface.

I breathed in another deep breath and released it out again, letting the sounds of the cheering crowds fade into the background with it. My thoughts wondered back to all the training I had done to get here, as I shook out my arms and legs. The agonising preparation we had undertaken to get to this one point. My mind flashed to that day, the day that Luke had come rushing back to me promising to never leave me again and swearing that together we would be able to overcome anything.

I remembered everything like it was happening all over again, only this time I was a silent observer watching as Luke turned himself into my personal tormentor. At first it had been subtle words of encouragement, gentle nudges and puppy dog eyes that guilted me into pushing myself forward, but as soon as I had completed step one of my rehabilitation, I was onto step two and Luke took over, everything but my left leg he claimed as his and pretty soon I was back on my regular training schedule, strengthening my arms and torso and right leg. He left me to my own devises in regards to my rehabilitation, but showed no mercy with anything else.

The last month had been had been absolute murder, Luke's growling voice filtered through my mind then, filling it completely and overtaking all other sense of awareness.

'Rhylee...snap out of it. You did this yesterday, you can do it today....' It was a month ago and I was again standing on one of the starting blocks, looking nervousl out at the water.

'Fraken hell, Luke stop pushing me so much, I don't want to get hurt again.' I snapped back at him.

'Stop making excuses Rhy, now dive, and do it right, just one proper dive and you're done. And don't you dare give me any of that one sided diving crap you pulled yesterday. It's ridiculous. You can do this, come on.'

'I can't Luke, I'm scared.'

'You have nothing to be scared about, you're warmed up and I'm right here. You need to do this Rhylee, it will help build up your confidence.' He was four meters ahead of me, in my old high school pool, treading water, the sight of him there alone, was almost enough to get me to dive, almost. It was like this every day, I didn't get a choice anymore, if I moaned or complained, he would throw me over his shoulder and carry me to the pool and drop me in it clothes and all, so I stopped complaining. If I slacked off with my rehabilitation or any of my training he would make me suffer for it later. He used affection as a sort of bargaining tool, it was evil actually. There was no affection or lovey doveyness during training, so at night he was the perfect boyfriend, I would be craving affection from him like nothing else on this earth and he knew it. If I slacked off or bitched he would make arrangements with friends and disappear for the night. It was awful, but he was always there when I woke up, no matter what, with a cocky smirk and an 'I dare you to slack off again' look on his face. He knew as well as I did that I didn't function well without him around and couldn't stand not having him around, so he used it, asshole. But looking back on it now, I could see it didn't do him any favours either. On half a dozen occasions, after another heated argument between us about my training, I would ban him from my room to the sofa or spare room, only to have him sneak back into mine as soon as he thought I was asleep, climbing into bed with me and wrapping his arms around me. In the morning he would be gone before I woke up and he would come swaggering back in when I was awake like nothing happened. I knew he did it but neither of us would say anything. He couldn't be away from me anymore then I could be away from him.

Then of course there was my Dad, who saw everything and went from wanting to kill him to wanting to kill me, and then he just wanted to bang our heads together in shear frustration. And in the end he would just walked past both of us and slap us upside the head whenever we began to argue but other than that he never got involved, he left the training to Luke and turned a deaf ear to my crying. At first I had run to my Dad, being a daddy's girl, sobbing that Luke was been mean to me and he would storm off like my hero to kick Luke's arse but eventually he grew wise to it and saw my tears for what they were and ignored me and just walked off and locked himself in his study.

After losing my Dad as an ally I turned to Sydney. She was my only escape, she would sneak me out and we'd run away for the day and go shopping or to a movie or just lock ourselves away in her house. I found out later that Luke got hold of her though and my impromptu escapes became scheduled ones unbeknown to me, but I figured it out when I stopped getting the third degree when I did eventually come home.

Danny was a major disappointment; he stuck with Luke no matter what. Sure he was always available for a hug or encouragement but wouldn't budge when it came to my training. The little shit was sly about it too he would make out he was going to help me out and make it look like we heading out for the day and then drop me off at the pool instead, laughing at me as I marched off into the building.

But all in all, as awful as it seemed at the time, they were all there with me throughout the whole ordeal, from start to finish as I slowly regained my confidence, my strength and eventually my speed.

And standing here today, looking out over the water with seven other competitors shaking themselves loss and readying themselves for the race, was down to them entirely. My Family, My Support team, and now my cheering squad, because of them I was here today, I had made it back to the pool. Luke had gone with me to the assessment with Coach James, where we found out that Mia had gone in front of the sports tribunal and had now been banned from any major sporting events, she would never swim for a national team again. Her father had been so disappointed with her that he had written her off as a disgrace until she sorted herself out, and from what I had heard she was actually now working in Wal-Mart. Oh the irony.

But standing here now, there was nothing more anyone could do for me, no one could mess this up for me, it was pure and simply down to me. I knew it didn't matter whether or not I won, I just had to do it.

A nervous shudder ripped through my body as the whistle blew for us to get ready, I cast one final glance at Luke and he smiled that god dammed sexy smile back at me before flicking his head towards the pool for me to pay attention.

And then...it was just the gun...the water...and fifty two seconds to beat, stretching out ahead of me.

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As my fingers touched the wall, it was over. The noise from the crowded was still a muffled hazein the background, the water now slapped aggressively around me, water ran down my face back to its source and my heart raced, beating a million miles an hour, but my eyes slowly moved, following the crowd line seeking the one person I held closest to my heart. They finally landed on him locking with his eyes which were filled with pride, adoration and unconditional, undying love as he bounced around cheering. I let out the breath I was holding and pure relief rushed through me as I watched him. I knew then without seeing anything else, that I had done it, I was going to the Olympics with the man of my dreams ever present at my side.

The End

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