Stranded | ✓

seven

BECK

It had been 24 hours since I last saw Rory.

I was worried, to say the least. Had she eaten? Did she get hurt some place and couldn't move? Was she attacked or bitten by something?

Being in the dark was slowly killing me. So I decided to go look for her.

I spent the next six hours walking the sandy beaches, searching for any sign of Rory. I was walking close to the tree line, listening in case she was in the dense forest.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw small red dots on the sand, leading out from the forest. My heart leapt into my throat, and I ran as fast as I could along the strait of blood dots. It didn't look like too much, but it still meant that Rory was somewhere hurt.

I ran around a bend, and that was when I saw her. She was sat on the sand, hissing to herself as she wiped something against her leg.

"Fuck. Shit, owwww. Damn." She quietly grunted to herself.

"Rory!" I yelled, rushing to her. Her head shot up at the sound of my voice. She looked down at her leg as I crouched next to her, immediately assessing the damage.

She was tense. I gently put my hand on her uninjured knee. "Loosen up, will you? I'm not going to do anything."

She sighed and slowly relaxed. "You're lucky I can't move right now." She mumbled, avoiding my gaze.

I gave her a look before returning my attention back to her leg. "What happened?"

She grimaced. "Imayhavefallenoutofatree."

I furrowed my brows. "Huh?"

She sighed in exasperation. "I fell out of a tree."

"What the hell, really?"

She sheepishly nodded. "I thought I saw some fruit growing on a tree and I was hungry. I tried to climb the tree but a branch broke and I fell. I think I cut myself on a branch but I'm not sure. Oh, and my ankle really hurts like a bitch."

I shook my head. "Only you, Rory." I opened my bag to get my first aid kit. "But you falling might've saved your life. That fruit could've been poisonous."

"I guess you're right." She mumbled.

I was pretty positive that her ankle was broken. It was massively swollen and discolored, so it was definitely at least fractured. A long gash ran up the side of her lower leg, but thankfully it didn't look too deep.

We spent the next half hour in silence, me tending to her leg and wrapping her ankle, and her just silently watching me. I got deja vu from our first night on the island.

It had been a total of four and a half days that we had been on this island. All we had eaten was fish and the odd snack that we had in our bags. We had only one fire starter left, and then we'd be doomed. I was hoping and praying that someone would come soon. I pushed the thought out of my head, not wanting my worry to show on my face.

I put the last bandage on her leg. "There you go. All done."

"Thank you." She mumbled softly. 

We sat in silence for a good two minutes, the tension between us so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

"Rory, listen--"

"No. I-I shouldn't have said what I said yesterday. It just...It over complicated everything."

I frowned. "Does that mean that you didn't mean it?"

She sat in silence for a moment, her eyes cast down at the sand. "That's why I want us to forget I ever said anything. I did mean it. Very much." 

A wide grin spread on my face, but I quickly bit my lip to hide it. I opened my mouth to speak, but just then, a bright flash of lightning lit the area, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Seconds later, rain was starting to fall upon us. 

"Shit." Rory and I cursed at the same time. 

Acting quick, I put both of our backpacks on my back and lifted Rory bridal style into my arms, rushing into the forest. Rain still poured upon us, but the trees helped to block a lot of it. 

"Where are we going?" Rory asked as I navigated through the forest, following the sticks I had stuck in the ground last night. 

"To the place I slept last night. Its been cloudy for a while so I figured it was going to rain soon so I made a shelter." Just as I finished speaking, we arrived at the small triangle hut that I had made out of large leaves and sticks. The ground underneath was completely dry. 

I carefully put Rory inside, careful not to hurt her leg or ankle. I climbed in after her, wiping the raindrops off of my face. 

Rory just sat there, staring out of the shelter. She spoke her mind a couple moments later. "I don't know what I would do without you. I'd probably be dead for sure." 

I smiled. "Is that all I am to you? Someone to carry you places and catch you food and patch up your injuries?"

She looked at me with a small smile. She softly shook her head. "You're much more than that, Beck."

Her wet hair clung to her cheeks, and I couldn't stop myself from unsticking it, tucking the strands behind her ears. The familiar tingles that I had been feeling for years traveled through each part of my body. Her cheeks turned pink as she breathed out a shaky breath. 

My hands moved to cup her cheeks, my thumbs gently wiping the water off of them. I felt high off of touching her. God, how I missed her. 

"Rory." I rumbled so quietly, I thought she didn't hear. But her eyes darted up to meet mine. They were wide and beautifully green, a color that I had quickly learned to love over the years that I had known her. 

"You have no idea how glad I am that you said all of that stuff yesterday."

She stared at me for a second. "Y-You are?"

I nodded. "At least one of us has the balls to say it." 

She swallowed, and my eyes dropped to her lips. They were parted ever so slightly, and they looked as soft as every. I knew that she had an obsession with lip moisturizers. She never failed to have at least two in her pocket or purse at any given time. I didn't even want to think about how many she had brought on this trip.

I was going to kiss her first, but she beat me to it. She hurriedly raised her head to mine, looking at me for half a second before leaning closer and pressing her soft lips against mine. Her lips tasted like cherries, and I was sure mine tasted like fish because neither of us had any way to brush our teeth the past few days. 

But I didn't care. I had been waiting for this moment ever since I met Rory.

One of her arms went around my neck, her other resting on my stubble covered cheek. My hands dropped to her hips, pulling her closer to me. 

The feeling of kissing her was in describable. Every hair on my body stood at attention, and my fingers ever so slightly tingled out of excitement. My mind was completely blank, concentrating solely on the girl in my arms. My heart was racing harder than ever before. 

We broke apart after both of us were almost completely out of air. I took in one breath before I spoke again. 

"I fucking love you, Rory."

She grinned widely and hugged me tight. "I love you too, Beck."