I Love Him, I Love Him Not - 20

Hello peeps! :D

Giselle - Thank you for the wonderfully long comment! I get what you're feeling about Summer's situation... but these things happen in real life. I'm going through a lot of it myself. But don't worry, the whole story won't be like that - things are about to change soon! :)

Ella Jade - I couldn't do that to Gwen! But something shall happen. ;)

Zy - All shall be explained soon! :D

Cleo - Thomas was her first boyfriend and her childhood best friend that said he had to move to Chile. :D

Vani - Summer's happiness coming your way! Her pain is crushing, but Imma make everything better soon. Thank you for commenting!

MINIMAN - Dude, you're back!! Hey! I know what you're on about. I haven't posted recently cuz school is just eating up time. It's okay, you don't have to apologise, I promise I won't go phyco on you guys again. x) Enjoy the rest, and more drama coming your way! :D

Ash M - My life without the powers. You're reading it. ;)

Everyone else - Thank you for commenting! I love all this amazing vibe coming my way! Please keep it coming! :D

P.S - The way I see it, this story is gonna go on for aaaages. Would you like a quick ending, or do you want it to go on as it is? Please comment with your answers! :D

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I watched as he skilfully set up a fire and then a scraggily shelter. He wouldn’t let me help at all, but I set about busily collecting the massive leaves that were lying about and weaving then through with grass, as a sort of canopy to throw over the skeleton of a shack Cole had set up.

I did so, laying blanket after blanket after blanket of leaves over the wood, in hope that if I layered it enough, rain wouldn’t get through. And then I made another blanket, this one taking me ages, plaiting grass through with tiny, soft leaves to make something to cover us at night. I used the basic principle of daisy chains, making a hole and threading stems through them.

When I was done, Cole had set everything else up and was busily trying to light the fire with match after match. I went over to help him, gently blowing on the sparks until we had a full blown flame going.

And then we sat back and watched as all the dead leaves and things caught fire and the stones we had laid around it stopped it from spreading further.

"Do you have any food?" Cole asked, inclining his head slightly towards me. I nodded and rifled through the leather bag that Gwen had given me.

"Yup, Tommy packed me loads." I said, wondering if he would ask about the mysterious boy that I had known from the other world. I would have thought that anyone would be curious about that. But no.
Cole didn’t say anything about Tommy.

"Give me some, please. I’m hungry." He smiled, holding his hands out. I pulled some freshly baked bread out. It was a pretty big loaf, but flat. I ripped it in two and threw one half over to Cole, along with some salted meat that I couldn’t have, because of my being vegetarian and all.

He accepted both gratefully, and then there was silence as we ate. After I had toasted my bread and torn into it, Cole spoke.

"So, are you nervous? About the whole princess thing?" He asked, his voice soft.

"More than you can believe. I just don’t know what to expect. I’m scared, but it hasn’t fully hit me yet." I replied, shrugging as I dusted my hands free of crumbs.

"Yeah. I’d be scared, too." Cole confessed quietly, finishing his last scrap of meat off with limp vigour. Then, in that momentary lapse in conversation, the rain started.

It was light first, enough to make us laugh and act like loons as the fire first flickered and then fizzled out. And it was enough to make Cole stand up and hold his hand out, and then dance about with me stupidly as we both laughed and gasped for breath.

But then the thunderstorm really started.

I knew we shouldn’t have been under trees, but honestly? It was so dark that we couldn’t have made our way out of them if we wanted to.
The rain was beating down on us in heavy pelts, the sky was rumbling dangerously with the promise of thunder and lightening forked like a reptile’s tongue across the bruise coloured clouds.

Cole pulled me under our makeshift shelter. It was pretty good, actually. The rain was too heavy for us to be protected completely, but there was only a drizzle in there. But no matter how much water it may have kept out, it did nothing to keep out the cold.

I wrapped my arms around myself and curled up, shivering – just in time to see the frenzied horses break free of their knots and bolt.
"Oh no!" I cried, pointing to the empty space where the animals had been. "Tawny and Lightening are gone – and Tawny’s leg seemed fine!"

Cole smiled a grim smile. "They’ll be back. And it was probably sheer panic that drove Tawny to run. Horses don’t usually like loud noises, and Tawny’s quite a gentle creature, you know. And now we should probably get to sleep. It’s easier than sitting out this storm awake."

"Yeah. But I’m pretty cold." I was pretty cold. My teeth were chattering, my hair dripping in tendrils around my face, my fingers slowly turning a fetching shade of blue.

"It’s all right." Cole said, seeing how frightening and distressed I looked. "Come here." And then he was pulling me deeper into the back of the shelter, into his arms, into his chest, holding me tightly like he never wanted to let go... which was all right, since I didn’t want him to let go.

I had to remind myself it was all lies. It didn’t feel like a lie. The strong bands of muscles around his arms as he hugged me tight, his wonderful scent, the gentle warmth emanating from him... none of it felt like a lie. But it was. And I had to remember that.

He turned me to face the back of the shelter and lay me down, spooning against my back, protecting me from the waves of rain that found their way into the open faced shack. He had changed into some appropriate clothes back at the inn, and the thick, black cloak that he usually wore around his shoulders was wrapped around me, as well.
He was holding the ends tight together so we were sharing the garment.

I was too aware of him – too aware of the long, lean body pressed up against my back, radiating warmth and care and safety. My skin flushed and I shivered again, snuggling deeper into his locked embrace.

It was strange; our horses were gone, we were lost in the woods, there was a thunderstorm going outside and there could be lord knows how many wild creatures roaming around outside our shelter – and I had never felt safer in my life.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I turned around in his arms so I was facing him. He didn’t seem surprised. His facial expression was impassive, almost calm, as his gaze raked over my face. I frowned slightly, and he leaned forward slightly to press his lips against the wrinkles, smoothing them out. His face came down to my level again, and our noses were touching. His gaze was a searing aquamarine bolt of lightening, but I enjoyed it.

I don’t know how long we stayed there, in that position, just staring into each other’s eyes, before we decided to kiss. It was an unspoken agreement – suddenly, we were moving forward and my lips were parted slightly as I breathed heavily, waiting for him. I saw his eyes close as our lips touched, and then it was the greatest relief, like I had been in horrible pain, and that pain had just eased.

His lips were home to me. I realised that, almost straightaway.
Kissing him was like remembering sitting by the fire with my father, in his lap as he relaxed in the old, tatty velvet armchair, looking up into his sparkling eyes as he talked of magic. I pressed myself closer to him – he circled my waist and pulled me closer against him. My fingers wove through his gorgeous dark hair, twisting themselves securely in.

I rolled onto my back and pulled him on top of me. He kissed me for a minute more, and then stopped, his weight on his elbows that were on either side of me, his breathtaking face just inches away.

"I have a girlfriend." He said, in this ragged, soft voice, like he was trying to convince not me but himself. "This is wrong. This was a mistake."

The words hurt like hell, but I bit my lip to keep the tears in. I had received another awe-inspiring, breathtaking kiss. I could take a few minutes of silence to be thankful. My hand was still in his hair, my fingers absentmindedly playing with his unruly locks.

"Yeah." I finally said, but it came out as a soft little sigh, like my heart was breaking. Which, of course, it was.

"I need to think." Cole said suddenly. He rolled off me and laid the cloak over my suddenly cold body. "I just need some time to think."

I shrugged like it was nothing at all, but my insides were hurting like he had set me on fire and then chucked a truckload of ice over the flame. He looked at me for a second more, and then turned to walk out of the shelter, taking his love, his warmth, and the magic with him.