Chapter Twenty-Four:
April 6, 2002
It's hard to believe it's only been a little over a week since Jordan was sentenced, since that chapter of my life finally came to an end.

So much has happened this week, and I think that my life is slowly beginning to regain some sense of normalcy.

First off, Miguel and I have had a few talks this week—just the two of us. He's apologized over and over (and over) again for how he reacted to the whole Jordan situation. I forgave him, of course. He is, after all, one of my best friends! (and, no, no more punches were necessary!)

Anyhow, Reese told me a few days ago that he was going to take me swimming today. Naturally, the thought of seeing my gorgeous boyfriend in a swimsuit was rather appealing. (Can you blame me??)

We ended up having a wonderful day filled with fantastic memories. I am certain that I will remember this day as long as I live…

"You ready for a swim?" Kay asked as soon as she sighted the rolling waves of the ocean. Immediately, she dropped her towel and shirt on the sand, slipped out of her sandals, and broke into a run. The water looked so welcoming, so refreshing! She couldn't wait to go for a quick dip!

But a swim wouldn't be much fun without Reese there beside her. Thinking quickly, she realized that he had never been one to back down from a competition.

"I'll race you there!" she shouted back to him as she neared the water. As she had predicted, she heard some objects fall into the sand before she heard the pounding of his feet hot on her tail.

As she neared the water, she remembered that it was still April—the water would be freezing! She didn't really want to swim in it anymore… but she had to admit she would enjoy Reese's reaction when he hit the waves!

Formulating a quick plan, she gradually began to slow her pace slightly so it would barely be noticeable. Stealing quick glances at the man behind her, Kay realized that he was gaining on her—and he still looked as determined to win as ever!

As he closed within a few feet of the surf, she was still a step ahead of him, but he dived into the waves while shouting, "I win!"

Yes! It had worked!

As Reese pulled his muscular body out from the waves, Kay noticed the small goosebumps popping up all over his skin. Even though she felt bad that he was freezing, she couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny, Kay?" Reese asked as he combed his hair out of his eyes with his fingers.

"N—nothing," she gasped.

"Kay, you're looking a little warm. Here, let me help you cool off," Reese offered with a twinkle in his eye as he approached her.

"N—no!" Kay cried out between chuckles, as she backed away from him. He was going to get her wet! She couldn't let him!

But she couldn't get away quick enough. In mere moments, Reese had her in his arms as he was quickly striding back into the raging surf. He was going to throw her into the ocean! She had just expected him to hug her or something and get her wet with all of the water droplets that were forming on his lightly tanned skin. With a smirk, he lost his grip on her as she fell beneath the waves.

Ooooh, he was going to pay for that! But how?

She racked her brain as she struggled to surface, but it was of no avail.

Then, it came to her.

She would hide from him! She'd swim away, being sure to stay under water, until he became worried and came back to search for her. Then, she would sneak up behind him and launch a sneak attack Kay Bennett style!

She heard muffled splashes as Reese ran back into the water. It was working! Her plan was really working! Just a little farther and she'd have him right where she wanted him!!

Silently, she surfaced and found herself directly behind Reese. Without a sound, she pushed downward on his back with both hands, shoving him under the water.

Splash!

Quickly, she ran back to the shore so she would be out of reach once he realized what had happened.

She kept an eye on him though, and soon saw him pull his head out of the waves, spitting the salty water from his mouth.

She saw the look of confusion on his face and couldn't help but gloat. "Score one for Kay!"

With a war-like cry, Reese pulled himself from the water and ran towards the woman who was taunting him on the beach. That was certainly something she hadn't been expecting. Moments later, Kay found herself on the ground, pinned beneath Reese's strong body.

"Who's got the upper hand now?" he asked smugly.

While the close proximity of their bodies was fogging her mind slightly, she still had enough coherence to try to beat Reese at this game. Immediately, Kay wrenched her right arm free and laid it on his back. "Me," she replied with a smirk.

Reese grinned and slowly lowered his mouth to hers. In anticipation for their kiss, Kay's eyes instinctively shut. At that exact moment, Reese stood up and slung Kay over his shoulder.

"Reese Durkee, what do you think you are doing???" Kay cried out, as soon as she realized that Reese's lips were not about to meet hers. This wasn't what she had expected at all! She beat her fists on his back, hoping that that would make him put her down.

It didn't work. Instead, Reese ignored her pleas and complaints and rather gathered up the things they had dropped when they had begun their race to the sea.

"Relax, Kay. It's a surprise. Just be patient, and you'll find out in a moment."

"Durkee, you know damn well that I am not a patient person," Kay glowered.

"Yeah, I know… but this time, you'll have no choice but to just wait it out."

Kay sighed loudly. Reese apparently wasn't aware of it, but this little trick of his had just decreased his chances of moving past first base from probable to that of a snowball's chance in hell. This surprise had better be good—or else he was going to be lonely for quite awhile.

~*~

Gradually, Kay noticed that Reese's pace was slowing down. Perhaps they were finally approaching wherever he had planned on taking her. When she heard the things that Reese had grabbed hit the ground, she knew that they were almost there. As she prepared to stand up and yell at Reese for doing that, she felt herself falling through the air.

He wouldn't… he couldn't… not again!! He wouldn't throw her in the freezing ocean yet again—would he???

As she felt the liquid begin cover her body and soak into her clothes she knew that he had.

"Reese Michael Dur—" she began to scream, before she realized that this wasn't the ocean that she was swimming in. This water was warm—it was nothing like the ice water of the ocean.

Slowly, she shifted her weight so she was floating face up in the water. Ok, so maybe Reese had been right—the wait had been worth it.

"Reese, where are we?" Kay asked as she looked around them. She had had no idea such a beautiful place had existed in all of Harmony. She was floating in a small pond that was surrounded on three sides by many tall, hearty trees. On the other side, a sandstone bluff seemed to reach for the sky.

"To my knowledge, this pond is not mapped anywhere. I found it a few years back when I was researching Harmony's wildlife. It is a tributary of a hot spring, and this pond eventually drains into the ocean."

"Wow," Kay said softly. It looked like Reese's overachieving had finally come in handy. After all, anything that had allowed for the discovery of such a wonderful place…

Splash!

"Hey!" Kay sputtered, after Reese cannonballed into the water, forcing her to tread water.

"You hungry?" Reese asked as he quickly swam over to tread beside her.

"Food??" Kay asked, her stomach growling. "If you have food, I'll forget all about you snatching me from the ground and carrying me all this way like some invalid!"

Reese grinned, as he swam for the cliff. "Follow me then, Kay, and I'll lead you to the food."

Curiously, Kay wondered why Reese was heading straight for the bluff. She knew better than to doubt his sense of direction, but how could he have possibly hidden the food in a sheet of solid rock??

As his body began to emerge from the water, Kay realized that he must have dropped a rope down from the cliff. But if he expected her to climb up the bluff, he had to be crazy.

As Kay continued to watch him climb the rope, she couldn't help but feel a bit dazed at the appealing view he provided her with. As Reese climbed, she was able to see his muscles ripple and tense, reminding her yet again what a sexy body he had.

Even she had to admit that Miguel, the man that she'd proclaimed to love for so many years, certainly didn't have muscles that were as well-defined as Reese's. For such a "nerd," he certainly didn't have the stereotypical body of one!

As he continued his ascent, Kay shamelessly ogled every inch of his chiseled physique—after all, the man was her boyfriend!

Her boyfriend… she still found it hard to believe that a man as wonderful as Reese wanted someone as messed up as her—but he did. She still kept expecting to wake up and find that all of it had simply been nothing but a dream.

"Kay!" Reese called down from the top of the cliff, forcing her out of her reverie. "Are you coming up, or do I get to eat all of this food myself?"

"Can't you bring some down here?" Kay asked. She really wasn't looking forward to that long climb.

"Kay, it's not that difficult," Reese informed her. "There's footholds the whole way up, and if you need, I can always pull you up once you get closer to the top."

She would not need him to pull her up! Was he suggesting that she was weak?

There was nothing that motivated her better than someone implying that she wasn't strong enough to handle something, and this was something that she would just have to conquer—if only to prove to Reese that she wasn't a weakling!

Running mostly on pure adrenaline, Kay powered up the cliff, quickly pulling herself up the rocky face until she met Reese's playful smirk.

"See? I told you that you could do it," he teased, before leaning in for a kiss.

Kay ducked out of his embrace. "My ass you did! You all but said that I wouldn't be able to make it without your help!"

Reese chuckled heartily. "It got you up here, didn't it?" He leaned in again to kiss her, but again she avoided his lips.

"C'mon, Kay-kins," Reese pleaded piteously. "I'm sorry, ok? You know that I believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. I only said that to motivate you, sweetie!"

"Oh, all right," Kay grumbled. "On one condition…"

"Name it."

"Never call me Kay-kins again."

Reese laughed. "If you insist… although I must admit that I think that the name suits you rather well."

Kay couldn't help but laugh after that last comment of his. After their laughter had subsided, she asked the question that had caused them to climb up here in the first place. "So, Reese, where is this food you were talking about?"

~*~

"Reese, can I borrow your air mattress?" Kay asked sweetly later that night, batting her eyelashes at him.

Reese stifled a laugh. "You should've brought your own, Kay," he reminded her.

"I thought we were going swimming the in the ocean," Kay pouted. "C'mon, Reese! Please? Can't we at least share?"

Reese raised an eyebrow at her. She knew that what she was suggesting was virtually impossible, but she was certain that if she could gain at least partial control of the mattress, she would be able to wrestle it away from Reese in the end.

This time though, Reese didn't even attempt to mask his laughter. "Are you serious? You want to try to share an air mattress? It would never work, Kay!"

Kay raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying that I'm fat?"

She knew that he meant nothing of the sort, but she certainly wasn't above attempting to guilt him into giving it to her. As smart as Reese was, he was very sensitive to her feelings—sometimes too sensitive. With any luck, getting the mattress from him would be easier than shooting fish in the proverbial barrel.

"Kay, of course not!" Reese insisted. "I think you're gorgeous—you know that. You're sexy, irresistible, beautiful… however you want to say it."

"Fat?" Kay asked, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing. This was so easy—almost too easy.

"Kay, you're not fat!" he repeated. "Why would you think that?"

"You won't let me up on the air mattress with you," she pouted, practicing her acting skills once again. "You think that I'm so fat that it won't be able to support all of our weight."

Reese groaned. "Fine. You want to try to share it? We can try, but you can't just climb on. We need to try to keep your weight centered so we don't slip into the water." He paused for a moment, apparently trying to come up with a plan. "Ok, I've got it. Get onto the shore. I'll paddle over near you, and then you can just gently ease yourself onto the mattress. Sound good?"

Kay nodded, as she was formulating a plan of her own. Reese would attempt to share the raft with her—she knew that much. But she also knew that if either of them was to fall off it would probably be her since she'd be in the most unstable position—on top.

Quickly, she swam to the shore and climbed out. She watched carefully as Reese paddled the raft over, as he had promised.

"Ok, Kay," he began. "Now, carefully climb onto the raft."

But Kay did no such thing. Rather, she cannonballed into the water, right beside the raft, submerging within inches of Reese. While she was under water, she swam underneath the raft before coming up and shoving the air mattress out from under Reese.

"Oh, shit," Kay heard Reese utter as he flew off the mattress and submerged in the water himself.

Kay climbed onto the air mattress, quickly trying to determine on which side Reese would surface so she could attempt to defend against his impending attack.

With a gasp, Kay felt arms encircle her waist. Reese had come up behind her, and she hadn't even heard him!

As his fingers began to roam her stomach, Kay couldn't stop herself from giggling. It wasn't her fault that Reese knew just the right places in which to tickle her!

Kay's laughter was contagious, and soon Reese began chuckling as well. Kay turned her head to beg him to stop when she realized just how close their bodies were at that moment.

"What do you say we end this water war and climb back onto the shore," Reese proposed, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Mutely, Kay nodded her agreement. At that moment all that she could think of was placing her lips on Reese's own and kissing him senseless.

The moment that both had their feet firmly planted on solid ground, Kay pulled him to her and captured his lips in a searing kiss. Barely a second had passed before Kay's tongue traced his lips, demanding entrance to his mouth. Willingly, he parted his lips, allowing their tongues to dance in the moonlight.

Kay's hands roamed his chest, memorizing every inch of his body. Slowly, her hands began to reach for the waistband of his swim trunks, gently tugging at the elastic.

At that moment, Reese pulled his lips from hers and stepped back. Kay couldn't stop the moan that escaped her lips, as she felt cold without his warm body against her own.

"Kay," Reese began softly, "I think that we should be taking things just a little bit slower. I mean, I love you and everything, but I—I don't know if we're ready to go that far yet. Hell, I don't think that I'm ready to go that far yet."

At first, Kay was shocked—and hurt. The fact that he didn't seem to want her was what was resonating the most in her mind.

But then, she realized that he was right. She wasn't ready for that—and neither were they. They were simply getting caught up in the moment, and once Kay realized that, she thanked God that Reese had had the good sense to put a halt to things before they had gone too far.

Slowly, she nodded. "You're right, Reese," she confessed quietly. "We do need to take things slow."

Reese grinned, as he reached out to grab her hand. "I'm glad that you agree, Kay. Besides, I know what we can do to occupy ourselves next."

Curiously, Kay watched him pick up the air mattress and lead her towards the surrounding woods. "Where are we heading?"

"To the top of the bluff," he replied with a smirk.

Playfully, Kay hit his arm. "Why didn't you tell me that there was a path up to the top?"

He grinned. "And miss seeing you climb up the rope? Are you crazy?"

They shared a laugh, as Kay disentangled her hand from his so that she could snake her arm around his back. Instinctively, he wrapped his free arm around her own waist.

Resting her head against Reese's strong chest, Kay sighed loudly. Reese certainly was the perfect man for her—too bad that was a fact that had taken her years to realize.

~*~

"So that's Pegasus?" Kay asked as she squinted up at the starlit sky.

"No," Reese replied, reaching up to shift her arm slightly to the right. "That was Ursa Major. That's Pegasus."

Kay curled further into Reese's embrace and tried to find the constellation he was attempting to show her.

"Oh!" she cried out in joy. "That horse-bird thing?"

Reese stifled a laugh. "Yeah, the 'horse-bird' thing. Pegasus is a horse that has wings—she can fly. She was born when Heracles cut of the heads of the Typhon. She sprung forth from his blood. Anyhow, according to Greek mythology, Athena borrowed Pegasus to Perseus so that he could kill Medusa and save Andromeda…"

Kay nodded her head, trying to follow the stories that Reese was sharing with her. She had never had an interest in stargazing or in learning about ancient myths, but for some reason, tonight everything was different. Perhaps she had matured since she'd last gone and looked up at the night sky. Perhaps she had just never heard myths that had interested her.

But, more likely than not, Reese was the one who was making everything so entertaining for her. It almost seemed as if he had a way of making anything interesting. After all, since she had confessed her feelings for him, she couldn't remember having a dull day.

Oh, sure, she had had days that had been trying or just plain awful, but Reese had always found a way to make her smile. He gave her small gifts. He said just the right things. He just… was.

Reese Durkee added a dimension to her life that she had never known had existed. He exposed her to new experiences and was always able to make her laugh. In short, he made her happier than she had ever hoped that she could be.

She was in love with him, and she couldn't help but hope that their love would be one that would stand the test of time.