~Hey Everyone…OK, here's the deal for now…I am going to continue posting
here until the deadline. There is a (very slight) chance that I will be
able to finish by then, but seeing as it's the end of the semester and
everything is crazy busy now, that's not likely. Soooo…as for starting a
website, it's a good idea, but I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to
invest that kind of time. However, I would like to put this story up
someplace permanent, and I'd like to thank everyone who has offered to host
it for me. Ok, you can laugh at me if you want, but I have to admit…I have
no idea how that happens…how do I get it to your site (cutefaramir and
anyone else who would want to have it)? Also, I would definitely be willing
to email out chapters as well if people would like that, and I do like your
idea about creating an email ring for it, Princess Destiny Babe. So
basically, it will be here til the deadline, but being a complete computer
retard (pretty pathetic for a college student, I know!) I'm definitely
going to need you guys' help on figuring out all the details for what
happens after that! ~
~oh, and by the way…I BROKE 100!!!! Thank you all so much, I love you! I never thought writing this would be so gratifying, I'm really happy that you are all enjoying it so much!!!~
~katy (yes you get a note again!)…I will definitely consider writing a Merry fic…hopefully some inspiration will come for that…
~finally, one last little note…Reilly is not me, but we do have a few things in common, one of which is that we both sail…so excuse me in this chapter for my tendency to have her go on and on in technical terms; what can I say, my summer job is teaching rich little brats to sail, it just comes out! (Oh, and don't let it turn you off, keep reading, it's a relatively important chapter! ;-) )~
-Drendel
Chapter 20: Sailing Lessons
"You know…somehow…I always imagined…sailing as…being…relaxing!" Dom managed to grunt out breathlessly as he threw his body to the opposite side of the tiny racing sailboat ("an FJ", Reilly had called it), clinging tightly to the wet piece of rope Reilly had told him he was in charge of ("the jib sheet" she had explained). Sitting up on the rail opposite him, Reilly laughed.
"No way baby, sailing is hardcore! This thing flies, none of that pansy-assed pleasure cruising for me!" she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and Dom grinned at her. The sun had been kind…it seemed to absolutely adore her, and her skin glowed bronze and dewy, leading her usually dark blue eyes to appear much lighter and brighter…they looked almost azure in the blinding sunlight. Dom let his eyes run over her appreciatively…she wore short khaki shorts and a white tank top under her red life jacket, and her tanned, toned calves and upper arms were an extremely pleasing sight that he hadn't gotten much of back in chilly old England. He let out a breath slowly. Damn.
"Hey! What are you doing up there? See something you want? Pay attention!" Reilly snapped teasingly as the jib sail began to luff in the wind. Dom quickly faced forward and trimmed it in, surprised to feel a slight blush creeping into his cheeks. "Ok!" Reilly yelled, suddenly excited. "There's a puff of wind…do you see where the water looks darker over there? That's where we wanna go to catch it! Ready…prepare to tack…" Dom had no clue what she was talking about, he just pulled his line and moved when she told him. "Tacking! Now! Watch for the main!" Dom waited until he heard the big metal rod ("the boom" according to Reilly) that the bigger sail she was controlling was attached to ("the mainsail") swing across the boat, then he yanked the jib sheet, bringing the jib over alongside the mainsail, and the boat turned. "Quick, quick, get up here! Next to me!" Dom jumped quickly up onto the rail next to Reilly as the boat heeled over to one side and their sails filled with wind. "Yeeeaaahhhh!" Reilly yelled happily beside him as they took off, arching their backs over the side of the boat to keep it from tipping ("hiking out" Reilly explained) while they flew through the water. "Ok, prepare to crash tack!" Reilly shouted. "This is gonna hurt…in the funnest possible way!" Dom's eyes widened as Reilly jerked the tiller. "Tacking!" He groaned as he leapt down from the rail, searching frantically for the opposite jib sheet, and slammed himself into the side of the boat as it turned.
"Ouch," he muttered, rubbing his shoulder as the boat flattened out and nearly stopped altogether in the very light downwind breeze.
"Damn, we missed it on the turnaround!" Reilly pouted, then momentarily dropped her tiller and mainsail and slipped off the rail and into the boat where he sat and hugged him tightly. "That was great! I'm so proud!" Dom laughed as he returned her hug.
"Sailing is painful!" he announced, pointing to the darkening bruise on his shoulder and the ones on his shins from banging into that thing he had to straddle ("the centerboard"…Reilly appreciated the use of terminology). Reilly laughed, and rubbed his shoulder gently.
"Yeah," she agreed, looking down at her own black and blue legs, then standing up and tugging at the sides of her shorts, pulling them down enough for him to see her bruised hipbones. "But aren't they kind of sexy?" she winked jokingly. Dom tried not to drool. Definitely, he thought to himself. To her, he raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I suppose it's what you get for letting a woman drive you around!" he announced, nodding to Reilly's position as skipper. Her jaw dropped.
"Excuse me, but did you just say that?!" she demanded incredulously. He laughed as she lunged at him, pinning him back up against the mast.
"Since when are you a feminist, Ri?" he asked her, then yelped, laughing, as she slipped her hands under his lifejacket to tickle him.
"Since you said THAT!" she giggled as he squirmed and tried to escape her hands. He wore just a pair of khaki shorts, no shirt under his lifejacket, and she found herself immensely enjoying the feeling of his tight muscles beneath her hands. Whoa, Ri, she told herself, and relented, sitting back in the boat as their sails flapped in the wind.
"So you wanna drive or what, then?" she asked him, and he nodded excitedly.
"Yeah! Enough of this sitting up here doing nothing!" he replied, and Reilly's eyes widened.
"Um, excuse me!" she retorted indignantly. "I crew in races, and for your information, the crew does 99% of the work in a sailboat! They're almost completely in charge of speed and weight shifting, not to mention the fact that it's their job to watch the wind, count down starts, and be the eyes of the boat! All the skipper really has to do is steer, and tell the crew when to tack and jibe! And even then, the crew sometimes calls tacks!" She finished firmly, with her arms folded across her chest. Dom laughed and raised his hands.
"Ok, ok, I give in! I wasn't knocking your incredible abilities as a crew, Ri!" Then he grinned. "So I was doing all of those things, huh?" Her eyes shining wickedly, Reilly shook her head.
"No. But in theory you should have been!" she squealed as Dom took his turn attacking her.
"Alright," he said finally, pushing her up to the front of the boat and grabbing the tiller extension with one hand and the mainsail lines with the other. "Let me show you how it's done!" Reilly laughed as she picked up the jib sheets.
"Go for it, kid," she told him, knowing full well how ridiculously people tended to steer sailboats on their first try.
"See, I got this!" Dom announced proudly after they had been coasting smoothly and slowly in a straight line for a few minutes. Reilly smiled encouragingly at him.
"You're doing great!" Then she faked a dramatic yawn, and pointed over to the left. "But see that wind over there? Maybe if we tacked any time soon, we could catch it and start, um, moving?" Dom stuck his tongue out at her.
"Yeah, yeah, I knew that!" he retorted as she rolled her eyes. "Tacking!" he yelled, imitating her accent. Reilly heard the boom slam across the boat and felt it lurch. Knowing Dom had oversteered, she instinctively dropped her lines and hauled herself up onto the side of the boat that was now vertical in it's capsized state.
Dom popped out of the water, sputtering, and glared at Reilly where she sat straddled atop the boat, laughing hysterically at him. "Any more comments about women skippers, sweetheart?" she giggled, and he made a face.
"Alright, alright. What do we do now? And how the hell are you not in the water with me?!" he demanded. Reilly grinned as she swung her legs over the side of the boat to stand on the centerboard protruding from the bottom.
"It's called dry rolling…the boat rolls, but you don't. Ok, I'll pull down and you lift under the sails and push up." Dom nodded, and they had the boat righted in a couple of seconds. Grabbing the hiking strap inside, Dom hauled himself back in, and sat breathless and dripping, and glared again at a still-laughing Reilly. "That was classic, Dom…you realize I am going to tell everyone – oh!" Reilly's teasing smile disappeared as she noticed Dom rubbing the side of his head, a look of pain on his face. "You got whacked by the boom on the way down, didn't you?" Wincing, Dom glanced up at the heavy metal rod, now calm in their drifting state.
"I guess so…just must not have noticed right away with all of the commotion," he gave her a small smile, then leaned gratefully against her when she opened her arms, her eyes concerned.
"Poor baby, I'm sorry…" she said softly as she stroked his damp hair and gently touched the sore spot. "Do you want to go in? Do you need some ice?" she asked him. He shook his head.
"Nah, I'll be alright, it's too beautiful out here to go in right now." He gazed around at the endless blue water surrounding them, glittering as the brilliant sun hit it. "Can we just take it easy for a bit?" he asked, and felt her nod.
"Of course!" she replied, and placed a soft kiss on the darkening bruise on the side of his head. Smiling up at her, he tossed her a charming grin.
"Now it's better," he winked, and she laughed as he sat up and cradled her against him. "I was starting to feel less manly with the positions reversed like that!" he explained. She didn't argue, just curled herself against him, closing her eyes and turning her face to the sun as he softly rubbed her arm.
"We're going to be sore tomorrow," she murmured a few minutes later with her eyes still closed. "You especially," she added, and Dom growled.
"Nuh-uh, I'm tough!" he announced, and she laughed softly.
"Just you wait! You just used muscles you didn't know could work so hard for anything, except, well…" she trailed her fingers slowly along the inside if his thigh, his eyes widening. He felt his heart slam against his chest at her touch and had to focus entirely on thinking of something to say.
"Oh…those muscles," he replied. "Well it's a good thing you've done this before, you must be an expert on how to alleviate such…soreness," he winked down at her and she laughed.
"Dom?" she asked a little while later.
"Yes, love?" he replied with his eyes closed. He felt her hesitate, and opened them, tilting her face upward. "Ri?" he removed her grey Abercrombie baseball hat so he could see her eyes. "What is it?" She shrugged, then began tentatively.
"Um…you know…that night, that you guys came to my house?" she rushed the words, then continued so that he would remember the part she was thinking of and not the more instantly memorable events of that night. "When we had that talk…and you told me how you see me?" He nodded, searching her face. "I was just…wondering…if it's changed at all…I mean…since…well…I just mean, everything you said I was…am I still…or did I, um, ruin anything?" She bit her lip as she finished, and the nervousness in her eyes melted him. He shook his head.
"No," he replied honestly. "I see you the same as I always have…though, it has become apparent that I must also now see you as a decidedly terrible sailing instructor!" Relieved, Reilly laughed and swatted playfully at him.
Clearing his throat, Dom spoke up again quietly. "You know…you never told me how you see me," his heart fell when Reilly looked away for a moment. Soon enough, though, she turned back, and her blue eyes shone with a light that he had never seen before.
"I was thinking the other day, about how I have to leave soon," she began. "I don't just mean leave here," she added, indicating to their surroundings. "I mean…in less than two months, I won't live in London anymore…and I'll go back home…to America…across the ocean," she paused, looking down from his gaze as her voice faltered slightly. "And I don't want to go!" she exclaimed, and then laughed at herself as tears formed in her eyes and clung to her lashes. Dom stroked her cheek with his thumb, never taking his eyes off of hers, as she continued. "When I came to London I figured I wouldn't want to leave when the time came, but I thought it would be because I wouldn't want to go back to the life I had…where I was just living for other people and their expectations. But now that I realize I don't have to do that, I see how wonderful life…my life…really is. And that I can't complain about being Reilly Scott, because my whole life has been so blessed, so lucky…and I can't take that for granted. But…" she laughed again as her tears won the battle she'd been waging with them and spilled over her cheeks. "I'm such a dork," she told him, half-laughing, half-crying. He shook his head and gave her a little smile, then gently kissed the tears off each cheek. She stared up at him, almost in awe, and shook her head a little. "But then there's you," she breathed. "You're why I want to cry every time I think about leaving…for everything I love about the life I've had this past year, you're the one thing I don't know how I'm going to let go of. I don't know how to live without you…because you give it right back to me twice as hard when I tease you, and most guys are too scared about hurting a girl's feelings to do that…because you kiss me when I cry and then I don't remember why I could have possibly been crying when I have you in my life…because you listen to every word I say and you care about them all," Dom smiled as she repeated the line he had said to her that night that seemed like forever ago. "Because…" she took a breath. "Because I came to London to see what was beyond Reilly Scott…and it was you." She looked up at him with wide eyes. "That's how I see you," she said quietly.
Dom watched her turn her face back out towards the ocean, and he gently tugged on her sunstreaked ponytail. "I want you to forget why you were crying," he whispered, and he ran his hand over her jawline and cheek, then brought her face up to his and kissed her. He did it softly, but he felt it with all of him, a wave of emotion running through him. He pulled back tentatively to see her reaction.
"Well," she breathed, her eyes huge. "That took you long enough!" His eyes widened incredulously and his jaw nearly slammed into the bottom of the boat.
"Me?! It took ME long enough? What are you talking about?!" Reilly shook her head, dumbfounded.
"What, did you expect me to make the first move? No way, that's the guy's job!" she announced, and Dom laughed.
"Where are your feminist tendencies now?!" he demanded and she laughed as well.
"Call me old-fashioned…oh, you idiot! Do you know I've been waiting for you to do that since the night before I left for break? When we danced, and then Billy…agh!" she burst out, and Dom's eyes nearly fell out of his head, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Yeah? Well, that's nothing, I've wanted to do it since that first day you held my hand…nurse Reilly!" Reilly stared back.
"Then why didn't you?!" she nearly exploded.
"Hello, you were otherwise occupied, remember Tristan? Oh and then let's not forget that you did seem to have other…uh…distractions after him too!" Reilly's eyes widened.
"Well maybe if you had just done that, I wouldn't have! Oh my God! This is ridiculous! We are such morons! We…" Dom broke in on her rambling, taking her face in both his hands. Only Reilly and I could turn this into a ridiculous stream of banter, he thought to himself as he pressed a finger against her lips and ordered:
"Shut up, Reilly! You're ruining this romantic moment!" He kissed her again, harder, and felt her melt against him, leaning desperately into his kiss. Breaking apart, she laughed breathlessly.
"I wasn't aware you were so romantic!"
Pushing her down farther into the boat, he winked at her. "Yeah, well…OK, I'm not!" He was on her again, stealing her breath and tearing at the clips on her lifejacket that were preventing him from feeling her against him.
"Hey!" she gasped breathlessly in between kisses. "You're breaking the cardinal lifejacket rule of sailing!" He told her to shut up again, tossing her lifejacket away and then helping her get his off. He shuddered in pleasure as finally, FINALLY, he felt her arms around him in something more than a friendly embrace. Reilly gasped beneath him as he let his hands wander up underneath her tank top and roam over her back. She gripped the back of his head tightly with one hand and ran the other over his back, never wanting to let his lips break from hers.
"We've got to get off this thing!" Dom announced breathlessly after whacking his shin on the centerboard for the upteenth time. Sitting up beside him, Reilly agreed. Then…
"Dom?" his heart thudded as he saw the frightened look in her eyes. "Yeah?" he whispered back, swiping some loose strands of hair from her eyes. "Is…is this right? I just…I don't want to lose you," she looked up at him imploringly, and he relaxed and held her close to him.
"Oh Reilly…it's not right, it's absolutely perfect. And," he added, grinning as he looked around the little sailboat. "I think we've established that I'm clearly not able to sail away on this thing, so I wouldn't worry about me going anywhere!" Reilly began to giggle, and within seconds it appeared that it was uncontrollable, as her laughter grew louder and her cheeks flushed. Dom looked confused.
"Ok, I know I'm funny as hell, but really Ri, that one wasn't THAT good," he told her, and she shook her head, trying to stop laughing to speak.
"No. it's not that," she managed to gasp. "I was just thinking…the look on Emma and Trish's faces…we so need a camera for when we inform them of how our day of… um, sailing was!"
~oh, and by the way…I BROKE 100!!!! Thank you all so much, I love you! I never thought writing this would be so gratifying, I'm really happy that you are all enjoying it so much!!!~
~katy (yes you get a note again!)…I will definitely consider writing a Merry fic…hopefully some inspiration will come for that…
~finally, one last little note…Reilly is not me, but we do have a few things in common, one of which is that we both sail…so excuse me in this chapter for my tendency to have her go on and on in technical terms; what can I say, my summer job is teaching rich little brats to sail, it just comes out! (Oh, and don't let it turn you off, keep reading, it's a relatively important chapter! ;-) )~
-Drendel
Chapter 20: Sailing Lessons
"You know…somehow…I always imagined…sailing as…being…relaxing!" Dom managed to grunt out breathlessly as he threw his body to the opposite side of the tiny racing sailboat ("an FJ", Reilly had called it), clinging tightly to the wet piece of rope Reilly had told him he was in charge of ("the jib sheet" she had explained). Sitting up on the rail opposite him, Reilly laughed.
"No way baby, sailing is hardcore! This thing flies, none of that pansy-assed pleasure cruising for me!" she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and Dom grinned at her. The sun had been kind…it seemed to absolutely adore her, and her skin glowed bronze and dewy, leading her usually dark blue eyes to appear much lighter and brighter…they looked almost azure in the blinding sunlight. Dom let his eyes run over her appreciatively…she wore short khaki shorts and a white tank top under her red life jacket, and her tanned, toned calves and upper arms were an extremely pleasing sight that he hadn't gotten much of back in chilly old England. He let out a breath slowly. Damn.
"Hey! What are you doing up there? See something you want? Pay attention!" Reilly snapped teasingly as the jib sail began to luff in the wind. Dom quickly faced forward and trimmed it in, surprised to feel a slight blush creeping into his cheeks. "Ok!" Reilly yelled, suddenly excited. "There's a puff of wind…do you see where the water looks darker over there? That's where we wanna go to catch it! Ready…prepare to tack…" Dom had no clue what she was talking about, he just pulled his line and moved when she told him. "Tacking! Now! Watch for the main!" Dom waited until he heard the big metal rod ("the boom" according to Reilly) that the bigger sail she was controlling was attached to ("the mainsail") swing across the boat, then he yanked the jib sheet, bringing the jib over alongside the mainsail, and the boat turned. "Quick, quick, get up here! Next to me!" Dom jumped quickly up onto the rail next to Reilly as the boat heeled over to one side and their sails filled with wind. "Yeeeaaahhhh!" Reilly yelled happily beside him as they took off, arching their backs over the side of the boat to keep it from tipping ("hiking out" Reilly explained) while they flew through the water. "Ok, prepare to crash tack!" Reilly shouted. "This is gonna hurt…in the funnest possible way!" Dom's eyes widened as Reilly jerked the tiller. "Tacking!" He groaned as he leapt down from the rail, searching frantically for the opposite jib sheet, and slammed himself into the side of the boat as it turned.
"Ouch," he muttered, rubbing his shoulder as the boat flattened out and nearly stopped altogether in the very light downwind breeze.
"Damn, we missed it on the turnaround!" Reilly pouted, then momentarily dropped her tiller and mainsail and slipped off the rail and into the boat where he sat and hugged him tightly. "That was great! I'm so proud!" Dom laughed as he returned her hug.
"Sailing is painful!" he announced, pointing to the darkening bruise on his shoulder and the ones on his shins from banging into that thing he had to straddle ("the centerboard"…Reilly appreciated the use of terminology). Reilly laughed, and rubbed his shoulder gently.
"Yeah," she agreed, looking down at her own black and blue legs, then standing up and tugging at the sides of her shorts, pulling them down enough for him to see her bruised hipbones. "But aren't they kind of sexy?" she winked jokingly. Dom tried not to drool. Definitely, he thought to himself. To her, he raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I suppose it's what you get for letting a woman drive you around!" he announced, nodding to Reilly's position as skipper. Her jaw dropped.
"Excuse me, but did you just say that?!" she demanded incredulously. He laughed as she lunged at him, pinning him back up against the mast.
"Since when are you a feminist, Ri?" he asked her, then yelped, laughing, as she slipped her hands under his lifejacket to tickle him.
"Since you said THAT!" she giggled as he squirmed and tried to escape her hands. He wore just a pair of khaki shorts, no shirt under his lifejacket, and she found herself immensely enjoying the feeling of his tight muscles beneath her hands. Whoa, Ri, she told herself, and relented, sitting back in the boat as their sails flapped in the wind.
"So you wanna drive or what, then?" she asked him, and he nodded excitedly.
"Yeah! Enough of this sitting up here doing nothing!" he replied, and Reilly's eyes widened.
"Um, excuse me!" she retorted indignantly. "I crew in races, and for your information, the crew does 99% of the work in a sailboat! They're almost completely in charge of speed and weight shifting, not to mention the fact that it's their job to watch the wind, count down starts, and be the eyes of the boat! All the skipper really has to do is steer, and tell the crew when to tack and jibe! And even then, the crew sometimes calls tacks!" She finished firmly, with her arms folded across her chest. Dom laughed and raised his hands.
"Ok, ok, I give in! I wasn't knocking your incredible abilities as a crew, Ri!" Then he grinned. "So I was doing all of those things, huh?" Her eyes shining wickedly, Reilly shook her head.
"No. But in theory you should have been!" she squealed as Dom took his turn attacking her.
"Alright," he said finally, pushing her up to the front of the boat and grabbing the tiller extension with one hand and the mainsail lines with the other. "Let me show you how it's done!" Reilly laughed as she picked up the jib sheets.
"Go for it, kid," she told him, knowing full well how ridiculously people tended to steer sailboats on their first try.
"See, I got this!" Dom announced proudly after they had been coasting smoothly and slowly in a straight line for a few minutes. Reilly smiled encouragingly at him.
"You're doing great!" Then she faked a dramatic yawn, and pointed over to the left. "But see that wind over there? Maybe if we tacked any time soon, we could catch it and start, um, moving?" Dom stuck his tongue out at her.
"Yeah, yeah, I knew that!" he retorted as she rolled her eyes. "Tacking!" he yelled, imitating her accent. Reilly heard the boom slam across the boat and felt it lurch. Knowing Dom had oversteered, she instinctively dropped her lines and hauled herself up onto the side of the boat that was now vertical in it's capsized state.
Dom popped out of the water, sputtering, and glared at Reilly where she sat straddled atop the boat, laughing hysterically at him. "Any more comments about women skippers, sweetheart?" she giggled, and he made a face.
"Alright, alright. What do we do now? And how the hell are you not in the water with me?!" he demanded. Reilly grinned as she swung her legs over the side of the boat to stand on the centerboard protruding from the bottom.
"It's called dry rolling…the boat rolls, but you don't. Ok, I'll pull down and you lift under the sails and push up." Dom nodded, and they had the boat righted in a couple of seconds. Grabbing the hiking strap inside, Dom hauled himself back in, and sat breathless and dripping, and glared again at a still-laughing Reilly. "That was classic, Dom…you realize I am going to tell everyone – oh!" Reilly's teasing smile disappeared as she noticed Dom rubbing the side of his head, a look of pain on his face. "You got whacked by the boom on the way down, didn't you?" Wincing, Dom glanced up at the heavy metal rod, now calm in their drifting state.
"I guess so…just must not have noticed right away with all of the commotion," he gave her a small smile, then leaned gratefully against her when she opened her arms, her eyes concerned.
"Poor baby, I'm sorry…" she said softly as she stroked his damp hair and gently touched the sore spot. "Do you want to go in? Do you need some ice?" she asked him. He shook his head.
"Nah, I'll be alright, it's too beautiful out here to go in right now." He gazed around at the endless blue water surrounding them, glittering as the brilliant sun hit it. "Can we just take it easy for a bit?" he asked, and felt her nod.
"Of course!" she replied, and placed a soft kiss on the darkening bruise on the side of his head. Smiling up at her, he tossed her a charming grin.
"Now it's better," he winked, and she laughed as he sat up and cradled her against him. "I was starting to feel less manly with the positions reversed like that!" he explained. She didn't argue, just curled herself against him, closing her eyes and turning her face to the sun as he softly rubbed her arm.
"We're going to be sore tomorrow," she murmured a few minutes later with her eyes still closed. "You especially," she added, and Dom growled.
"Nuh-uh, I'm tough!" he announced, and she laughed softly.
"Just you wait! You just used muscles you didn't know could work so hard for anything, except, well…" she trailed her fingers slowly along the inside if his thigh, his eyes widening. He felt his heart slam against his chest at her touch and had to focus entirely on thinking of something to say.
"Oh…those muscles," he replied. "Well it's a good thing you've done this before, you must be an expert on how to alleviate such…soreness," he winked down at her and she laughed.
"Dom?" she asked a little while later.
"Yes, love?" he replied with his eyes closed. He felt her hesitate, and opened them, tilting her face upward. "Ri?" he removed her grey Abercrombie baseball hat so he could see her eyes. "What is it?" She shrugged, then began tentatively.
"Um…you know…that night, that you guys came to my house?" she rushed the words, then continued so that he would remember the part she was thinking of and not the more instantly memorable events of that night. "When we had that talk…and you told me how you see me?" He nodded, searching her face. "I was just…wondering…if it's changed at all…I mean…since…well…I just mean, everything you said I was…am I still…or did I, um, ruin anything?" She bit her lip as she finished, and the nervousness in her eyes melted him. He shook his head.
"No," he replied honestly. "I see you the same as I always have…though, it has become apparent that I must also now see you as a decidedly terrible sailing instructor!" Relieved, Reilly laughed and swatted playfully at him.
Clearing his throat, Dom spoke up again quietly. "You know…you never told me how you see me," his heart fell when Reilly looked away for a moment. Soon enough, though, she turned back, and her blue eyes shone with a light that he had never seen before.
"I was thinking the other day, about how I have to leave soon," she began. "I don't just mean leave here," she added, indicating to their surroundings. "I mean…in less than two months, I won't live in London anymore…and I'll go back home…to America…across the ocean," she paused, looking down from his gaze as her voice faltered slightly. "And I don't want to go!" she exclaimed, and then laughed at herself as tears formed in her eyes and clung to her lashes. Dom stroked her cheek with his thumb, never taking his eyes off of hers, as she continued. "When I came to London I figured I wouldn't want to leave when the time came, but I thought it would be because I wouldn't want to go back to the life I had…where I was just living for other people and their expectations. But now that I realize I don't have to do that, I see how wonderful life…my life…really is. And that I can't complain about being Reilly Scott, because my whole life has been so blessed, so lucky…and I can't take that for granted. But…" she laughed again as her tears won the battle she'd been waging with them and spilled over her cheeks. "I'm such a dork," she told him, half-laughing, half-crying. He shook his head and gave her a little smile, then gently kissed the tears off each cheek. She stared up at him, almost in awe, and shook her head a little. "But then there's you," she breathed. "You're why I want to cry every time I think about leaving…for everything I love about the life I've had this past year, you're the one thing I don't know how I'm going to let go of. I don't know how to live without you…because you give it right back to me twice as hard when I tease you, and most guys are too scared about hurting a girl's feelings to do that…because you kiss me when I cry and then I don't remember why I could have possibly been crying when I have you in my life…because you listen to every word I say and you care about them all," Dom smiled as she repeated the line he had said to her that night that seemed like forever ago. "Because…" she took a breath. "Because I came to London to see what was beyond Reilly Scott…and it was you." She looked up at him with wide eyes. "That's how I see you," she said quietly.
Dom watched her turn her face back out towards the ocean, and he gently tugged on her sunstreaked ponytail. "I want you to forget why you were crying," he whispered, and he ran his hand over her jawline and cheek, then brought her face up to his and kissed her. He did it softly, but he felt it with all of him, a wave of emotion running through him. He pulled back tentatively to see her reaction.
"Well," she breathed, her eyes huge. "That took you long enough!" His eyes widened incredulously and his jaw nearly slammed into the bottom of the boat.
"Me?! It took ME long enough? What are you talking about?!" Reilly shook her head, dumbfounded.
"What, did you expect me to make the first move? No way, that's the guy's job!" she announced, and Dom laughed.
"Where are your feminist tendencies now?!" he demanded and she laughed as well.
"Call me old-fashioned…oh, you idiot! Do you know I've been waiting for you to do that since the night before I left for break? When we danced, and then Billy…agh!" she burst out, and Dom's eyes nearly fell out of his head, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Yeah? Well, that's nothing, I've wanted to do it since that first day you held my hand…nurse Reilly!" Reilly stared back.
"Then why didn't you?!" she nearly exploded.
"Hello, you were otherwise occupied, remember Tristan? Oh and then let's not forget that you did seem to have other…uh…distractions after him too!" Reilly's eyes widened.
"Well maybe if you had just done that, I wouldn't have! Oh my God! This is ridiculous! We are such morons! We…" Dom broke in on her rambling, taking her face in both his hands. Only Reilly and I could turn this into a ridiculous stream of banter, he thought to himself as he pressed a finger against her lips and ordered:
"Shut up, Reilly! You're ruining this romantic moment!" He kissed her again, harder, and felt her melt against him, leaning desperately into his kiss. Breaking apart, she laughed breathlessly.
"I wasn't aware you were so romantic!"
Pushing her down farther into the boat, he winked at her. "Yeah, well…OK, I'm not!" He was on her again, stealing her breath and tearing at the clips on her lifejacket that were preventing him from feeling her against him.
"Hey!" she gasped breathlessly in between kisses. "You're breaking the cardinal lifejacket rule of sailing!" He told her to shut up again, tossing her lifejacket away and then helping her get his off. He shuddered in pleasure as finally, FINALLY, he felt her arms around him in something more than a friendly embrace. Reilly gasped beneath him as he let his hands wander up underneath her tank top and roam over her back. She gripped the back of his head tightly with one hand and ran the other over his back, never wanting to let his lips break from hers.
"We've got to get off this thing!" Dom announced breathlessly after whacking his shin on the centerboard for the upteenth time. Sitting up beside him, Reilly agreed. Then…
"Dom?" his heart thudded as he saw the frightened look in her eyes. "Yeah?" he whispered back, swiping some loose strands of hair from her eyes. "Is…is this right? I just…I don't want to lose you," she looked up at him imploringly, and he relaxed and held her close to him.
"Oh Reilly…it's not right, it's absolutely perfect. And," he added, grinning as he looked around the little sailboat. "I think we've established that I'm clearly not able to sail away on this thing, so I wouldn't worry about me going anywhere!" Reilly began to giggle, and within seconds it appeared that it was uncontrollable, as her laughter grew louder and her cheeks flushed. Dom looked confused.
"Ok, I know I'm funny as hell, but really Ri, that one wasn't THAT good," he told her, and she shook her head, trying to stop laughing to speak.
"No. it's not that," she managed to gasp. "I was just thinking…the look on Emma and Trish's faces…we so need a camera for when we inform them of how our day of… um, sailing was!"