Reign of Fire: Rising from the Ashes

Chapter Twenty Four- Into the deep end part one

Holly dunked her head under water once more, thinking how not breathing at all was better than the trembling short gasps her lungs seemed to be producing as the hour of Creedy's return crept nearer. She had prepared a hot bath for herself in the sanctity of her own tiny room, not wanting to disturb Creedy's place or soak it in lavender scenting water-and-soap.

She remembered how once they had been out on a stroll amongst the moors and Creedy had lovingly tucked some stems of lavender in her hair, saying how he loved the scent on her. As always, Alex had come to the rescue saying how the scent seemed to be making her nauseous with the baby on its way and she was free to use her supplies. She reminded herself once more that she really ought to pay her back big time one of these days…

Quickly climbing out of the tub in fear of looking like an old lady soon with her wrinkly fingers, she lotioned her skin -the smoother the better, as Alex had stated- and threw on some comfy sweats and a shirt before strolling back upstairs as casually as possible. After lighting even more candles, giving the room an almost church-like appearance, she decided it was time to start decorating herself. She pulled out the beautiful silks Alex had given her and fingered them lovingly.

A part of her still couldn't believe she was going along with this, as another part tried to argue that it was gonna be an amazing night and she had nothing to worry about. For the first time in she realised her inner voice was not as successful in persuasion as her usual vocal one, and her nerves hit her back in the face full force. As she looked out the window however she saw the trucks appear through the main gate and realised she had no time left to change her mind. Oh shit, this is really happening, and unless you wanna screw this up you'd better change this instant Holly!

Creedy walked into the dining hall, tired but happy with the result of their work and eager to tell Holly about it. He began to worry however as he couldn't find her anywhere.

"Alex? Have you seen Holly? Has she finished dinner without me?"

"Yeah, she finished up early and decided to call it a night. She looked pretty tired. I guess she's still lacking energy, I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Gives you a chance to spend a nice quiet evening together…"

He frowned at the twinkle in her eyes, not sure how to interpret her words, but he decided to follow her advice and go up immediately. He was hoping Holly would be OK, her back had its way of sending bolts of lighting up and down on the weirdest moments, making Holly feel unsure if she would ever fully heal again. She might have had a setback today and feel miserable about it! But his return would most likely make her feel better…

One glimpse inside their room as he walked through the door however, gave him a faint idea that Holly was just fine…more than fine. Candles everywhere, casting long shadows amongst the growing darkness of the setting sun, the light of their flames dancing playfully around the lovely small figure of a scantly clad Holly, nervously fidgeting with the lace along her negligee and looking up at him expectantly. "Hey…"

Creedy reminded himself to shut his mouth for a more intelligent look, before closing the door behind him and slowly approaching her. "Hey yourself. This looks amazing... YOU…look amazing!"

"Thank you…" So far so good, you go girl! Tempting hunky boyfriend 101…

She started in his direction, her tiny bare feet making no sound along the wooden floorboards, and suddenly Creedy felt oddly out of place. Here she was, his little angel, going out of her way to obviously plan something terrific for him, for them both, and he simply comes barging in all smudged and sweaty, no doubt smelling like shit. It was wrong, all wrong. She deserved much better than this.

"Holly, I…I guess I hadn't really anticipated this. If I had, I would have…"

She froze in her path, her face turning a sickly shade of white, and for a second he thought it was her back pains again. But then she turned round, nearly running towards her wardrobe, nervously mumbling to herself. "See, you idiot, you got it all wrong. God, this is really bad, great job Holly, amazing how you manage to make a fool of yourself on every single fucking occasion…" Before he could stop her she had pulled out a large sweatshirt, covering herself while trying to wipe away a tear she obviously hadn't wished for him to see.

"Holly…"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry for what darlin'?"

"I dunno, I messed up didn't I? This was like…this is not the way to go about it is it? I'm…I didn't know, I mean I didn't realise, I'm so sorry Creedy."

Suddenly realisation hit him like a brick and if he had had a gun he would have shot himself on the spot. Great job Creed, making her think you didn't like the surprise. She must have spent ages preparing for this, physically and mentally!

Forgetting his current state for a moment he pulled her to him, gently turning her around till she faced him. Tears were streaming freely now, and embarrassment was impudent in her entire stature.

"Holly, sweetheart...there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of this, least of all you. This is the sweetest, warmest reception any guy could wish for from his girl, hell if I had known what you were planning I would have made sure to cut my work a little shorter! But if you have in mind what…I'm hoping you have in mind, I owe you a bit of a better sight than the mess that's standing in front of you right now, eh? I seriously need to hit the shower before the whole room smells of rotten tomatoes instead of your lovely lavender…"

At this she gave a relieved sigh, and actually managed to shoot him a careful smile again.

"Oh. Yeah, right, of course you would…" Great. Can you spell overreacting Holly?

He brushed his lips along her cheekbone, catching the last of her tears in a tempting promise. "Now, you dry your tears and get rid of that ridiculous sweatshirt while I go get myself cleaned up OK? I promise I won't be long, I have every intention of taking that pretty outfit of yours into closer inspection when I return…"

His husky voice send shivers down her spine, and definitely no painful ones this time! She nodded wordlessly as he kissed her once more, before gathering a towel and some fresh clothes and heading out to the bathroom.

Holly took off her sweater and tossed it to the side, cursing softly as it nearly landed on top of a candle. Suddenly feeling giddy she started giggling uncontrollably, tossing herself upon the freshly made bed (with pretty night blue sheets she managed to nag off of Joan, bless her!) and relishing in thoughts of things to come. The cool cotton sheets and soft black silk made such a soothing combination against her skin that she almost caught herself drifting into slumber, were it not for the approaching footsteps out in the corridor. For a moment she feared someone was about to disturb them as she realised those steady, self-assured steps could only belong to one man…