La te da tee da,oh how delighted a wee bit of positive reinforement makes me! The reviews thus far have been lovely, with details as to why y'all like the story and intelligent praise, rather than the inevitable "SoOoO GoOd, UpDaTe SoOn!" Oh crap, watch me get a review of that sort between the time that I am writing this and the time it is actually posted. Ehh, sorry if I have offended you, here, I even have another chapter to appease you. Hmm, so yeah, some craig/ellie interaction this time, as I am attempting to try my hand at explaining the crellie friendship that seemed to have suddenly blossomed at the start of this past season. I would've loved it if the writers allowed us to watch how it grew to be onscreen, but sigh, such was not the case.
Disclaimer: not mine.
Here we go, hope you like it, even just a little bit!
His eyes widened slightly with surprise, though whether that was due to the fact that Ashley's little sidekick actually looked like a girl underneath all those black clothes, or my rather scorching little outburst I'm not quite certain. I squirmed uncomfortably as his gaze left my own, slowly traveling from my shoulders, to my chest, to my stomach and my thighs and then back up again. You would think he would at least make some effort to disguise the fact that he was totally checking out his girlfriend's best friend in her underwear, but of course, this was the Craig Manning we were talking about. He could, (and had) get away with pretty much anything because he was gorgeous, and he knew it. Not that I think he is gorgeous or anything of course...I'm just expressing the opinion of most Degrassi females. Please, I'm not that typical.
His eyes gleamed with mirth when they finally made their way back up to my face, their brown depths containing no evidence of shame of any sort. Furiously, I fought a losing battle against the blush burning its way up my neck and turning my face a shade to match my hair. Desperately I tried to exude some of that badass confidence I was supposedly known for. Was it working? Yeah, I was a bit too flustered to really make a coherrent analysis of that. He still hadn't uttered a sound since sneaking up on me in my vulnerable and unaware state, so I drew up my spine and shot those inquiring words at him once more.
"If you could manage to tear your eyes away from my tits Manning, you would realize that I just asked you a question. What the HELL are you doing here?"
I thought I had thrown a good stern dose of 'or else' to my tone, and hell, I had even used the magic word 'tits,' but still the boy remained silent. Now, I love peace and quiet and all, but whatever shit he was trying to pull at the moment was about to become my undoing. I clutched at my hips a little tighter, squeezing the pale flesh until I left red, finger-shaped welts over the protruding bones as a substitute for compasses or rubber bands. Just then, when I thought I could scream if he didn't do something but just stand there, he moved. With his smile never fading and gaze never shifting from my own, he reached down and began to undo to buckle of his belt, the sound of the metal clinking against the ground resonating through the utter stillness of the nighttime air as his faded blue jeans puddled around his feet. I tried to swallow, but my throat was bone-dry.
"I'm sorry Manning, but do I look like a horny Filipino to you? I know it's dark out here and all, but my hair is RED, if you couldn't tell. Put your damn pants back on and tell me what you're doing here."
Finally he made a noise, a low, deep chuckle that caught me off guard with its light-heartedness. Or maybe what caught me off guard was the fact that he was now pulling the worn grey tee-shirt that was stretched around his lean frame over his head and advancing towards me, polka-dotted boxers gleaming under the moonlight. Not that I was affected by his almost-naked body in any way of course, I barely even noticed the way his his toned, tanned...yeah, didn't even give it a second glance.
"What do you think you're doing?" I said in a voice slightly higher than I intended, gradually letting the water cover me as I backed up slightly with each word, "You have no rig-"
But I had forgotten about the sharp drop-off from the shallow to deep end, a special addition from the manufacturer so that the deep end would be cavernous enough for even the tallest of divers to leap safely into. In taking a step blindly backwards, I felt my foot drop out from underneath me as my head jerked beneath the surface. Caught off guard, I was too stunned for a second to move, remaining underwater in a dreamlike daze.
Then there was a splash that I felt rather than heard, and a surge of movement jetted towards me before two strong arms gripped my middle and hauled me upwards. Craig held me onto me tightly, treading water effortlessly and smiling that same damn paradoxical, sweetly-cocky smile with his face mere inches apart from my own.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. You were saying?"
With all my strength I reared back and pushed myself out of his grasp. Of course, we were in deeper water now, and I immediately dipped below the surface once more in my unbalance. But this time I wasn't about to let him rescue me, and before he had a chance to turn in my direction I kicked hard out behind me, propelling myself forwards. I zoomed past him, once again heading for the shallow end. But upon surfacing for air, I was infuriated to find him just a few feet behind me, obviously having taken cue from my beeline.
"Asshole!" I screamed slamming both fists into the water and showering him heavily, "You have no right to be here, you-"
His hand clamped tightly over my mouth and with his body once again uncomfortably close to mine, he spoke in an amused whisper,
"Will you please take care to lower your voice when we are trespassing in the middle of the night in the swimming pool of some totally loaded, probably not too understanding, absolute stranger? I don't think the neighborhood would be entirely pleased with your little uninvited excursions. And no, you're right, I don't have any right to be here, but then again missy, neither do you I believe. I followed you tonight because I was curious to see where the hell you've been in such a hurry to get to after group this past month. I must admit though, I expected a drug deal, or illegal prostitution, or something else slightly more dangerous, but here you've gone and pleasantly surprised me Nash. Now, can I trust you to be a good little girl and keep quiet if I let you go?"
Narrowing my eyes bitterly, I jerked my head away and mumbled a few choice adjectives for him under my breath. He had a point, but I was still pissed at him. Lamely, I countered,
"I was here first."
Again, he laughed, that reassuring chuckle that soon had me smiling in spite of myself. I let out a giggle, and promptly realized how ridiculous I must have just sounded. The corners of my lips turning upwards of their own accord, I lowered my hands to trace loose patterns in the water with my fingertips, occupying my gaze with those rather than meeting his eyes. Gradually, the laughter tapered off, and he regarded me seriously for the first time tonight.
"But honestly though, does my being here really bother you? Because if it does, I can leave. God knows that after living with Joey I understand about needing your own space and all, and I certainly wouldn't want to be the jerk that just marches in and takes over. It's just that since Marco and Ash left...well, I'm sure you know how it is."
And the thing was, I did. He wasn't such a bad guy, I guess, and looking back on the series of events that transpired tonight, I suppose they were all actually pretty comical. Considering what he had just said, I stopped my hands and looked up with what Marco would have called a mischievous glint in my eyes.
"It's cool I guess, you can stay if you want. It's not like I won the place or anything. But there's just one condition."
"What?" he inquired, a note of skepticism evident in his voice.
"Payback for freaking me out so badly is going to be such a bitch!" and in a second I had lunged for him, the both of us immediately forgetting our lack of proper clothing as we wrestled fiercely for dominance trying to dunk one another. And in the midst of the fury of our splashing, fighting, and choking back too-loud squeals, I absentmindedly pushed away the apprehension that was gathering in the back of my mind away. We had at least another month...
Heh? What's that you said about my story?
