On The Count Of Two

"You are officially a wimp, Evans," Alex Walker teased his college roommate, climbing over the railing of the bridge they were standing on. A group of Duke University buddies was taking advantage of the sunny Saturday to prove their daring by diving off the bridge into the lake below.

"Am not, this stuff is totally in your blood man, we can't all be daredevils," Clay Evans protested weakly, curling his fingers tightly around the rail, without climbing over to the dangerous side. Alex grinned, revealing perfect white teeth and flexed his muscles proudly. There was no way those nerves of steel were down to anything but his Italian roots, Clay mused, flinching as Alex somersaulted off the railing. That was it; all his friends were out of sight in the water, way too far below him now, damn. "Peer pressure ladies and gentlemen," Clay muttered under his breath to no one in particular.

"Tell me about it." The faint voice of agreement came from his left, and Clay looked up with a start. Staring wide-eyed over the rail at the water was a girl. He took in her simple, pink sleeveless top and tiny shorts with a sweeping gaze and decided instantly that the blonde was pretty.

"I can tell you it's a long way down," he grinned at her, and the girl rolled her deep hazel eyes at him, before glancing down at the water again.

"I can see that, Einstein," she said, biting her lip nervously. "I'm really not a big fan of heights, and you are not helping!"

"I heard Einstein lacked social skills to make up for his genius," Clay replied conversationally. "I hope I'm not that bad, the name's Clay, by the way."

"You're not too bad, I suppose." She managed a shy smile; "I'm Sara." Almost immediately, her gaze darted back to the motion of the waves below them. "I really wish my roommates could have been happy with something a little tamer. What's wrong with say, beer pong or even streaking?"

"Perfectly awesome college traditions right there," he agreed fervently. "Curse of the daredevil roomies this is." Clay followed her terrified gaze to the water below, gulped, and glanced back at Sara again. "You wanna do this together?" he suggested. He clambered over the railing and held out his hand to help her.

"Traitor," she squealed, shaking like a leaf and clinging to the rail harder than ever.

"Come on," Clay said encouragingly. "Your friends will leave you behind if you don't," he pointed out. "You can do it!"

Sara resisted the urge to squeeze her eyes shut with difficulty as she climbed over the rail with Clay's help. "If I survive this, I'm so killing my roommate," she grumbled.

"Murder doesn't seem like your style, pinky," he joked, toying with the loose shoulder strap of her top as she pressed back against the rail in terror. The only way to go from this side was down. A very long way down.

"How would you know my style?" she protested, side-stepping out of his reach. "Bad boy!"

"I'm not really, that's just an adorable top you're wearing," he smirked. "Anyway, stop changing the subject. We were about to jump, I believe?"

A faint blush had made Sara's cheeks match her pale pink top for a split second, but his last words ignited her fear again. Clay sidled closer to her and held out his hand; "On the count of two?" he suggested, holding her scared gaze for a moment.

"What? Nobody goes on the count of two!" she objected quickly, tearing her brown eyes away from his face to stare at the lapping water below them again.

"I know," Clay shrugged. "It can be our thing, something to tell the grandkids about years from now."

"I would have been perfectly happy to share a story about streaking across the quad," she sighed.

"Oh, gross," he groaned. "No kid wants to hear that from their grandparents, trust me."

Sara looked right at him again and giggled, inching her pale fingers carefully along the railing behind them until she could reach his hand. "On the count of two?" she said timidly.

Clay smiled widely at her, that laugh was just about the cutest thing he'd ever heard. "You're on," he said, grasping her hand and aiming a final steely gaze at the intimidating mass of water below them. "One…," he started, swinging their joined hands to and fro, so they each had one hand remaining on the rail.

"Two," said Sara in a voice pitched high with fear. With that, the pair lurched away from the railing at last and dived bravely into the lake below. Their joined hands broke apart at the enormous splash when they collided with the water, and for a moment, the force of the water blinded Clay. Sara's breathless laughter sounded somewhere to his left, and by the time his eyes managed to pop open, she was paddling in triumphant circles around him. "Oh goodness, tell that to the grandkids indeed," she giggled.

"How badass were you, girl?" he grinned back. Just like that, the shy edge to Sara's peals of laughter fell away, and she braced her hands on his shoulders. Her rosy lips were pressed against Clay's before he knew what was happening, but he responded eagerly soon enough. They broke apart only at the loud wolf-whistles from their friends, somehow already back on the bridge they had taken so long to jump from.

"Definitely one to tell the grandkids, right there." Sara paddled away from him with a teasing wink, leaving Clay staring after her utterly intrigued. Oblivious to his awe, the blonde was already gaping up at the bridge. "Is that your roomie making out with mine by any chance?"

Clay followed her gaze and instantly rolled his eyes; Alex was leaning against the bridge railing, holding a slim brunette against him. "If that's your roomie, then yes it is," he said. "If Alex has his way with her, you won't have to murder her, he's a heart-breaker."

"Poor thing," said Sara unconvincingly, her deep brown eyes were glinting mischievously.

A few of their less promiscuous friends were looking down at the water with interest, and Clay smirked. "Who says they get to have all the fun? You up for another round, pinky?"

"It's Sara, you goof," she giggled, glancing self-consciously down at her now wet and transparent tank top. "And that depends on another round of what; I'm not jumping off the damn bridge again!"

"Not what I had in mind," Clay admitted and swam closer to her again. He wrapped his arms around her and gently started sucking on her lips, begging wordlessly for entry.

"That I can do," Sara gasped and returned the kiss to cheers from their watching friends. "Who knew counting to two could have so many benefits?"

"Told you so," Clay moaned triumphantly between kisses. "Have a little faith next time, pinky."

"You really are a knucklehead," she murmured in exasperation. "If you're looking for there to be a next time, learn my name!"

"I was hoping for one," he said sincerely. "Strange to go through the count of two and leave it at a chance meeting; that's my special thing, you know. And your name is lovely, Sara No-Last-Name," he added sweetly.

"Sara Kay," she laughed, shivering when the sun disappeared suddenly behind a cloud. "Can we get out of here, please?"

"Not until Sara Kay promises Clay Evans another date," he grinned, holding onto her wrist triumphantly.

"I don't see how the count of two equals two dates, but okay," she conceded. He was too mesmerized by her to point out this chance meeting wasn't exactly a date.

The clouds continued to darken abruptly above them; "Hurry up, you two," their friends urged from the bridge overhead.

"Race you to land?" Sara suggested and took off with strong, confident strokes before he could even nod. Clay followed her quickly, thinking all the way that missing out seeing this girl again was not an option. A stupid stunt and daring roommates had resulted in an absolutely fateful encounter which they would both be telling their grandkids about one day, no matter what.

A / N This was originally the first chapter of a multi-chapter called Crash And Burn, which was too ambitious, enjoy once again! xx