Chapter 10: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
When they released from the kiss Will realized Rikki was smiling. But he couldn't know how much she actually liked the kiss.
"Shell we get out now? We've been in the water for more than an hour?" He said.
"I've got a better idea. Why don't we go to Mako? I haven't been there since before the accident." She said playfully.
The truth was she really missed Mako and especially the moon pool.
"Ok." Will said. "We're going to Mako."
He gently put her in the boat and climbed up himself. She dried off both of them quickly and they headed straight towards Mako.
But they didn't know somebody was already there.
When they arrived Will took Rikki in his hands and started walking towards the entrance of the moon pool. While he was walking he had the feeling that someone's watching them. He turned around a couple of times but he could see nobody. Finally they reached the entrance.
They entered to the place where the moon pool was. Will gently the water, entered the water still holding Rikki tight in his embrace. When they touched the water, he gently let her just float on the surface.
She layed there with her eyes closed and making small semi-circles with her hands. A little smile appeared on her lips. The water was playfully twitching her hair. Will was watching her speechless. She was so beautiful that she was leaving him breathless. He layed down next to her looking up.
"I've missed this place." Rikki suddenly said. "It's so relaxing and…comfortable."
Looking at her smile Will couldn't help but smile too. He gently took her hand in his. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
"What are we doing?" She said, but it was like she wasn't asking a question but making a statement. "This is not right. We're gonna hurt Bella and that's the last thing I want to do."
"I know." He said. "I feel the same way. But I'm so tired of hiding. I love you, Rikki and I don't want to hide it anymore."
"Will, please…" She said, but he gently stopped her with a kiss.
She couldn't help, but kiss him back. When they let go, they were both smiling.
"Will, please, promise me that you won't tell Bella about your feelings. At least for now."
"If that's what you want, I promise I won't tell her anything."
"Thank you." She said.
With that, they returned to looking at the piece of sky that could be seen from the opening high above them. It was really beautiful.
They had spended there almost two hours when they decided to go home. But when Will reached his boat, with Rikki in his hands, they saw a piece of paper in it.
Will gently put Rikki in the boat, and they opened the note. It said only, "I know what you're doing. It makes me sick. I'm gonna tell."
"Someone knows about us." Rikki said looking at Will. "Someone saw us in the moon pool."
"So I hadn't imagine it." Will said quietly to himself, but Rikki heard him.
"What?"
"While I was carrying you to the moon pool I had a feeling like someone's watching us. I didn't see anyone, so I thought I'd imagined it. Obviously I didn't." He said.
"So what are we going to do now?" She asked.
Will looked at her. He knew exactly what they had to do. Deep down, Rikki knew it too.
"I have to talk to Bella." He responded. "Tomorrow morning."
"What? No, there's no way for this to happen. You can't do it. You promised, Will."
"Rikki someone obviously knows about us. That means Bella will eventually find out too. And I think she should hear it from me, not from some stalker." He said.
"There must be some other way. We can't hurt her like that. I'd prefer dying than cause pain to Bella, Cleo or Emma."
"I know. But we have no choice." Will said.
She knew he was right. She nodded quietly.
"So…tomorrow we're gonna tell her everything?"
"Tomorrow." He nodded.
They were silent on their way back to the boatshed. Rikki was thinking about tomorrow and Will was just thinking about her. When they finally arrived Will gently put her back into her wheelchair and he took her in. Then a thought occur to her mind.
"Would you make another necklace for me?" She asked him all of a sudden.
"What?" He realized that no one had told her they'd found her necklace.
"I lost it in the accident."
"That's ok." He said.
He walked over to one of the top shelves and took turned to her and said with a smile.
"The girls found it." And he put it back on her neck.
"It feels right to have it back." She smiled. He smiled back. He lifted her and put her on the bed.
"What are you doing?" She said.
"You're going to sleep in my bed and I'm going to sleep on the floor." He said.
"No way." She cut him off. "You'll sleep in your bed and I'll sleep on the floor."
"That's not an option." He said.
He covered her gently and she watched him lay down on his pillow on the floor covering himself with a blanket.
After a bit of a hesitation Rikki said, "Why don't you just…stay with me in the bed? There's enough space for both of us."
He looked at her his eyes wide open.
"What? Are you serious?"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I can't let you sleep on the floor."
And she moved a little making enough place for him. He climbed carefully on the bed. Rikki put her head on his shoulder and he put his hand around her. He couldn't believe what was happening. She soon fell asleep, but he couldn't. He was watching her. She was so beautiful in her sleep. And just holding her and watching her sleep next to him made that night the best night of his life.
The next morning he was the first to wake up. He got out of the bed carefully and went to the kitchen to made some breakfast.
Rikki opened her eyes and looked around. It was strange to wake up in the boatshed. She missed her home.
She stretched her arms and yawned. She uncovered herself and with the help of her hands she moved her legs so now she was in some sort of a sitting position in the upper corner of the bed. She grabbed the bed's frame and made an attempt to stand up. She was in so much pain that she wanted to scream like hell, but she was determined to do this. And somehow she managed to do it.
For one second she was standing, but in the next she felt she was falling down. She hit the floor with a loud sound and Will ran into the room immediately. He ran to Rikki and gently lifted her in her arms, putting her back to sit on the bed. But to his astonishment she wasn't upset. Just the opposite. She was smiling.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I…I did it! I stood up!" She said happily.
"Wow, this is…huge!" He said and gave her a smile.
"Something's burning!" She said because of the weird smell that came from the kitchen.
"Oh, no, the pancakes!" Will said and ran off into the kitchen.
Rikki started laughing. In the moment the door opened an Cleo, Emma, Bella, Lewis and Ash came in.
"Good morning!" They all greeted Rikki with a smile.
"'Morning!" She answered also with a smile.
She was so happy to see them all and to know that they're there for her. And she also was glad that Bridget was not with them. Or at least she thought so.
Bella went to the kitchen to greet Will, when the door opened again.
"Sorry I'm late." A voice announced from the door and Bridget came in.
Rikki's face changed from a smile to a cold grimace.
"How dare you come here? I made it pretty clear I don't want to see you again! Go away!"
"No." She said looking at the floor.
"What did you say?" Rikki said in a loud voice that made Bella and Will return into the room.
She started curling her fingers into a fist.
"I said I'm not going anywhere." Bridget said this time looking at Rikki's eyes.
What the girls had told her last night had definitely worked.
Flashback:
"Bridget you can't always stand back to everything Rikki says! You have to stand up and say something!" Emma said while Cleo was hugging the crying Bridget.
"I can't." Bridget said in-between sniffs.
"Why?" Bella asked her.
"Because she has all the right to hate me."
"No, she doesn't." Cleo said.
"Look, I don't care what you say. Tomorrow you're coming with us at Will's boatshed and you're gonna stand up in front of her. If not, then you can go back straight in England! Do you understand me?" Emma said to her with unusually cold voice. Bridget nodded.
End of flashback
"How dare you talk to me like that? How dare you even come here after all you've done?! You're the reason we were on that stupid plane! Dad's dead because of YOU. I can't walk because of YOU! I HATE YOU! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU EVER AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME! GET OUT OF HERE AND DON'T COME BACK!" Rikki curled her fingers in a fist and caused a lightening right next to Bridget.
Terrified she ran away of the house.
Everyone was looking at Rikki, but not because of what she'd shouted to Bridget or because of the lightening she'd caused.
Lead by pure anger and without realizing it she was standing up! She looked down at her legs, then she looked at everyone. Her face lit up in a huge smile.
Bella, Emma and Cleo, whose face also brightened in a smile, hurried to hug her!
"That's a miracle!" Lewis exclaimed.
"We should celebrate!" Bella said with a smile.
Everyone was happy and smiling. They knew that from this moment nothing could possibly go wrong.
Or at least they thought so.