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Christian
He could feel the burning in his cheek where her hand was. He could feel his heart pounding loudly in his ears as she looked up at him, her green eyes bright and sincere. She had said it! She had said she loved him! Not that he didn't already know. She wasn't very good at hiding her emotions. It was written all over her face. Still, it felt good to hear.
Listening to her talk about Sammy, about how much he had helped and supported her when she had gotten expelled, made his heart ache. Sammy had really been there for her, unlike him. He had left her all alone! She had broken her back and all he had cared about were his hurt feelings! His pride had gotten in the way and by the time he realized what an idiot he had been, it was too late.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her. Not in a playful way like he had before, but in a way he hoped would show her how sorry he was for the way he had treated her. That he wouldn't let her down again, that he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. He couldn't help feeling relieved when she leaned in against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He could hear her breathing, slow and deep. Closing his eyes, he breathed her in, savoring her closeness. He let his mind wander to the day when he first knew he loved her.
It was on the farm, during the summer he had spent with her. It was Christmas Day and they decided to go swimming with a group of her cousins. It was a long walk but there were too many of them to take the ATVs so they had no other choice. Her cousins were walking ahead of them but they didn't mind. They walked slowly, holding hands, with her showing him parts of the farm along the way. The first tree she ever climbed, the hill she used to roll down as a kid, and the barn with the hay bales she jumped off of when she had broken her wrist. They were laughing and joking when all of a sudden, they heard screams up ahead. They ran to where her cousins were. When they got there, Kate was hysterical and Colin was kneeling at the side of the path, carefully looking over the edge. The other three didn't seem to know how to react.
"What happened? Where's Charlie?" Tara asked nervously. Charlie was the youngest and he knew how close they were.
"He fell over the edge!" Kate shouted. She was a mess, tears falling uncontrollably.
"Calm down Kate, don't be so dramatic!" Tara crooned, rolling her eyes a little. Then she went over to Darcy, Ben and Alec and asked what happened. Before they could answer, Colin did instead.
"We told him to stay away from the edge! That it wasn't safe but he wouldn't listen. And then he fell!"
Tara knelt beside Colin and slowly looked over the side. He had walked up behind them, unsure of what to do. She must have heard him because she turned around and told him to look after the others. Being from the city, I guess they weren't used to things like this happening and didn't know how to deal with it. He didn't either, but he did what she asked, trying to comfort Kate the best he could.
Then, all of a sudden, she swung her legs over the edge and disappeared. This time it was his turn to freak out.
"Tara!" He cried out, not caring that his voice cracked a little. He couldn't believe she had just done that! Was she insane? What if she hurt herself? "Are you okay? Do you need help?"
"I'm fine! Stay where you are!"
He couldn't help leaving the others and going to kneel beside Colin. He leaned over and he could see that the drop wasn't as far as he thought. Still, it was steep but Tara had made it down without a problem. She was walking over to Charlie, who was lying on the ground unconscious. His legs were scraped and he had a cut on his forehead.
"Charlie? Charlie, can you hear me?" She said loudly but calmly, kneeling by his side. No response. "Charlie! Wake up! Open your eyes!" Again nothing. He could hear Colin breathing heavily beside him. He looked over to him and he could tell he wanted to go down there and help, but he was too afraid. He wasn't crying like Kate but his whole body was shaking.
"Hey, calm down. Tara knows what she's doing. It's going to be okay. Charlie is going to be okay," he said, trying to reassure him. Colin turned towards him and took a deep breath. Then he nodded his head and turned back to keep an eye on what was happening below.
"He's breathing! Charlie wake up! Can you hear me? Oh thank goodness! He's awake! Colin, get my phone in my bag and call the house! Tell Dad what happened and where we are! And tell him to bring the truck! He'll know what else to bring! Hurry! Christian can you come down? Bring a few towels! I need your help splinting his leg! It looks like it's broken! Be careful!"
They got up quickly and did as they were told. He made sure Colin found the phone and the others were okay before he carefully scaled down the ledge with the towels. When he reached the bottom, she was breaking branches off a tree and went to hold them against Charlie's leg. He couldn't help but stare. The shy and timid Tara was gone. The Tara in front of him was inspiring and he was in awe.
"Don't just stand there Christian! Bring those towels over here and help me! Don't move, Charlie. Okay Christian, give me the towels and then hold the branches on either side of his leg. Good. Now lift his leg gently. Okay, I'm going to tie the towels around his leg. Try and stay still Charlie. This may hurt a little but you're going to be okay. Uncle Neil is on his way." He set Charlie's leg down and she tied the towels around it, then knelt down in front of Charlie.
"Okay now put his leg on my lap. We need to keep it elevated. Cover him with the last towel. We don't want him to go into shock." He did what he was told yet again. "How do you feel Charlie? Can you wiggle you fingers and toes?"
"Yeah." Charlie did what she asked and he felt a wave of relief rush through him. "I want my mommy!"
"I know Charlie, just a little bit longer. Look up at the sky. Take deep breaths and close your eyes. Now imagine you're up there, flying through the air! Tell me what you see."
"The farm, the hills, the dam. We're swimming and splashing each other." He giggled. "You and Christian are kissing!"
"Charlie! Don't be smart! Focus on the sky!" Her cheeks turned bright red as she scolded her cousin, a goofy grin on her face. She looked up at him and he met her gaze with his trademark smirk.
About half an hour later, they heard a truck pulling up. Tara's dad jumped out and made his way over to them with a first-aid kit, water and a blanket. Charlie's dad was close behind. They stopped short as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. He knew the feeling. They got over their shock quickly, then took over, transferring Charlie to the blanket, then to the back of the truck. Then Neil came over and hugged Tara and reached over to put a hand on his shoulder. They had done good.
Now free of her patient, she walked over to the ledge and shouted up. "Charlie's okay! Dad and Uncle Mike are taking us back in the truck! We'll meet you at the house!"
They jumped in the back with Charlie and he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.
The rest of their holiday had passed by with much less craziness than those first few days. Nothing could compare to watching Tara in action. Out of all the amazing moments they had spent together- swimming in the afternoons, taking long walks after dinner, watching the sunset, realizing they still wanted to be together- it was the day Charlie had broken his leg that had meant the most. There were so many to choose from and yet, he kept coming back to this one. Caring for her cousin, taking charge of a situation that easily could have gotten out of control, staying calm when everyone else was panicking; it made him realize how amazing she was and that he wanted to be like her. Strong and brave, kind and caring. She made him want to be better.
"Christian? What are you thinking about?" Her gentle voice brought him back to the present.
He kissed her forehead before answering. "The farm. The day Charlie broke his leg."
"Really? Why that day? Wasn't there anything more important that happened last summer?" She asked, pulling back to look up at him, a little offended.
"Yeah? Like what?" He couldn't stop himself from teasing her yet again. She really did make it too easy.
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" She scoffed and she lightly slapped his chest.
"Just trying to keep up with you Training Bra!" He joked, again using one of her lines from before.
"Haha, very funny! But seriously, why was that day so special?" She eyed him suspiciously.
"Because it was the first time I knew I loved you," he stated in a very obvious tone.
She inhaled sharply, her eyes wide and asked, "Really? Why?" She really didn't get it. Why couldn't she see how brilliant she had been that day? That without her, things could have been a lot worse.
"Because you were incredible! Because everyone else, including me, was in a panic! Kate was a disaster, Colin was scared to death and the others had no idea what to do! You took control of the situation. You kept Charlie calm, distracted him from everything that was going on! You knew exactly what to do. If it wasn't for you, who knows what would have happened. You were inspiring! Even your dad was impressed! You saved the day-"
Before he could say anything else, he was interrupted by her lips on his. He could feel her wrapping her arms around him and he did the same. He loved being this close to her. He couldn't get enough! He continued to kiss her greedily and she met him with the same enthusiasm. He didn't want it to end so he would let her decide when to stop.
All too soon, she did. She stared at him in a way that made him a little nervous. Like she was trying to figure out all his secrets. To see if he really was telling the truth.
"You make it sound so much more exciting than it was. I did what needed to be done," she said matter-of-factly. "My cousins aren't really all that farm-savvy. Growing up in the city hasn't exactly given them any wilderness skills. They know the farm to a certain degree because they visit every year, but something like that… I guess it was too far out of their comfort zone. They aren't very good at thinking fast and on the farm, sometimes that's all you can do. So, that's really when you knew? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't you tell me when you first knew you loved me? You were trying to tell me all week before the showcase and you kept chickening out. Don't think I didn't notice! You said you loved my sneakers! That's how I knew you were hiding something and I figured that's what it was. You're a terrible liar." He smirked, then brushed a strand of hair off her face.
"Well, I didn't want to freak you out! Things were so good between us! We were happy and I didn't want to ruin it by saying something stupid!" She shouted defensively.
"Well that makes two of us Training Bra! You're not the only one who can do that. I am quite good at saying stupid things."
"There's that word again. Quite. Twice in one night. I must say I'm impressed," she teased, stifling a yawn. It was getting late and she looked exhausted. He should probably walk her back to the dorm.
"Hey, you look beat. Let's get you to bed." He took her hand and started walking.
"Christian, I have to go back! I don't have my stuff and Kat's waiting for me!"
"I have my phone. I'll text her and let her know where we're heading and ask her to get your stuff."
"I think you may be overestimating Kat's generosity." She sounded doubtful but she seemed eager to not have to walk all the way back to the opera house.
"We'll see about that," knowing he was going to win this one. He texted Kat and when he got the reply he knew he would, he triumphantly showed Tara, laughing as she rolled her eyes in surrender. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they began to walk back to the boarding house.