by S R Dyble
“Lucky you’re wearing comfortable shoes,” he commented.
“Is this gonna be brutal?” I asked.
“Depends, do you like walking?”
“I’ll let you know,” I said, staring at the start of the path that he’d lead me to. At first, the path seemed relatively simple, laid out with pebbles and gravel. Then as we journeyed further into the rainforest, the gravel was replaced by soil, trampled by others that had taken the hike. There were other tourists around, but as we walked further, we were pretty much alone.
“We came at a good time, there’s hardly anyone here,” Nick said, holding out his hand to pull me up a steep incline.
I was beginning to wonder if the ground was going to continue getting higher.
“We’re not walking up to a cliff, are we?”
Smiling, he shook his head. I was an accident waiting to happen because all I could do was stare at everything. At little bugs on the brightly coloured leaves. At the sunlight beaming through the branches above my head, creating thousands of single lines from above down to the ground. Then we reached a set of steps, the wooden railings at either side were covered in moss. Something that should have looked disgusting, looked beautiful in this setting.
“You coming?” Nick asked as I stood on the same step for five minutes, admiring everything around us. He stood beside me and stared at me.
“I didn’t think you’d love this that much.”
“Why?” I asked, taking my eyes away to look at him.
“Girls don’t usually like stuff like this.”
"Maybe you've just been bringing the wrong girls to places like this…" I told him.
He smiled knowingly, noticing the obvious pathetic jealousy in my voice.
"You're the only girl I've ever brought."
He continued to walk ahead as I thought about what he'd said. I followed after him and he waited for me to pass.
“Growing up, my parents would sometimes take me trekking places with them. Back then they were assigned stories like that, where I’d get the opportunity to see really beautiful places. I’ve always loved nature," I told him.
As Nick stared at me, I began wondering why the hell he was.
“You never cease to amaze me," he said, making me blush.
“You gonna lead the way then, or what?” I asked and he nodded.
“So, did you come here with your brothers?” I asked as I continued after him.
“Sometimes.”
“Is that it?” I asked, wondering why he’d given me so little.
He stopped then to talk to me.
“We didn’t really get a lot of time to explore, not as we got older.”
“But you said you went surfing a lot… and scuba diving?”
“Yeah, because it was on our doorstep, as were the friends you’ve met. My father didn’t like us to go too far, in case we were needed.”
“Wow, I thought you were gonna say he didn’t like you going too far in case you got hurt,” I answered.
He scoffed and shook his head. “Jax once brought us here—me and my brothers.”
I nodded and he gestured for me to go ahead.
“Wow, is that…” I edged closer as we reached a bridge.
“Yeah,” Nick said with no hesitation.
As I took steps onto it, I held onto the railings at either side and looked down below to the water streaming down rocks and boulders.
“Wow, we’re high up,” I commented.
“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”
I shook my head, not taking my eyes away from the drop below us. I tried to take the opportunity to look further down the running water where small waterfalls were. It was beautiful.
“Hey,” Nick said gently as I turned to see him holding his phone up to take a photo.
I did the best I could to smile, but I felt shy. It wasn’t something I was used to feeling, but Nick had a way of making me feel like that even at the most innocent of times. We trekked on further, taking a short break after walking for another twenty minutes or so. Pulling his backpack off his shoulders, he took out a bottle of water and handed it to me. I thanked him and took a gulp before handing it back. Then I watched as he brought it to his lips and took a gulp for himself. From over the bottle, he stared at me before placing the lid back on. I looked away, feeling intense in his stare. I placed my hand on a tree and traced my fingers over the bark.
“Some people call them paper trees,” he said, “because of the bark shedding like paper.”
I nodded and stared up at the tops of the trees and listened to the chirping of birds.
"We should be there soon," he said, pulling his bag back over his back.
"Where?"
"You'll see." He smiled, edging his head to direct me to carry on.
I did just that, determined to see where it was that we were going. Were we climbing higher to see into the mountains? Perhaps there were birds at the top, like the tropical birds they climbed to see in Tarzan. As we continued, the sound of trickling water became more apparent, getting louder and louder until I realised, we weren't just passing streams of water, we were heading to where they all started.
"Oh my God," I said, pushing a dangling tree branch out of the way.
Once moved, I could see the huge rock pool laid out before us. To the far side, it was as if a wall had been made by the water trickling over it to create a gentle waterfall into the rock pool. There was no one here, only us, and as I stood to the edge of the water taking in the beauty, Nick kept totally quiet, taking in the surroundings. The trees shaded the area perfectly, allowing just the right amount of sun to seep through onto the water.
"This is where he brought us weeks before our dad was taken by Delta."
I frowned and looked at him.
"Two weeks before he was taken, Jax brought us here. He wanted better for us and was trying to persuade us to leave with him."
He glanced around the open space as if remembering himself and his brothers here.
"Kit was obviously against it. He was being manipulated by our father, trained and beaten to be just like him. I was my dad's puppet, going backwards and forwards, collecting shipments and dealing in whatever he wanted me to. Jason hadn't been home long from his service in the army. We were all lost, including Eric. Even Jax. Becoming a doctor was his release from the grasp our father had tightly around us."
I realised I didn't need to speak, instead, I listened fully to what he had to say.
"He'd convinced our father to let us take some time away, a chance to bond. I guess our father agreed purely so we would bond more. Not as brothers but as the perfect working pact he wanted to rear us into."
It hurt to hear him talking about this. I wanted to reach out and touch him, to remind him that it wasn't like that anymore.
"We drove hours away from home and stayed not far away from here."
"Is that why you chose the house we're staying at?" I asked.
"I chose that house because it wasn't far from where your parents had gone missing. Being a two-hour drive away from here was purely a coincidence."
I nodded. The thought of my parents brought deep guilt over my body. I hadn't made a huge effort to contact them since my last visit to the hospital. I'd rang to make sure they were okay but nothing apart from that. I still felt pain and anger that they were planning on risking their lives again and didn't want to be a part of it. I turned my mind back to Nick and what he had told me. I couldn't imagine what they had been through.
"You wanna go swimming?" he asked, catching me off guard.
"Here?" I asked stupidly.
"Yes." He chuckled. "Here."
"I haven't brought my bikini."
It was still at home drying.
"You don't need one, you're wearing underwear right?"
I frowned at him as his stare intensified.
"Right?" he asked again, looking more intrigued.
I rolled my eyes and nodded.
"Bra and pan
ties look the same as your bikini, Lill'. Besides, no one will come to see."
Without waiting for me to decide, Nick began stripping, pulling his shorts down and his top over his head. He placed both into his backpack and hid it behind a tree before leaping into the pool.
"Nick!" I shouted as water splashed all over my clothes.
"Damn, looks like you're gonna need to hang them up to dry now, Petal," he said, pushing water off his head and out of his face.
"You little shit," I said before pulling my top over my head.
Then I caught sight of Nick, his eyes fixated on my every move as he smirked. Once our eyes connected, I stared back at him before undoing the button on my high-waist shorts and shimmying out of them. Along with my shoes, I placed everything alongside Nick's before running up to the water and jumping in as Nick had done. After being underwater for a second, I swam upwards to hear Nick chuckling.
"Shit this is cold!" I said, shivering in the water.
I found my balance once I swam to a shallow area.
"Over here," he said, swimming towards the waterfall. He held out his hand and pulled me with him until we were both being splashed by the falling water. I placed my hand against the rock, the water running through my fingers. Nick's smile began fading as he stared at me.
"So, did you say yes?" I asked.
"Yes to what?"
"Going with your brother?"
"Life has a way of pushing you in the direction you're supposed to be going," he answered looking at me.
I gulped as he neared, everything turned serious as Nick lifted his hand and ran his fingers over my cheek. They glided easily against the water droplets on my skin. A whistle sounded to the side of the pool and our stare broke apart to see where the noise had come from. A few lads were making their way along the water's edge and all chuckled amongst themselves.
"Not interrupting, are we?" I could see the wink given by one of the lads, even from this distance.
I smiled and tried to avoid Nick's stare as I moved further away and swam into the open water. The lads that had just arrived kept their distance, diving into the water and having their own fun. After a while, I decided to get out and did so whilst the lads had their eyes fixated on the other end of the pond. Despite what Nick had said about my underwear being like a bikini, he probably wasn't aware that standard cotton turned almost see-through when drenched.
"Here." Nick's voice startled me as I tried to pull my top on.
He handed me a towel.
"You knew we were going swimming then?" I asked, then thanked him.
"I may have had it on my agenda."
I used the towel to dab at my face and neck, then asked Nick to watch out for the others whilst I discreetly got myself dressed behind a tree. He nodded and turned his back towards me. I made quick work of taking my bra off and hanging it up onto a branch before drying myself and pulling on my top. It meant I had to go braless, but I couldn't wear my sopping wet bra under my clothes. I did the same for my knickers, then pulled my shorts back on.
"I'm done," I said whilst tightening my hair around my fist to try and drain the water. Nick's eyes fell onto my underwear hanging on the branch, and couldn't help himself. He had to stare down at my tits.
"You had enough of a look?" I asked.
He'd been caught in the act and took the towel from me with a smirk on his face.
"Stand guard," he said and just like he had done, I turned my back towards him and pressed up against the tree to make sure no one was heading this way.
"Thank you for bringing me here," I said after taking another look around the beauty surrounding us.
"You're welcome." I heard him answer after a few seconds. Then I felt his body brushing past mine now that he was ready too.
"Wrap your wet clothes in the towel and shove them in the bag for me, will you?" he asked as he stood in front of me with his backpack on his back. I nodded and made quick work of it before thanking him.
"You ready to go?"
I nodded and started walking first back down the path we'd just come from.
I started quickly, feeling a need to keep my distance as the familiar nerves racked up from being around Nick. From being close to him.
"Lill', you should slow down, you're gonna fall."
"I'll be fine."
"Trust me, you're gonna—"
I wouldn't have fallen if it weren't for him pestering me. But he had won this round because I stumbled on a rock and landed forward in the mud. He came to my rescue quickly, bending to help me up.
"I'm fine," I said, not taking his hand.
"Why were you in such a rush?" he asked.
"I just picked up speed, that's all."
As much as I loved being in such a beautiful rainforest, I was ready to leave and get some distance from Nick. Not because I didn't enjoy having him around, but because I enjoyed it too much. I wasn't going to allow my body to need him around. That mindset had plagued my mind for months after he'd broken my heart, and I wasn't going to allow it to happen again.
"You don't have to be afraid, you know that, right?"
"Afraid of what?" I answered too quickly.
"Afraid of letting me get close to you. Of trusting me again."
"Who said I'm afraid?"
"Me."
"Well, you're wrong," I said, hoisting myself up and staring at him.
"I wouldn't blame you if you were. I understand after…"
I lowered my head, knowing what he was talking about. Flashes of another woman riding him like a crazed goddess reminded me of what he was talking about.
"I'm not afraid," I answered him again before continuing to walk down the same path, back to where we'd started. I hadn't given much thought to how muddy I'd gotten after falling. As we reached the carpark and to the section of grass with picnic benches spotted around, I bent down to rub it off when I saw a tiny wallaby just a stone throw away from me. I glanced up slowly, making sure I wasn't seeing things. Then I saw lots of others, all happily munching on the grass. I stood up slowly in total awe. One of them had a larger belly and I pointed to it as a baby wallaby’s head popped out from its mother's pouch.
"There's a baby," I said, trying not to scare them with my excitement.
Nick stood beside me, his hands in his pockets as he smiled and watched them with me.
"They're amazing," I said, watching them some more.
Eventually, we had to make our way back to the car. It was getting later and neither of us had eaten since breakfast. Even then, I'd only eaten a breakfast bar.
"Dinners on me," Nick said on the way home.
I was daydreaming and had to glance at him to double-check what he'd said.
"Pizza or Chinese?" he asked.
"Either, as long as I don't have to sit in a restaurant eating it."
He frowned at me.
"I'm not wearing a bra, Nicholas."
"Thank you for sharing that valuable piece of information," he grinned.
"You know what I mean. That's why I can't sit in a restaurant…"
"Yeah, you're right. Can't have the waiters leaving you tips instead of the other way around."
I couldn't help but smile, despite my annoyance.
"You can't hide that smile from me, Petal," he said, changing gear.
"I can," I fought him on it and I felt him glancing at me.
"Chinese," I finally answered his question.
Later that night, we each sat at the kitchen table sharing from the tubs of Chinese food in the centre of the table. By the time we'd gotten home, it had already been getting dark. Now that it was fully black outside, we sat in the dim lights inside, eating, and drinking our bottles of beer.
After eating, I thanked Nick and tried to clean everything away. He wouldn't let me and lifted the tubs out of my hands. Instead, I made my way over to the couch and sprawled out. After our hike today, my body was aching and the stretch helped a lot.
"You know what helps the aching after a hike?"
I peeked my head over the couch and at him as he came to sit down. He shifted my legs and then lowered them back down over his legs as he sat down.
"Exercise," he eventually said.
"Exercise? How the hell does that help?"
"You gotta stretch out your muscles," he suggested.
"You're lying to me."
He smirked, not giving me a full answer.
"If that's the case, you go work out, I'm good."
"Who said I'm aching?" he answered.
"Well, like you need a reason to work out anyway? I'm surprised you haven't been working out in the basement constantly."
"Can't."
"Why's that?" I questioned.
"I'm afraid of the dark."
Nick stared at me seriously and I stared back.
"You're fucking with me. How did you get the surfing boards out?"
"With great difficulty."
"Stop lying," I said nudging his arm, "you're not afraid of the dark."
"You're wrong," he said, giving me a smile.
"Show me," I said, calling his bluff. "Let's go right now."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Because I know you're having me on."
I got up and placed my beer on the coffee table before very bravely standing up and pulling at his hands to get him up.
"Show me how to get there," I told him.
"Fine. But you're gonna regret it."
"Yeah, yeah…" I said, following after him.
