A Walk. {Open}

[Isabella Leone]

Isabella felt the warmth of a body behind her after dipping her toe in the water. She breathed in slowly and stood there for a moment.

“Oh I intend to,” he said, a playful and flirtatious manner entering his speech.

Her mind went through the series of events in her mind; she sits by a tree and hears music, meets a boy, strips down in her knickers to go swimming, and is now freezing, slowly but surely turning into an iceburg. Everything was so out of the ordinary, but it just made Isabella draw herself closer. She took a moment before turning around. Was Chris just using her for some sort of personal enjoyment? She wondered, but her body filled with goose bumps, reminding her of how cold it was. Isabella turned slowly, and looked up at Chris. Well, he offered, so why not? Taking a brave step, she moved her hands lightly across his waist, traveling with only her fingertips, until she finally pressed herself against him.

His warmth felt like sitting next to a fire after just playing in the snow. A moment ago, Isabella was complaining about being lonely, and now she was embracing a rather attractive boy. It didn't make sense; no one every acts this way towards her, ever. She looked up and into his eyes. He looked as if his intentions were true, but looks could be dicieving. For all she knew, he could just be a flirt who had five girlfriends. She mentioned nothing, since he was her only source for warmth on this cold night. She didn't want to push away the only person who would speak to her.

Chris' warmth was intoxicating. She wrapped her arms a little tighter, as if that would produce more heat from him. The last thing on Isabella's mind was going into that water. It was colder than the Antartic during the winter time. Once she would thaw out, she would make sure to put her clothes back on. Sure, she said she would go in the water, but people say things. She should've checked the temperature before she even took her jacket off. The chilled air gently swept by, moving her long locks back into her face. She didn't want to let go to fix it, just because she was so chilled. Isabella looked up at Chris and stared into his blue eyes. She wasn't one for words, mainly actions, which is why she hardly ever spoke.

"You realize that I have no intention of going into that water." She said with a smirk creeping upon her lips. "I'd rather not turn into an ice cube."

[Chris Jones]

The purple in the girl’s undergarments stood out. It reminded the boy of royalty. Chris was surprised at how quickly she accepted his offering. Not ungrateful for her embrace, he had forgotten what another body pressed up against him felt like until just now and he liked it. He could feel the heat within him rising to a boiling point.

With a hand he tucked the girl’s hair away behind her ear and out of her face before Chris returned the embrace. His own arms wrapped down and around her back coming to rest within the arch of her lower back. Looking down into her eyes, orbs that reflected the starlight and became glowing balls of light, Chris had to suppress the urge to plant a soft kiss on her lips, but he knew better than that.

“Well that’s too bad your majesty,” his lips spread out in a thin, sly smile. His grip was gentle, but tight around her body. Chris might be a flirt and a tease, but deep down he was always going to be a jester. His eyes twinkled in the moonlight for an instant before he lifted the girl up off the ground and leapt into the water.

[Isabella Leone]

Isabella couldn't help but smile as he tucked the strand of hair behind her ear. Was she really falling for all of his romantic moves? Apparently so. As his arms crept down around her waiste, her mind went haywire. She couldn't even think correctly, which she should've known right then and there, that he was up to something, but she didn't. She pressed her rosy cheeks against his chest, thinking of what her Grandmother would say about this. Her Grandmother had always been very proper, and that was the way Isabella was raised, proper, elegant and polite. This was beyond inproper; embracing someone in her undergarments that she just met. Maybe she should just let go now, but she couldn't, her arms seemed to be glued to him.

“Well that’s too bad your majesty,” his lips spread out in a thin, sly smile.

Your majesty? Isabella liked the sound of that, but what did he mean? She said that she didn't want to go into the water, he couldn't make her go in. Could he? Chris quickly answered her question as he picked her up, and jumped in. She barely caught her breath before she fell in. Isabella laughed and screamed for what seemed like an instant before slamming against the black body of water. The water was colder than she thought possible, making her lose her breath. She swam to the surface and took a deep breathe, coughing up some water that had sunk into her lungs. "You bloody bastard" She said as he resurfaced, laughing and teasingly dunking him under the water.

Isabella's body temperature was extremely low, but it slowly began to adjust itself to the temperature of the water. She leaned back, a way to get her hair out of her face, and she looked at Chris. "I can not believe you!" She said smiling. She looked into his glassy blue eyes that were practically glowing in contrast to the blackness of the lake. She wondered what was crossing his mind right now; something she always thinks of. She did a flip underneath the water and swam back up to the surface. "I suppose this isn't too bad." She said to him in her strong accent. "Though you still are a bloody bastard, and you can never change that." She said, curving one side of her mouth into a small grin. She swam closer to him, and grabbed him by the shoulders flirtatiously, but suddenly, dunked him under the water once again. Laughing and smiling.

[Chris Jones]

Chris grinned wide as he resurface, laughing, before he let the smaller girl dunk him back under. He threw his shoulders back at her words in a “So what?” gesture, a smile ever present on his face. The water didn’t seem to affect the boy. He had swum in colder lakes before and this lake was a lot colder during the winter too. The boy’s body was like his own personal heater, the cold seemed to flee from him.

He swam with ease around the girl, chuckling each time she called him a bastard. Worse names had been thrown at Chris, and her grin shined brightly in the nightly defeating any ill will that might have accompanied the insults. Again she dunked him under, but instead of bursting back up immediately he waited a moment under the murky depths.

With one quick tug he grabbed Isabella’s feet and yanked her down into the water with him. The fresh water didn’t sting his eyes, a bonus for not having to deal with chlorine, and he watched in the watery silence as she slid down, graceful as a dancer, to his position in the water. Chris held his breath well, his lungs strong, almost as strong as his mischievous sense.

Even underwater he smiled.

[Isabella Leone]

After dunking Chris down for the second time, Isabella realized how much fun she was having and was actually glad that he had tossed her in, even though she was reluctant to the thought at first. While Chris was under water, the lake got quiet, and had an eery feel to it. She then started worrying, he had been down there for a while when suddenly, something grabbed her leg, and pulled her down. She caught her breath before going under, still having oxygen in her lungs she could stay down for a while. Back in London, her Gradmother had bought her swimming lessons, so she had become an expert underneath the water, and the ways to hold her breath. Her eyes were open, and she could see Chris right in front of her, smiling away.

The sight made Isabella smile also, and she swam a tad bit closer to him, and held on to his shoulders so she wouldn't float back up to the surface right away. The Slytherin let out a few air bubbles so she wouldn't float up, but still held on. Why was he so fun to be around? They had hardly said two words to each other since they've met, but she still was having a blast. It made no sense. Maybe he was the same way as Isabella, someone who's actions spoke louder than there words. Putting her thoughts aside she inched a bit closer as her feet began to float up, so she used Chris as an anchor. Isabella was now accustomed to the water, and it started to feel warmth, or it could've just been the warmth radiating from Chris, who knew.

[Chris Jones]

Despite Chris’s seeming immunity to the cold his skin took on an even paler hue than before. Almost stark white, porcelain colored. Even with Isabelle using him as an anchor he began to rise up, the oxygen in his lungs becoming a buoyant force. There was no splash as his head slid out of the water, drops sliding down from his drenched bangs.

He tossed a wink and slid like a snake onto his back. A pale chest, a dark shape, along with the boy’s face were the only portions of skin above the water line, besides his feet as he propelled himself with smooth strokes. The sky was shocking, destroyed his perception of size in a matter of seconds. Chris didn’t feel small, though, instead he felt this insurmountable peace fill him up. He could be out here for hours, floating like a block of driftwood. He even succumbed to hypothermia once or twice over the years, now his body had a high tolerance for the cold.

His ears were below the waves. The full blast of distorted ringing that marked true silence was all he heard. He did not speak, his lips pursed slightly with a little opening between them. Chris didn’t ignore his swimming partner completely, but he had no desire to shatter the silence. It was too peaceful, too all encompassing. With the girl nearby he didn’t feel as lonely as he might have. Though he would never admit it.

[Isabella Leone]

Isabella found herself very relaxed under the water, even though it was dark and irky, she felt like it was where she belonged. Creepy right? She allowed her body to float up to the surface and inhaled deeply. She hadn't realized how long she had stayed underneath the water. Any longer and she would've suffocated. Her lungs longed for air, as she inhaled and exhaled deeply, coughing up water in between. She had definitely ruined the silence. Isabella looked over at Chris.

"You have a girlfriend don't you." The words just slipped out; it was on her mind the ever since they met, not because she wanted to be his girlfriend, which wasn't it at all, but she knew by the way he acted towards a girl he had just met, who was much younger than him. She had a gut feeling that he flirted with every girl that he had met. "Sorry, it just..." Isabella closed her big mouth, she didn't want to say anything else for she knew that she had probably already ruined their friendship. She was going to go on and explain how she hadn't asked that because she was interested in him, but then she realized how rude that sounded. Sure, he was cute and all, but he was a flirt, and no doubt he did this same routine to everyone.

Isabella's eyes sparkled under the moonlit sky. She didn't know what she would do now that she had lost her only friend. Maybe she should start speaking more, but when she did, only terrible things came out of her mouth. It was instinct for her; second nature so to speak. Isabella spoke what was on her mind, and people hated her for it. She was never brilliant at her social abbilities, but she couldn't help it. Her Grandmother hardly ever spoke to her, though she knew that Grandmother Alice loves her dearly, she never had the chance to learn any social skills. Sure, Isabella had the ability to know which fork was for what at a special event, and how to place your napkin delicately on her lap before she ate, but socializing was never her thing.

Isabella grabbed her long hair, which appeared longer since it was wet, and put it on one of her shoulders, using her fingers to begin playing with the tips. Something she did when she was nervous. Maybe he hadn't heard her? She looked and saw that his ears were under water, which means that the sounds that came out of her mouth must've sounded rather muffled. She let out a small grin, hope in her eyes. She didn't want to lose the only person who was speaking to her. Isabella was getting desperate, and she hoped that since this year was almost over, the next she would have many more friends.

[Chris Jones]

The girl’s words were muffled, Chris probably wouldn’t have heard even if he was fully above the water, but the fact that she did speak caused his head to automatically rise up out of the water. Against his wishes, but how can you ignore your swimming partner? He turned a curious look on the girl, noticing how black her hair seemed wet, almost blacker than the sky. Like a void strapped to her head. It seemed to accentuate her beauty though, and like the eyes of most girls he was lost in the soft folds and cresses of her flowing locks.

The look was fleeting though, easily shattered. All it would take was one more word and her hair would be forgotten, finding solace in her icy gaze. His legs stopped and he lay there mostly on his back, the water only disturbed by his chest as he breathed, slow, in and out.

Time was a lie. Hypothermia would catch them before the sun rose, and sometimes Chris wondered if death would be preferred to the having to deal with another day. Those thoughts weren’t on his mind tonight though, lost in his own blank mind. The void of the night sky filled his mind with a darkness so black his thoughts could barely be picked out within the mass, this was his favorite part. No doubts could fight from his subconscious, no fears or anger. Everything was a pure acceptance, borderline bliss.

He smiled and was lost.

[Isabella Leone]

Isabella watched Chris as he floated in the water. He had obviouslly heard something as he leaned up in the water, Isabella's heart froze. What if he heard her? What if he heard every word that she had spoken. By the looks of it, he hadn't heard a thing. He just sat there, staring at her like she was some sort of beautiful statue frozen in time. As he smiled at her, all of her thoughts from before had dissapeared, the smile made her feel like she was some sort of beautiful angel or something of the sort. In a way, she was self-conscious, maybe she had something on her face, but why would he be smiling? Isabella decided best not to think about it, so she looked into his eyes, they looked like the sky on a hot summer afternoon, spreading warmth through her body, melting away any ice that surrounded her heart from before.

Isabella began to feel a bit warmer, wondering if it was from getting adjusted to the water or staring into his gaze. He seemed mesmerized by something... her? She wondered if it was something behind her, but she didn't look. She focused in closer, the stillness of the water was mesmerizing by itself, but as she looked into his eyes she felt a moment of complete comfort and happiness. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. She had almost forgotten what it felt like, but it seemed like her heart had skipped a beat, like it had forgotten how to pump blood into the rest of her body for a split moment. For that moment alone seemed like Heaven on Earth, that feeling alone made Isabella crave to feel it again.

She walked slowly towards him, feeling the dirt from the bottom of the lake underneath her toes. She neared him, and stopped when she brushed up against him. Her gaze never left his eyes, as all the thoughts from before had suddenly dispersed into the water, never to be seen again. She stood there, as water dripped down her face, and smiled. She hadn't felt this good in a long time. She hadn't laughed so much, or smiled so much the entire year, but this night, with this boy, she forgot about all that she ever was, and became a new person, just for that night.

[Chris Jones]

Heat built up within him, a heavy metal drummer used his heart for a beat. Blood was blasted through his system, energy built up, adrenaline flowed like wine in Greek tales. Porcelain skin bloomed into roses, as the girl stepped closer. This girl was going to be a heartbreaker in a few years, the desire of every boy in the school.

Chris’s mind was still a black void, devoid of thought. Everything was pure instinct and impulse. Soft hands flowed through the water like snakes, gripped her waist, and began to trail up her sides with just his finger tips. So slight was his touch it was borderline tickling. Chris wanted to tease her nerves. Both slid to her back and continued up her shoulder blades and finally came to rest on her shoulders. His smile perked up with a mischievous undertone.

An impulse fired. He pulled her down underwater. A distraction, not pulling her down too far, just enough for her head to be completely covered down to about his waist line, then his fingers became worms. It really isn’t his fault. Tickling just came so naturally to him.

As she would slide back up to get out of the water, his hands would dart in truly becoming snakes and began to tickle her soft fleshy sides. He pulled her even closer so she couldn’t get away. His smile widened into a full grin, his ivory teeth reflecting the moonlight.