For the "ways to say I love you" meme, #34 please.
[A/N: So, I took this one pretty literally.]
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
He looks back at Abby, an expression that’s a cross between irritation, fear, and disbelief written across her face. Her knuckles are turning white from how hard she’s gripping the tree next to her, even though she’s a full twenty feet away from the edge of the waterfall.
He’s perched on the side of a rock, close enough to peer casually over the edge of the waterfall and into the glistening pool that the rest of the teens are currently splashing and swimming around in.
“It’s not that far down, Abby.” He skirts closer to the edge of the cliff, only stopping when he hears Abby hiss out his name. “The kids are all fine and it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth to climb back down the way we came.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that statement,” she says dryly, though there’s a shiver to her statement that belies her nervousness.
He takes one last look over the falls and turns back towards her.
“Taking a running start is probably the best way to go about it. We need to make sure we jump out far enough so that we don’t hit the cliff face or any of the rocks near the edge of the falls. Any slowing could be pretty dangerous.”
She squints at him, furrows her brows in exasperation.
“Why are you telling me this? How is this supposed to make me feel any better?”
He walks backwards towards her and reaches out to grab her hand.
“Remember what I said about slowing down.”
“Marcus,” she says, a warning note to her voice. He grins over at her.
“Also remember that I love you and I’d never let anything happen to you,” he says before planting a firm kiss on her lips. The hard, frightened expression on her face softens as she opens her eyes and looks at him.
He grips her hand tightly and crouches down, pulls her abruptly along as he begins to sprint for the edge of the cliff. Her hand tightens around his in a way that’s nearly painful, but her legs keep up with his despite the half foot of height he has on her.
She starts to scream before they even hit the edge of the cliff, lets out a truly impressive list of curse words that makes him laugh out loud as they leap out into clear, blue sky.
They hit the water together, plunge down into the chilly depths and resurface to the sound of cheers around them.
Abby ducks down to clear the tangled hair from her face, then swims over and loops her arms and legs around him.
He wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her on the lips.
“See? I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Now you won’t be so scared next time.”
She laughs, threads her fingers up and into the dripping ends of his hair.
“I love you, Marcus,” she says, ducking her head down to deposit a kiss on his forehead, “but I want you to know that I am never doing that again.”
