Page 28 of Caught in the Middle

'You're probably not used to such a life of luxury,' he said, dryly.

Lucy swallowed hard. She knew he wasn't going to get into the river in his boxer shorts.

She couldn't bring herself to look away as he stopped at the edge of the water, and peeled them off. She could feel her face flush crimson, as the early morning rays of sunshine contoured every muscle of his back.

God, how she wished he'd turn around.

Oliver climbed into the river, and it was deeper than Lucy thought it would be. Even though he was facing away from her, she could tell that he was flinching, probably both at the water on the gash on his leg, and fact that he was naked in a river in the middle of autumn.

As he began to turn around to grab his wash bag off of the river bank, Lucy scuttled over to the car. He hated her at the moment, she definitely didn't want him to catch her staring.She hopped in, and snuggled her head down in her fleece, closing her eyes.

In the quietness of her own head, with just the faint splashing of Oliver in the river for company, the consequences of the early morning’s events began to sink in to her consciousness.

She had aimed a gun at two men, with the intention of...

Well.

She knew deep down that she had intended to kill them.

She had never even gotten into a physical fight in her entire life. Why didn't she just try and shout to scare them off? Quite honestly, she realised, as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter, she was shocked at herself for being so... violent. And feeling that rush she felt afterwards.

That was fucked up. Something in her had changed in the last couple days, and it wasn't for the better.

Nuzzling into the ugly warm fleece that she had begrudgingly began to love, her eyes grew heavy. She hardly slept last night - having Oliver's strong arms wrapped around her all night did not help at all. Not to mention the fact that she was woken up in the small hours by Joey Leonardo's men!

She sat there for a while, the warm car heating hugging her, trying to avoid thinking about everything she had to deal with. Why Joey Leonardo was after her, why she had used the gun...and why was she developing feelings this fucked up, mysterious man with anger issues.

Right on cue, she heard the sound of uneven wet footsteps thudding up the bank towards the car. She glanced in the wing mirror to catch a glimpse of Oliver's muscular frame wrapped in his towel.

She sighed, heavily.

What a ridiculous situation she had got herself into.

Ambling out of the car and making her way to the rear of it, she silently hoped that he Oliver would be in a better mood. She decided she'd be more sympathetic, apologise profusely for shooting him, and ignore the anger she felt towards him for not being grateful for saving his life. It was easier to keep the peace - she had no idea how long she was going to be spending with this man.

As she rounded the car, Oliver was sitting only in a fresh pair of Calvin's on the ledge of the boot, opening a first aid kit.

'Hey,' Lucy said timidly, 'aren't you cold?'

Oliver shook his head, studying the back of a bandage packed.

Lucy nodded towards the gash, 'it looks a lot better now you've cleaned it.'

'Lucy,' Oliver sighed, looking into her eyes for the first time today. 'Will you just, stop? Please.'

'I'm really sorry I shot you, it was an accident. I've never fired a gun before and -’

'- it's not that, Lucy,' He winced as he wiped a saline cloth over his injury, 'you just shouldn't have used the gun at all.'

Lucy frowned, the frustration she had tried to squash bubbled up again inside of her. 'But if I hadn't of taken the gun, you would have probably died!'

He shook his head as he wrapped the fresh white bandage around his bulging thigh. 'No, I would have got myself out.' He leaned over and pulled on a pale grey T-shirt, before meeting Lucy's eye again. 'There's a lot you don't know about me, a lot you don't need to know. But what you do need to know, is that I can look after myself – as well as you - and I don't need you to interfere.'

He stood up gingerly, and pulled on a pair of black jeans. 'You just need to trust me, as I keep telling you. If I tell you climb out of a goddamn bathroom window and don't look back, that's exactly what you need to do.'

He said this quietly, and Lucy noted that this was the most calm she had seen him. He wasn’t being cheeky, there was no glint in his eye as he ripped the shit out of her, nor was he angry, with the vein in his temple ready to burst. Instead, he was almost normal... almost... defeated, it felt.

Lucy's heart felt heavy, and she didn't know why. He was being too nice, she would prefer him to scream at her again, maybe punch a tree... and then apologise a few hours later and get back to his jokey self. This new side to him made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.

'Okay, understood.' She cocked her head to one side and forced a smile. 'Can we be friends again?'

Oliver slipped on a pair of boots and slammed the boot door shut. 'Jesus woman, there's not much point - you shot Joey Leonardo's top men, you ain't gonna be around for much longer.' He grinned as he spoke, and even though what he was saying should have worried her, because there was a very high chance that it could be true, she was just happy that he was back to his usual self again. And besides, if she was to trust him, she had to trust that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

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