17.5 The Water

Seeing that the rain doesn't bother you that much, you decide to finish your task before heading back to the camp. After all, even though the rain has grown rather vigorous, it's still a relief from the heat. Accepting its cool embrace, you continue forward through the downpour. Your clothes and hair are completely soaked by the time you arrive at the small pond. Ignoring the small shiver you feel when the wind picks up, you begin filling your bucket. Raindrops continue splashing against your skin and the now filled pail. Straightening up, you stand and turn back in the direction you had come from. Your movements quickly falter when you see a lone figure standing behind you.

Frowning, you blink water from your eyes before recognizing the person to be Ty. An uneasy feeling passes over, knowing this is the one member of the group that doesn't seem to care for you. Shifting the bucket around in your hands nervously, as you observe the man. The rain pelts down around you relentlessly while you wait for him to speak.

"You shouldn't be out in this weather." He finally states somewhat irately after stepping forward. "You'll get sick."

"You're out right now." You remark slightly annoyed yourself.

"Because I saw you here." Ty's tone has grown more impatient. "No come on, let's go."

"I can find my way back to camp alone." You mumble and move to walk around the man.

Your annoyance increases when he reaches a hand out to stop you. It curls around your wrist tightly, holding you in place. Frowning, you try in vain to pry away as the man begins pulling you in the opposite direction.

"That will take too long." He informs you as he continues forcing you to walk beside him. "We can wait in the deer blind until it clears up."

"The deer blind?" You exclaim, dropping the bucket and using your now free hand to try to pull him away. "I'm not getting into that old thing."

The sudden crash of lightning causes you to startle visibly. Your fingers slip off his slick skin and you realize you're not getting free. When you reach the weathered and slightly decaying structure you shoot the man another skeptical look. While it's certainly not the tallest object in the forest, it makes you uncomfortable thinking about being up so high. You're not given much of a choice as Ty pushes you towards the ladder. Sighing, you hesitantly wrap your free hand around one of the rungs and place your foot on another.

"I can't get up until you let go." You state shortly, tugging your still restricted arm.

There's a brief pause before you're finally released. The thought of running does cross your mind, however, with the storm picking up you know it would be foolish. Pursing your lips bitterly, you begin climbing the somewhat dubious ladder. When you reach the top, you glance back down and shiver slightly. You're not exactly scared of heights, but you are certainly concerned about falling. Tentatively, you pull yourself through the small opening into the blind's interior. A deep, musky odor quickly fills your lungs, causing you to flinch slightly. Stepping forward, you can hear the wooden floor beneath you creak and groan loudly. A moment later, the entire structure shifts briefly when you're joined by your unwanted companion.

Cautiously, you move over to one of the far corners and slowly take a seat. Small streams of water run from your hair and down your face. You absentmindedly wipe them away with the back of your hand, not daring to take your eyes off the man before you. The sound of rain beating against the outside of the structure sounds muffled. You're not entirely sure what to make of this whole situation. It's not like the typically irate man to go out of his way to help you. You can't help but wonder if he has some ulterior motive in bringing you here. Shivering from both the thought and the cold, you hesitantly pull your knees up to your chest and wrap your arms around them. You see Ty glance at you out of the corner of your eyes and try to ignore him.

This becomes increasingly difficult to do when he tosses his backpack to the side then begins pulling off his wet shirt. Your eyes widen as you can't help but briefly look over at his broad, muscular figure. Realizing what you're doing you blush and quickly look away. You hear him sigh before reaching into the backpack and pulling something out. Hesitantly, you glance back over to see some seemingly dry clothes in his hand. You tense slightly when he takes a couple of steps towards you. A breath of relief leaves you when he tosses one of the items towards you. Reaching a hand out, you catch what turns out to be another flannel shirt. You give him a nod of appreciation before hesitantly standing. You raise an eyebrow and give him an expectant look when he doesn't immediately turn around. His own brow lifts before he realizes what you're hinting towards and finally does so.

Once he's given you some privacy, you quickly strip off your wet flannel before donning the new one. It's slightly larger than your previous one, however, provides sufficient coverage. You fidget with the buttons for a moment, unsure how many to leave undone. You hardly think it necessary to button it all the way up to the collar. However, its oversized material makes it difficult to leave any button undone without the fabric showing more skin than desired. Sighing impatiently, you decide leaving the top two buttons open is tolerable. Turning back around, you're slightly annoyed to see the man is already facing you. Making you wonder how long he has been watching you. He remains silent as you irately brush past him and move to a dry corner.