He looked at her, startled, and quickly averted his gaze.
Shit, shit, shit!!!
What was he supposed to do? She didn't seem to be aware of her situation yet, and he had to figure out a way to cover her up.
My hoodie! That is it!
He unzipped the hoodie and started pulling his arms out. It was not easy to remove, since the fabric clung to his soaking skin like glue. He struggled to peel his left arm free, and finally, he yanked the right sleeve off too. He wrung out the heavy fabric to get rid of the excess water.
Luca turned around and approached her, focusing his gaze on her face.
Look at her eyes. Only her eyes!
She was looking furious, and was wringing out her hair. He held out his hand and offered her the hoodie. "Put it on."
She looked puzzled, but still angry. She scoffed at him.
Luca stepped a little bit closer and shoved the hoodie to her chest. "Put - it - on!" he repeated aloud and slowly.
He was mad with himself for yelling at her, and for a second he felt his gaze soften to something calm, something sweet.
Christmas lost the colour in her face in an instant.
She read his expression.
And she was alarmed.
She lowered her stare. She was now certain why he was giving her his clothes.
She looked at him with eyes panicked and ashamed at the same time.
Luca felt bad. All he could do was to bring back his angry mask, the one that was easily covering up everything.
He walked away, reached the edge and jumped out of the pond. He tried to dry some of the water as he was waiting for Christmas to put on the hoodie, but he soon gave up.
He found his phone in his pocket. It seemed that it was still working - water-resistant thankfully. He was freezing now. The trailers weren't close enough.
"Are you ready?"
No reply.
Why is she giving me such a hard time?
He turned around and saw that she was now wearing the hoodie. It was safe for him to look.
She was crying.
Shit! Why? Again? Strong and dynamic my ass…
He never thought that she could break over something like that.
"Let me help you get out," he told her, offering his hand once more.
No response again. No effort to step out of the pond. "Give me your hand to pull you out!"
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, sounding more than mad, more than furious. She sounded broken.
"No! You never leave when I'm telling you to do so. I'm not leaving you alone!"
Christmas was staring with red eyes, shivering violently, not moving an inch.
He needed to change clothes, and so did she.
He stepped back into the pond, walking with difficulty in the water. He stopped directly in front of her, looming over her, their bodies inches apart.
He had to take her out - fast. With swift moves, Luca grabbed her waist with one hand, and slipped the other beneath her knees. He lifted her up, holding her tightly against his chest.
She let out a choked cry, and started shoving him away.
Luca tightened his grip, until she could not move at all.
Her face was lowered, her hair was all over his shoulder. He could smell a faint hint of her perfume - a sweet scent of rose, orange, and something else.
He carried her carefully to the shore, placing her on the dry ground.
Luca climbed out and shook his legs to dry up a little bit. Did he have a second pair of shoes with him? Or would he go home with his slippers?
"Get up, we must be going."
Only sobs could be heard.
The reasonable thing to do would be to try to calm the sobbing person, but Luca could not do that.
He was feeling guilty, confused, stressed and a hundred other things.
He was not in position to comfort anyone, rather he needed to be comforted. So he remained angry.
"Get up!" he yelled.
"Leave me alone," she screamed.
What a waste of energy! He was only trying to help. And she was the one to push him in in the first place.
He clenched his jaw and started walking away. She was a big girl, she knew what to do.
Though, every step he was taking, he was feeling more and more guilty.
"Damn!" he called out and turned back.
He sat next to her, on the damp grass. "If we stay here much longer, we will both get sick. We need to go back," he told her as calmly as possible. "Stop crying and stand up."
She took a deep, shuddering breath.
She started pounding the ground with her fists in frustration.
She would probably have preferred to punch his face, he was certain.
After a beat, she got up. Luca did the same. He tried to wipe his hands, quite unsuccessfully. Without saying another word they started walking back.
On their way, he saw someone approaching.
They couldn't hide anywhere, but Luca felt relieved when he realised it was Lexi.
When she got close and saw they were both soaked, she widened her eyes and asked them with concern: "What happened?"
Neither said a word. Lexi must have noticed Christmas' red eyes. "Why were you crying? What did he do to you?"
Unbelievable! They're all taking her side. I am always supposed to be the bad guy.
"It was an accident," Luca grunted.
"Poor thing! You must be freezing!" Lexi told Christmas, rubbing her shoulders.
She didn't even think of him. He was cold too! "Let's get you dry. Luca, we're going to your trailer. You should change too," she continued. Finally she noticed him! "We should get off this path."
"And go where? The bushes?" Luca asked.
"Better to hide in the bushes, than being seen in this state," Lexi insisted.
She had a point. People would start asking questions.
So Lexi led them within the trees, and the bushes. Just one person at the wrong place and tomorrow he would find his face all over the news.