Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Athena’s P.O.V.

Cristoff was so careful to place me in the cot made of rattan—as if treating me like a fragile glass—before he sat beside me. He swiftly took off his plain white T-shirt and squeezed it hard to dry it. I could even see his shoulder blades and biceps hardened. The scenery was making me drool at him again.

Next, he removed his black rubber shoes and faded pants until all was left in his body was his black boxer shorts. He was half-naked again, and just a little below his waist was a bulge trying to tempt my eyes to look at it—the main reason why I looked away instead.

I did not know how many times I gulped with Cristoff being here with me. I just felt the necessity to do it. Heat rose and began to stain my cheeks, as I couldn’t control it.

“H-Helena, you need to t-take off your c-clothes because those will only make you even colder. You might get the flu again, and I don’t want that to happen.” Cristoff was stuttering. Everything was awkward because he was now the one who couldn’t look at me straight in the eyes.

It was a good thing that I was wearing my red sleeveless shirt and cycling shorts inside. That way, I would not be ashamed to take off my clothes in front of him, after I took off his jacket and gave them all to him. He immediately wrung my clothes using his fine-looking muscles and placed them beside his.

“From the scale of one to ten, how can you measure the pain?” Cristoff asked as he knelt in front of me. He was referring to my left ankle.

I had a high pain tolerance, so I answered, “Eight.” But for the other teens the same as my age, the pain would even exceed the limit of ten.

He took off my rubber shoes and using his flashlight, I was able to see that my left ankle had already swollen. He opened the backpack that he was carrying, continued to kneel in front of me, and temporarily wrapped my foot using a white triangular bandage. I could feel how he was treating me delicately, and the first aid that he did somewhat alleviated the pain that I was suffering.

“Thanks, Cristoff… and you really brought a first aid kit, huh? It looks like our Corps Commander here was raised as a boy scout,” I smiled at him radiantly.

“It was because you’ve made me worry! Something might have happened to you, that’s why I brought this, and my instinct was right after all. Anyway, I also have some food here. Are you hungry? We can eat.”

He was about to take the food out of his bag when I shook my head.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry yet?” he asked while wrinkling his forehead.

While pressing my lips into a thin smile, I nodded.

He sat right next to me again, and he carefully placed my head on his shoulder. His left hand gently patted my left shoulder as if silently convincing me that everything would soon be okay. His gesture helped me ease my mind, so I did not refuse, nor cringe at what he did, and just let him do that.

Even though we got lost, everything still seemed fine because he found me. Cristoff took all the risk, and now, he was with me. I could not imagine myself spending the night alone in this kind of frightening place. I would surely be sleepless.

“Cristoff, why?” I inquisitively asked him. I was just curious why he followed me and decided to save me without even thinking of the probable consequences that might happen to him.

“What do you mean by why?” he asked back.

Lifting my head, I stared at him as I was trying to read his soul. “This. Why did you look for me all alone? Why did you just stay there at the campsite and waited for the possible rescue team tomorrow? I’m sure that our teachers stopped you because it was dangerous to cross the forest and—” he gently placed his forefinger in my lips to stop me from asking.

“I couldn’t wait until tomorrow without doing anything. I didn’t care if it was too dangerous, Helena. I would rather be the one to get damned and be hurt in the process, but not you,” he affectionately professed. What he said made me start to melt.

While avoiding his gaze, my heart was beating freaking faster like it wanted to come out of my chest. I did not know what to feel, and I could not find the right words to say.

There was a part of myself that was persuading me to get elated. However, there was also a part that kept on whispering that I should not mind him. My mind and heart were battling. I kept falling for Cristoff even though I knew it was entirely fantasy. I had already fallen for him, no matter how I tried to deny it.

“You should have accepted my suggestion to go with you, Helena. Not in a way that you would stubbornly enter the forest as if you’re carrying loads of guns! You didn’t even have someone with you! What now? In that case, do you think you can wander here all alone? See what happened to you! Do you know how much you’ve made me worried about you, huh?” Cristoff sermonized me.

Looking at him again, I just wanted to laugh at his preaches. “And why would you even worry about me?”

If I got surprised when he carried me earlier, I got even more astonished now that he suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. “I love—” I could sense that he swallowed for a moment before he continued his sentence, “I loved being with you, and you are important to me, Helena. I couldn’t imagine what might happen next to you if I didn’t see you. If I wasn’t able to find you, I might be blaming myself for the rest of my life.”

My heart was telling me not to remove his arms, and I just followed it. After all, what he did caused a strange heat that overpowered the extreme coldness I was feeling.

Cristoff and I had been in that position for a few minutes. And as it took a while longer, it was becoming more addicting. I couldn’t help but let my guard down because it was too intoxicating.

“C-Cristoff, shall we eat?” I suggested. I was not yet famished, but I intentionally said that for him to remove his arms off me. It was getting awkward, and I did not want us to feel that way.

He took the bag, prepared our food, and we ate quietly. He was able to pack barbequed pork liempo and spaghetti. I suddenly remembered having lunch with him five days ago. If only he knew that it was one of my most memorable lunches ever, his ego might have gotten even bigger. That way, I felt like I was completely normal—as if I was not dealing with any problems at all.

He made me do a lot of ‘first-time’ things in just one day. And how I wished that—that day would happen again. How I wished to have another day to spend so that I could be with him, and be happy the way how I wanted my life to be.

It was only a matter of time before the rain subsided, but because it was still remarkably dark, it was impossible for us to return to the camp without getting lost again. I saw Cristoff typing on his keypad-type of cellular phone then. It was not waterproof, but it might have been sturdy enough not to get damaged by the rain.

He tried his best to extend his arm at almost every corner of this small cabin to reach for a signal but to no avail. I guessed that we had to spend the rest of the night here.

“Let’s just go back to the camp tomorrow, since we might just get lost again tonight. At least tomorrow, our way back will be clear due to daylight.” Cristoff then painted a sweet smile off his lips as he gently stroked my hair.

“Cristoff, hmm… what did you and V-Vanessa talk about earlier?” I was not prying about his personal issues, so I did not know why I asked him about that. Perhaps, I was just curious to know. After all, I had to face it. Curiosity could kill a cat, but it was too late for me to get those words back.

“She’s asking for a second chance since they already broke up. She said that although it could have been late, she was able to realize that she truly loved me more than Drew. That what happened was only a test to our relationship, that I should just forget about it and start again with her.” Cristoff suddenly became serious.

Not sure about how I would feel, that Vanessa was indeed getting on my nerves. What does she want now? Does hooking with two men give her an award? A satisfaction? I bit my lower lip as I dismissed my thoughts about her. Then, I focused back on Cristoff.

But how about you? Do you still love her?

I wanted to voice it out, but I didn’t want to hear from him that he still loved her. Even if it was a sort of a joke, I didn’t know why I would feel like something was piercing me—similar to how he had joked about it five days ago. That was the main reason why I suddenly lost my appetite and got out of the mood.