Highway Kismet

Hanging On By A Thread

I must've been underwater for only a few seconds before I broke the surface and took in a gasp of air; Mitchell didn't let go of me even once for the few seconds we were under the water. I blinked water out of my eyes and pushed back the few strands of hair that escaped my braid backward and took in another breath before my eyes met the blue in Mitchell's.

He was as drenched as me, his hair slicked back and his shirt clung to him like a second skin, his hands were wrapped around me and he wore a look of dismay and – if I wasn't wrong – concern.

The water was relatively warm, a big upgrade from the last time I was in the water with him. Everything around was still and other than the soft sound of the flowing water mixed with our breathing, there was no sound. My body was a mere few inches away from being flat against Mitchell's and I couldn't help but lower my eyes, over his exposed chest down to the now see-through shirt that gave no mystery to how in shape he still was.

His chest rose and sunk as he breathed and my breathing was in sync with his, I swallowed, despite not liking our proximity, my body wanted to move closer. I told myself I needed to stop checking him out before he got smug about it, so my eyes slowly moved back upwards.

Unfortunately, we were still attached by a single thread so I couldn't get out without him, I huffed in annoyance and glared at him while he just stared at me.

"Don't do that," Mitchell scolded, "As if this was my fault."

I narrowed my eyes, "Are you implying that it's my fault?"

"Of course, it is," He replied immediately, "I told you to be still, but you wanted to act like a five-year-old with ants in their pants!"

"Only because you refused to let me go!" I retorted.

"It's not like I had a choice in the matter!" He defended himself.

"Oh," I mused with a raised brow, "So you're saying you don't want to touch me?"

"No," Was his immediate response but he caught onto my words and frowned, "Yes... no...I..." He paused and looked at me obscurely, "Huh?"

I purposely asked that to mess with his mind and watching Mitchell get worked up, confused and flustered was still as fun as I could remember.

"Don't strain your already compromised brain," I sighed and looked down at the thread between us, "I just want to be detached."

"Is it that bad being attached to me?" He lightly asked, probably attempting to joke.

I stared at him for a moment before seriously saying, "Almost painful."

He didn't respond and I wondered if he caught onto how serious I was but knowing him, he probably thought I was being snarky.

"Ouch," He finally spoke.

"You don't get to say that," I stated.

"And you don't get to comment about what you know nothing of," He retorted with a slight edge to his tone.

"Oh yeah," I challenged, "Then enlighten me."

We had a stare off and I could feel the anger I held onto slowly start to bubble inside of me, I kept it dormant for so long that I was under the impression it was gone. However, looking at Mitchell at that moment reminded me that I never let go of how much he hurt me.

His hard gaze softened, and he exhaled, shaking his head he glanced at the thread that joined us, "May I?"

I scoffed under my breath and was pissed at him for not answering my questions, it only proved that he had no answer because he was wrong and nothing he could say or do would ever fix the relationship we shared.