Walking a fine line✔️

31. Rapunzel

"I feel like a drowned rat."

Griffin looked me up and down. "Your clothes are soaking."

While his clothes were wet, mine were well and truly drenched after over an hour in the rain.

My teeth chattered. "No shit."

"You need to take them off."

I blushed. "I have nothing to change into."

"There are clothes and blankets in the other room," he replied. 

My eyes glanced towards the door splitting the two rooms of the cottage. When we'd been here for the scavenger hunt I hadn't actually gone into the smaller room.

Griffin walked over to the fireplace. "I'm going to start the fire. Call out if you need me."

"Okay."

He watched me walk into the smaller room as if he expected me to suddenly drop dead or turn into an icicle. I closed the door behind me, and looked around the room. It contained only a chest of drawers, a trunk, and an old table without a chair.

Wonderful.

With a bit of difficulty I peeled off my clothes and attempted to dry myself with one of the slightly moth-eaten towels that I found in the bottom drawer. Once slightly drier I went over to the trunk to look for some clothes to wear. My eyes widened as I caught sight of Noah's jumper in the pile of clothes. He must've taken it off and left it behind when he was dressing up in the apron.

Thank you Noah for your forgetfulness!

I pulled on his green hoodie which was many sizes too big for me, then turned back to the trunk to look for bottoms. The last groundskeeper had obviously been a lot bigger than me and after rummaging all the way to the bottom I discovered that only the smallest pair of sweatpants would semi fit me.

I pulled the pair on and tied them as tight as I could. I looked like a clown but at least I was warmer. This would do. Grabbing my wet clothes pile, I walked into the main room to see Griffin had started a roaring fire. The firelight cast a warm glow on his face and my pulse quickened. He had taken off his t-shirt and my eyes began tracing the lines of muscle on his back. I blushed as he spun round, catching me staring.

"Hey," he said, seeing me standing there.

"Hey," I replied, still staring.

He blinked and cleared his throat. "Somehow my phone was still alive so I texted the others to let them know we're safe."

"Thank you."

"No search parties needed for us tonight," he joked.

I gave him a small smile and numbly walked over to the fire and sat down on one of the blankets Griffin had laid out. He gently took the clothes out of my arms and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.

"I'll be right back," he said, standing up and walking into the other room.

I watched the flames dancing for what seemed like only a few seconds but must have been longer as Griffin reappeared in a dry pair of sweatpants, towel in hand.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked.

"Better," I replied, teeth still chattering.

He raised an eyebrow skeptically. "For some reason I don't believe you."

"Feeling has finally returned to my fingers." I let out a small laugh. "The fire is slowly thawing me."

"I might as well help it along." He waved the towel then walked over. "You won't get any warmer if your hair stays wet."

I began to reach for his towel but before I could, he knelt down behind me and began drying my hair himself. I was too tired to argue.

After a few minutes he said, "I take my little sister swimming most weekends which means dealing with her drenched locks afterwards." He continued. "If you're Sleeping Beauty, she is most definitely Rapunzel with hair just past her lower back."

"Wow, how old is she?"

"Ten." He finished drying my hair and started untangling the bird's nest on my head. His fingertips were light and I began to enjoy his touch.

"So you're the oldest." I shook my head, a smile forming on my lips. "That explains a lot."

Griffin prodded my side. "The youngest are by far the most annoying."

I laughed. "Agreed."

"Aren't you the youngest?"

I shook my head. "I have a younger sister."

He paused. "Are you telling me you're the middle child?"

"The one and only."

He removed his hands from my hair and backed away. "You're a different breed."

I spun around. "Hey! We're the coolest."

"I beg to differ. No wonder you and Noah are friends. He's also the middle child. On that note, is that his hoodie?"

I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know that?"

"I gave it to him."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"For his birthday last year."

"You knew him before the championship?" 

Griffin gave me a funny look. "He's my cousin." 

A/N:

What Disney character do you relate to?

Vote and comment if you enjoyed :) 

SouthernAlps over and out...