Love After You

Chapter 21

They swam out from under the waterfall, and sure enough, the sun was gone, replaced with dark grey clouds.

The Welsh weather was truly something else.

Jake ran out of the water, Jess didn't have time to admire him. Instead, she was blinded by another flash. "Is it fork lightning?" She asked, glancing up nervously at the sky as she tread water.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and turned away from her so she could get out. She moved quickly, climbing over the rocks to escape the freezing water, wrapping the towel around her cold body. Jake was already mostly changed by the time Jess started to wipe herself down, as fast as she could, shivering as she threw her clothes over her damp, cold skin.

Her mind flashed back to what had almost transpired underneath that waterfall.

They had almost kissed.

Again!

They had to stop doing this, they needed to behave. They had to stop throwing themselves into situations where it would be hard for anyone to resist anyone. Never mind two people who find each other attractive. It was asking for trouble. She was pulling her trainers on when the sky suddenly turned white. Blinding light spread everywhere.

The thunder was so loud now, it hurt her ears.

Jake gasped.

Turning, Jess watched as he ran to her and placed his hands on her hair, patting her head. "What are you-?" She started, but Jake cut her off. His voice was frantic.

"Your hair, Jess, it's static! We have to go. Now!"

"What? Why?" She reached up to smooth her hair over, it did feel like static, like someone had rubbed a balloon over her head.

He grabbed her hand, trying to hurry her, but she pulled back to quickly finish tying her laces.

"I've read blogs about it! It could mean lightning is about to strike. Please, Jess, we have to hurry."

As soon as he stopped speaking, the heavens opened and rain began pouring down over them. In an instant, they were both soaked to the bone once again.

The static hair was no longer a concern, but at least with that they had some type of warning. Now they had nothing.

Jess picked up her backpack and started to follow him down the path. But the nice, easy path they had casually strolled up earlier was gone. It had mutated as the rain fell, changing into a muddy hell. They slipped and skidded everywhere. Jess had never fallen so much in her life; her ass ached from how often she slipped and landed on it.

But Jake was always there to help her up. He even took her backpack off her so she could balance a little easier.

They reached the truck in record time, especially with the awful terrain, and Jake helped her into the truck before jumping inside himself. The thunder and lightning hadn't eased. If anything, as they walked down, it seemed to get worse. The rain was plummeting into the windscreen of the car. If it fell any harder, Jess was sure it would smash.

"Fuck Jake, what should we do?" She shivered.

He switched the car on. "What do you mean? We just need to get back to the B&B."

He flicked the wipers on, but they barely made a dent in the water that ran down the window.

"Are you sure it's safe to drive? Perhaps we should just sit here for a while and wait for it to calm down."

Jake shook his head and said, "No, we need to get back to the B&B and get changed out of these wet clothes. Look at you. You're shivering, your lips are still blue." His expression softened slightly as he looked at her, but then he frowned and turned the heaters on. "I don't want you to catch hypothermia."