"I hope you like it," he said, turning around to smile at her.

"It's gorgeous," she said, sitting down at the edge of the lake. "I never seen anything like it."

"Which is why I brought you here. I'm glad you think it's beautiful. I was afraid you might scoff and tell me it sucks."

She laughed. "Why would I do that?"

"Cause like you said, you never seen anything like this."

"Not in person. I just thought this was just a depiction in the storybooks."

"That's it. You're definitely living here. You need to know your surrounding a little better."

She smiled to herself. He was right. There was a lot of things she was missing. This was one of them. Her eyes were trained on the waterfall. It looked kind of like Niagara Falls. She could sit here days and days.

She looked up at James and saw a mischievous smile on his face.

"What?" she chuckled.

"This," he said, and without warning, he picked her up and tossed her into the water.

"James, you're hurting me!" she screamed as she splashed into the water.

Suddenly, the current of the water started to pull her with it. She started flailing her arms as she screamed for help.

"James---!" she cried, but was cutoff by the water rushing her nose.

Her whole body started moving spastically, her vision started to blur, and she felt herself slip out of conscious. Then she felt herself being lifted up out of the water. But she was so terrified, that she started sobbing as James carried her away from the lake.

"I'm so sorry!" he said, holding her tight. "I was only trying to have fun. I didn't know---I'm sorry."

"Let go of me!" she weeped. "Just leave me alone.

"No," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm truly sorry."

But she kept crying. She had never been so scared in her life. It wasn't funny for her to be thrown in the water like a rock. Water was not something to joke around with her. It just wasn't.

Eventually she calmed down after James dried her off. She hadn't talked to him since the incident. However, she didn't refuse his embrace. In fact, she settled herself in his arms when they went back to the tent.

"Are you okay?" he asked tentatively, caressing her tenderly.

She didn't answer. So instead, he kissed her temples a couple of times. She didn't know why, but her Freudian part of her wanted his lips to meet her own.

"You know, I'll never hurt you, right?" he said. "Please know that."

"Yes," she said finally. "I know. I should have told you I have a fear of water. It's my fault."

"No, I should have known better than to do that. I'm the asshole."

"I don't think you're an asshole."

He chuckled. "Contrary to what you said when we first met."

"I didn't know you back then." she said, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile.

He kissed her forehead one last time before letting go of her. She watched him head back to the tent. A feeling of longing swept over her. She didn't want him to stop holding her.

At nighttime, they laid in the tent listening to Beverlee play on her classical guitar. The tune always sedated Natalie. She preferred Beverlee's guitar skills over anyone else's.