^ here she is 😍 ^

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H o l l o w s   I n
T    I    M    E
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I couldn't help but gawk at Jameson's physique. And he hadn't even got his jeans off yet. When it looked as if he noticed me staring, I cleared my throat and stripped off my socks.

I gathered the fabric of jumper before deciding that I wanted to take off my jeans first.

Seeing my hesitation, Jameson looked up and said, "I can turn around if you want." Of course, even when he had the chance to see me with less clothes on, he would choose to be the gentleman.

I smiled. "Relax, JJ, I'm not getting naked. And you'll have to look at me eventually if you're going to teach me to swim." I told him. He looked away, and it was soon his turn to clear his throat.

I unbuttoned my jeans and slipped them off, outstretching my arm and handing them to Jameson when I was done. He accepted them wordlessly and without looking at me as he added his jeans to the pile too. Like me, he had his swim shorts on underneath. Unlike me, he wasn't freaking out because of that.

I gathered the fabric of my jumper again and had just enough time on my hands to see Jameson turn back and accidentally glance at me before the jumper covered my vision. Damnit, Sky. What's with your timing?

I yanked the jumper over my head and off my body. My vision was freed as my hair fell out of the jumper and down to my back. All the strength he had once had to not look at me completely faded, as I now had his full attention. And his eyes told it all.

I must have a lot more control than I suspected, because I didn't throw myself at him. Instead, I reached up and unclasped my necklace before handing it to him. He tore his eyes off me and went to take the necklace. The simple brushing of his hand against mine even needed restraint.

I snatched my hand away, giving Jameson just enough time to secure my necklace in his hand.

He turned, but this time he looked at me. "Shall we?" He asked, gesturing to the ladder into the pool.

I stared at it. "You first." I said, watching him give me suspicious glance, as if I would bolt if he got in first.

He got to the bottom and moved in the water so that I could see that it only came up to his mid lower leg. With this in mind, I descended the ladder and tried not to slip. Jameson watched me the entire time, even if he was trying to do it sneakily.

He held out his hands for me to hold and I accepted them gratefully as I walked through the water until we stood inches apart. He shot me an encouraging smile before he guided me out into the deeper end. I could do nothing but follow his guidance—I trusted him, even if I was scared out of my mind.

When I was waist deep in the water, Jameson let my hands go and continued walking. I watched him go with a, probably, terrified expression. When he had made a considerable distance between us, he turned to look at me. Seeing my expression, he smiled reassuringly at me.

"Now swim." He called. I stared at him. Swim? What swim?

"Are you forgetting the reason why I nearly died, JJ?" I asked, my flippant attitude getting the better of me as I grew even more nervous.

"No, I'm quite aware. The only difference now is that I'm here." I didn't tell him, but that made me feel safe. Safe enough to risk my life in front of him.

I bent down and felt as my breath became laboured. Then I plunged myself into the water. Maybe not the way to go. I managed to swim to the surface, but I had inhaled some water.

Jameson rescued me, of course, and whacked me on the back a couple times so I could cough up the water I was choking on.

"This is going to be a long day." Jameson muttered to himself, echoing my earlier thoughts.

He held me by the waist and balanced me on my front in what I assumed was the appropriate position to swim in. He placed his palm to my bare stomach and pushed me up.

"Okay, use your entire arm, not your hands; we aren't learning to wave." I bit my tongue so that I wouldn't laugh, since I'm pretty sure the joke was about me.

"Keep yourself above water, aside from your legs, but you still need to be horizontal." He informed me.

I frowned. "Shall we do some angle calculations?" I quipped. I didn't hear him laugh, but I assumed that he found it funny.

"Okay, now swim." He instructed me.

"Wait, but–" he let me go. Well. With nothing to keep me up, I tried to remember everything he had just told me—and then I tried to put it to practice.

It worked at first, and then I panicked and started to sink. Jameson caught me with flourish, of course, and then demanded that I tried again, but into the deep end.

We continued this cycle probably a million times over before it became obvious that I was exhausted. I managed to tread water, but I was in the deep end and I feared that I wouldn't make it out of this pool without Jameson's guidance.

He held out his hand to me, I reached out, but just as our fingertips brushed, a shadow leapt out and lunged at Jameson.

I squealed and tried to flap myself away. It's funny, I didn't really know how to swim, but if my life was at risk, I'd learn any skill in a second.

I watched Jameson resurface and pummel the figure into the water. I had a feeling he was about to tell me to run, but he didn't even open his mouth before someone grabbed a fistful of my hair and decided my head needed a dunking.

I flailed around under the water, trying to escape their hold and gain oxygen. But it was no use; I was tired and weak, whereas they were strong and brutal.

My struggling grew more feeble with every breath of oxygen that I couldn't get, and soon, my limbs had stopped moving all together. The person let me go, and instead of battling it out and swimming to the surface, I floated down to the bottom.

I was faintly aware of a fight taking place above the water, but as the life started to seep out of me, I wasn't really aware of anything.

And then it was as if I was back with Bria and Jonah.

A burning sensation awoke me, and I threw my whole body to the side to cough up the flames. Someone pumped against my chest a few times before I could continue coughing up the pool.

When I was finished, I was brought back to my senses by gentle strokes to my head.

"Sky." The person said. I blinked, watching everything come into focus.

And I saw Jameson.

The look of worry on his face was what struck me first. He suddenly had a wall of emotions on his face, and he didn't seem to care.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "Can you breathe?" He shot at me next, pushing me upright with his arm to my back.

I nodded, but couldn't respond in any other way. Jameson wrapped a towel or two around my body, which I assumed I had been laying on, then pulled me into his arms and hauled me up from the ground.

"What happened?" I asked as I watched the world spin.

"You passed out from oxygen loss, I think you were out for a good ten minutes—maybe longer." He informed me, seating me on a side chair as he collected his clothes up and started to dress himself.

Then I realised what that meant. "So you... you did the whole CPR thing?" I asked.

"Yes, Sky, our lips met—to save your life, our lips met."

If only he knew that I took that in other ways.

One of our kisses could probably cure an epidemic disease if we allowed it to.

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But you won't

So

Bc you rude

And you wanna ruin the shippers lives

Or

Or is that me

...

-Denial

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Next update: Wednesday
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CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE SPOILER: (the end of an era)

A jump in time, to a colder, frostier place.

Gifting, grinning and giving in.

THE FINAL CHAPTER IS:
14 chapters away