Faith

I begin walking towards the forest and Joy quickly covers up the distance and walks beside me. He is unusually quiet after what happened.

The silence seems soothing to my ears though. The sounds of the forest and ocean are a bliss when compared to the noises of traffic and other human activities in the city. My mind wanders off to home and what I would be doing if I were there. I'd probably be snuggled in my cosy blanket with a book, or I'd be on my laptop, working on a new project.

But here I am instead, stuck in this strange place with an even strange person. I turn to look at Joy but he is lost in his own thoughts. I look back ahead as we continue walking, stopping occassionally to collect dried twigs and branches.

If there is one thing I understand about Joy, it's that he isn't as bad as the first impression he pulled off. He almost seems like a gentleman, almost being the key word. If I ignore his cocky, inappropriate remarks, he totally fits in that category.

He lets me have my privacy when I do my morning routine, he offered to wait when we decided about bathing yesterday, he even offered me to wear his jersey. I didn't wear it though. I felt kind of awkward to ask him about it again at night.

And, today he owned up and apologised for what happened this morning.

I had woken up early on purpose, to avoid waiting awkwardly as we take a bath. Anyway, things did get awkward one way or the other.

I discretely remember leaving him asleep in one position and coming back to him in another. But I didn't think much of it at that time. I had even looked in his direction as I was bathing, and he was lying down with his back towards me at all times.

So, I had to trust him when he said he didn't look. Why would he lie? And it was not totally his fault either. He didn't know I was going to bath at that time of the morning.

To think of it, he could have not told me at all, and I would have never found out. But, he did. And, he looked really, really guilty. Like he did something so horrible that he can't live with it. It almost made me feel sorry for putting him in that position.

Why was he so bothered though? I should have been the bothered one.

If I judge him by his sexual remarks directed at me, it is evident he feels attracted to me. So, if he were a heartless casanova, he would have rather enjoyed the show I unknowingly put up. Hell, maybe would have even made a move on me. Or, if he were some cruel monster, he would have raped and murdered me, and dumped me in the forest somewhere and nobody would have ever found out.

Too extreme, I know. But, a possibility is a possibility.

But, he did nothing like that. Instead, he apologized, genuinely. No inappropriate sexual remarks on my body or anything. Just plain, heartfelt apology.

So, I couldn't hold this against him.

As vulnerable and exposed it made me feel when I first thought of it, I couldn't bring myself to blame him. It appeared like a genuine accident.

And, after talking to him about his life, his family and his friends last night, I almost strangely trust him. So, I let it go.

But he still seems to be taking it hard on himself. Well, I can't help him with that, I don't want to come across as someone who is okay with being watched nude. And, I don't intend to encourage a repeat of it.

So, he can fight his demons at leisure, I am not going to intervene.

We are both lost in our own mind castles, and we fail to realise that we have walked a lot deeper into the forest than we did yesterday. Here, the trees are long and form a sort of canopy, keeping the sunlight out.

We spot some bushes of fruits at one point and sit down to have a meal and catch some breath.

Joy breaks the silence by stating the obvious, "We are much deeper inside the woods today. It is strangely cool and dark here though, because of almost no sunlight".

I humm in response as I bite into another berry. It is strangely sour and sweet at the same time. We decide to lie down for a while before we start walking back again.

As I put my head down to the ground, I hear a soft sound of water trickling somewhere nearby. I get up quickly and walk in the direction of the sound.

Joy notices and follows without really asking anything. In a few minutes, we catch the sight of a small stream of water.

Finally. Water.

Not the immense stretch of salty ocean water. Fresh, potable water. I immediately make a run towards it but Joy grabs my arm and pulls me back with a jerk.

Before I react, he puts his hand over my mouth to muffle my screams and continues to pull me towards the trees nearby, stopping near one tree that has a big hole in its trunk.

During the moments when he pulls me, I feel so many emotions. I feel afraid, terrorized by the prospect of him being the monster I was convinced he isn't.

I feel betrayed. I feel foolish for trusting him. For forgiving him. And, here he is ready to violate me, murder me and dump me in this tree hole in the forest.

When he finally pulls me behind the tree, he turns my face towards himself as he settles us both down on the ground. That's when my angry eyes meet his face. His face seems laced with concern and worry, but his eyes aren't focused on me. Instead, they are fixated in the direction of the stream.

I try to move my lips to speak but the movement against his palm covering my mouth, sends strange shivers down my spine. His attention snaps towards me and he seems to read the horrified look on my face as his eyes widen and his lip trembles.

He whispers softly, "Sorry Faith, I didn't mean to scare you."

His eyes go back towards the stream and again focus on me. What the hell is he looking at?

He continues, "I will remove my hand now, but don't scream okay."

I blink and he removes his hand.

Immediately I start speaking angrily: "What the hell do you think you are doin...?"

Before I can finish my angry outburst, his hand covers my mouth again.

"Shhh... I told you not to scream. I saw the shadow of some animal in the stream a bit farther from us. It could be dangerous. Just stay quiet okay," he explains as he looks into my eyes for confirmation.

My expression softens and I blink again. He nods and releases me. I turn around and look in the direction he is looking. I see a shadow coming towards us. Shit.

It must have heard me screaming angrily. Shit, I am so stupid!

Joy immediately holds my hand tightly and pulls my head back again. He signals towards the tree hole and I nod in understanding.

He goes in first and sits on the ground with his back against the inside of the tree trunk, on the left side of the opening. Then he holds out a hand for me to take. I hold it and squeeze myself in, crouching and trying to find ground to settle down.

But there isn't any. The hole isn't big enough for both of us to settle comfortably. I try to shift around but fail, instead I bump my head on the roof of the hole and fall down on Joy's lap.

A painful shriek almost leaves my mouth but I instantly cover my mouth with my hand, at the same time as his hand does. Our fingers brush against each other's and he immediately withdraws his hand.

"Sorry," he mumbles and looks away awkwardly. I try to get up from his lap, but he places his hand on my shoulder and stops me.

Then, he whispers in my ear, his warm breath tingling my skin, "Don't move Faith, you'll bump your head again. Jus-t try to make yourself comfortable okay. You..."

Before he can finish his blabbering about how I can trust him all over again, we hear a noise nearby and he freezes. I try to peek outside but he pulls me back and my side crashes into his chest. He puts his arm around me protectively, holding me in place.

Suddenly, we hear footsteps of animals lurking outside. Not one or two. Like a herd.

My breathing quickens with fear and my heart starts thumping against my chest. God knows what those animals are. What if they are bears? Or tigers? Or lions?

I shut my eyes and snuggle closer to Joy, resting my cheek on his hard, toned chest that moves up and down rhythmically. I try to drown out the noises outside, by concentrating on his heartbeat, dancing as crazily as mine.

He instinctively pulls me closer to his body as we hear a pair of footsteps lingering too close by. I peek my eyes open to look up at him and find his eyes shut tightly. He is probably scared too. He doesn't even seem to realise how tightly he is holding me.

His chocolate brown hair that fall over his sweaty forehead call out to me, to rub my fingers through them to calm him. His creased brow, tensed jaw and dry lips look intense and alluring from such close proximity.

My breathing quickens as I move my face away from his chest and rest my hands automatically on him instead, not wanting to lose contact. My eyes remain fixated on his face, as his eyes open in response to my movement. He looks down at me, our lips inches away from each other.

Our eyes meet and sparks fly, our breaths dance with desire and fear intermingled. The world around us fades away for a few moments. The lurking danger, the fear of imminent death, the anxiety of getting discovered by those animals, nothing seems to matter anymore.

We are lost in each other's eyes, drowning deeper and deeper, not willing to swim back to reality.

But, the sound of heavy thumping of footsteps on the ground around the tree breaks our trance. I bury my head into his chest again as my arms wrap around his strong, muscled torso.

He shifts his position under me, moving his back away from the tree trunk and towards the tree's opening. He wraps his arms around me protectively, not clinging like I am, not too tightly like before, just holding me platonically.

I suddenly realise his back is shielding me from any possible attack through the tree opening. My heart melts with the realization.

We wait in the same position for what seems like eternity. Bodies touching, my face buried in his chest and his arms holding me protectively.

Finally, the footsteps begin to move away from our hideout. When we can't hear the footsteps anymore, we both sigh with relief.

Joy shifts himself again, so that both of us face the opening of the tree hole. I peek my head out first, looking around for any sign of danger. When I see none, I pull myself out of the hole and hold out my hand for him. He grabs it and comes out as well.

"Thanks," I say, looking into his eyes with a smile.

"Mention not," he says and smiles back, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes.

He looks towards the stream again and we start walking towards it carefully, finally ready to quench our thirst with fresh water.