!WARNING!: the following part contains a bit of blood, but a whole lot of cuteness to make up for it.

"SCHEISSE"

"shit"

frequently used German curse word.

"T'SCHULDIGUNG"

"Excuse me"

"WIE SCHLIMM IST ES?"

"How bad is it?"

"DANKE"

"Thank you."

"SCHATZ"

"Baby" "Babe"

a common nickname
German couples like to give each other

"DOCH."

a very special German word
that has no actual equivalent in the English language.

It's like insisting on something,
or emphasizing what you said before
after another person tries to argue your point. 

It's like insisting "Yes, it does",
after somebody says "No it doesn't."

only that "doch" is universal for any kind of context and situation.

It's actually such a short but powerful word.
Anybody could say something
and you could stubbornly be like "Doch!"
- emphasizing your stance and denying your opponent's.

There's actually a quite funny German 'Meme' dating back to 1971
of two men arguing, only using the angry words
"Nein!" "Doch!" "Ohh!"
you can find it on youtube under those keywords if you're interested.

____________________

Laughing, you resurface one by one and swim around in the sea for a bit before clinging to your boards again. "Isn't it way past our rent time already?" Jacob asks amusedly when he remembers that you actually only rented the boards for an hour.

"For sure", Bene replies, trying to climb onto his board while Tim successfully saves himself on his own. "Well, at this point it doesn't matter", you laugh, "We'll pay extra anyway."

Jacob is leaning on your board with his upper body and his wet dark hair is stuck to his forehead, before he shakes and tousles it to get it into a more decent shape. Meanwhile you try to climb up on the other side of the board, which somehow doesn't quite work out.

You've never done this before and kind of thought it was easier.

Jacob watches you with a bit of amusement as you slip off the board again, awkwardly cursing "Want me to help you?"

But you try to do it yourself one more time by climbing onto the chain behind you to somehow push yourself up. Which unfortunately goes horribly wrong when you suddenly feel a stabbing pain in your foot and almost sink under water with shock.

"Ahh fuck!" you curse in pain, pulling your foot up alarmed as you cling to the board and study the chain behind you.

"What's up?" Jacob asks you worried and swims around the board towards you, "Are you hurt?"

You begin to understand what must have happened.

The necklace is full of mussels.

And you've just cut yourself on one.

And the realization is immediately followed by an even greater burn as the salt water seeps into your wound and you fight back a squeal of pain. "I think I cut myself", you share your realization with Jacob and even tho you try not to show any weakness, your voice gives you away immediately.

"Wait, I'll help you", you hear Jacob say calmly as you try to climb onto the board again and moments later his supporting hands help you out of the water and you finally make it onto the somewhat dry board to examine your foot. Unfortunately, you don't have to look for long because blood is dripping directly onto the board and a clear cut can be seen on the side of the bottom of your foot. Fuck.

Your heart is beating overwhelmed and you feel the adrenaline in your body. You're not sure how deep the cut is or how bad it is, and you hold your breath as you feel the stabbing pain again. It sure as hell hurts already.

Oh hopefully it's just something on the surface and doesn't need stitches.

Please don't let this end up in a Croatian hospital somewhere.

"Scheisse", you curse again and make a face.

"Show me", you feel Jacob's hand on your ankle as he leans over the board and carefully looks at your foot. However, his critical features quickly soften and change into concern when he sees the blood. "Shit. Okay we gotta get you on dry land first."

"Everything okay with you?", you can already hear Bene asking nervously in between, "Is she bleeding?", which also catches Tim's attention, who was just about to untie himself from the chain with his board. "Huh? Shit Y/N, what happened?"

"She cut herself", Jacob replies and climbs a bit unsteadily onto your board, "We gotta see how severe it is" "Oh no", Bene replies worried, "Does it hurt bad Y/N?" "Well, it's not pleasant", you answer somewhat sarcastically and try to mask your pain with humor.

"Watch out for the clams!" You change the subject immediately and put your hand on his arm when Jacob tries to unhook your board from the chain.

Even though you're already injured yourself, you're more concerned that the boys might hurt themselves too.

"You gotta be careful with the chain. I wasn't aware of how fucking sharp the mussels are" "It's fine, Y/N", replies Bene soothingly, "Let's get you on dry land first."

"Can you guys return the boards?", Jacob asks when you arrive at the shore, "I'll take her to the hotel and we'll meet there." He jumps off the board. Awkwardly, you're contemplating about how to climb down yourself without dipping your foot back into the salty sea water. But before you can do anything, Jacob has already threaded his arms under you and lifted you up. Surprised, you find support on his neck as he carries you out of the water like a bride.

"Yeah, of course, just leave the stuff here", says Tim, who climbs out of the water behind you, "we'll take care of it."

"Ok, I'll put you down real quick so I can put my shoes on", Jacob explains to you, and you nod and hiss in pain as he carefully puts you down.

"Are you okay?" "U-huh"

Although you only step on one foot, you still feel the stabbing pain right away. Your foot is still bleeding quite a bit, and even though the cut is on the side, it might not be the best idea to use it now. So you remain standing on one foot, a little wobbly, while Jacob quickly goes to your sneakers, which you took off on the bank.

In the next moment you feel an arm wrapping itself around your waist to stabilize you. "Are you okay?", Bene asks you caringly as he holds you and you find temporary support on his body, "Better not step on it."

You are a bit surprised by his sudden proximity and the caring gesture coming from him. Then you smile weakly "I wasn't exactly planning to.", making Bene let out a bitter laugh.

"Better carry her, bro", he replies towards Jacob when the boy returns to you with your towels and shoes. "I was going to anyway", he murmurs and hands you your towel so that you can at least dry yourself off for a moment.

In the meantime Tim has managed to pull your boards out of the water and comes back to you again as you wrap the towel around your upper body and under your arms.

"Show me", the surfer takes a look at your bleeding foot as all three stand around you rather worried. "Aw man, what are you doing Y/N", says Tim and looks up at you again, giving you a sympathetic face and you laugh overwhelmed, "Yeah, I don't know, stupid things".

Tim laughs a bit and you feel Jacob on your back "Come on, take-off. Let's get you to the hotel first" and the next moment one arm wraps itself around your back again and the other under your knees and he lifts you off the ground with a grunt.

Your teeth distractedly sink into your lower lip as you examine the boy carrying you, your hands cupping the back of his neck and holding on to him. His upper arms are tense, the veins on his shoulders are more prominent than usual. His gaze is focused on the path ahead of you so he can see where he's going, and his lips are parted a bit as he breathes a little heavier than usual.

The pain in your foot becomes a side issue for a moment as you consider how exhausting it must be for him to carry you around for so long.

"Are you okay?", You ask him embarrassed, "You can let me down if it gets too much to carry." His slightly parted lips form a grin and he laughs at your insecure manner. "Don't worry about me", he whispers and looks down at you briefly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm bleeding all over the place and I'm in pain, but other than that...", your distracted gaze wanders over his face, which even looks fucking attractive from below while he's paying attention to where he's going again, "I can't complain much right now, actually." Jacob notices the flirty tone in your voice and responds with a dirty grin and a shake of his head.

As soon as Jacob enters the lobby of the hotel with you, all eyes are on you. But he doesn't let you down. Instead he carries you purposefully through the middle of the room, right up to the reception. You feel your stomach churn with embarrassment from being the center of attention.

"T'schuldigung", Jacob addresses a woman behind the counter, who seems to be free right now, while a tourist couple next to you gives you a puzzled look, "Haben Sie einen Erste Hilfe Kasten?"

You can literally see on his face how it occurs to him that the staff doesn't understand German that well here and he curses himself for it "Shit ähh..." , while he gently tosses you up in his arm to be able to hold onto you better, "Do you have a...", he stammers a bit hectically and searches for the right words, "first aid kit?"

The woman behind the counter seems just as overwhelmed by the entire situation when she sees Jacob standing there with you in his arms, only wearing still wet bathing gear and towels. "I cut my foot", you add guiltily in English and her gaze falls on your bloody foot, at which she wakes up from her shock and nods. "Oh. Yes. One moment"

She talks in Croatian to the other woman behind the counter, who is helping the other couple with check in. Then she gets a first-aid-box from one of the cupboards and opens it and frantically puts patches, bandages, scissors, ointment and finally disinfectant spray on the counter. "Here."

"Wie schlimm ist es?", the other slightly younger woman behind the counter asks you helpfully, because she can obviously speak your language better and leans towards you as she hands you the utensils, "If the cut is deep, we'll call the emergency doctor"

"Hopefully not," you reply in a panic in German and shake your head as you take everything from her with your free hands, "I hope a band-aid will do". You laugh nervously and she just nods and smiles a little as she looks you over, "Okay good luck. Get in touch if you need anything else." "Danke", you and Jacob answer at the same time, and then he turns away from the counter to walk to the elevator.

You feel them staring after you, a little fascinated. "Wow. That was straight out of a Disney movie, Schatz", you can still hear the German tourist at the counter raving, "Will you carry me around like that when I'm injured?" And you giggle as you look up at Jacob, who is also smirking because he heard it too. "If you want my back to break", follows the man's amused reply. "Did you hear that? Sometimes life just ain't fair", the woman says humorously to the staff behind the counter.

The elevator door opens and Jacob carries you inside. "Are you pushing?" he asks you, holding you to the buttons and you reach out and press the button to your floor. Your gaze falls on your and Jacob's reflection in the mirror as he leans against the wall with you in his arms and takes a deep breath.

No wonder.

He's been carrying you around the whole time.

You can't help but smile again at the Disney comparison of the woman and finally look up at Jacob with a grin, whose gaze is also thoughtfully lingering on your reflection. "My prince", you then joke, and he starts to laugh sheepishly when you use your free hand to brush the dark, adventurous looking hair out of his forehead, which then falls right back into his face.

The strands are a bit wavy from the salt water now, and he really does bear some resemblance to that cartoon prince from Little Mermaid.

He looks down at you lying in his arms like a bride and shakes his head with a grin. "I imagined our honeymoon to be little different" and you can't help but giggle in surprise at his comment. The elevator rings on your floor and Jacob pushes himself away from the wall.

"Let's patch you up then, princess"

"We gotta get you cleaned up first", Jacob points out as he slowly lowers you down next to the bathtub in the bathroom and you immediately suspect something bad. "No, please don't!"

Your pain had just subsided.

"Doch.", Jacob replies firmly and takes the shower head from the tub, "Come on, hold on to me, I'll make it quick and painless." And you climb into the tub with your feet, a bit shaky, and then sit down next to him.

He holds his hand under the stream of water, testing the temperature to make it more comfortable and you subconsciously grab onto his shoulder as if you could hide from the pain that way. "On three, ok?", You hear him say and just nod nervously, "One... Two."

And then he purposely holds the stream of water over your foot a little earlier so that you can get over it faster and your whole body convulses briefly as you feel the stabbing pain, while your fingernails might dig into his shoulder a bit.

"Ach du... Scheiße!", you curse loudly as he washes the blood from your foot. The water turns red and flows into the drain and you take a shaky breath.

"See that was it.", You hear Jacob's voice and calm down a bit, letting go of him. "Sorry," you laugh sheepishly, noticing your fingernail marks on his shoulders.

But then you remember that Jacob is pretty much insensitive when it comes to that and he laughs throatily, giving you a look because you both seem to be thinking suggestively at this point.

Fuck.

"Ok Danke", you breathe, flustered, "I can handle the rest, I think." "No, stay put", the dark-haired replies determined and gets out of the bathtub, "I'll take care of it"

So you end up turning to him on the edge of the bathtub and watching him take the stuff from the sink and slowly come back to you. You're still bleeding, but at least now and in the bright light of the bathroom you can tell the cut isn't quite as deep.

Thank god.

You watch Jacob as he sits cross-legged on the tiled floor in front of you, still only wearing his wet swimming trunks, placing the items from the first-aid kit next to him and taking your foot by the ankle to lift it on top of his lap.

So blood doesn't seem to put him off either.

Your stomach tingles uncontrollably with butterflies.

Damn, why's that so fucking sexy to you?

He could probably cut off your foot right now and you wouldn't be mad about it.

That helpful, protective side of him somehow makes you unable to think rationally.

Your hormones are getting the best of you when he behaves this way towards you.

"Ok, I'm not a professional at this", he murmurs and his distinctive eyebrows narrow as he looks at the wound, "but we'll have to sterilize it, I'm afraid." He grabs the spray next to him and you take a deep breath and take turns examining your foot and him. You just nod, less than thrilled.

He looks up at you examiningly "It's gonna burn a little" and you grimace in agony while you nod "Knock yourself out."

Jacob chuckles a bit before he lowers his eyes again and focuses back on your foot, "Okay, grit your teeth." He shakes the spray briefly before spraying it on your wound and you immediately feel the cold and the stinging pain that follows, creeping up your foot like someone is stabbing you. You hiss and back away, suppressing a whimper.

But then the pain subsides and you start to relax.

You're in good hands.

Jacob is here.

And your trust towards this human being grows more and more every day with everything he does.

So you watch him curiously as he handles the ointment and the patch and secretly enjoy the way he takes care of you.

"Can you stand on it?" "U-huh", you test the feeling of stepping on your foot and realize that fortunately it's not nearly as bad with a band-aid on.

Then, as it happens rather often lately, a knock on your door interrupts your togetherness.

"One second!", Jacob calls and puts everything he still had in his hands back on the sink.

"Wait", He's about to step out of the bathroom to open the door for the boys when you grab his arm and he turns back to you, a little surprised. You smile up at him and your hand finds the back of his neck as you get on your tiptoes with the healthy foot and kiss him on the cheek instead of on the lips.

"Danke."

Actually, Jacob shouldn't be taken off guard anymore, after everything you've done together and how intimate you've gotten.

By now you've touched almost every part of his body with your lips.

But ironically, this was just a first time for both of you.

You've never kissed him on the cheek before.

The gesture had simply never suited the situation for you before, because you were always either horny for each other and preferred other places, or kissed each other directly on the lips.

It's so innocent compared to everything else you've done.

And yet, or perhaps because of it, the gesture takes him by surprise and makes him more flustered than anything else.

Jacob feels himself getting warm and his cheeks turning red as you leave the bathroom together.

"Anytime."

_______________________________

author's note:

ahh we love caring and protective Jacob, don't we? ☺️

This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far.

I hope, you enjoyed it, too. 💕

As you can tell, I'm trying to get back into translating more.

I can't make promises because I'm still in the middle of continuing the German sequel to 'Roadtrip', but I want to get back to translating more regularly and I want to finish this book in English.

Let me know your thoughts on this chapter and feel free to leave comments and feedback ☺️

It's actually quite funny that I put the German power-word "Doch" into the translation part of this chapter and how it can be used in arguments to emphasize your point.

Because it reminds me of the back and forth situation that seems to be going on right now after I posted yesterdays Authors Note.

Clearly, if you don't care about unnecessary drama, you don't even have to bother reading this, but since I'm blocked now and being made out to be a bad, overreacting person in a certain other author's narrative, I feel like releasing a statement on the situation:

My last author's note was clearly very critical and out of frustration. And the reason for it was that there have been several authors copying or plagiarizing off of ‚Roadtrip' before.

In different ways.

German writing authors as well as english ones.

It hasn't been a one time issue and since I feel sort of protective of my work, it was time for me to speak up about and bring attention to it.

Therefore, it was directed at anybody who felt addressed, because there have been several people.

(fyi: I published this note in German as well for my German readers.)

I'm not referring to people just being ‚inspired' by my story.

Inspiration is wonderful and I'm actively encouraging it.

I am and was referring to plagiarism.

These are two very different things.

You can google the definitions if you're interested.

However, it was a recent, rather severe case and encounter that was basically the last straw for me which caused me to finally address the issue, and with that majorly shaping the way I worded my author's note.

I still stand by everything I have said.

It was disrespectful to me what certain authors did before, just like it was majorly disrespectful how the recent author handled the situation.

And as severely as said particular encounter was, so is now the author's response to me calling them out.

Today they posted a very lengthy, very angry and hateful author's note directed back at me, completely missing my point.

Calling me childish, jealous, overreacting, manipulative, all sorts of personal things and accusations towards me, all while twisting around and misinterpreting my words.

Trying their hardest to justify their actions instead of admitting them.

They also blocked me and gave me no chance to comment further on it.

Which isn't much of a difference to before, because they have been deleting my comment on their story anyways.

At this point and to have my peace about this childish encounter,

I only want to clarify to everybody that I did try to solve things personally first and foremost, by commenting on the specific part that was plagiarized and calling them out directly.

But instead of answering to me personally, the author made the decision to delete my comment and instead make some more changes on the already published part, to make it seem less obvious.
(only proving the fact that they have been plagiarising.)

All with no word of apology to me personally, nor owning up to it publicly, nor giving me credit at any point.

Because I've been fearing stuff like that, I took screenshots of their original version of the part as proof of how obvious the plagiarism was, and why it was an issue to me.

So just know, no matter how much they edit their way out of this to fit their own narrative, I'd even have screenshots to further prove my point.

It's fucking sad, really, to have to be this cautious when dealing with certain people, so they don't fuck you over.

But my gut instincts proved to have been right anyways.

Long story short:

All could've been avoided.

I wouldn't have had a problem with that author taking all those details of my plot and using them in their own story in the first place, if they'd given me credit for it.

But they didn't.

I wouldn't even have written my author's note if they'd just owned up to it when I called them out personally.

But they didn't.

So naturally, this became a public issue for me to address.

They decided to publicly post a chapter which was plagiarised of my story, after all.

I won't even address the personal and petty things the author said referring to me, in their emotional response to being rightfully called out.

You know nothing about me.

No matter how much they try to justify and lie their way out of it (and judging from their previous actions, they probably will.), I'm gonna keep my dignity and move on from this situation.

I'll focus on my stories, like I have been doing.

I've made a point that was important to me.

That's all I wanted to do, really. 

I got enough peace knowing that truth always comes out eventually. ✌️💕

And to everybody else, thank you for your kind words and support through this. 💕

And thanks for taking the time to read all of this mess.

I know I said in my previous author's note that as a reader you can help prevent and fight plagiarism by commenting respectfully and pointing out parts that feel plagiarized to you.

But that only counts if the author is capable of taking criticism, as well as being respectful in return.

Witnessing how the author handled the situation, I don't want to encourage any of my readers to even waste their energy on it.

Because any comment that doesn't fit the authors narrative will most probably be deleted by them anyways.

I know it's messy, so let's just all keep our peace and dignity and move on from it. 😅

With that being said,

see you soon hopefully, with another translated part 😊