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SURPRISINGLY, THEY WORKED WELL together. If you left the cursing and threats out, it all went quite smoothly. As the midday sun warmed their backs they tried to put everything together as neatly as possible, their conversation minimal. She didn't mind, Levi really didn't seem like the small talk kind of person anyway.
Instead he nodded with satisfaction to himself whenever something went right and she chuckled every time he did so, the cuteness of that small movement warming her heart. Before Will and Alex even got back, they had succeeded in putting together a raft. It wasn't exactly the best or the sturdiest, but they had one and that was all that mattered.
"I'm proud of us," Ella said as she waved a hand at the raft," look at our baby."
"If Will and Alex dare to break it," Levi said," I'll break both their noses."
"That's the spirit," Ella said.
She loosened the bun she had made on the top of her head, causing her hair to spill down her shoulders. Levi glanced her way, but didn't say anything.
"Want to try it out?" she said," before they come."
"What if it sinks?" Levi frowned.
"It won't," Ella said as she waved his concerns off," it's a raft, it's made to float."
Levi rolled his eyes, but complied anyway. He pushed the raft in the water, waiting a second until it steadied before he got on it. When she walked to the edge to join, he reached out his hands.
"What are you doing?" she said, surprised.
"Come," he said.
"I can do it just fine myself you know," she said.
And she was just about to do it herself too, when she heard his answer.
"I know," he said," now come on, don't be stubborn for once."
She scowled at him, but lowered herself in his arms anyway. The raft started to wobble, but he didn't seem to care as he carried her.
"Let me down," she said," we'll sink."
"Didn't you just say we wouldn't?" he said.
She was just about to protest some more when she saw the faint smile on his lips, the sparkle of mirth in his eyes. If she had thought he was hot when he was glaring, he was absolutely beautiful when smiling.
"I lied," she said when she recovered herself," now let me down."
"Whatever you want," he said as he gently put her on her feet.
Their raft was far from steady, the current of the waves carrying it along, tugging at it from all sides. She was just about to sit down when a wave crashed against it and she lost her balance. A loud string of curses started to leave her mouth as she fell, her hair like a curtain of ink behind her. Then, right before she hit the water, she was pulled back.
