Sixty-one - An accidental kiss

Nathaniel had his car tucked in a corner nearby, so as they heard the bang again, they hurried their steps, their hands intertwined without either noticing.

On reaching the shadowed vehicle, Nathaniel took out his keys from his pockets, his breath still struggling to stay still. After turning the key into the hole, he made to use his other hand to open the door, but he ended up dragging Chloe into his side.

“S-sorry.” Eyes darting here and there, she untangled her hand and took steps towards the passenger side. Nathaniel whose mind was chaotically trying to figure out the sounds they were hearing could not but help a smile as he found the way Chloe apologized cute.

The door on the other side slamming shut brought him out of that thought. After he entered and kicked the car to life, they were soon on their way to the house.

Few minutes later, after a debatable amount of silence, they were soon at their destination. Hurriedly, Nathaniel got out of the car and rushed towards the Luciile and the guys in front of the building.

“Guys, was that noise from here?” Amir gave him a nod and crossed his arms, looking ahead at the surprisingly firm building. “What happened?”

“All the pipes got bombed.”

“Uh?” He could sense Chloe moving closer to them.

“Our house can now successfully compete with the Pacific Ocean. Everywhere is crazily flooded."

" How on earth can pipes suddenly get bombed? Did someone enter the house without you all noticing?" Nathaniel was almost fuming because it made absolutely no sense.

Shrugging with a blank look on his face, Amir said, "All I know is it is crazily filled with water in there. Oh, look..." He pointed ahead. " Some of the water is rushing out now. We should leave before we get killed in our own house."

"This is just crazy. Sebastian?"

"Yeah?" The man was busy with his phone.

"Are you searching for a new location?"

"Yes. I am going to choose one that's really close."

"Oh good." Nathaniel sighed with relief. Leaning backwards, his fingers now stroking his chin, he reaclled something and he asked the men, "Are your laptops safe though?" It was already settled that Chloe would have to get new stuff.

"Yes. Lucille also got her basic stuff," Amir replied, nodding towards a tired looking Lucille.

" Okay. Hmm..." His mind was now more at peace. Everyone was safe. As he intended to ask Gabriel a question about their schedule the next day, Nathaniel wore a frown. "Where's Gabriel?"

"Didn't he go out this evening?" Amir's neck craned like he would be able to catch a glimpse of the man in question.

"What are you saying?" Nathaniel frowned. "He has been in his library all day."

Sebastian and Amir made regretful sounds. "There is no way he would know the house is getting flooded," Amir added.

" No shit Sherlock." Nathaniel was already getting rid of the coat he had hanging over his shoulder. But as he made for the entrance hurriedly, he noticed the earlier shut door was now open. As he turned to face others, his eyes wore worry in an instant. "Where is Chloe?"

As if searching for a lost pin, Amir looked at the ground below him then his eyes scanned his surroundings before he said, "I don't know."

Trying not to give the man a disgusted look, Nathaniel shook his head and said with distress, "She must have gone in to get Gabriel. She is just so careless." The tall man stomped his feet on the ground as he noticed she had taken off her shoes too. "Sebastian, please take care of things. I will be back."

He did not wait for a response as he rushed towards the crazily huge pool of water that was now finding its way outside.

~

Chloe had no idea what she was thinking. All she knew was that she was currently on her way to the library after getting seriously soaked after a swim from the entrance to the stairs.

She almost shook her head as she crawled out towards the next step which she adequately got wet. Glad that she had gotten rid of her shoes, she could not help but wonder how Gabriel was still very oblivious to the chaos in the building.

Hoping within her that he was fine, she hurried to the library. On getting to the place which was still dry, she let out a sigh of relief. But Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Wondering if her journey through the pool would be in vain, she decided soon to search for him properly.

Deciding to start from the shelves, she was almost walking towards the first one when she heard a little noise. Taking a detour to her right, she sensed the noise coming from the hidden wall she discovered last time.

After careful steps, she was in front of the wall. As she made to open it, it flew open and she had to take some steps back. Staring at the man who was gripping the hidden shelf with a hand, Chloe wondered if he was reading there.

Suddenly realizing it wasn't time to deliberate on his method of reading, she immediately said, "Gabriel, we need to leave. The house is flooded."

"What?" He wore a frown like Nathaniel did.

"Apparently the pipes in the house have been bombed and it is causing the house to get flooded."

"Who would want to-"

She grabbed his hand and made for the exit. " There is no time to talk. We should-"

The noise her and Nathaniel heard from afar came again, this time really loud and it sounded so close to the library. Not intent on drowning inside a house, she tugged at Gabriel's hand and soon, they were out of the library.

"Chloe... the floor is wet. Don't you think you should slow down a bit?" Gabriel asked, at the same time, trying to pull her to slow her steps. "Take it easy Chloe."

Her eyes scanning the floor, she nodded in agreement as she decided she was not also going to slip to death. "Let's take it slow then. But not too slow..." She began to walk. "I don't want more pipes to burst when we are still here."

"Chloe?" She could hear amusement in his voice. "Did you come to save me?"

"What do you think?"

"In that case..." He hurried to her front. "Let me lead us out of here."

"You don't have to- Ahh!" She screamed as she lost her foot grip and slid. Luckily, Gabriel was swift. And even though he was almost falling with her due to the imbalance, he held her firmly.

"Gabriel..." Her body shook with relief. "Thank you." As she lifted her head, his lips met hers and she instantly froze.

"Oh, oh... I am so sorry." Gabriel immediately withdrew and moved back making her lose her grip again and soon she was approaching the ground, her heart almost flying out of her chest. Gabriel suddenly realized what was going on and he tried to reach for her hands before her head kissed the ground but he never got it.

Instead, he also lost his grip and was soon leaning towards the falling woman with widened eyes. As her buttocks hit the floor hard, she braced herself for the impact on her head.

Her eyes shut tightly as she finally got the floor, Chloe realized something was wrong. Instead of her head ,she was feeling something on her lips for a brief moment. Snapping her eyes open, she watched as Gabriel leaned to her side, his face wearing pain as he finally landed.

Frowning for a second, she wondered what it was she felt.

"Are you okay?" The man who was almost groaning asked.

She gulped hard. "Y-yes."

Gabriel's eyes met hers as his arm cushioned her head properly. "I can't believe..." He breathing dragged at some point. "I can't believe I just kissed you twice and it was not even intentional."

"Uh?" Twice? When was the second time? And was the first one really accidental?

"I am glad you are okay." His poetic eyes were back and Chloe felt weird instantly. She felt like she was being over-watched. So she made to get up from the wet floor but he held her back and brought his face closer.

"Uh... Gabriel?" She shifted her head backwards.

"What if I just kissed you on intention?"

"Wh-what are you saying?" Her lashes danced as she became very uncomfortable.

"I should-"

"What are you guys doing on the floor?" Nathaniel's stern voice tore through the moment and Chloe instantly forgot it. "Chloe, what were you thinking?" He helped her up but she gave a small yelp as pain shot through her buttocks. "Are you okay?"

"I fell."

"Come here." Nathaniel hurriedly had her on his back and they were soon approaching the ground floor which was no longer looking like it could drown someone. "What were you thinking? What if something happened to you?"

"I am fine Nathaniel." She wrapped her arms around him, finding more comfort. As she proceeded to lean her head on his shoulder as he walked down the stairs, she got a glimpse of Gabriel.

When their eyes locked, he threw her a wink and mouthed what seemed like, "I still want you."

Facing the other side immediately, Chloe could not help but shudder a bit and wonder why her life was so dramatic.

And why Gabriel was acting the way he was.