Count On Me

Part Sixty

A/N Sorry at yet ANOTHER delay, here we are though, almost at the end. Been a difficult chapter to tie down, hope you enjoy.

Chapter Sixty

Lizzie felt as though she was in a daze, watching Oscar and Nate rough-playing, splashing, wrestling and ducking each other under the water. It was exhausting just to watch, but it was the look of adoration on both their faces as they laughed that tugged at her heart strings. This was happiness felt like? She couldn't ever remember feeling so content. Since Janis died, and even before, her life seemed hectic, rather than happy, chaotic rather than content, and fraught rather than familial.

As she lounged in the hot tub, watching her family, she couldn't believe what her life had become, and she knew as she smiled at them laughing, that she didn't want this to end, didn't want to lose this closeness, this familiarity...everything she'd fought against...she wanted more than anything.

For a moment, doubt washed over her, did she long for that sense of belonging, the completeness more than she wanted Oscar?

She tried to imagine going home without him, just her and Nate, and the pain that hit her chest felt real, physical, stole her breath. This was love. Needing him, wanting him, fearing she couldn't breathe without him at her side. She wanted him for her. Not just for Nate.

And finally feeling that way was liberating.

She rolled onto her front, the jets of bubbles pummelling her body, and rested her chin on her folded forearms, watching the boys in the adjacent pool. But her eyes began to close, the water, the environment...the bliss was taking over.

"Penny for your thoughts!"

The voice cut through her serenity, but it was a voice that she was more than happy to hear. Turning to the side, she watched as he dropped down beside her with a splash.

"Not worth a penny, in fact, my mind feels pretty empty at the moment."

Oscar studied Lizzie, unable to believe that this was the same woman who had been devastated a few hours earlier, in all the time he'd known her, he'd never seen her so relaxed, so laidback...other than in the bedroom.

"Really?" He ran a hand over the curve in her spine, sliding down to the thick black fabric of her bikini bottoms, his thumb far along the edge, wanting nothing more than to slide beneath them, but he had to remember where they were, and who they were with. Nate.

She pushed her backside into his hand, under the water and he groaned, dropping his mouth to her ear, "now there's more than a pennyworth just there."

She chuckled, "that thought would bankrupt you, Mr Wicker."

He loved that - her sassy, sexy side, flirting, throwing herself into the sexual tension that sat between them like a thick fog. It was something she wouldn't have done before, he was sure of that, he just hoped that it wasn't some temporary reaction, her way of dealing with her trauma. Pretending.

He'd had enough of that.

"You, ok?"

She was watching Nate who was lying in the shallow water, rolling around quite safely, but at his words, rolled half on to her side to look at him, and he had to keep his eyes trained on her face as she breasts struggled to stay inside the fabric of her bikini bra, pressed together, bulging far too enticingly.