The Ocean Prince (Completed)

Chapter Twelve

I wet myself a bit with my clothes on this time and simply walked the beach trying to brush off those intense feelings.  I didn't know what came over me, all I knew was that I had to get rid of those feelings.  The wind was nice and I knew that my hair had to seem like a terrible mess, but I didn't mind and apparently neither did Nick.  Maybe I was suffering from some sort of transference syndrome or something.  I had to relax.  I walked and walked for a while until I was tired.  Then I saw a tree and sat under its shade.  The sun was beginning to tire me, so I lied down and closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

"Hey," I heard.  I opened my eyes but had to squint because the sun was bothering my view a bit.  It was Nick.  He had a bunch of palm tree branches with him.  

"What are you doing?" I asked him.  He was smiling that beautiful, devilish smile of his.  I wanted to kiss him, but I knew I wasn't supposed to, so I tried to calm myself as best I could.

"You said you wanted a house, so I'm going to build you one," he replied.

"Oh.  Great idea.  Great.  I'll help you," I said and got up.  I brushed the sand away from my buttocks and carried a few of the branches.  I walked with them, but as I did, they grew heavy in my arms.  I had to stop for a moment and drop them on the sand.  Nick noticed and stopped next to me.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked me as I heaved heavily.

"Yeah, just go to the spot, don't wait for me.  I just need a break," I said.

"Are you sure?" He asked me and I nodded tiredly.

"Yes.  They're just a little heavy for me," I said.

"Oh.  I can carry them for you," he said.  I shook my head in denial. 

"No, that's okay.  I'll carry them.  I just need a little more time, that's all," I said not wanting to feel useless.

"It's okay.  You don't have to carry them all the way.  Leave them here and go get more.  I will take them to the spot," he said.  I crossed my arms annoyed.

"I said I'll do it.  I can do it," I said and then I grabbed the branches.

"Okay, let's go then," I said annoyed.  He puffed and then walked along the beach and I tried to keep up with him, but couldn't.  There was a point when I couldn't carry the branches anymore and I just tossed them on the sand.  Nick continued his walk without waiting for me.  I was kind of relieved that he did.

"Good," I said to myself and breathed in deeply.  Nick returned like a minute later, he grabbed the branches and went off without saying a word.  Then he returned another minute more and left without telling me where he was going.  So, I followed him.

"Hey?  Hey, where are you going?" I said.

"To get more branches.  Come," he said.  

"Wait up," I told him, but he didn't stop.

"You're going to have to keep up if you want to help me," he said.  

"Hey, that's not fair," I complained.  He grabbed the branches from the sandy floor and moved on without saying a word.  I grabbed like two branches and was able to carry on the task.  We were like this, quietly coming back and forth.  He took I don't know how many branches, and I only carried two.  When we were over, he wouldn't even look at me or talk to me.

"What did I do wrong?" I asked him.  Then, suddenly he turned to me with a frown.  I couldn't believe he was so angry with me.

"You could have hurt yourself for nothing.  I told you I could manage it myself," he said.

"What?  That's why you're angry?" I asked stunned.

"You could have helped me another way," he said.

"Oh really?  How the hell do you want me to help you, huh?" I asked him. He didn't answer me.  He began to grab one of the branches and bury them upwards with strength.  When he saw the branch steady, he grabbed another one and another one again and again until he formed a wall.

"You're welcome," I said.

"You haven't helped me at all.  All you did was come here and ruin everything," he said.

"I didn't come here.  I was stranded here by accident you asshole.  You really think I wanted to come here?" I said.  He shook his head.

"I knew it was a bad idea to help you."

"What?  Are you saying it was better to let me drown?" I asked him.  He grabbed another branch and began to make the side of the wall by simply burying the lower tip of the branches.  This time he was more intense about it.

"Nick? Nick?"

"Leave me alone," he said.  I raised my arms.

"Okay, okay.  Jesse.  You were the one who woke me up anyway.  If you wanted to do it by yourself, why wake me up?" I said.  He shook his head.  After he finished burying the other side of the wall, he began to plunge new branches into the other side and the walls were beginning to close on each other.  It was beginning to look really nice.

"Wow.  It's looking really nice," I said.  He still seemed annoyed despite the compliment.  What the hell was his problem I wondered.  

"What?  Just say it already," I said.

"You rejected me," he said.  Holy s**t.  Was he talking about what I thought he was talking about?

"You mean... what happened later... on the beach?" I asked him.  He nodded.

"I don't understand.  I thought you liked me," he said.  I swallowed hard and looked at the sandy floor for a moment.

"Okay... I... I don't even know you that well, to be honest," I replied.

"What do you want to know?" He asked me.  I looked at him and tried to avoid his deep blue eyes.

"I don't know," I said.

"You don't feel any attraction towards me, do you?" he said. 

"I... I don't know Nick.  Look, I... I think you're nice and sweet..."

"Lies.  All lies.  If you really thought that, you would not have rejected me.  I am wondering if you think me ugly?" he said.  I shook my head. 

"No.  I... I don't think you're ugly.  I just... I'm not ready to have s*x," I said simply.

"Not ready?  You are a woman already," he remarked.

"Yeah, but... look I came here with a boyfriend," I said.  He shrugged his shoulders.

"So?  He's probably dead," he said.  My jaw dropped and I almost shed tears.  When he saw me cry he turned around and left.  He did not even try to comfort me.  I fell to the ground and cried.  Why was he doing this to me?  I got up and left.  I wasn't going to deal with his bullshit.