♡♡♡

Alette's POV

Oh boy was I in a predicament.

I was stuck. Stuck like leeches soaked in super glue.

I had left bright and early this morning to go and visit my parents. I decided to take my usual route through the field, and all was fine and dandy until I was making my way back home. I thought it would be more fun to jump over the fence that was close to Grams' house instead of walking around it. I saw it in a movie once. But what I failed to remember was that, the person in the movie was wearing pants. And also...it was a movie.

To make a long story short, my flowing white dress got caught on one of the comically large nails on the wooden fence. Despite numerous attempts at getting myself unstuck, I had given up; it was impossible. There was no way to get the dress out without ripping it completely. My back hurt from turning around and trying to pry the dress out, my knees were scraped from falling after I tried walking away without knowing my dress was stuck, and there were about four and half splinters in my hands. I didn't have my phone because I had forgotten it, and I couldn't see anyone nearby.

I was very close to bursting into tears. I could feel the prickling at the back of my eyes, and my throat was doing that weird scratchy thing. I was going to die out here. There are so many things I've never tried, so many things I wanted to do. I couldn't think of any right now because I was panicking, but there were a lot.

I took a deep breath and yelled like my life depended on it. Which it did.

"HELP!" I screamed as loud as I could, and hoped that someone, somewhere would hear me. "HELP! I'M STUCK! SOMEONE PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

I felt fear capture every square inch of my body. Along with the fear came the feeling of helplessness.

Just as I felt like I was going to burst into tears, I heard rustling somewhere nearby. I couldn't turn around completely, but I could only hope it was a person that was walking and not some wild animal that could hurt me.

"Help me! Please I'm stuck over here!" My voice was raspy at this point from yelling and holding back my tears. The rustling got closer and closer behind me until finally, a shadow fell over me. The shadow walked around to stand in front of me and I looked up to see whom my potential saviour was.

It was him.

My eyes widened and I gave him a sheepish look. "Fancy seeing you here...in the middle of this field..."

"What happened?"

I gulped; his voice did things to me.

"I was um...visiting my parents," I pointed in the direction of the graveyard that was off into the distance, "I was just walking back home when I decided to hop over the fence because I saw it in a movie once, and it would be faster than walking around and the next thing I knew..." I trailed off and gestured to my dress, which was very clearly caught in the fence. I couldn't tell if I was feeling hot from the sun beating down on me, or if it was his presence. This was embarrassing.

"Your hands, are they okay?" he asked. I looked down to see blood, presumably from the splinters, and looked away quickly. I didn't like blood.

"They don't hurt too bad," I couldn't feel anything, just a slight sting, "I just want to get out of here because I've been stuck for so long." My lip wobbled and I could feel my tears fighting to escape. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop it from happening, breathing through my mouth.

He walked around behind me, and crouched down to where my dress was caught. I felt him tug slightly. "Are you okay with this ripping?"

I shook my head vehemently; I didn't want that to happen. This was my mama's dress, and I didn't want to ruin it. Not mama's dress.

He nodded and placed his hands back on the dress to pry it out. His close proximity and the heat emanating from his body made my stomach bounce like I was on a rollercoaster.

He sighed and turned towards me, "There's no way to get this out without ripping it."

My eyes welled up again, for what seemed like the four hundredth time today. I felt my lip start to wobble and my body began to shake.

"I'll help you fix the rip," he said before I could begin sobbing, "I'll make it okay."

His words were soft, but his tone gave nothing away. I looked up to see his face and saw sincerity in the grey of his eyes.

"D-do you p-promise?" I could barely form a sentence in my distressed state. I held out the pinky finger of my left hand.

There was a faint quirk in his lips and a momentary fondness in his eyes that I would have missed had I not been staring intently at him. It was gone so quick, I'm sure I had imagined it.

"Promise," he said firmly, and slowly inched his pinky towards mine. His hesitancy was confusing; was he afraid of me?

Painstakingly slow, his pinky wrapped around my, engulfing my finger completely, his hands were huge. He looked at our hands so intensely that I felt his burning gaze on my skin.

"Okay, I b-believe you," the corners of my mouth turned up slightly, feeling less fearful now that he was here. I reluctantly retracted my hand; I didn't want to stop our touching, but I'm sure he didn't want me to touch him.

He brought his hand back to his body and flexed it once, looking down at it. Like he was trying to shake off my remnants from his skin. Like he couldn't believe that our skin had touched. His eyes were a fraction wider when he looked down at his hand.

A few moments later, he went back to the fence, and began working away at my dress again.

I wiped away at the moisture in my eyes, and looked up at the clouds in the expansive blue sky, counting the white masses to feel less anxious.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, I felt my dress come loose. I was free!

I bounced up onto my feet, ignoring the pain of my scraped knees.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" I exclaimed, and before I could comprehend what I was doing, I had latched onto him in the tightest hug I had ever given. Oh goodness, he smelled divine. He probably wore some kind of eau de perfection because it should have been illegal to smell this good.

His body felt stiff and his hands were still by his sides. I looked up at him, my chin on his lower chest, and my arms still wrapped around his waist. My hero.

"Thank you for helping me," my words were sincere as I looked up at him.

He looked down at me with his eyes wide and jaw slack. I could hear his heart beating fast.

Why did I not want to stop hugging this ma-my eyes widened as I realized that I was in fact still hugging this man.

I pulled away quickly and looked at the ground, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," I said in a small voice, my cheeks heating.

"I should get home now," I whispered, still talking to the ground. When he didn't reply, I gathered up the courage to look at him; he was already staring steadily at me.

He slowly nodded at me, still staring intently.

I suppose I should have been afraid, maybe apprehensive of this mere stranger and his gaze on me, the fact that we were alone without anyone else for miles. But I wasn't. No part of me was afraid in this moment. I had felt tantalizing fear before in my life, and there was not a cell in my body that was afraid of this man.

I swiftly turned around and began walking in the direction of my home. The soft breeze and the smells of nature around me didn't calm me the way they usually did. Not with him following behind me. My body was on high alert with him in regard. Not because I was afraid of him, but because I was afraid of the way that I already felt so comfortable around him.

At one point, I slowed my steps so that we fell in line with each other.

And then we walked side-by-side.

The trek to my house didn't seem as far as it usually would. We reached my front garden that was fenced in, and walked down the narrow cobbled path to my front door. He walked behind me now, as to not step on the flowers that grew in my front garden.

Once I reached the door to my house, I put my hand on the door handle and bit my lip, thinking of what to say. I didn't want him to go, but I didn't want to make him feel like he had to stay.

Finally making up mind, I turned around to face him, my back against the door, and my hands fumbling with the front of my dress.

"Do you want to come in?" I was looking at my hands, which anxiously toyed with the fabric of my beloved dress.

"I said I would help make it all better didn't I?"

My face shot up to look at him so fast that it hurt my neck. My eyes met his and I smiled.

He almost smiled back.

♡♡♡

unedited