Tangled Hearts

Lara doubled over with laughter as Rhett surfaced, sputtering and spitting water out of his mouth. Baby barked and Lara was pretty sure he was laughing too.

"That was so unfair," Rhett gasped. "I take it back. Maybe you're not so mature after all."

"Oh come on, General. You can't handle a little water?"

"It's freezing," Rhett complained. "I'd like to see you handle it."

"Come on, I'll help you out you big baby." Lara extended a hand to help Rhett out of the water. She caught the mischievous gleam in his eye and knew what was going to happen even before he tugged on her hand and dragged her into the water with him. Lara surfaced with a tiny yelp, but then she started laughing.

"This was a nice dress," she said, splashing water at him.

"Fair is fair, my lady." Rhett was grinning even though he was shivering slightly. Lara took a deep breath and submerged herself beneath the lake's surface, swimming forward slightly so she was directly in front of Rhett when she surfaced again. She peeked out of the water, then shot up and spit a stream of lake water at his face.

"Hey!" Rhett flicked water at her and soon they were having a full blown splash fight while Baby barked and ran back and forth on the shoreline.

"Surrender," Rhett ordered.

"Never!" Lara declared through a face full of water. "I'm not scared of you."

Rhett swam forward and pinned her arms to her sides so she couldn't splash him anymore. Lara squirmed in his grip, laughing.

"I declare you conquered and defeated," Rhett said triumphantly.

"You may have won the battle but not the war," Lara retorted, tilting her head up to look into his grinning face and crinkling her nose. "This isn't over."

All her wriggling instantly ceased when Rhett bent his head and kissed her. She went a little limp in his arms, kissing him back. She pulled her arms free, resting her hands on his shoulders while his arms stayed wrapped around her waist. She felt dizzy when she finally drew back.

"Is that what you do with every opponent you defeat?" she asked. Rhett laughed.

"No, though I'm sure it would make the defeat sting less."

"Don't go getting full of yourself, General," she said, rolling her eyes. Then her teeth chattered.

"I told you this water was cold," Rhett said. "Come on, or we're both going to catch our deaths."

They climbed out of the water and Lara hugged herself, teeth still chattering. Rhett walked close to her and they were both shivering pretty violently when they reached her door.

"You should come inside," Lara said. "You're going to get sick if you walk all the way home soaked like that."

"If you insist."

"There's some wood in the kitchen. You can start a fire and I'll get some towels and a blanket for you."

Rhett nodded and shuffled into the kitchen. Lara started undoing the back of her dress, eager to be out of the cold, sopping fabric.

"What are you doing?" Rhett gaped at her, nearly dropping the chopped wood he was carrying.

"This dress weighs like a hundred pounds," she said. "I can barely move in it." She smirked. "I know you're a good little altar boy, but don't even try to convince me you've never seen a girl in her corset before."

Lara shimmied past him and hurried up the stairs, shedding her damp corset and pulling on a soft old nightdress before gathering up some towels and a thick blanket to take downstairs. Rhett was sitting in front of the fireplace in the parlor. Lara handed him the towels, keeping one and draping it over his head, messing up his hair more than usual as she attempted to "help" him dry off. He reminded her of a wet, disgruntled cat when she pulled the towel away and she giggled.

"Here." She draped the blanket across his shoulders before sitting down and curling her knees up to her chest. "I think I shivered so hard I kinked my neck," she said, holding her hands in front of the fire. Rhett got a sly look on his face, reaching over to gently massage a spot on her neck. The muscles in her shoulders almost immediately turned to mush.

"Better?" Rhett asked, smirking slightly.

"You think you're smooth, don't you?" Lara said, shooting him a coy look.

"I would never say that," Rhett replied. "Other people have said it about me."

Lara turned so she was facing him. "You're incorrigible," she said.

"You know, if you're still cold, there is room under this blanket." He paused and glanced warily over at Baby, who was sprawled in front of the couch. "Unless your guard dog will try to eat my arm off."

Lara smiled, pulling part of the blanket over her own shoulders. Baby lifted his head to eye Rhett for a moment, but seemed to decide that everything was okay when Lara scooter closer to Rhett. Baby put his head back down and his eyes fluttered closed. Rhett slid an arm around her and Lara snuggled close against his side, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry for pushing you into the lake," she said.

"I'm not. You can feel free to push me into a lake any time you want."

"Careful. You know I'll take you up on that."

Lara didn't know when she'd fallen asleep, but when she woke it was morning, the fire had burned down to embers, and she was still wrapped in the blanket with Rhett. She smiled, gently shaking him awake. He cracked an eye open.

"Wake up, lazy," Lara said.

He sighed dramatically. "All right. I guess if I got too much more beauty sleep it just wouldn't be fair to everyone else."

Lara rolled her eyes. "Just get up, you big doofus."

He sat up and Lara reached over to make a half-hearted attempt to fix his rumpled hair.

"You're fighting a losing battle," Rhett chuckled. He was giving her that signature smile of his and Lara tugged him closer so she could kiss him. They stayed like that until a knock at the door startled them apart. Rhett muttered a curse under his breath while Lara frowned at the door. She couldn't imagine who would be coming to visit her. She broke into a sunny smile when she opened the door.

"Harrison!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her big brother.

"Hey, Lara," he said, hugging her back.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted you to meet Cait," Harrison said, adjusting his glasses nervously. A pretty girl with light blond hair and bright hazel eyes stood behind him, smiling.

"It's so nice to meet you," she gushed. "Harrison has told me so much about you."

"Uh, I have news," Harrison said, his ears turning red. "I wanted to tell you before we went to the castle and told Cas. I uh, I asked Cait to marry me."

Lara's eyebrows shot up. "Well look at you. My little Harry is all grown up." She ruffled his hair affectionately. Baby came trotting out of the parlor and nearly bowled Harrison over as he tried to lick his face. She heard a thud and a curse from the parlor, rushing back in to find Rhett rubbing his shin.

"I banged it on the table," he muttered sheepishly.

"General Howard?" Harrison stood behind Lara, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah. I was..bringing some firewood to Lady Everhart."

Lara rolled her eyes. Harrison glanced from her standing there still in her nightgown to Rhett's rumpled clothes and the blanket on the floor and looked at once suspicious and a little embarrassed.

"Firewood," he repeated. "I see."

"Well we should head to the castle and let Cas in on the good news," Lara said hurriedly. "Just let me get dressed. I'll meet you there. It was lovely to meet you, Cait." Lara ushered them quickly out the door before swatting Rhett's arm.

"Delivering firewood? Really, Rhett? That's the best you could come up with?"

"He caught me off guard." Rhett shrugged, looking like he was trying not to laugh. Lara shook her head, swatting his arm again.

"You're such an idiot," she said, climbing the stairs to her room to get dressed. "You're lucky that you somehow manage to be cute sometimes."