The sky was dark, dotted with stars.

The house on the lake seemed empty, silent, isolated from the world. But they were there - alone. After a night of veiled provocations, too long looks and too much accidental touches.

She was on the edge of the deck, wearing a sweatshirt and shorts. Bare feet.

Damon appeared behind her, a beer in his hand, a crooked smile.

“Is you running away from me, Princess?” He asked, his voice hoarse in the dark.

She looked over her shoulder, her hair loose dancing in the breeze.

“I just came to get some air. Or do you think everything revolves around you?”

He took a sip of the beer. Then he threw the bottle aside.

Suddenly, he pulled the T-shirt over his head, revealing his moon-wet body.

“In my head? Turn.”

She laughed, even against her will.

“What are you going to do? Jump?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Are you provoking me?”

“Maybe.”

Damon took two steps forward - his eyes fixed on her.

And then he jumped.

The water exploded in a dark spray. She walked away laughing, shaking the splashes of her skin. But before he could make any sarcastic comment, he emerged. The wet hair stuck to the forehead. The skin twinkling under the moonlight.

“You’re crazy.”

“Come,” he said, extending a hand. “The water is hot.”

She hesitated for a second. Then he took off his sweatshirt, revealing the black top. He went down to the deck. He watched her carefully - his eyes burning.

“If you pull me, I swear that-“

He grabbed her waist before she finished the sentence and pulled her with him into the water.

Her scream was swallowed by the lake.

When they emerged, she pushed him, laughing. “Idiot!”

Damon just laughed. But it was a different laugh. Calm down. Almost... affectionate.

She stopped moving for a second.

The silence has returned.

Just the breath of the two. The sound of water moving. And that magnetism that always existed between them - now wet, glued, impossible to ignore.

He approached. No kidding this time.

“Why do you do this to me?” He asked, low, his fingers touching her face. “You disassemble me even when you’re alone... here.”

She swallowed hard. “Are you afraid to feel it?”

He smiled. Intense.

“No. I’m afraid of only feeling with you.”

And there, in the middle of the dark lake, the bodies met.

Not in a fierce kiss, but in a long touch.

A wet kiss. Full of unsaid things.

She didn’t know how to swim in calm waters.

And he never knew how to drown...

...Until she shows up.