'What the hell just happened?'
Marco's heart is beating way faster than his normal heart rate. It seems like he was having a race inside his chest. At this rate, it might just burst out of his chest any moment now. He knew that and so he tries to compose himself.
'I should calm down. I need to calm down.'
'How do I do that again? I think I've forgotten how.'
He spent several seconds figuring out a way to breathe properly again but he was still having a hard time. Just when he was getting better with his breathing, he noticed the heavyweight on top of him.
'Oh, right…' he thought as if the girl earlier being atop of him is not unusual at all. He blinked several times while his brain is trying to process the foreign information.
A few moments passed before his eyes widened in realization and another internal panic occurred.
"W-what?! Wah?..." Marco blurted out yet it sounded like a whisper.
'What the hell? Why… why is she…'
'Why am I hugging her?'
'Why is she on top of me?!'
'And why the heck are we lying on the ground?'
His internal panic lessened when what happened earlier flashed on his mind.
The moment when he was seeing her fall and his mind wasn't functioning properly but he managed to run towards her. Gladly, he grabbed her hand just in time before she could fall down the cliff, and then he pulled her closer.
Basking under the gloaming sky, the girl crashed into him due to the sudden force. Marco caught her in his arms but was unable to sustain his balance, causing them to fell onto the ground with his back first.
Everything happened so fast but it seems too slow at the same time.
"Hmm… okay," he muttered, not actually comprehending the event that took place.
Marco stared at the girl whose face is buried on his chest while holding the hem of his shirt. He pondered about what the girl might have felt.
'She must have been shocked with what I did.'
'But I did it for her sake, I saved her, right?' he said that to himself, convincing that he did the right thing but a part of him was doubtful.
'She's probably dead drowning in the sea right now if I haven't pulled her,' he reasoned to himself once again to get rid of his arising guilt. It barely served its purpose though as he still felt his guilt creeps in his mind.
His thoughts were interrupted when a beautiful fragrance tingle his nose. It was sweet and somehow captivating.
'It smells nice.'
The gentle sway of light-colored strands of hair made its way into his view and that's when he realized where the smell was coming from. Light wind blew and the fragrance lingered once again. It made the tip of his ears shone a tinge of red from self embarrassment.
Marco tensed up when he felt the girl move. His mind went blank and he stiffened like a statue.
From his point of view, he can see her eyebrows furrowing a little. Her eyelids were slowly opening, her long eyelashes fluttering.
Their eyes met. Her hazel orbs and his bluish-gray eyes.
It was momentary but Marco was sure that his heart skipped a beat and then began pounding once again. His heartbeat is abnormally increasing as the second passes by. More than it had ever beaten before. It's pounding rapidly that's his having a hard time catching up.
For the second time, he forgot to breathe.
Marco got flustered when he realized that their position is so close and awkward.
"Ah… Huh?!" she exclaimed, shock was evident in her eyes.
The girl broke their eye contact by getting up. Marco let out a sigh of relief when she's a few steps away from him.
'We finally got a decent distance.'
After stepping away, the girl began fixing her ruffled dress and hair. She's facing the opposite direction of where Marco currently is while hanging her head low, clearly avoiding him.
'She seems uncomfortable and so am I. This is really awkward,' Marco thought to himself while scratching the back of his neck.
He then sat up and threw some light punches on his back. His hint of being in pain was evident in his face and could not stop a groan from escaping.
'Damn, it hurts!'
'Why wouldn't it? Falling onto the ground that's freaking made of solid rock with such great force for someone's sake, ah.'
'I'm not complaining,' he sighed to let out his frustration, 'Stop it, ye bam.'[1]
"A-are you okay?" the girl hesitantly asked. Her voice sounds good to the ears like a lulling melody.
Marco tried to look at her but his gaze immediately landed somewhere else. He found himself unable to utter a single word.
It took him more than a minute before he could answer her simple question. "Uh… yeah, I'm perfectly fine," he answered while scratching his nape. Still couldn't make any eye contact with the girl.
'Oh, I can talk again.'
Marco noticed the girl's eyes landing at his fist that's slightly punching his back. He felt uncomfortable and stopped halfway because of her stares.
"Hmm… Does it hurt?" she asked worriedly, her hands were unsettled.
Hearing her small voice, Marco immediately shook his head as a response. He doesn't want her to feel responsible for it.
"No, it doesn't. I was just scratching my back because the grass was itchy." It wasn't a complete lie because it actually does itch. Some wild grass had grown on the rock pierced his back through the fabric of his clothes.
"Can you stand? Let me help you up," the girl offered with a hint of concern in her voice. She lends her hand ready to help me get back at my feet.
Marco doesn't know what to do and just stared at her offered hand. He contemplated about accepting it or not.
'Maybe I shouldn't. Besides, I'm quite heavy and she's so thin and frail-looking. She'll just have a hard time pulling me up.'
After weighing his decision, Marco sprung from the ground and took a few steps backward, away from the girl. He did not dare take her hand.
The young man was weirded out with himself, 'I don't really know what is happening to me and why am I being weird right now.'
The girl was confused with his manner but kept it to herself. She withdrew her offered hand, putting it behind her back along with the other one, and clasped them together. Her attention then turned to the vast ocean ahead, now sparkling under the shade of the fading sunlight and the approaching moonlight.
Marco did the same. He stood about a meter away from the girl while darting his eyes in front. They were both watching the stars appear one after another, occupying the once dark and empty sky.
They both felt the atmosphere around the cliff is getting colder and colder by the passing second. It's a given since it's already nighttime and they were just standing still on the edge of the cliff, accompanied by the crashing waves below that's blowing the salty sea breeze towards them.
They stayed silent while appreciating the company of the peaceful and cold twilight.
***
[1] Is a Scottish slang that means, "You idiot/fool."