Cecelia's PoV:-

"Do you have to wear that?" Ash grumbled.

"I kinda do, yeah," I answered.

"Please don't."

"What do you want me to wear, Ash? Your sweatshirt?"

"Sure. They're all yours."

I rolled my eyes.

"We're going on a beach, babe." I clarified.

"I don't see the problem," he shrugged.

"I'll be too hot in your sweatshirt. It's California." I argued.

"You'll be too hot in anything, that's the whole problem." He muttered.

"Excuse me?" I grinned.

"Come on, Ce." He pleaded.

"Okay fine," I sighed, stepping out of my string bikini and putting on a one-piece rashie instead. Over it, I put on his sweatshirt. "Happy now?"

"Yeah," he breathed in relief.

"You're so childish," I laughed.

"Meh," he shrugged it off. "As long as you don't wear that." He pointed at the discarded bikini.

"Then you can't go shirtless either," I bargained.

"What?" He whined.

"You think I enjoy watching girls drool over you?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Okay," he sighed. "Point made."

"You didn't have a problem with me training in shorts and a sports bra back home." I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Back home everyone knew you were off-limits and taken," he pointed out, slinging his arms loosely around my waist. "They were also well aware that you'd bash their skulls into the ground if their gaze wandered the wrong way. Here we're among a bunch of hormonal and disrespectful people with the personalities of a man-child."

"Fair point." I conceded.

"Stop sounding so surprised," he said. "I make them pretty often."

"Okay," I chuckled.

"You're making fun of me," he accused.

"I'm not, I swear," I said.

"Liar," he narrowed his eyes.

"I-" a loud knock cut me off.

"How much longer is it going to take you guys?!" Lydia, our friend, shouted.

"I bet they're going at it," Drake said.

"I hope you guys are not doing anything you're not supposed to," Clara teased.

"What will that be?" I called back.

"You know, the naughty stuff . . . " she trailed off suggestively. I rolled my eyes.

"And what if we are? Will you go away?" Ashton asked, barely holding back a laugh.

Drake, Oliver, and Lucas whistled while the girls giggled.

"No!" They said in sync. 

I stepped out of Ashton's embrace and opened the door for them. 

"So you're decent," Lydia deduced. Somehow she managed to sound disappointed as she said that. Whelp.

"Yeah," I leaned back against the frame. Ashton came and stood behind me with our beach bag.

"Where's the bikini we got together?" Clara asked.

'All yours, dear mate,' I mind-linked Ashton.

'Umm . . . what do I say?' He linked back and I almost chuckled.

"I couldn't find it," I said, stepping out of the hotel room. Ashton locked the door behind us.

"Really?" Lydia questioned. "We brought it just yesterday, Lia."

"Yeah," I shrugged and Ashton wound his hand around my shoulder as we walked towards the beach. The boys started a conversation of their own as we went.

"I can lend you mine," she offered. "I have a spare."

I imagined Ashton chasing her around with a pitchfork for pushing it so much. She would scream like a little girl and I'd laugh from the sidelines.

"No, I'm fine," I chuckled at the mental picture.

"But you have such a nice body!" Clara whined. "A flat stomach and toned muscles. God knows how you find the time to maintain it and still have a 4.2 GPA. Why would you not want to show off?"

I do, honey. My neanderthal of a mate would throw a fit if I did, though.

"I don't," I lied easily, amused. They sighed as if I were hopeless but changed the topic anyways. They knew better than to argue with me.

At the beach, we spread two blankets. The girls put on sunscreen. They offered me some but I denied it. I could use a nice tan. I'd been indoors for too long.

"Beach ball?" Clara asked enthusiastically. Everyone chorused back a yes except me.

"Lia?" She asked, noticing it.

"Nah, guys. You go ahead," I waved them onwards.

"Why?" She whined. "Come!"

"I'll be there in a while." I smiled. "I promise."

"Fine," she pouted. "I'm coming back for you if you don't come on your own."

"Deal." I chuckled.

They started walking away and I sat down cross-legged beside the basket, facing the ocean. The waves crashed on the shore therapeutically. I felt it as Ashton sat down behind me and pulled me between his legs. He wrapped his arms around my middle ad I leaned back into him contently.

"What's up?" He asked me. "Don't you wanna play?"

"I want a break from all the constant running about," I replied. "I'm tired. Between college, company, and the pack, I feel like we're stretched out too thin."

"Just a few more years and it'll all the worth it. We're already climbing up the ranks faster than ever."

"I know, that's what is keeping me going." I sighed. A few moments of silence passed by before he spoke again.

"What are you thinking?" He whispered into my hair.

"That this feels so good," I muttered. I enjoyed the gentle sparks that danced across my skin every time and everywhere he touched me. "What are you thinking about?"

"That we should come to the beach more often." He mumbled. 

"Um-hmm," I closed my eyes.

"Hmm."

I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep until I was woken up by the sound of giggles.

'Ash? You awake?' I reached out to confirm though his heartbeat said so.

'Yeah.' He answered.

'You know what's happening, right?' I asked, keeping an ear out.

'Of course. Took you long enough to notice.'

'It was a nice nap.' 

'I guessed. Now, the question now is, do we let it happen?' He sounded amused.

'You're funny. We will not. On the count of three?' I said as I heard the footsteps getting closer.

'On three.' He agreed. 'One . . . two . . . '

"Don't even think about it," we hissed in unison without opening our eyes. A sound of a thud and a grunt reached our ears, followed by multiple groans. I peeked my eyes open and rubbed them gently.

"What the fuck?!" Oliver cursed from the ground.

"How did you guys even know?!" Lydia bleated. "We were dead sure you were sleeping!"

I eyed the bucket of water that was meant for us but had ended up on the hand with all its contents spilled.

"Well, you were obviously wrong," Ashton said smugly, hugging me tighter. I grinned.

"That was creepy," Lydia stated, eyeing Oliver.

"You promised that you will come to play," Clara complained.

"I fell asleep," I shrugged as much as I could with Ashton clinging onto me.

"We saw that," Lucas shook his head.

"You guys looked awfully cozy," Drake smirked, fist-bumping both the other guys.

"Lay off," Ashton said in a no-nonsense tone. I just stuck my tongue out at them, holding the triceps of the arm Ashton had would around my shoulder.

"Guys, we know that you're in love but can you please not make me feel so single?" Lydia groaned, plopping down on the blanket.

"You wouldn't be so single if you weren't so hell-bent on dumping every guy after the second date." I rolled my eyes.

"We just never click," she said nonchalantly.

"Or maybe you are just too picky," Clara pointed out, curling up next to Lucas. They were dating.

"Whatever," Lydia shrugged the comment off.

"Anyone hungry?" Oliver asked.

"Famished," Drake replied.

"Awesome," Lydia opened the baskets. "Dig in!"

*********************

By the time evening rolled in, we had had enough food, drinks, and card games. We were itching to do something again.

"It's almost sunset. How about a walk down the beach?" Drake asked.

"Not a romantic couples' walk," Lydia objected. "A group walk."

"Obviously." Oliver agreed.

Clara and I exchanged a disappointed look.

"I mean . . . romantic walks don't so-" she began.

"No," Lydia whined. "A group walk."

"Fine," I gave up. I hadn't even gone to play. She could have this one. 

And so we found ourselves packing up our valuables and cleaning up our mess. We put all the trash in one basket and returned the blankets and utensils in the other two. We put them under a lonely tree and trudged close to the shore.

Ashton wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I wrapped mine around his torso. We strategically walked towards the back of the group. I leaned my head against his shoulder as we went along.

"I'll miss this when we move back to the Pack," I mumbled.

"You like the beach," he said.

"I love it," I corrected with a smile.

"We can visit," he proposed.

"That's impossible and you know it, Ash." I sighed. "The pack is progressing too fast. And now that we've chalked out the plan to merge both our packs, it will be even more difficult. This is our first vacation in years and it's still just a three days - two nights trip. We have to take charge soon and you know it. Moonlight will need us."

"Aaron, David, Noel, and Hayden can manage without us." He said.

"Of course they can. But it will be our duty to be there."

"With rights come responsibilities," he sighed heavily.

"Sucks. I want only the rights."

"Me too." He chuckled.

"Evergreen fell down by a few ranks," I said hesitantly. I had been avoiding speaking about this for a while now. "Mostly because people have stopped acknowledging and boycotting the whole pack in general."

"I know. They've been dropping consistently since the Vincent Morales slash Curtis thing got out somehow." 

"Do you think I should speak to Julian?" I asked.

"He's your best friend. It's your call. But it won't hurt."

"I blew up on him pretty bad, hun?"

"He sort of deserved it."  He comforted. "He hid a lot from you."

"Hmm," I pulled us to a stop and faced the beach, wrapping my other arm around his torso as well. He put his chin down against my hair.

"I miss him," I said after a few beats of silence. 

"I know." He replied.

"I think I'll talk to him soon." I continued. 

"I think that would be great." He kissed the top of my head.

"Cecelia! Ashton! C'mon!" Lydia screamed. I groaned.

"Let's go," Ashton chuckled.

"No," I pouted.

"Ce," he said mirthfully.

"I'm tired. And I'm sleepy"

"Lia!" She screamed again, her voice closer.

"All you did was rest all day," Ash laughed.

"I don't care," I whined.

"Fine." He said.

"Fine?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah," he scooped me up in his arms in one swift motion, sprinting into the ocean. I whelped as the water soaked me. Behind us, our friends cheered as they joined us.

"Ashton, you're gonna pay for this," I hit him when he put me down. I pushed the hair away from my face. He just grinned.

"Water fight!" Oliver declared, sending a wave of water at me.

"Oh, it's on." I accepted the challenge. 

"This should be good," Ash remarked.

"You bet," I swum over to Oliver and in unison, we attacked Ashton. Even Lydia joined us. 

"Hey!" He protested. We didn't stop.

"Look at that, this is good!" I mocked him as he tried to fight three on one. The others played amongst themselves.

"You little vixen!" He shielded his face and made his attacks stronger. We laughed, trying to evade. Lydia gave up fighting, cackling evilly as Oliver and I got pounded. Eventually, Ashton got ahold of me again. "You were saying?" He taunted.

"Nothing," I laughed.

"Um-hmm?" He pressed his lips to mine. My hands wound themselves around his neck as I kissed him back.

A huge wave of water crashed on us, making us break apart. Our friends guffawed at our surprised expressions. I couldn't help it. I smiled, hugging Ashton close as I flipped them the bird.

I could get used to this.

**************************

A/N:-

Hey!!

Hope you liked the update. I'm halfway through another one, lol. It'll be up soon. Hopefully. Cheers.

Please don't forget to vote if you liked the chapter! Thanks!!

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.

(25.8.21)