The truck came to a halt after forty-five minutes on the road.
Bloom unfastened her seat belt quickly, she was too excited to let a minute pass.

Zayn grabbed her arm when she was about to open the door.

"You have thirty minutes," Zayn told her and pulled his hand away.

"Okay, whatever."
Bloom grumbled and came out of the car.

"I think the word is 'thank you'" he yelled at her retreating frame.

Bloom removed her shoes and spread her arms as she inhaled the air around her.
She ran as the waves in the water pushed toward her. She giggled and ran back like a toddler playing with water for the first time. She kicked her feet in the water screaming in joy.

"I'm going for a swim."
Bloom said and turned to look at Zayn. She found him sitting on the ground, staring at her. The expression on his face was hard to read, he looked away and drew something on the sand.

"Go ahead, I'm not stopping you but if you start drowning don't expect me to come to your rescue."

"I can swim, West, I won't need your help. Could you turn around or close your eyes? I wanna take my clothes off."

"No," he said looking up at her, he sat back and watched.
She gave him a deadpan look.

"You're really not gonna look away?"
She inquired.

"Yeah and is not like you're gonna cast a spell to make me go blind."He smiled.

"You're despicable, " she sighed.

She turned around and took her clothes off leaving her panties and bra on. She could feel his eyes on her.

"At least, stop looking," she said looking over her shoulder at him.

"I have seen better, ten minutes have gone by, you better hurry."

She shook her at his words and looked away. She didn't want her bra to get wet, so she decided to remove it. She took a glance at him he was too busy with his phone to notice what she was about to do.

She took it off quickly and rushed into the water. The cold water current gave her goosebumps but soon her body adapted to the temperature. She dived in making sure the water was at her shoulder level.

She stayed in the water for a while swimming and just playing around in the water with her feet.

"You're missing out, you don't wanna swim?"
Bloom asked as she moved her arms in a circle in the water.

"I can't swim, don't you remember?"
He asked looking up to see the expression on her face.

"Remember what? I barely know you," she laughed as she did a backstroke.

"Forget it," he dismissed, looking at the dark sky that mingled with the stars.

"Come on West, you can stay where the water isn't deep."
She whined.

"I'm fine here, fifteen minutes left."
He informed her.

"You're no fun," she muttered with a sigh.
She went under the water and swam for a while before coming up for air. She brushed her wet hair back and tried to take a step but her toe collided with a stone.

"Ouch!" she cried out.

"What happened? Are you okay?"
Zayn put his phone away quickly and stood up.

"I think I hit my toe on something, a stone I think," she said and winced at the pain.

"Get out of the water."
Zayn demanded, stepping closer to the waterfront.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

"Bloom, get out of the water let me take a look."

"I said I'm fine, really the pain is gone."
She lied moving down to make the water stop at her shoulders.

"You could be injured, sharks are sensitive to blood come out."
He insisted.

"I'm good, don't worry."

"Fine, I'm coming in."

Bloom's eyes grew wide at his statement.

"But you can't swim."
She laughed uncomfortably.

"Yeah, when the water is deep."

"You don't have to seriously."
She said, instead he ignored her and took off his shirt displaying his tattoos.
She stared at his impressive torso, her eyes trailed every tattoo she could get her eyes on.
It was like her wish was suddenly granted, he took off his black Jean and stood in front of her in his black boxer brief.

He started walking toward her, she regained her senses and tried to stop him.

"West, stop."

"Sorry too late."
He shrugged and entered the water.

She moved back as he approached her.

"Don't do that, you know I can't swim that far."

"Then step back."
She warned and he stopped.

"If I end up drowning will you save me?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"I need an answer."

"Yes, I'm not that heartless."

"Good," he said and moved toward her.

"Don't come any closer, stop," Bloom instructed but he kept moving.

"I don't have my bra on!" She said quickly.

"Nice try." He scoffed.

"I'm dead serious."
She said moving up so he could see her bare shoulders.
He paused when he didn't see any bra straps.

"You can leave now."
She said going under till the water was at her neck level.

"So what if you don't have it?"

"I swear to you if you come any closer I won't stop you from drowning."
Bloom threatened.

"Really?" He moved slowly, he stopped when the water got to his waist.
He turned and started walking away. She sighed in relief and dived under.

He was putting on his shirt when she sprung out. He had an unusual look on his face that made him look vulnerable. She studied him for a while and it dawned on her.

"No way, you are scared of something. Is it swimming or the water?" she asked holding back her laughter but he didn't find the topic funny. He pretended not to hear her and went back to where he sat earlier. He took a glance at her and she felt awful for almost laughing. He looked away and grabbed his phone.

She crossed her arms around her chest as she came out of the water. She turned her back to him and wore her clothes and went to join him.

"I can see the shape of your bra through your shirt, nice boobs."
She looked down at her chest then at him. She thought he was mad at her, but now the role was reversed. She was about to apologize for making fun of him because of his phobia but she changed her mind.

"You're disgusting."

"Thanks," he said with a smile.
She sat next to him on the ground and looked up at the stars. The view was beautiful and she wanted to stare at it forever

"You are so lucky to be allowed to go places without anyone stopping you, there are so many beautiful places out there to see."
Bloom whispered as she tried to count the stars.

"I'm not lucky."
He said looking up at the stars too.

"Where do you wanna go after we leave here?"
He asked quickly before she could ask him what he meant.

"I thought I had only thirty minutes?" She beamed.

"Yeah, you have three minutes left."

"I wanna go ice skating, I just feel drawn to it but I have never done it."

"You don't remember that too?" He looked at her closely as if it would help him understand her.

"Remember what? Why are you staring at me like that?"
She cocked an eyebrow with a small smile.

"I'm trying to figure out who you really are."

"Excuse me? " she chuckled.

"Never mind."
He looked away and stared at the sea.

Bloom stared at him, she had questions but she wasn't sure about asking.

"If you keep staring like that you will drill a hole on my face."

She looked away a bit embarrassed, they sat in silence until someone's ringtone broke the silence.

Bloom took a quick peek at his phone screen, she stared at the pretty girl with shaved hair that was dyed platinum and a cute nose ring.

"Nicole," She read the name, looking up at his face with a smug grin.

"It's important," He took the phone and went far away from her to answer it.

"Hey, what's up?" Zayn whispered.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Somewhere, what happened?"

"Max is furious, he thinks someone left a mess behind and they might trace it back to our hideout. He wants everyone here."

"I will be fine, I can watch out for myself."
He said ignoring the fear in her voice.

"Zayn you have..." he ended the call not listening to the rest of her sentence.

He returned later with a different expression. He sat next to her on the warm beach sand.

"Everything okay?" She asked drawing a box on the sand with her toe.

"Yeah," He replied not looking at her.

"Was that your girlfriend? She is pretty."

"None of your business."

"Okay, was the call that bad? Did she break up with you?" she made a dramatic gasp after her sentence.

"Stay out of my business."
She nodded and kept quiet but not for long.

"Nice necklace, can I see?"

"You're already looking at it."

"Can I hold it for some seconds?"

"No, I got it as a gift from someone special who doesn't remember anything about me."

"Ouch, that must really hurt, did the person have an accident or something?"

"You're the only one that can answer that?" He whispered softly.
She stared at him confused.

"I'm not a psychic or a doctor. Anyway, keep your necklace, I only wanted you to know it's beautiful."

"If you badly want the necklace why don't you ask your asshole of a father."
He said with disdain.

She gasped at his outburst, why did he always bring her Dad up.

"That's it you've crossed the line. What's your problem with my dad?"

"Everything, every f**king thing Bloom!!!"
She was more confused at his sudden change of demeanor.

"Your dad is a f**king murderer, he is a criminal, an asshole! And he is going down if he doesn't step down as president and admit what he did, we are going to make him." He told her.

Realization struck her.

"You're one of them aren't you?"
She tried to hold herself together.

"Surprise, you finally figured it out."
He smirked.

Bloom gave him a repulsive look. She stood up and maintained a safe distance between them. She couldn't believe she'd been hanging out with a member of that Godforsaken group, she even kissed him.

"Do you have any idea what my dad is going through? He rarely eats or sleeps because of you lunatics!"

"Serve him right," He said nonchalantly.

"What did he do to all of you?" she screamed.

"Glad you asked, five years ago, your dad commissioned some idiots to demolish a six-story building, 70 people lost their lives and 23 were injured. That was what he did to all of us, Bloom and he won't get away with it."

"So which group do you belong to? Cause you look very alive and perfectly fine to me."

"I lost my parents to that wreck, that's where I belong and my little sister can't talk because she witnessed my mom being crushed to the ground before she was rescued, that's where I also belong."
He exclaimed.

She stared at him not sure she should believe him.

She remembered the little girl and she couldn't imagine her going through such a terrifying thing.

"That's not my dad, he wouldn't do a thing like that."
She said shaking her head at the accusation.

"How would you know, you barely remember who you are!"
He yelled standing up.

"You don't know everything about me!"

"I know a lot, things you don't know," he said stepping closer, how could he hate her so much and love her more than everything at the same time.

"You're wrong, my dad is a good man, he cares about his Country. Why do you think he won the election twice?"
He scoffed.

"Illegally, we won't stop till he pays for what he did, everyone needs to know the devil they have for a president."

She felt tears in her eyes. She won't let his words cloud her thoughts about her father. He was an Anti-sam after all, he was the monster, not her father.

"He is the only family I have left, I'm sure it was an accident."
A tear dropped, rolling down her cheek.

"If it was a f**king accident he wouldn't have covered it up with the authority vested on him!"

She bit her lips to stop the sound of her cry from leaving her mouth.

"My parents suffered for nothing, after everything they went through your father f**king killed them!"

"He didn't do it! Why should I take your word for it?" She asked.

"I don't give a shit what you think about me."

"So you're using me as bait to get to my Dad? Is that why you've been helping me?!"
She knew his answer was going to have an effect on her but he didn't answer.

"Answer me!" She demanded.

He remained silent, she picked up her shoes and walked away.
He didn't go after her, he exhaled and kicked the sand.

Bloom cried on her way back to the car, she found the car opened. She entered and cried quietly. There were so many emotions running through her. She calmed down after some minutes.

She wiped her tears away and took deep breaths to relax her mind.
She leaned back on her seat and thought of everything he said. She felt so hurt, she felt used. That was why he knew so much about her, she felt so stupid.

She saw his gun in the storage compartment, she stared at it for a long time before reaching for it.
She held the object in her hand not sure of why she took it. She heard footsteps, she looked outside the car and made eye contact with him.

She looked away and hid the gun behind her. She pointed the gun at him as soon as he entered the car.

He didn't even look faze at the object aimed at him.

"Having fun?"
He asked and leaned back on his seat.

"Your hands are shaking and the safety is still on."
He said and brought out his keys and started the car.

She got frustrated and threw the gun at him.

"Take me home."
She said and looked away.

He nodded and drove off, neither of them spoke during the ride. She stared outside the window the whole ride.

A few minutes later the car stopped in front of a large building.

"Where are we? I told you to take me home."
She said looking around her surroundings.

"You said you wanted to go ice skating."

"I'm no longer interested, I wanna go home."
She said tiredly, he got out of the car and walked to her side. She glared at him when he opened the door for her.

"I'm not taking you home until I complete the favor you asked for, I get it, you're upset but you can't let one argument ruin your night."

"He is my father, it's a big deal to me."
He rolled his eyes at her sentence.

"Take me home, West," she said not moving.

"I will after you go ice-skating."

"You can quit now, I already know your true intentions. Please get me out of here."

If only she knew where she was and the way back home.

"If I wanted to turn you in, I would've done that at the party and I would have watched you get shot during the gunfire, but here we are seeing each other for the third time. Use your fu*king brain!" he said.

"Then why are you hanging out with me? Why didn't you do it? I'm not stupid West, you're up to something but you don't need me yet. Let me guess, you were sent to keep a close eye on me and provide intel."

"You know, no one knows what the President's daughter looks like in the Antisam except me, if I wanted you dead I would have done that a long time ago."

He said and shut the door, making her jump in her seat. He returned to the car and turned on the ignition.

"Your loss anyway," she heard him mumble as he pulled out of the parking area.

"You were right," she said after five minutes of driving in silence.

"About what?" He asked.

"I should've never expected tonight to turn out good. I should have stayed home."
She conceded.

His fingers clenched around the wheel. "Having regrets already?"

"Yes," she replied in a low tone.

"Same here," he whispered.

He stopped the car far from the Valley House.

"Look, I'm sorry about my dad." She said turning to look at him.

"It's not gonna change anything if you apologize," he told her.

"I know," she said removing her seat belt and picked up her bag.

She got down from the car and faced him with a weak smile. "Thanks for tonight."

"Don't thank me, and you don't have to act like you don't hate me."

"I don't hate you. Goodnight, West."
She turned and started walking away.

Someone grabbed her arm from behind before she could put enough distance between them. Zayn turned her around. She scowled at him and opened her mouth to ask him what he wanted but he took her by surprise when he leaned closer to her lips and kissed her.

She gasped at the contact, his hand encircled around her waist and the other was at the nape of her neck.

The kiss was different from the one at the alley, it held so much meaning. His lips were soft and gentle on her unmoving lips. She tried to resist kissing him back but failed, her hand moved slowly up his chest.

She should feel disgusted, she should be angry, she should push him away and never look back but she couldn't do any.

He grazed his tongue across her lip before breaking the kiss for them to catch their breath but she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and returned the kiss.

He smiled against her lips and followed every smooth movement of her lips. He brushed his fingers through her hair and sucked on her lower lip.

Bloom withdrew from the kiss with a small smile. He placed his forehead on hers and stared into her eyes, his thumb drew lazy circles on her left cheek.

"You're not a bait, you were never a bait. I hope someday you will remember everything. Goodbye Sunflower. "
He kissed her forehead and let go of her, he removed his necklace and put it around her neck.

She stared at him as he walked back to his car. She was speechless and confused, she wanted to scream for him to stop but she didn't know what she would say.

He took a long look at her before driving away.

She looked down at the necklace with the silver owl's head and found herself smiling.

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