Lucy's p.o.v

I stretched out in bed and accidentally pushed the pillow off the bed.

I drowsily made my way to the bathroom to wash up and glanced at the mirror.  A smile was plastered on my face without noticing. I slapped my face a few times to go back to normal and then ran the tap, splashing cold water over my face.

Even after I brushed, I glanced up and I at the mirror. I was smiling to myself again.

Memories of last night were rushing back to my head. Ah, ah.. no no. A happy jolt pierced my heart and I started getting excited again.

I hummed as I made my way to the kitchen to brew some coffee.

It was best to do some creative work while I was in a good mood. I held the mug close to my chest.

Thoughts came rushing back again of pushing Francy down on the bed. Maybe I should have told her to stay over, then we would....

you know what...

...another plan for today.

Cancel everything and call her over.

I left the mug and went back to my bedroom taking my phone out of my jeans.

Oh, one missed call and a message.

I checked my messages and ..

1 MESSAGE FROM ACE

"I'm going to be gone today. Wish me luck, I'll go meet Sole and ask her out.

P.s. don't call me"

 I laughed out and just sent him a thumbs-up emoji.

Finally, he listens.

The door beep went off. I rushed downstairs to see who just walked in. Francy was taking off her shoes. When she saw me, her face lit up in a wide smile and she shook the bag she was holding.

"I bring breakfast." She said and walked over, raising herself on her toes to kiss me. She gave me a quick peck on the lips and handed me the bag.

"Smells good." I said.

"Me or the food?" She gave me a devilish smile.

"Both." I turned around and went upstairs.

She followed me in a rush. "You're that hungry?"

"You have no idea." I left the bag on the kitchen table and I turned around sweeping Francy off her feet and I tossed her over my shoulder.

She screamed and grabbed my shirt. "What are you doing?" She laughed. "Elric!! Stop."

Once I was in my bedroom I closed the door with my foot and tossed her on the bed.

She covered her mouth to hide her laugh. "What just happened?"

I reached over my head and tugged the shirt over my head.

"Elric?" She brought her hands down in her lap. "What are you doing?"

I tossed the shirt and climbed over her.

"What about breakfast?" She asked wrapping her arms around my back.

"I got something else on my mind right now."

Before she asked any more questions I silenced her with a kiss.

***

Ace's p.o.v

I was almost near the town. Maybe an hour more or less. I took out my phone and called Francy.

"Yes, brother?"

"What's up?"

"Just came back home from Elric's place. You there yet?"

"I'm almost there. Can you call Sole and see if she's in the house?"

"Give me a minute or two. I'll call you back." She hung up and called back pretty quickly. "We have a problem."

"What?"

"She's not at the house. She said she's going to the beach. I assume it's the beach where we last went at. Do you remember where it is?"

"Yes. Yes.Good thing I was driving."

"Good luck. You got this."

"Thanks Francy." I hung up. Hm.. maybe I should get flowers first.

***

I parked the car near the beach and headed there, taking the flowers with me. I started descending down the little sandy hill, towards the empty beach.

Even if the beach had thousands of people, I still could have recognized her. The long hair that swayed in the wind and that proud posture.

I kicked off my shoes and headed further down to the beach.

What was she doing there alone?

She suddenly got into the water carrying something. Next thing I knew papers were flying out of her hands.

She ripped them out one by one from what seemed like a sketchbook and threw them in the water. The papers were slowly getting wet and blank. She seemed so distressed, so angry. She was destroying her own art.

I ran down the beach.

"Sole.." I dropped the roses on the sand and headed in the water. "Sole stop."

She turned around and when she saw me she frantically started grabbing the papers back in her hands. I picked one up to save it, but I stared at it as the water had started smudging it. But it was still clear.  It was a sketch of me.

She grabbed it out of my hands and started getting away.

"Sole.." I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her out of the water. She wiggled out of my grip as I put her down on the beach.

"This is all your fault." She said frustrated. Well as frustrated Sole could sound.

"What's my fault?" I asked.

"I can't paint anymore. I can't even put a stroke on the canvas without a shaking hand, without a distorted vision of what I want to paint because all I keep thinking about..." She paused.

Oh Sole.

"I'm sorry. I also..." I started explaining when she saw the roses on the ground and before I could say anything she took them and went back to the sea, waist-deep and she hit them over the water. They dispersed on the surface, in million tiny petals completely ruined. The sea carried the petals and the rest of the roses back to the shore.

There was a pain in my gut.

She turned around to look at me.

Not even a yell or raised voice yet I could hear her rage miles away.

She walked back out and dropped down on her knees over the sand.

The sea was restless, hitting the shore in uneven waves as the wind blew. The sun was already setting down.

"What?" She asked as I remained unmoved.

"You hurt me like no other woman has hurt me before." I crouched down. "I bought those flowers for you and without a blink, you drowned them."

"Why?" She asked innocently.

"Because I wanted to. They were beautiful. Just like you."

Her hands sunk in the sand. She turned her face away.

"I don't know why it took me this long to come here." I told her. "Cause I've been thinking of your face every day. I've been imagining this feeling, my words.. your words.. "

"Stop it. Stop saying things that hurt me." She finally faced me.

"Why do they hurt you Sole?"

"Because you say them." Her voice was weak, but I could hear it even over the waves splash on the shore.

I rose up. There was a warmth in my chest. She was feeling the same way. But she was so stubborn. "They hurt because you keep refusing to take a step towards me. You won't even try."

She got up and tried to dust off the sand that stuck on her wet skirt. "We're too different. We live miles away. It's just not worth it."

Hearing that, the anger just took over. "You won't even give it a chance. I'm giving you very clear answers. I'm here for you. I want you. "

"I don't want you." She spoke, the obvious lie resonating in her voice.

"You're telling me you felt nothing else from that kiss?"

"I've kissed others in that way before."

I felt the hurt, the anger seeping through me. "And you believe you'll find another guy with who'd you have that kind of chemistry?"

"I'll just find someone. Anyone. The first stranger I see." She was already aware of how badly she lied, but she kept going.

My heart was wrenched from her lies. But I had pride too.

"Then go. Live your life with someone else. Someone to just keep you entertained while you only live for your art. If that makes you happy then who am I to stop you?" I took a step back. "I'd rather be honest with myself and face what I'm feeling than lie to myself like a coward."

I turned around,  walking away.

"Oh what am I doing.. stop.." she yelled.

My feet were stuck in the sand at the very second.

"It..It never bothered me before. But now...How can I ever kiss another person so meaninglessly, when I know what it might feel like. When I know how good it can be?"

I faced her. It was all she was willing to give, just a tiny branch of effort, but it was an effort nevertheless. There was a teary gleam in her eyes, before the last ray of daylight died out.

I strode over, grabbing her face with both my hands. "Read my lips. Do you know how many times just like you, I've kissed others, but never like that. Never like I kissed you. I've been hurt ever since that night. It took you only a minute to burn my world. My whole body is in pain because of it. I can't function from how much I want you. "

I sunk my fingers in her hair. "I want to wake you up at dawn and kiss you relentlessly. To feel you burning under my touch, to remember how it feels for days."

I had been clear with myself. I had tossed out all old memories, erased all others that ever dwelled in my head at night. I wanted to hold her in my arms and sing old love songs to her. To sleep in her hair, to tremble under her touch..to get hurt and forgive her because it would pain me more to let her go.

"I know it's not easy giving up your heart." She was slightly shivering in my arms.

Her arms slowly wrapped around my waist."I dream of you awake. I see you when I'm asleep. Thinking about you has become a habit I can't break."

She brought her hands up reaching for mine as I held her. They were cold.

"I don't want to be your regret. In fact, I want to be in your arms."

"I know." I brushed her beautiful hair back.

"But I can't do this. I can't give myself only halfway."

"I know." I faced her and brought her hands down from my face and kissed them. "I'm not asking you to go halfway. I knew I wanted more than your mouth, more than your body, the moment I kissed you. That's not enough. Just to hold you is not enough. I want to be wrapped in your mystery. To get to know what makes me driven to the point of insanity when it comes to you."

She looked at my lips and whispered. "What else?"

I slowly pulled her down and laid her on the sand. The sky had lost its pink and yellow brightness and now was a mix of blues and stars.

https://youtu.be/8MGq7vTIDmE

(play for better ambiance)

"I want to unravel you in every way. Know your secrets.." I ran my fingers down her cheek to her neck. Her collar bone was visible every time she'd withtook a breath, her body slightly shivering from the cold and excitement she was feeling.

"Know your sins.." I brought my face down, our noses slightly touching. I closed my eyes."Know every bruise, every hurt.."

I brushed my lips over her cheek, placing a soft kiss. "I want to see your limits, how far you can go...and then just when you're about to leap off the point of no return..." I brushed my lips with hers. " I'll pull you back to safety."

She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me with complete surrender.

It was tremulous but passionate. Time stood still while our bodies were pressed against each other, grazing on the sand underneath us and the waves hit the shore.

My lips found her cheeks, her nose, her forehead and then her lips again. She was so soft and pure, but the more she immersed herself in it, the more I could feel the fierceness in her.

"I'm getting tipsy just from kissing you." I smiled over her lips, bringing my lips down to her neck. Her voice was so lovely with every sigh, every moan, every effort to tame the anticipation and lust in her.

She wrapped her legs around me pulling me closer. "Kiss me as you did before. I kept tasting wine for days, unable to forget." She spoke softly. Her hands ran up and down my back.

I pressed a soft lingering kiss over her lips. " I'll keep you attentive with all kinds of kisses worthy of your lips." I brushed my nose over hers, and then kissed her lips with all the hunger I felt for weeks.

Her fingers sunk in my back and she ran them up until they were in my hair. My whole body shivered at that move.

She suddenly pushed me up, and then sat down in my lap, her skirt coming up all the way to her thighs.

I sunk my fingers in her skin, unable to get enough of how she looked, how she tasted, how good it felt when she held me.

The wind blew a harsh wind, tossing her hair and wrapping me as I was lost in her kiss.

I traced my hands up her body, over her arms. She was cold and probably freezing, but she kept kissing me so warmly.

I broke the kiss and got up, helping her get on her feet. She stared at me confused.

"Let's go." I took her hand and then grabbed the remaining drawings she didn't drown.

Somehow we made it to my car. The night had already engulfed the whole sky. The sunset that had baked the roof of my car this afternoon had warmed the leather seats.

"We'll get sand everywhere." She spoke as she close the door and noticed how much sand we brought in.

"I'd say it was worth it." I smiled and started the car.

She was silent as I drove to the house, glancing few times from the window to me but instantly turning away If I caught her doing it.

She unlocked the door, having the spare key and turned on the light in the hallway.

I walked inside the living room and grabbed the blanket I saw tossed over the couch. I unfolded it and wrapped her with it.

"I'll be fine in few minutes." She spoke, but I just tugged the blanket and kissed her lips.

"I would have made love with you at the beach if I thought a little heat might do the trick."

She glanced away pulling the blanket to cover herself. "Maybe you should have. A little cold won't kill me."

I wrapped my arms around her as she protected herself with the blanket. "I'll keep it in mind for the next time."  I smiled and let her go to head for the kitchen.

I turned on the lights and tried looking for anything Francy and Remi might have left. "Is there anything left in the house like wine or..."

Suddenly I hear the blanket drop and her body was pressed on my back, her arms wrapping around my waist. "I don't want to have a moment alone and change my mind."

"If you're here now, you're not changing your mind Sole. You've made up your mind already."

I turned around and she looked up in my eyes with such vulnerability it almost broke my heart.

"I could just run out that door the moment you let me." She said.

"You won't." I smiled. 

She tilted her head confused. "Why do you trust that?"

I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Because you're honest about your feelings now."

She smiled like I never knew she could smile. She walked past me and took out the wine from one of the cabinets.

I leaned on the counter, watching her as she took two glasses out.

"I kept staring at your painting for days. I came up with the name for your painting. Wanna hear it?"

"Yes." She placed the glasses down and opened the bottle.

"I call it the consequences of irony; The paradox of life."

She poured the wine in the glasses, carefully tilting the bottle. "Why?"

"Well...whether you choose the leaf or the flower, you still don't know where it will take you, either one of those options. The choice is yours. The consequences are yours. But it doesn't matter if they're good or bad because it's still a lesson and it's something you grow from. And that's the beauty of life. A never-ending growth through trial and error. A lesson through every choice."

She handed me a glass and gave me another one of those smiles. I almost spilled the wine.

"I like it. It's a good complex name."

She brought the glass to her lips, taking a small sip and then pressed the glass to her chest. Her eyes observed me with the most intimate curiosity.

"What?" I asked slightly taken aback by the intensity of that look.

"I want to paint you."

I broke into a grin. "What?"

She took my hand and led me to the painting room. She turned on the lights and left her wine glass on the little work table.

"Where do you want me?" I asked.

She led me to the middle of the room and pressed my shoulders down so I sit on the ground.

"Just pose in any way it feels comfortable."

She rushed back and searched for an empty canvas.

I relaxed back on my arms, leaving the wine glass next to me.

She secured her canvas and sat down on the ground.

"Should I lay down?" I smirked.  "So you can draw me like one of your french girls."

She looked at me confused.

"Oh come on. Titanic. You're Jack and I'm Rose."

She shrugged.

"It's a famous movie." I let out a disappointed sigh. "She strips naked for him and he draws her."

Sole smiled while looking at the canvas and started painting something. "You can do that."

"What?" I asked.

She kept painting and she just said nonchalantly. "You can strip if you want. I'll paint you naked."

It was the complete seriousness in her face and tone that threw me off. She was teasing me, I could sense it, but she sounded so serious.

I unbuttoned the first two buttons of my shirt and then gave up half way. No, no..

She broke into a triumphant smile and without saying anything.

She kept glancing back and forward between me and her canvas.

"What's the most intimate thing you've ever done with someone?" She suddenly asked.

Usually, I'd make a joke about it, but I knew she was asking with the intention of digging deeper.

"This probably. It feels incredibly self-aware letting someone take a look at you for such a long time without knowing how they perceive you."

She changed her brush to a smaller one and dipped in the red paint.

"What about you? " I asked.

"Painting someone." She narrowed her eyes trying to paint something with precision. "I've never wanted to paint someone I know before. And you're putting your trust in me to paint you in a good way, so I guess I'm pretty self-aware as well."

I chuckled. Ah, she really knew how to play me. Every time she'd say something like that I felt over the moon.

I finished my wine glass and placed it aside.

She glanced at me and suddenly placed her brush down.

"Is it done?" I asked.

"No." She shook her head in a no motion. She walked over and got on her knees next to me, brushing my hair away from my forehead. Her movements were gentle and delicate in the same way as she moved her brush.

"I will finish it another day." She said and I took her wrist bringing her hand down. She tilted her head and closed her eyes.

I closed my eyes feeling her lips slowly pressing onto mine. She reached underneath my shirt, raising it, as her hands traveled all over my stomach and chest,  exploring my body. She then pulled it over my head, taking it off.

I traced my fingers up her arm and then grabbed a fist full of her beautiful hair. I deepened the kiss, running my tongue just at the tip to tease her.

She broke the kiss abruptly and stared at my lips.

I slowly got up, helping her get on her feet as well.I took her hand and slowly led her upstairs to one of the rooms.

The house was weaved in darkness with only moonlight coming through the windows, but my eyes had quickly gotten used to the shadows.

I brought her hand up to my shoulder and softly swayed our bodies like we were slow dancing.

Her skin was softer than a drop of summer rain.

I reached for her skirt unbuttoning the button behind her back and let the skirt fall down. Her silk skirt dropped over her thighs like a camisole.

I caressed her thighs, letting my fingers sink in her skin before dragging the camisole over her head and letting it fell next to our feet.

I leaned over kissing her shoulder.

She shuddered. Maybe it was my touch or maybe it was the excitement, but we made our way to the bed and sunk down on it, embracing each other.

***

Somewhere around dawn, I opened my eyes just for a moment, her hair tickling my neck. Sole was still sleeping in my arms peacefully. I kissed her lips, until she was awake and had clung onto me as she did last night. I just couldn't get enough.

When I woke up bit later at a more decent time, she was no longer there. I tossed the covers off and got dressed.

Oh, right my shirt was still downstairs. I brushed my hair back and rubbed my eyes on the way down trying to get used to the light.

There was a smell of coffee coming from the kitchen. I walked in there and there was a steaming coffee mug waiting for me.

I took it and sauntered over to the painting room. Sole was in there wearing my shirt, over her camisole and painting one of her unfinished paintings.

"Good morning." I leaned on the door.

She turned around and smiled. "Morning."

"Thank you for the coffee." I raised the mug saluting her and then brought it to my lips blowing on it, before taking a sip.

She focused back on the painting.

"You get no days off I see?"

She dipped her brush in the paint. "I got my inspiration back. I didn't want to lose it again."

I didn't dare to say it might have something to do with me and last night.

"Should we go and get breakfast somewhere?"

"I'm not hungry." She muttered and focused back on the painting.

Ouch. I forgot I'm second to painting.

I left her to paint and ambled around in the kitchen to see what there was to eat.

After managing to make something out of whatever was left in the cabinets I brought her a plate in the painting room and sat down next to her.

For a moment I thought she was going to ignore me, but as she painted she just leaned her head over my shoulder for a moment and then went back to placing more strokes on her canvas.

It was a split second of affection, but I was hooked.

"Sole.."

"Mm?"

"Should we go buy lunch and head to the beach?"

She glanced at me. "You're not going to cook?"

I slightly opened my mouth in shock. Did this woman expect me to cook?

"Pity." She turned towards the painting. "Men who cook are more reliable."

"Well if you insist." I cleared my throat. "I guess I have to cook."

She smiled and then turned towards me again. "Can I join in then?"

Yes, cause I'll need all the damn help I can get.

"Well as long as you don't get in the way." I told her.

"I'll do my best." She leaned her head on my shoulder again.

"What about your painting?" I asked caressing her back. "It seems important."

"I'll make an exception for you." She placed the brush down.

I pressed my lips together trying to contain my happiness, but she noticed the smile and poked my cheek, laughing.

I might be a fool to get carried away by a bright smile, but as long as she doesn't know what she'd done to my heart I can keep believing I had any will against her.

Author note: for those of you who might judge me for not writing Sole's and Ace's love making scene.

well...I wrote it and then i cut it.. why you ask? when i reread it I realized some things are better left to wonder and somehow the scene just felt out there, like i had to put it so i decided to cut it. forgive me. it was for the best.