10

FAMILY & HAZE

"ROX!" Lucio screams as he calls me and Haze over. I pull away from Haze's arms as I jog over to Rose and Lucio. They sit on a beautiful, freshly cleaned white couch under a gazebo.

"Yep?" I ask as Leo and Pearl come over, his arm wrapped around her as she snuggles into his chest.

I turn away from Leo and Pearl and look at my feet as Lucio makes the announcement.

"Okay, we don't have long left here at the beach house," Lucio says sadly, and Haze wraps his arms around my shoulders, standing behind me and putting his chin on the top of my head.

It's sort of an 'I'll miss you, gesture'

"I know sad! But I'd like to draw attention that this is Jaces last year here before he goes off to college and turns eighteen. So.... go do whatever! We won't waste your time with our normal almost-last-day brunch.... but we are having that brunch a little bit later we're actually just waiting on the last of the food." He says and we all laugh as I run small circles on Haze's hands with my thumbs.

I can feel Leo's gaze harden on me as it stays there, just like before with the surfboards. I turn around so my chest is against Haze's and smile up at him.

"Teach me to surf?" I ask him, knowing Leo was supposed to... but that doesn't really seem like an option with all of the Pearl stuff.

"Su-" Haze starts but somebody from behind grabs my shoulder. "Actually I can do that, Haze." I hear Leo's deep, rough voice say as Haze let's go of me.

I turn to Leo and frown, "Well... I thought you were teaching Pearl." I say quietly, wringing my hands as I look up at him through my eyelashes.

He takes a heavy breath out and swallows. He grabs my arm and pulls me closer to him, his mouth next to my ear as he whispers. "I told you... I'd always choose you over my girlfriend." He says and I lick my lips and sigh.

I back up. "You can go with Pearl, Leo." I say and Haze grabs my hand and the surfboard I set down. "Let's go!" He scream and I giggle as he pulls me away.

Leo's nose twitches as he mumbles, "Fuck." Running his hands through his hair. Pearl comes up to him, giggling and smiling as she kisses his lips. And he's fine again.

I didn't matter enough that it ruined his day at least.

Is that a good or a bad thing?

:;

"Okay if you could actually try standing up maybe you wouldn't go face first into the water!" Haze explains from his board as I wobbly stand up.

"Fuck you!" I scream and he chuckles, "It got you to do it! Even if you don't want me to I know how to teach you!"

I shake my head as I bend through a wave tunnel, it's my first try so it's not perfect but it's good enough.

I crash into the water, peeping my head back up and smiling at Haze. "It was fun right?!" He asks and I nod, swimming over to my board and then him.

I smile brightly and he shakes his head, "I told you you little demon." He chuckles and I growl as he smiles. He grabs me by the waist and pulls me in closer.

"I'm not a demon." I say in a pout, looking up at him through my eyelashes with a pouted lower lip.

"Yes you are." I hear Leo's deep, husky voice say as he grabs my hip and pulls me to his side, ripping Haze's hands off of me in the process.

I flip my body around to face him with furrowed eyebrows, trying to look angry. He wasn't having it.

"Wow.... pure anger." He says with a chuckle as he rests a hand on my lower back. "Hey, Haze, go hang out with your family, maybe Pearl, I don't fucking care." Leo says and I slap his chest.

He throws me over his shoulder, me used to it by now and he brings me over to a cold surface. I look down at it when Leo stops blocking my view.

It's the truck. It's the abandoned truck on the beach, where the field meets the pure soft sand. It was just as if not more rusty than it was before, and I look up at him.

I squint my eyes trying to get past him but he doesn't let me, he grabs my hands and stands in between my legs as he begins speaking. I remember what happened on this truck.

The kiss.

"I know you don't want to sit here with me again.... but I just wanted to get us some privacy. Last time we were here Haze fucked my sister."

"I know, Rose told me all about it." I say, furrowing my eyebrows to say 'what's your point?'

"Then you should probably know that he didn't talk to her the entire time after. He's using you, stop flirting with him."

"Wow...." I say angrily with a passive aggressive chuckle. "Yea cause that's all a boy could want from me."

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Roxy. I'm protecting you."

"From what?! The boys? I'm not an idiot, Leo! I know good people from bad people."

"You obviously don't cause you're with him!"

"I'm not! I've known him for so long, Leo. I just want somebody to not be scared of me because you mess with them. You mess with my life 24/7! No boys will talk to me!"

"You ever think that maybe they just don't like you? Maybe you're just not attractive?!" He growls and I twitch my nose. His face immediately softens as he sees the tears surface my eyes but I cover them up.

I've always been good at faking smiles.

Just don't let them see your eyes....

"Wow." I say. It's all I can spit out.

"I mess with your life because I want you to be apart of mine!" He says defensively. Backing up and running a hand over his forehead, "Fuck."

I build up enough courage as I growl, "You won't let me move on!" I point out as I shake my head.

"What?" He asks with a chuckle through his nose.

"The only guy you think is good enough is yourself! You bring me back here, you flirt with me, you tell me I'm beautiful..... but when you kissed me you lost your shit. When I confront you about you being controlling you say I'm ugly?!" I yell and he looks at me with wide eyes, like he's been caught?

"Why? If you didn't want to kiss me, or if you regretted it because you just weren't used to not having girls around you at all times, then let me move on."

"What are you trying to say, Roxy?" He asks, his voice low as he looks me in my eyes deeply, his teal ones radiating heat and passion.

"I'm saying that I- it doesn't matter just tell me why." I say with a shake of my head.

I'm saying I love you and I know you don't love me too.

"Because I know that the guy who loves you more than anybody else could... I- I don't know if he deserves you, Roxy, but he loves you so much." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Yea sure. Like you said, Leo, guys just don't like me, I'm just not attractive." I say as I walk away from him, but once again he grabs my hand.

"No no, I didn't mean that, Roxy. Please... you know I can't deal with my anger. You're the only thing that helps." He says, his breathing heavy and I swallow.

I look at his chest, which is directly in front of my eyes due to our heights, and my eyes trail down his abs and to his scar. My hand moves towards it as if it drew me in like a magnet. My finger trails across it absentmindedly and I stare at it like it was the only thing I knew, my eyes dropping and full of nothing.

His breathing is shaky as I touch him, his chest basically heaving up and down, but he controls it once he realizes what's happening and acts like he's okay.

I don't know whether it was from anger or how much he hates my touch.

I drop my hand and look towards his family. "You probably shouldn't be close with me anyway, Leo..." I point out and he shakes his head.

"Roxy, Baby, no.... I love being close with you. Especially during this trip we've been closer and it makes me so fucking happy, Roxy. You know I've gone through some things with depression before, which is probably the reason I'm such a goddamn fuckboy, but this is stopping that. I remember I can love, Roxy." He says and I finally look up and into his blueish green eyes.

"You can get out of anything can't you?" I ask and he nods, making that face. That damn face that makes me lose control, where he trails his tongue along his upper teeth with a smirk and pointed eyes.

"It's my strong suit." He says with a smile and I sigh, letting out a tense breath, making me relaxed.

"You fucking cocky asshole." I breathe out and he acts hurts, putting a hand on his chest before smiling

"That's another one of my strong suits." He says with a wink and I chuckle, slapping his arm as he walks with his arms around my neck, bent over and trailing behind me as I walk forward towards the families.

"Why are you with Pearl still?" I ask, remembering our conversation in the field at the stream.

"One reason I could say is that I have no balls, but I do.... it's just.." he sighs, "I don't know. I like her for sure, at least I did, she's beautiful, so beautiful, but I don't know if she has a beautiful personality. I mean her ass slaps and her boobs are hot but like-"

"LEO!" I screech and he chuckles, "I knew you would say that." He says, going around me and grabbing my head. He leans down and kisses my forehead making me automatically smile.

I turn up to him and huff, I would still be angry at him if I didn't know how he was and how he didn't really know how to deal with his frustrations. He got defensive. I know that he didn't mean it though. I hope. That's what his body, his tone, his emotions, everything about him is telling me.

His touch brings butterflies to my stomach as I suck in, looking up at him and giving Him a hug.

"Since we don't really get to go to the beach tomorrow, I was thinking maybe you could help me surf?" I ask and he nods. "Go tell Haze you're sorry, I'll meet you where you left your board on the shore, I need to go grab mine." He says, biting his lip with a smile as he walks away slowly, running a hand through his hair.

He keeps looking at me over and over again, a smile on his face until he takes a breath in and runs towards me.

I squeal, trying to run away but my reflexes weren't fast enough as he throws us to the ground, flipping so I land on top of him to break our fall.

But he acts as though he felt nothing as he flips us over so he's on top of me. "Leo..." I warn, and he smirks, trailing his tongue across his upper teeth, his necklace I made him for art class when I was thirteen hanging over me from around his neck. His blonde hair falls perfectly and his dark eyelashes frame his perfect, teal eyes.

They were so bright, it's as though they dragged me in as they were so clear and sparkly. I was mesmerized until he spoke, only making my daydreams of us better though. His husky, deep voice always made something inside me peek out.

"What? Can a boy not want a kiss?" He asks with a raised eyebrow and my breath becomes ragged as his smirk grows larger. He leans down and kisses my cheek, his lips traveling all across my face, and when he gets dangerously close to my lips he stop, waiting there for a second as our skin touched.

He leans back up and smiles.

"You're so sweet." He says as if it was unbelievable, jumping up and throwing his hand out for me to grab. "How so?" I ask and he grins. "You just... I don't know. You remind me of the stream, but if the field is like it is during the summer, full of flowers of all different shades of colors. The sky would be an electric blue with few white, fluffy clouds in sight, and your lips would be a shade of red as though you  had just had a lollipop as he leaned against the freshly blossomed green tree with a flower tucked behind your ear."

When he's helping me up I lean in and whisper in his ear. "Sounds detailed." I say, smiling internally and externally about what he said, my hand lingers in his as we hold on to eachother loosely.

"What can I say, I've thought about you a lot." He says with a wink as I put my other hand on his torso, feeling his abs as his body tenses, but he slowly relaxes, looking down at my hand.

His Adam's apple bobs up and down as he swallows, his eyes closing as he looks back up and sighs, "I'll meet you out there Roxy. Also... I convinced Pearl that sleeping on the couch in the living room instead of leaving for a hotel would make her seem humble." He says with finger guns and I smile.

I'll meet you out there.

:;

I slowly get up from the board, having way better directions as Leo is doing the same right beside me. "Come on, Roxy. I believe in you." He says and I sigh, steadying myself and straightening my back.

"What now?" I ask nervously as we approach a wave and he smirks, he has a plan.

"You have to go with the wave." He says, as we approach. "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" I scream and I hear his faint laugh as I turn my body with the board, trying to escape the tunnel that was slowly enclosing on me as I get shot with water splashing over me.

I open my eyes in the water and swim up to the surface, my eyes burning as I blow out of my nose and run my fingers through my hair that I should've tied back.

I grab my board and swim over to Leo, who's top half is completely dry as he sits in the now calm waters.

"I hate you!" I scream as I get on his board with him, my legs straddling it on the opposite side as him so we're facing each other.

"No you don't Baby." He says huskily as he runs his hand through his hair. A drop of water trials down my forehead and onto the top of my nose.

Leo's hand goes out and rubs it off my nose right before it falls, his hand soft and gentle with me.

I huff, "you're right..." I admit and he smiles.

"You're not as feisty today." He notices and I growl. "You want me to be feisty?" I ask, tipping us off the board as we fall into the water. I swim to the surface but don't find him.

Fuck.

I look around but he isn't there. I'm about to go under to see where he is when Leo grabs my legs, picking me up as he swims out of the water.

I squeal, looking at him with wide eyes.

"You better not-"

His blonde hair coaxes me to run my fingers through it as it sits slicked back by the water. He just raises an eyebrow with a smirk as his eyes flicked down to my lips, his body gets a little less tight before he pulls me closer to him, staring at me with a look I see all the time, but have rarely seen him act upon.

I felt his breath on my face as he breathed until he looked me in the eyes again. "Fuck it." He mumbles.

He looks back at my lips and presses his softly against mine.