6

WATERS

"Haze!" I squeal as he throws me over his shoulder and runs to the water. Lemon's is a brunch place next to the beach, and Haze and I always hang out there instead of eating, though his parents don't appreciate that very much.

He throws me into the water with an excited smile on his face as I go under. The water waking me up even more as I come back up and shake off like a dog.

"I hate you!" I scream and he chuckles, "Come on! I know you love me, Rox!" He says and I squint at him, standing up and taking off my romper, revealing my dark green bikini.

I see our family sitting on the ground on the beach towels Leo bought. I run over to them, seeing Haze behind me running too, but I'm faster than him. Leo's always faster then me when we do this sorta thing, it's more fun when you win.

I run over and throw my romper down next to Rose. "Rose help!" I squeal, knowing Haze is about to catch up to me. Rose just chuckles, and when I turn around I am immediately faced with Haze, he throws me onto his shoulder and I squeal as he shines a fake smile at Leo.

They've never liked each other, and Leo's clenched jaw and tense body proves that even more. Haze sits down next to Rose and she smirks at me, wiggling her eyebrows as I am still over Haze's shoulder. I sigh and he smiles and shakes his head, flipping me over so I'm on his lap and not over his shoulder.

I shake my head and look over to his parents, "Hello again." I say with an awkward laugh and his dad just continues talking to Lucio, while his young stepmom just squeals.

"oh you guys are so cute!" She starts, and I shake my head, Leo's gaze on me completely.

I turn my head towards him, his eyes stuck in mine like I was the most important thing in the world.

"Sure," Leo scoffs, looking away from us as my heart burns, my eyebrows furrow and my eyes drop and face drops as he won't look at me.

But it doesn't matter, the entire time I've known him he doesn't look at me like that forever, he always covers it up or makes fun of me.

Rose pulls me off of Hazes lap and he squints at her, she just sticks out her tongue. "So Miss Roxanne, how have you been?" Mrs. Waters asks and I shrug, "I guess I've been good." I say awkwardly, I've never been very close with Haze's family like the McClures, but I've been close with him since we met.

I give Rose a look of desperation, a call for help, and being the friend she is she gets up and grab my arm, ripping off her dress and revealing her bathing suit.

"Let's go!" She says as she grabs my hand, running down the beach, "Rosie this is not the time-" Jemma starts but Rose just screeches back, "Yes it is!" She was always free spirited like this.

I laugh as we run into the warm water, the ocean water flowing evenly against my skin as I flip my body in, bringing my knees up to my chest so only my upper torso and knees stick out, as the waves aren't too strong today.

Leo comes over slowly, walking with his hands in his pockets as his abs are on full display, his perfect pale skin almost shining as he sits next to me. "They're coming." He says lowly, and about two seconds later, our bodies submerged in maybe a foot and a half of water, Haze jumps in.

I look over at Leo and chuckle, to which he just turns his head to me and gives me a smirk. Rose almost falls over at Haze, almost drowning in a foot of water. Her body wobbled as Haze comes running towards her, almost tackling her in before Leo gets up and grabs Haze.

I put my finger up to my mouth as I look at Rose, telling her I don't want her to say anything, before I jump on Leo's back. He immediately drops Haze, grabbing on to me and turning me around quickly so he's holding me bridal style.

"Don't mess with me." He says evilly, dropping me into the deeper water with a large splash as he laughs, running away but I grab his ankle from under the water.

He trips and falls face first, but before I pull back I jump on top of him, so as he comes up I'm holding his bottom half down, my legs wrapped around his torso.

He looks at me, his eyes digging deep into my soul as I mock him, "Don't mess with me." I say kissing his forehead before shoving his face into the water.

I run off, thankfully getting away, but he stands up, and I can see from about twenty feet away how much taller he is than me.

"Hey! Give me another I wanted to save that for later!" He says, trying to run through the water but he can't as I realize too, soon falling face first into the sand at the bank.

He chuckles, grabbing my body and picking me up. My arms going around his neck and my legs going around his torso. His abs were glistening and covered in sand as he speaks to me.

"Give me another." He demands, slowly walking deeper and deeper into water, "No," I say with a hmph and his eyes squint at me.

"I swear to god Roxanne I will drop you in this water that is taller than you and let this giant wave suck you up until nothing can save you and you know it's true." He says and I swallow, looking at the waves that are getting worse.

"Fine!" I screech as he puts my arms around his neck, "Hold on to me." He says deeply as he starts swimming away. But waves are pretty fast, and just as we make it to the more shallow part, water flies all over our faces.

The water recedes, and Leo starts laughing as we get on the bank, the only thing that touches us is the wet sand and the water that slowly waves upon us, about a centimeter deep.

"Argh!" I growl, getting on top of him and straddling him, his entire body rumbling as he laughs. "Ha!" He says, rubbing it in my face but I just shake my head. Grabbing some of the sand that is next to us and spreading it onto his chest.

"You didn't get me out of the water fast enough asshat!" I say, water dripping from my nose and onto his chest.

"Well sorry you're heavy!" He says, sitting up and putting his hands on my hips to keep me up while I'm straddling him, my arms around his neck. His face is so close to mine, I can feel his breath on my face as he speaks, his chest heaving up and down under me.

I feel like he could hear my heart beat, he could feel it as it was beating out of my chest.

I swallow, "Sorry, Baby but I still need that kiss." He says and I shake my head, "go get one from one of those other girls, you dunked me in salty water." I say and he squints at me.

"I don't have any of "those girls" here Roxy." He says, putting up his middle finger and I shake my head.

He smirks a little, his crooked smile growing even more as his angular jaw clenches, holding in a laugh.

I look at him and look around, but then I see his hand has moved from me to the biggest handful of sand ever.

"You thought I wouldn't get you back?" He asks, and I try to squirm out of his hold but he flips us over, hovering in between my legs as I squeal.

He slowly pins my arms down and drags the scratchy sand down my stomach. I wiggle, screeching underneath him as he smiles.

He slowly leans down and gives me a raspberry on the clean part of my stomach, my entire body getting shivers as I squirm.

"Stop humping my face!" He says and I look at him with wide eyes, "Its not my fault you raspberried me!" I start but his smirk just grows wider.

"I hate you! That's it, I hate you!" I say trying to pull away even harder but he just likes my fitness, his face hovering over mine again.

"No you don't!" He pouts and I squint my eyes at him, staring into his soul through those green-blue eyes I love. God he's hot.

"Prove it."

"Make me."

"Oh god help me." I mumble as I push my hands on his abs, trying to push him off but I can't.

I look around, and suddenly it's all to smiles to something that happened before, whoever was on the beach isn't there anymore, as me and Haze are hanging out tomorrow.

The McClures must have walked up the path back to the beach house too. The sunset was doing the same thing, coloring our skin different shades of purple and orange.

I look back at him and he picks me up, slowly walking us over to the truck like two years ago. He probably doesn't remember. He probably isn't feeling what I'm feeling. He probably doesn't care.

He sets me down, picking up our towels we left on the ground, mime purple and his dark green.

I back up on the rusty old truck, leaning my head against the glass and covering my entire body with the towel he throws at me.

He then throws me my dress and puts my shoes on the ground by the edge of the truck. He slowly dries off his torso and pulls a shirt over his head, and it feels like everything is going in slow motion as I watch him.

"Take a picture it'll last longer," He says and I shake my head, looking over at the ocean. "That's so cliche." I explain, blushing hard as fuck.

He slowly slides back next to me, taking me in his dry arms, his shorts drying quickly too. I shiver from the cold, but his warm body holds me, my head digging into his shirt, the sun shining down on us with a light breeze.

"Leo?" I ask, as he stares at the sky, the stars slowly coming out above us, he just hums, looking down at me and staring at me deeply. His arms tighten around me as he waist for me to continue.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I ask and he chuckles, "Will somebody for once actually give me the fuckin penny?" He asks with a fake chuckle.

"Nobody ever asks me what I'm thinking, how I'm doin', so thanks." He says leaning down and kissing my forehead, leaning his forehead against the top of my head as his fresh breath fans over me.

"Just something important," he mumbles, "What could be important, Pearl, your motorcycle, your car, which I totally understand, your-" I say sarcastically but he cuts me off. His voice deep, richer than his family with emotion...

"You."

I swallow, my jaw dropping and my eyes going wide, slowly my mouth curves up and I wrap my arms around him tightly. I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything, I just squeeze him tight.

When I think about it, closing my eyes as much as possible, snuggling against Leo while we're under large towels as blankets, probably would make me fall asleep.

and I think I did..

"Roxy?" I hear

"I love you.."

It's spoken so softly..

And when I wake up Im not there anymore, and I feel like when I was five and my dad would carry me to my room if I feel asleep on the couch or in the car. It reminds me of when everything was okay.

I look around and I'm in the beach house, the lights are off and in Leo's dark, crisp handwriting it's written on a note next to a plate:

I hope you had a good time. You fell asleep in my lap so I carried you home. When you wake up here's some food for you, and some clothes you can wear are right next to the plate, and if you'd like you can come to my room again. I kind of liked you being there.

Leo

I see the bowl of spaghetti and parmesan, and I heat it up before gobbling the whole thing down.

I feel weird though. Like when you stay up later than everybody else but you're not in your room, you're in the living room, and you have to be quiet and you're scared and there's this feeling in you.

But it's mixed with just an emptiness. An emptiness from Leo, and emptiness from my dad, an emptiness from everything in my life that always leaves me.

I stand up, wiping invisible dirt off of my lap as I slowly walk over to Leo's door, my hand on the doorknob and my forehead resting against the wood.

If I walk in... I'll seem like I need him, or like I'm weak, or he won't like me again. I'm happy when I'm with him, like that emptiness is gone, and I don't want to lose that again.

If I don't walk in I'm rude, I read his note and ate the food but I didn't go in.

But, in correct fashion, I pull a Leo.

"Fuck it.." I mumble and open the door slowly, holding the pajamas he gave me in my hand and walking in. He's a weird sleeper if you didn't already know, he's completely silent, and he sleeps shirtless with the blanket only covering his lower half. How is he not cold? I ruin it for him, I put my entire fucking body under that blanket and still am cold.

He's silent, so I take off his shirt he put me in as to not get my dress wet while I slept. I quickly change out of my bikini and into different underwear, thankful he's asleep and I put his shirt back on.

Slowly, I crawl into the side he isn't on, pulling the blanket up on both of us, ruining it for him as I try to be as quiet as possible.

But he just growls huskily and... very sexily, "Fucking wake me up, throw my blanket off the bed, throw a pillow in my face and spill water all over me, I don't fucking care. come over here." He says, grabbing me by my waist and pulling over him quickly, his head buried in my neck within seconds and his arms wrapped around my waist as my body lays on top of his.

He grabs the blanket and pulls it up to my shoulders, "I also don't care if I'm fucking warm, cuddle me you asshole." He says and I smile, slowly wrapping my arms around him.

I lift my head up and give him the kiss on the forehead he now deserves.

He holds me tighter than ever and I smile, soon falling asleep in the warmth.