Thursday, early June

The weekend passed by in a non-surprising, uneventful blur, with the memories of Friday night figments of my static imagination.

Late Saturday evening, when the appeal of sleep had worn thin, I thought about calling Noah, if only to hear a familiar and encouraging voice to lift me from the covers of my room, but I knew that it was too soon and a little too desperate.

When Poppy informed me late Wednesday evening that my phone had been ringing, whilst I took a shower, I knew that my decision to wait had been the right.

Racing out the bathroom, swaddled in towels and dripping water across the tiled kitchen floor, I checked for the missed call on my phone that I'd left unguarded on the counter and felt my chest rise when I saw I had been left a voicemail.

Noah's voice was exactly as I had remembered it; my memory had retained it perfectly.

"Hey Scarlett, I hope you're well and you enjoyed the scorching hot weekend - didn't get too burnt I hope! I wanted to call to see if you're still up for hitting the beach tomorrow - around midday. We usually take a spot just past the diner and move down to the coves later in the day. Let me know if you'll meet us there." Noah said through the tiny speakerphone, his voice timid.

There was a slight pause before he ended the message to say he really hoped I could make it and to ask if I liked turkey and mustard sandwiches, which luckily, I did.

Carrying in her empty glass of wine, Poppy skimmed past me, and gave me an inquisitive look.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked, sneaking one last sip from her glass, before dumping it in the sink. "That thing rang like three times whilst you were in the shower, was it Mom?"

Holding it close to my chest, I perched on the stool and spun round to address her. "No, just a friend."

"Well that's one persistent friend you have there, whoever he is." Poppy smirked.

"Please tell me you didn't look at the caller ID." I groaned, hating how nothing was private, not least when it came to Poppy - she sure loved a good snoop.

With a wry smile, she brushed back past me and into the living room.

"Jeez, is nothing sacred here, do you have to know everything?" I protested, although I knew it was futile trying to make Poppy understand how invasive she could be.

Sitting down and propping her feet up on the coffee table, she titled her head round and laughed. "Are you and bicycle boy a thing now?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." I declared, hoping I sounded cool and calm, so that she didn't know it had actually made me flustered.

Hoisting up the towel covering my body, and adjusting the one that held my hair up in place like a turban, I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath, my true feelings towards her.

Back in my room, I sunk down onto the bed and sent Noah a message back to accept his much anticipated invitation, the one I'd been waiting and hoping to receive.

Staring up at the ceiling, tracing the white plastered swirls with my eyes I pulled the towels tighter and kicked out my feet. Happy at the thought of having actual plans, to do something new, like normal people did.

It was exciting and good to feel as if I could get back to normal again and that it was still within reach and possible.

That's what I'd spent so long searching for and I wasn't about to let go of that feeling anytime soon.

. . .

Shoving sun lotion and an old towel into my tatty beach bag, a star spangled banner one that Poppy had bought because she liked to think of herself as patriotic, I took one last look in the mirror and feigned a smile.

It had been a while since I'd seen myself in anything over than ratty old t-shirts and pajama bottoms, so it was quite a surprise to see how much my body had changed under all the layers. The only bikini I owned looked tight around my bust, I didn't like the way it dug into my skin, revealing months of binge eating, and how I'd neglected exercise for sleep.

I was already running late, so I gave Poppy a quick wave goodbye and headed out into the bright midday sun.

The walk down towards the beach was uncomfortable with my breakfast not quite settling along side the butterflies that danced around in my stomach but I pushed on regardless.

As I approached the diner and the boardwalk I could see in the distance the silhouettes of small children and a dog with a tall figure stood beside them shaking out a towel. From the light hair, I knew it was Noah and the breakfast and butterflies collided once more.

The stupid sandals I'd chosen to wear collected sand as I made my way over to them, kicking up grains into my face and hair, reminding me why I'd never really been a fan of the beach.

With their backs still facing away, I saw another figure appear beside Noah. It was a girl, with impossibly long blonde, wavy hair that touched the base of her spine, fanned out over her narrow and lithe body.

She matched Noah in height, and as the gap between us grew smaller, I saw her reach out and playfully shake his shoulders. The hunched over silhouettes, armed with buckets and spades I had expected, along with the very adorable looking canine but not the girl. I didn't even need to get closer to see that she easily towered over me and looked mature for her years. It was unnerving and did nothing to help with my earlier insecurities.

Before I could pull down the vest top to cover my stomach that I'd worn over my beach attire, she spun round and caught my gaze. Noah's then followed.

"Scarlett!" he called out, warm as ever.

Even though I knew it was silly, because we were at the beach after all, I still couldn't help but feel surprised to see him so... exposed, his bare torso more defined than I had imagined. A light trail of hair creeping from the waistband of his shorts to his belly button.

Just seeing him like that, was enough to let the heat flare up to my cheeks, and steam up the lenses on my shades.

"Over here." he beckoned again, pushing back his wild, windswept locks.

Sinking in the sand with each step, I finally reached them and put down my bag.

"Hey."

"So glad you've come, I was worried you might not find us but here you are." Noah smiled, moving in to give me a brief hug, his arms warm from the sun and rough from the sand.

The imposing, long haired girl stood behind him and pulled down her sunglasses to get a better look. She didn't seem impressed by what she saw, because she turned her back once more and settled down onto a laid out blanket.

Gesturing for me to join him, I took off my sandals and sat down, conscious of keeping some distance between us.

The two small silhouettes I'd seen from a far looked up at me and dropped their tools.

"Who are you?" the young girl asked, a mop of bright, blonde hair covering her face. Next to her the little boy stared, wide-eyed and still crouching with a spade full of sand.

Noah sat forward and brushed the sand off his hands.

"Lily, this is Scarlett - my friend, and Scarlett this is Lily, Jacob and Gracie." he said, nodding as he introduced each of them. "And that over there is Max, who's taking a nap after his run along the beach earlier."

"Hello." I offered back, smiling at each of them, even the dog that had no interest to me being there. "Nice to meet you all."

"You didn't tell me she was coming." blonde Gracie whispered, leaning into Noah and cupping her mouth, even though I knew she'd meant for me to hear.

I pretended to dig around in my bag, pulling out my towel and water bottle, all the while debating if it was too soon to reveal my beachwear, the blistering heat already warming me up to boiling point.

Tossing a heap of sand into a round plastic bucket, Lily continued to stare up.

"Do you live here too?" she inquired, patting down the bucket and flipping it down, rogue lumps of sand hitting the blanket and me.

"I do, yes - just up the street actually." again I smiled back sweetly, all the while Noah assisted Jacob with his own sand castle.

"I like your hair." she giggled. "My Mom said if I eat my crusts I'll have curly hair too but I checked on Google and it say's that's not true."

Noah and myself both laughed, as she casually shrugged her shoulders and continued digging. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd actually curled my hair the night before.

"Can you imagine what we'd be like today if we'd had that kind of information at our disposal." he joked, rolling his eyes, slight dimples appearing in his cheeks. "I'd never have bothered with carrots, that's for sure."

I agreed, watching Lily play, thinking about how different it was now for kids like her, because when I was ten we didn't even own a computer to Google.

"How old are you?" Lily continued, firing off questions at me, much to Noah's amusement.

With my elbows caught up in my top, the one I had been trying to inconspicuously remove without drawing attention, I mumbled nineteen.

Frowning, she stood up and looked over at Gracie who had now stretched out her long legs, and was immersed in a copy of Cosmo.

"Gracie is only seventeen but she is already taller than you!" Lily giggled behind her hand.

"Hey come on Lily, you're not so tall yourself." Noah countered. "Remember it's not how big you are, it's what you know in here that's important." he said tapping his head.

"It's okay, sometimes I wish I could be taller - like Gracie." I laughed.

"It's Grace, not Gracie." a voice snarled back from behind Noah. I lent forwards and saw her blue eyes fiercely locked on mine.

Ignoring her comment, which no doubt was heavily implied towards me, Noah sat up and asked Jack if he was okay, because he was shifting about on the blanket, crossing his legs tight.

"Hey Gracie, do you think you could take Jacob to the diner so he can use the bathroom." he asked gently. "Would that be okay?"

Slamming down her magazine, and shooting me another filthy look, as if I had been the one to ask her, she got up, shaking off sand in my direction and grabbed Jacob's hand.

"Come on then." she sighed, tossing back her golden hair. "Lily, you can come too because I've seen you drink like three juice boxes since we got here and I ain't going back with you later."

"Thanks Grace, I'll save lunch for when you come back." Noah smiled, covering the cool box beside him from the sun, with the blanket edge.

Maybe she had intended for me to see it or maybe she hadn't but as she walked away hand in hand with Lily and Jacob, she looked back and flashed Noah a flirty smile, biting her lip as she did it.

I really didn't like the way it made my insides feel twisted up in knots. Because I knew what a look like that meant, seeing as I'd given that look to boys I used to crush on many, many times before.

"You want to take a quick walk down to the water?" Noah said as they disappeared out of view.

"Shouldn't we wait for them." I questioned. "What about our stuff?"

He laughed. "It's fine, they'll be gone for a while - they only have one working restroom in the diner and Lily really has worked her way through a lot of juice."

"Okay."

Patting the still sleeping dog by his feet, Noah flashed me a radiant smile. "Max can act as our guard, he may seem useless right now but he won't let anyone near if were not here."

As much as I believed him, I still put my phone in my back pocket and covered the bag with a towel, just in case. Noah raised his eyebrows at me before offering out his hand to help me to my feet.

Slowly walking down to the waters edge, the soft wet sand beneath my feet and in my toes; he picked up a stone and attempted to skim it across the low waves.

"So how've you been?" Noah asked, picking up another.

"Good thanks." I replied, because I didn't think he'd appreciate hearing about how I'd spent most of the time in bed or swiping Poppy's wine since we'd last seen each other. "You?"

"Busy, I would have called you sooner but The Allen's went away for the weekend, so I've been helping out more than usual."

"Don't worry about it."

Letting the waves wash over me, Noah playfully flicked water in my direction, cold droplets landing on my midriff.

"Hey!" I squealed, almost losing my footing as I sunk into the sand.

"You know, it's good that you came down. It's nice to have someone my own age to talk to." he confessed, kicking away at the water as we continued to walk further.

"I'm only a couple of years older than Grace." I reminded him, even though I was silently smug that he thought of me differently to her.

"I know but she's in that awkward stage of hating everything and everyone, still a lot of growing up to do."

"She doesn't seem to hate you." I mentioned, finding a smooth stone to throw into the water, hoping I could remember how skim it.

"Maybe but it's still nice to have a friend outside of the family." Noah admitted, sending my delight at being called his friend soaring.

In an attempt to conceal my elation, I took the stone and threw it sideways hoping it would skim the water and not sink.

Taking another from the shoreline, Noah grasped my small hand in his and placed it between my fingertips. "Like this." he instructed, rocking our locked hands back and forth, before releasing it.

It hopped across the blue waters three times before dropping. Noah still holding onto my hand leaned in so close that our collect warmth could be felt throughout my entire body and he delicately touched my neck.

I hadn't anticipated the shiver I felt as he brushed his fingers down my neck to my collarbone but I knew that he would notice the obvious blush on my cheeks.

Dropping his hand down he nerously laughed. "You had a beach bug on you."

Stuttering I quickly inspected the length of my shoulders but didn't see anything.

"Oh, thanks." I said grimacing slightly.

Still conscious that I may be playing host to more creepy crawlies, I pulled back my hair and checked for others.

"That was quick." Noah sighed, facing the beach, his hand shielding his eyes.

Following his gaze, I spotted Grace and the kids stamping across the sand back to our spot. From the way she was marching ahead of them I knew that she was eager to get back so that Noah and I couldn't be alone.

"At least you can say you've actually been in the water now, even if just for a bit." he muttered before stepping away from me and waving, to catch their attention to where we were.

Back up on the hot sand, Grace had done her best to angle her body and gaze away from me but closer Noah on the blanket, her legs crossed in such a away that they grazed his as he laid out Tupperware boxes and plastic cups.

Lily had resumed her insistent questioning for me, the strange new girl sat with them and each time I'd hear Grace snort as I answered. It was difficult to keep up a positive and sunny attitude, but somehow I carried on.

"Do you have a job?" Lily questioned.

"Not yet." I answered, picking at the food Noah had bought along for the day.

"Do you have a dog?"

"No, but I wish I did,"

"Can you braid hair?"

"I think so."

Noah sat quiet throughout, but smiled encouragingly when Lily suggested I prove to her that I could.

As I sat with her in front, desperately hoping I could remember how to braid, she asked me another question but one that I wasn't quite prepared for.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Lily giggled, knowing she'd asked a naughty question.

Struggling to tie the band around the end of my half-decent braid, Noah told her she wasn't to ask questions like that.

"Are you her boyfriend then?" she shot back, catching us both off guard and causing Noah to choke on his drink.

Throwing a potato chip at her, Grace rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Don't be stupid, she's not his girlfriend."

Her intense dislike towards me was evident in the way she then turned to Noah and stroked his arm. "You've got sand like all over you." she pointed out, putting on a high-pitched, innocent voice, like butter wouldn't melt.

Flinching away and clapping his hands together, which woke Max up, Noah asked if we all wanted to go check out the coves.

Jacob shook his head up and down in excitement but Lily said a firm No and remained puzzled as to why I hadn't yet answered her question.

"So you've never had a boyfriend?"

Looking at Noah for help, or for a way to deflect the question, he just stared down at the plate of food in front of him and kept silent.

"I... I don't have a boyfriend right now but I did before, I um, came to live here." I couldn't have sounded more bumbling if I tried, stuttering out the words.

Noah remained preoccupied with his food, but I could have sworn I saw a grin appear on his lips as I said I didn't.

Admiring her new hairstyle, Lily rested on her knees and looked up at me sweetly, her face as an angelic as a cherubs. "Don't you worry my Scarlett, I'll find you a boyfriend, one who is the most handsome and nice and really rich."

I caught Noah quietly laughing to himself, as Grace screwed up her face in disgust, lying back down, her phone glued in her palm. Jacob just continued to stuff turkey sandwiches in his mouth, as Max waited anxiously beside him to seize the crumbs that dropped.

When Lily had finally grown tired of interrogating me and deciding that cartwheeling across the sand was more worthy of her time, Noah laid down on his front and gently poked my arm.

"Sorry about that." he said under his breath. "She can be a bit full on sometimes, but at least it means she likes you." Noah's dark eyes were on mine now and it felt oddly intimate even if we were surrounded.

"S'okay, she's ten, sure I was like that when I was her age." I lied, not wanting to tell him I'd actually found it slightly alarming how consumed she had been about the whole 'boyfriend' thing.

"Noah." Grace broke in. "Mom's said we're having dinner earlier today so you, me, Lily and Jacob need to be back before five."

Rolling over onto his back, Noah gave her the thumbs up and began rummaging in his bag, eventually pulling out a tangled mess of headphone wire. Checking on Lily and Jack who were now content and happily engrossed drawing pictures in the sand, he passed me an earphone.

"Time to enjoy the afternoon and sun while we still can." he softly breathed, putting the spare one into his right ear, fiddling with a small cassette player.

"Cassette?" I said observing the clunky, square thing in his hand. I hadn't used one of those for years I thought. I wasn't even sure they existed anymore.

"I always bring it with me to the beach, it's a lot more robust than my phone when it comes to the lethal mix of sand and water." he told me, pressing down hard on the buttons.

"Now, this is the perfect accompaniment to a summer day." Noah closed his eyes and rested his arms behind his head. Beside him, a narrow gap between us, I listened to the crackle through the earphone, until a soft melody began to play.

Gently tapping my toes against the sand, letting the music wash over me like the waves earlier and swaying my shoulders to the smooth beat, Noah turned his head and asked me a question.

"Do you want to join us for dinner?"

I didn't even have to answer with words, because the wide, surprised smile on my face had yes written all over it.

. . .