01.

December – The Start of Summer

"Shellside Bay is so much less fun when it's cold," Everett muttered from beside me. "Isn't it supposed to be summer?"

I laughed, leaning closer over the counter of the Shack. "That doesn't mean it's not going to rain now and then."

The Shack was exactly what it sounded like. It was a small shack on the edge of the beach, and I'd been working there since I was fourteen, every summer for extra cash. This would be my final summer working at the Shack. I'd miss it. I doubted I'd find anything like the Shack while I was living in the city.

"We should move somewhere that never rains," Everett continued, pouting.

"I thought you loved Shellside Bay."

"That was before I discovered it rains here."

Raining was an overstatement. Really, it was sprinkling so lightly that not even the sand changed colour. Still, the sky had clouded over, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Even Everett's tanned skin seemed duller in this light.

He sighed, his hand covering mine and flipping it to trace his fingers over my palm.

"Why do you have to work when it's raining? All your customers cancelled and, I mean, haven't you saved up enough for college? River didn't change his mind about the rent, did he?"

"University," I corrected.

He narrowed his eyes at me. With a teasing grin, I continued.

"River didn't change his mind. I'm moving into his place in February," I said. "Don't test him though. Ever since we graduated in September, he's been so moody. It's like his university offer was a curse. He turned so sour."

"Maybe he doesn't want to live with you," Everett teased.

I rolled my eyes, grinning. "More like he doesn't want to leave Shellside." Leave a special someone here in Shellside. "Anyway, the money's good. Maybe I can visit you in New York next time?"

Everett's smile seemed to drop, and his eyes fell to our hands. The clouds seemed to turn darker behind him. "Maybe."

I frowned. His eyes stayed on our hands, his fingers light on my skin. It was as if he was avoiding my eyes—avoiding the idea of me visiting him in New York. Suddenly, my skin felt on fire.

Swallowing, I pulled my hand away, forcing his eyes to flash up to mine. I smiled.

"Or we could meet half-way?"

"Half-way?" he echoed. A smile returned to his lips. "What's half-way between New York and Sydney?"

"I don't know. Las Vegas?"

His lips twitched. "I think that's a little more than half-way."

"Oh yeah, Mr Geography? What's a better alternative then?"

He hummed. "I don't know. Hawaii?"

My smile grew. "Hawaii it is."

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Now

"Hurry up Isla, put your back into it."

I rolled my eyes, lifting the final box out of the elevator and carrying it over the door threshold into River's apartment.

River wasn't a local from Shellside Bay. He was Sydney city, born and raised. Not to mention the fact that he was rich, no matter how much he denied it. It wasn't until he visited Shellside bay back when we were kids that we met.

And now here I was, years later, moving in with him.

"You know, you could help," I said, cutting him a glare. "Just an idea."

"Isn't that what your boyfriend's for?" River shot back.

He didn't even glance at me, his eyes still glued to his phone as he leaned over the kitchen counter. He ran a hand over his head, as if expecting to find it buzzed short but longer tresses meeting his fingers instead. He grimaced, dropping his arm back to his side.

"You're right," I said, dropping the box and glancing over my shoulder. "Ev?"

"Yep!" he yelled back. A second later, his head popped around the door to my bedroom, his dark hair falling over his brow. He'd spent so long in New York—the golden streaks had faded along with his usual deep tan. He strode over to me, tossing an easy arm around my shoulders. "I made your bed for you."

"That's my man," I joked, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips.

River gagged. "Keep that up, Isla, and I'm charging you rent."

I tossed him a look, leaning up to kiss Everett more deeply, my hand drifting up to take his jaw beneath my fingertips. Everett sighed against my lips, his arm tightening around me.

River groaned, walking out of the kitchen to flop down on the couch. He pressed his face into the cushions, his voice muffled as he shouted, "I hate you Isla."

"You love me," I replied simply, ducking out of Everett's grip to grab my box and lug it towards the kitchen. No matter how much he threatened it, I knew he wouldn't do it.

Really, it was a surprise that he ever managed to live here alone. I knew River was rich, but I didn't know he was rich rich. Most of the time that I teased him, it was purely that—jokes and banter. Except now, it was beginning to hit me just how right I'd been all along.

For an apartment in the heart of Sydney, it was huge. The living room itself was bigger than my house back in Shellside Bay, with high ceilings and windows that spanned the entire wall, revealing the Sydney skyline. A fireplace flickered in the marble wall and on the other end of the room, a balcony extended off one of the windows, a hot tub situated in the far corner.

It felt like I was living in a hotel. I mean, a concierge welcomed me when I entered the building. There was a doorman and everything. It was the definition of luxury.

And worse, it was practically empty.

The white walls had been left bare. The fridge was empty. The furniture looked as if it had never been used. It seemed more like a display suite than a home.

No wonder River ran away so often, escaping to the warm sands and smiles of Shellside Bay.

Even today, I'd expected his parents to at least suss out the girl that was moving in with their son. I'd done my hair and makeup, hoping to make a good first impression, but they weren't here. I was too scared to ask River about it, so I'd let it go. There'd always be next time.

I settled the box on the counter, beginning to unload the collector mugs I'd brought from home.

"River, where do you keep your mugs?" I called out, gripping a Spider-Man shaped cup in my fingers.

He waved at me, still staring at his phone. "I don't know. Just put it anywhere."

I glowered, pulling every cabinet open to find mugs scattered all over the place, stacked on top of plates, left in the pantry, sitting beside bowls. This was going to be a mission.

As I reached up to grab a mug from the cabinet that I'd just decided would be the plate cabinet, Everett's arms snaked around my waist, his chin settling onto my shoulder. He tugged at the hem of my jumper—his jumper—pulling it lower to cover my bare waist.

"I like how this looks on you." I could hear the smile in his voice. I leaned back into his chest.

"Don't get too attached," I teased. "I'm expecting a replacement jumper by the end of the weekend."

End of the weekend. Because that was how long I'd have left with him. Two days, and then he'd be flying back halfway across the world, back to New York where we'd be reduced to 3AM phone calls and scattered good morning texts.

As if sensing my sudden drop in mood, he squeezed me tighter, his fingers slipping under my jumper to lie flat against my waist.

"I'll miss you," he said. "But I'll be back before you know it. And then, Hawaii. Besides, you'll have River to keep you company."

"Right." I twisted from his grip, throwing a glance over my shoulder to find River lying flat on the couch, his face buried between cushions. "He seems like a bundle of joy right now, doesn't he?"

"I can hear you, you know," he called from the couch.

Everett ignored him, instead reaching over my head to grab the mug I'd been aiming for.

"You sure have a lot of mugs for one person," Everett remarked, moving back to place it onto the counter. I joined him, grabbing a few mugs that had been left in the pantry of all places, and moving them to the counter with the rest of the mugs.

"We might have to cut down." I hummed, frowning at my collection, sitting in a box. "I mean, where am I going to fit all my cat-shaped mugs?"

"Or your New York mugs," Everett added.

I grimaced, thinking of the ugly New York mugs he'd bought me to add to the collection. "Or my New York mugs."

"Hey!" he said, snapping his head to me. "They're cute."

"They're plain white with I heart NYC on them," I said pointedly.

He grinned. "Classics."

"Fine. They can go in the back."

Everett glowered but I ignored him, beginning to pull the 'classic' New York mugs out of the box, one for each time he'd visited me over the year—our one year of long-distance dating.

He'd seemed to find every possible chance to visit, whether it was to celebrate his graduation, to celebrate my graduation, or to celebrate the most miniscule holidays I'd ever heard of. A part of me felt guilty, knowing how much money he'd spent just to hold me in his arms for a week before flying twenty hours back to New York.

But when he held me—really held me—I knew he needed it more than me.

Everett didn't talk about New York much. He barely mentioned his new stepmother, ever since his father remarried last year, and he didn't live with her long before he was off to college. If he ever brought New York up, it would be about his classes, his exams, his subway rides—anything other than his family.

Even through a screen, I could see how Everett ached to be far from home. It reminded me of when I'd first met him, fresh off a plane from New York and just arrived in Shellside Bay. Back then, his face seemed to be pulled into a permanent frown.

"At least they're better than those," Everett added, nodding towards the plain white mugs sitting scattered throughout the cabinet.

I shifted to move River's plain mugs over when he craned his neck to look at me and yelled, "Oh, you can throw those out."

I blinked. "These? But there are so many."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I'm not the one who bought them."

I turned one of the plain mugs over in my hands. It was still pristine, and I wondered if it had ever even been used. I placed it back onto the counter, gingerly.

"I don't want to throw out anything your parents bought," I said. "I mean, I'm staying here for free. Do they even know?"

"They probably don't even remember this apartment exists," River murmured.

In one move, he stood from his seat, striding towards the kitchen counter. He picked up the bin, making his way across the kitchen and tossing each of his mugs away. When he was finished, he set it back down and gestured vaguely towards the now empty cabinet.

"See?" he said bluntly. "Plenty of space for your mugs now."

He paused, picking up one of my cat-shaped mugs from the box and frowning at the bulging ceramic eyes. "Even if they're extremely weird. I don't understand why you had to bring your personal mug collection all the way here."

"Obviously I had to bring them. What, did you expect me to drink hot chocolate out of a plain white mug?" I asked, plucking my mug out of his hands, and smiling. "Thanks, River."

"And seeing as you're already here now," Everett added, quickly cornering River before he could leave.

He rolled his eyes with great exaggeration but began unpacking the mugs anyway. Within minutes, the kitchen was mostly stocked, the empty boxes beginning to outnumber the filled ones. I sighed, dusting my shorts off, and quickly scanning the last few boxes to unpack.

"Just stuff for my room now," I said, looking deliberately at Everett.

He blinked, then stepped closer, lifting a brow. "Should we... go unpack those then?"

I smiled coyly at him. "Great idea Everett."

"To your room then?"

"To my room."

River gagged.

Ignoring him, I picked up a box and lead the way. Everett, grabbing the final two boxes, followed suit and we closed the door behind us with a click. We placed the boxes onto the floor beside my bed—already made, because this was originally a guest room—and Everett stretched, scanning the room.

"What do you think?" I asked, hopping to sit on the bed. The mattress bounced beneath me.

"I don't know," he said, humming. "I miss your hot pink sheets."

My face warmed and I rolled my eyes, not daring to tell him that my old pink sheets were packed away somewhere in one of the boxes. Everett stepped back, nodding towards the ensuite.

"I already took out all your toiletries," he said.

I grinned, holding my hands out for him and he chuckled before stepping towards and hugging me. I giggled as he put all his weight on me, pushing me back onto the mattress and dramatically smooching my neck.

"Did I ever mention how much I love you?" I teased.

He hummed against the skin of my neck, only making me giggle more. "Once or twice. You could remind me again..."

"Oh?" I reached up, grabbing his chin and dragging his face up to mine. I grinned at him and his eyes fell to my lips, turning dark and half-lidded. "How would you like me to remind you?"

"I can think of a few ways," he muttered, his voice quickly cutting off as he pressed his lips against mine. He kissed me slow first, and I dragged my fingers up, up, up across his jaw, his cheek, his burning skin on mine, until my fingers found his hair.

And then he was kissing me hard and fast. He was pushing me into the mattress, and I was hooking a leg around his hip. Blood rushed in my ears.

My hands trailed down from his hair and found the hem of his t-shirt. I pulled at it, my knuckles grazing his chest, and he groaned against my lips. His mouth opened and I slipped my tongue in, and everything was buzzing and on fire.

And then there was a bang at the door.

We both jumped. Everett immediately pulled away; his eyes wide as we spun to face the door.

"Keep it down!" River's voice shouted.

I rolled my eyes, falling back against the mattress, my heart pounding as I lay there. I started to laugh, and Everett joined in.

"God," Everett muttered, stepping back, and slamming back on the door, as if River were still there. "I wasn't even that loud, was I?"

"You were so loud," I said, although I hadn't actually been able to hear him over the sound of my heart.

I lifted myself onto my elbows to see him fixing his shirt. His hair was messy, and his lips were shining and red. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and sent me a crooked smile.

"I guess that's a sign that we should actually unpack?" he asked.

I sighed dramatically. "Now? I'd much rather be doing other... more fun activities."

"My flight's not until tomorrow," Everett said pointedly. "We'll have all night for other fun activities."

"I don't know how fun they'll be with River next door," I whined. Even if we were quiet, the walls here were paper thin. Nothing like the classic brick houses back in Shellside Bay. I thought that if I listened carefully enough, I would be able to hear the cars thirty floors below us.

Everett lifted a brow at me. "I was talking about watching movies and doing puzzles. What activities were you thinking of?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he was teasing me. "Exactly the same things, obviously."

Pulling myself off the bed, I knelt beside the closest box and ripped the tape off. It was only labelled 'bedroom' and when I opened it, it was full of random trinkets from phone chargers to a little snow globe my dad had gifted me one Christmas years ago.

I pulled that out first, placing it delicately on my bedside table. Everett came to sit on the floor beside me, beginning to pull everything out and set them onto the floor.

"What is this?" he asked, pulling out a misshapen piece of teal plastic. It sort of resembled a shell, except it had been chipped and the plastic had somewhat melted. I plucked it from his hands and placed it next to the snow globe.

"Austin got it for me for my twelfth birthday," I said, smiling at the object. "He worked all summer as a paper boy and grabbed it from an op shop, I think. Not much variety in Shellside Bay."

"And you had to bring it here with you, because?"

I reached over to shove him on the shoulder. "It's sentimental."

Everett didn't say anything, only continued pulling out the rest of the things in the box.

When I met Everett last summer, I had still been pining over Austin, my childhood best friend. In fact, I'd pined over him for over ten years. He was always unattainable, though. Really, that was probably why I liked him in the first place. He was safe.

But that was in the past.

Everett had barrelled into Shellside Bay and cursed his way into my life—literally. I could still remember the feeling of my fist against his jaw, his fingers around my wrists.

Everett and Austin had a few arguments that summer, but it seemed that they were getting along fine now. They didn't talk much, but at least the fighting had stopped. Sometimes, I wondered if Everett had doubts about my feelings for Austin. If he did, he never mentioned it.

"Now this is going somewhere special."

I looked up to find Everett holding a framed photo of us both back in Shellside Bay.

It had been just a few months ago, when Everett visited for his labour day weekend, which had coincided perfectly with my high school graduation. And so, we grinned up from the photo frame, me in my graduation cap and robes, my eyes watery and smile wobbly. Everett grinned beside me, his arm thrown lazily over my shoulders, a bouquet of flowers he'd bought me clutched against my chest.

And now we were both university students.

Well, he had already started college at NYU when he visited back then. In fact, now that he'd come to help me move into River's, he'd already completed his first semester. Tomorrow, he'd be flying back to America to start his spring semester, and a week later, I'd be starting my first day.

Marine science—what I'd always dreamed of.

I reached over, grabbing the photo frame out of his hands, and grinning at it before placing it on my bedside table, right next to my snow globe and misshapen shell.

"Perfect," I said.

It wasn't much, but it was beginning to look more like home. Now, I only needed buckets of sand stuck in every crevice of the floor and a surfboard tucked in the corner of the room.

The memory brought a frown to my face. I'd left my baby blue board back home. There was no use for it here in the heart of the city. Not while I'd be busy at university. Besides, no waves could compare with the waves at Shellside Bay.

Shaking my head, I turned back to the box. I pulled out the rest of my photographs, placing them all along my bedside table. Photos of my parents. Photos of me and Austin as kids, back when we were training to become lifeguards. I still hated him back then, so I had a vicious frown in the photo, but Austin was grinning wide as ever.

And of course, a photo of my Nauti Buoys. Sky, my best friend, was the closest to the camera, her arm slung around River's shoulders. They were still fresh initiates into the group, but they fit in perfectly. It was like they were always meant to be part of us. Always meant to be in Shellside Bay.

Connor and Austin were in the back, with me grinning in the middle. Back then, we were still the same height. Now, they were a whole head taller than me. I had to crane my neck to look at them these days.

Austin had offered to drive us up to Sydney today, and as much as I wanted to say yes and make the most of our last hours together, I denied the offer.

He'd just started his new job right after our HSC exams, working at his dad's construction business. I couldn't make him take time off for me. Him and Connor were the only Nauti Buoys sticking in Shellside—both working for each of their dads' construction companies. Construction was a blooming business in Shellside Bay, and I wouldn't be surprised if ten new holidays homes popped up the next time I visited.

Things were changing.

Shellside Bay would change without me there, and I knew I would change, here in Sydney.

I looked at Everett as he pulled out the few books and stationery I'd brought. His hair was dark. His skin had lost its tan, and the freckles on his nose had faded away. He changed, in New York. He changed without me even noticing.

I hoped he wouldn't change too much while he was gone.

As if sensing my thoughts, Everett looked up and met my eye. He smiled a lopsided, goofy smile and pushed the box aside, opening his arms for me.

I smiled, crawling into his arms, and letting him hold me against his chest. He squeezed me tightly, his hands rubbing over my back, and I breathed him in. He still smelled like Shellside. Like sand and sea salt. Fresh. Not like the city, which was how he usually smelled when he would first land in Australia.

But most of all, he smelled like Everett.

I wanted to memorise his scent. His touch. I had to memorise Everett how he was, keep him wrapped up in mind tightly until the next time I saw him. And the next time I'd see him—who knew how different he'd be?

This wasn't like the year we'd spent in long distance. This would be different. We were both at university now. I was no longer stagnant in Shellside Bay. Everett's visits wouldn't be to return to the beach and the sands we were used to.

"I'm going to miss you," I muttered against his chest. His grip around me tightened for a moment before he pulled away to look me in the face.

"It won't be as long as you think," he said. He reached up to stroke my face and I leaned into his palm. "With college, time will go by fast and then after my semester ends, I'll be back for vacation. It'll be like I never left."

"Uni," I corrected. "And who knows if your vacation will match up with mine?"

"We'll figure it out," he said.

"But what if it doesn't match?"

"It will," he replied. "And if it doesn't, we'll have international holidays. Easter. Christmas. July the fourth."

I pulled back to shoot him a glare and he laughed lightly.

"Point is, we'll make it work," he continued. "It will work."

I nodded. Then nodded again and leaned forward, pressing a hard kiss against his lips. When I pulled back, I met his eyes.

"I know," I said. "It'll be like no time has passed."

"None at all," he affirmed.

Neither of us sounded fully convinced.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Welcome to Summer Forever! I hope you guys like this story!!! I'll be updating at least once a week, so I'll see you again this Friday.

Let me know what your predictions are for this story! Ngl the vibe is pretty different from Isla, but it's only fitting- they're growing up and things are starting to change. I'm curious to know what you guys think :)