The music was so intense that I felt it bounding off from my skin. The base caused the floors to thunder and it prompted the people around to dance even wilder. Everyone was dancing as if they'd forgotten how to stand still.

The glass ceiling allowed us to see those brilliant gems of the night, looking like engagement rings cushioned in a black velvet box. It was like a rich sheath over our heads. The furniture around us was luxurious and I contained a smile at the sight of someone throwing up into what was most likely an expensive vase.

Nolan's parents were going to shit bricks if they found out their son was throwing a raging party at their beach house. But the celebration was needed. After tonight's win against Martelle, everyone needed an excuse to get crazy. Caleb was trying to get people to join in a conga line. I spotted Christian earlier in one of the rooms, laying on the bed and reading a copy of a book titled, The Man In The Library.

The music influenced me as if I was a puppet on strings and I blundered right into Liam's chest. He caught me easily and allowed the music to sway us both. "Hey, you," I uttered before nipping his chin. "Wanna dance?"

Liam encircled his arms around me and hunched forward so I could hear him better. "You can't even see the dancefloor." I whirled around in his arms. He was right. It was packed wall to wall with people dancing and you couldn't even see the makeshift dancefloor.

At my dumbstruck expression, Liam cupped my chin so that he could kiss me. It was a soft kiss, refreshing in the way that words would never be. With a final peck to my chin, he hauled me in the direction of the kitchen.

"Wait," I mumbled as we crossed the door leading into the pantry. Liam didn't hear me so I towed his hand and he halted, smirking as I tipped my head in the direction of the door. "Get your mind out of the gutter," I snorted. "Whatever you're thinking I'm suggesting - I'm not."

He winked. "Maybe later."

Rolling my eyes, I pressed a finger to his lips and motioned for him to look to the pantry door again. "Listen." When he opened his mouth to no doubt say something dirty, I hissed, "listen."

His brows furrowed when he finally noticed. Lips tugging up, I knew he was about to start laughing so I covered his mouth, grimacing when he licked it. "Looks like someone had the pantry idea before you," he ridiculed and I stomped on his foot.

There were admittedly some very obscene noises emanating from the pantry. Suddenly, something similar to that of a bag falling sounded from behind the door. A male voice blasphemed and I gasped. "Is that Jeremy?"

A female voice called Jeremy an idiot and Liam grinned before whispering, "and Astrid." Even though his foot was broken, Jeremy refused to miss out on a party and brought his crutches along with him. Clearly, he wasn't letting his foot get in the way of things. Liam dragged me away to leave them in peace. We stood at the huge glass doors which overlooked the beach. "I knew the only tension between those two was sexual tension. I saw this coming."

He seemed smug about it so I smirked. "Well, I knew that Jeremy liked Astrid." Liam raised a brow. "He practically yelled it to me but I promised I wouldn't say anything." He went to bicker but I cut him off, "what? Is the sound of me winning once again too loud?"

"You're so annoying," he said with a smile and flicked my forehead before facing the beach again. Even under the midnight sky, the sand still managed to glow a golden hue. It was just so tempting. My toes tensed in my boots, wanting to feel the grains between them. "You wanna go for a swim?"

Before I even knew what I was doing, before I could even comprehend that I didn't know how to swim, I pushed through the doors and made my descent down the tiny bridge. I kicked off my boots before towing off my jeans. My leg got stuck and I plunged over into the sand.

Liam burst into laughter, easily slipping his t-shirt from his body and darted towards the water in an unspoken race. I managed to shove off my jeans and trailed him, yanking off my shirt along the way. The sand shifted under the weight of my feet and I pushed harder, determined to beat Liam there.

I screeched as the freezing water lapped at my calves, venturing higher the further I drifted. Liam stood with the water at his waist, grinning at me and barely recoiling at the coldness. "No fair! I fell over and you ignored me! That's cheating!" I poked fun at him whilst trying further into the water.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is the sound of me winning too loud?" he inquired and shovelled me up in his arms. I squirmed at the icy breeze embracing my damp skin. Laughter left me as Liam spun around before diving deeper.

I barely had enough time to take in a deep breath before I was inundated by the briny water. I stood up and spluttered water from my mouth, a revolted expression on my face and Liam's amused deep chuckles drifting through my ears. "I almost drowned!

Liam was practically howling by now. "Just swim!"

"I don't know how, I told you," I whined, splattering the water around me as I watched him float on his back. Luckily, I was still standing and the water only reached my shoulders. "I don't swim - I drown."

"You're just a scaredy-cat," Liam tantalised and endeavoured to help me remove my arms from my hair when it got stuck. Long hair was an effort. Wet long hair was an absolute horror.

"I'm not scared. I just don't want to die." I squeaked when Liam hoisted me out of the water. Just as I was about to yell at him, he hurled me into the air. My body made little to no splashes as it came into contact with the water. Liam watched me go underwater before my head popped up, wheezing for air. I cleaved the water mercilessly, forcing myself to stay afloat.

Just like in Life of Pi, the will to survive kicked in and my body allowed itself to relax and swim. It's astounding what the body would do in order to preserve itself.

Liam must've been anticipating me to yell at him but I kept quiet before a smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Before I knew it, I was donning a full-blown grin as I felt the water lap against me. Every grain of me buzzed with adrenaline. The gurgling and the gushing of the tides urged me to push towards Liam.

I let out a delightful laugh as I shifted my hair from my face and paddled back to where Liam floated. He gawked at me as I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned against him. "Did you see that? I just swam to you," I grinned up at him.

"I can't believe you actually did it," he grunted with a smile, tucking my wet hair behind my ear.

I frowned at him. "Wait, you're telling me that you threw me deeper into the water, knowing that I couldn't swim and you didn't expect me to make it back to you?"

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Basically, yeah. I was hoping I'd have to drag you out and give you mouth-to-mouth." For a second, I thought he was serious but he was carrying a smile. "You gonna thank me yet for teaching you how to swim?" He stared at me but I merely shrugged and continued splashing around. "I can see your nipples through your bra."

"Shut up, you pervert," I laughed and crossed my arms. "What are you doing?" I challenged with wide eyes when Liam began moving closer to me. "Liam? Liam, stop."

I screamed as he lurched for me and hauled both of us underwater. Grappling in his hold, I launched away from him and stroked a while away from him. I resurfaced with a gasp and looked around me. "Liam?" I called out. Suddenly I was elevated into the air and I looked down to see that Liam was shouldering me on his neck. "You scared me, idiot!" I scolded. "How did you even get to me so fast?"

Liam chuckled. "I think it's funny that you think you swim fast. You literally just learnt how to do it."

"Asshole," I grinned down at him, hair falling around him and causing him to shake his head as I laughed at his attempts to get it out of his face. He smirked up at me all of a sudden and I frowned. "What?"

He leaned to the back and threw me off from his neck, my back landing back in the water with a loud splash. Resurfacing again, I couldn't help but laugh at how I sailed through the air. "Stop, I can't breathe," I giggled into my wet hand.

"Is that a seal?" Liam queried indifferently and pointed behind me, my laughter ceasing immediately.

"Where?" I screamed and paddled at my most accelerated pace towards him, binding my legs around his bare waist and practically squeezing his shoulders. "Swim!"

I was terrified of seals. They looked weird, they moved weirdly - everything about them was just weird. Fullstop. Due to my paranoia, I could've sworn that the seal nudged at my calves and I squawked, holding tighter onto Liam. Honestly, I was about to start sobbing.

"Liam, swim!" I yelled, locking my legs tighter. "It's going to eat me!"

Liam laughed wholeheartedly into my neck as I clutched his shoulders and waist like there was no tomorrow. His laughter seemed to have no end and I was entirely perplexed as to why he was laughing. The seal was going to fucking devour me. There was nothing humorous about it.

I pulled back to look down at his grinning face. "What? We have to get out of here!"

He smiled and it sent a warm sensation through my body. "You're scared of seals?"

I simpered sheepishly and it was my turn this time to hide my face in his neck as I felt my cheeks become roseate. "Yes. They're like - the cats of the ocean. Now, let's go before it smells my fear."

"There's no seal." Liam shook his head at me in amusement just as I pulled away from his neck. He stared up at me with a small smile, my wet strands of hair draping around the both of us. His brown eyes were bright and I found myself pulling him closer by his neck. I leaned down and closed my eyes, moist lips brushing against his own.

He smirked into the kiss and pulled me tighter against him. He bit my bottom lip, eliciting a gasp from me and the perfect opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth. "We're in public," I mumbled against his mouth, making no move to stop.

"There's no one out here," he rejoined as he trailed hasty kisses down my cold neck, sucking on the exact bruise he'd left on my skin earlier.

I was about to pull his mouth back to me when I realised something. "Makes it easier for a seal to attack us." I was probably just being paranoid - but still. Seals were evil.

"You're an idiot," Liam pulled away from me, pressing a final kiss to my swollen and rosy lips. "Have I told you how proud I am of you?"

He pulled me into his chest and stroked my hair as I rolled my eyes at him jokingly. "Yes, but feel free to remind me again." The water swayed us yet I didn't let go of Liam. I leaned my head back and stared up at the stars. It looked like glitter dispersed across the sky and I wanted so badly to scoop it up and throw it in Liam's face - just to annoy him. I looked back to see him gazing at me. "What?"

"I never thought that one day I'd feel like this," he murmured, a thoughtful expression on his face. When I made to let go and swim, he held me tighter. "It almost feels surreal. You, the win against Martelle, the team - everything. If you'd told me last year that I'd be here - I'd have laughed at you."

My heart squeezed as I felt his happiness soak into my bones. He had real friends now, a family, something he didn't think himself worthy of. Both Sabrina and he had found that with us. "It's called happiness, Liam," I whispered, tugging at his wet hair so he could look me in the eye. His face took on a sombre look and I shushed him when he opened his mouth. "If you tell me you don't deserve this - I'll drown you."

In the gloom of the night, his embrace felt like a touch of heaven. His arms brought a calmness I'd never known before and if I could, I'd prolong this moment so that he could hold me longer. He was still brooding and I shook my head.

I tilted his head and said, "look at the stars." He looked at it. And that was the problem, he just looked at it. He didn't see it. "Even surrounded by all of the darkness, those stars are a promise. They promise to bring the dawn, bring daylight. Nothing ever stays submerged in darkness for long."

There was a tiny sweep to his lips. On anyone else, it would've been a grimace, but on Liam, it was a hint that he was amused. "You're quite poetic, aren't you?"

My eyes rolled and I held myself back from informing him that I learnt it from Christian. I resumed, tilting his head back to the sky that blanketed us. "I thought that I'd always be stereotyped, that nothing at school would ever change, that I'd never get to play a match with my brothers. That was my moment of darkness - but then I met you, my promise of dawn."

Liam was soundless and I could see the stars reflecting in his eyes. "You didn't meet me. You fell in front of me and flashed me your undies. Then you said you felt like a sim. Do you still feel like that?"

"No," I giggled, tugging at his earlobe. "And that's because of you. We all have our moments of darkness."

"And you're my promise of dawn?" He taunted. His mouth jerked, looking as if he was battling a smile.

"Don't say it like that," I admonished lightly, quivering when a tiny wave hit my back. At his questioning glance, I told him, "like you're still waiting for it to happen, waiting for dawn to hit. It already did, idiot." I pecked his nose. "Knock knock."

Liam smirked. "Who's there?"

"Happiness. And it loves you very much," I smiled. "Now let me in, asshole." His lips caressed mine and I gasped softly as they moved collectively the way ballerinas would move to a tune. My heart trembled and I pulled him closer. His lips were heated, nothing like the icy water around us.

When he pulled back, his smile was as warm as the coffee that his eyes resembled. "I love you too," he murmured, hand cupping the nape of my neck. He looked back to the stars. "If they're a promise, what are they promising right now?"

The moonlight flowed down upon us and I let my smile tug into a wide grin. "A promise that an even happier future awaits us."

Liam winked and raised his free hand. "Pinky promise?"

I shook my head in amusement and caught my finger around his. "Pinky promise." My heart squeezed when his hands framed my face and he kissed me again. His lips continued to press against mine, setting my veins alight. They imprinted on mine they way a footstep would on the sand.

This moment would forever be embedded in my heart like a happy memory. I'd never have to dig deep inside to find it, it would flourish just as a flower does - requiring only ever a call from the sun.