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CHAPTER 5
Annie
HAPPY DAYS
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<>Surprise Yourself By: Jack Garratt<>

MY FEET SINK INTO THE SAND AS I WALK ALONG THE SHORE. Looking up at the clear blue sky, I take in my entire surroundings, it was windy, but refreshing because of the nice, cool, yet refreshing, breeze running against my body and through my hair. The sounds of the waves crashing against the shore is relaxing. I hold my black flats in my right hand while I hold the side of my dark blue sundress in my other hand.
Watching the sunrise has always been something I looked forward to watching whenever I could. As I'm watching the sunrise, I have this smile that seems to now be embedded onto my face. I let out a sigh, and relax. I close my eyes and soak up the feeling of the sun against my skin, making me feel all warm and at peace.
After a while, I open my eyes and just watch as the sun is now rised at its highest peak and just admires how the sun reflects against the ocean so beautifully. My mind goes back to moments when I first visited Hawaii, with Julian, how I could've seen all this before if I didn't have to live in hospitals everyday and do treatments everyday.
Now that I'm getting better, I can finally learn what it's like to breathe again, to live again. There were so many times when I was younger where I thought I would be able to see the ocean, to feel the breeze on my face, to smell the salty water in the air, to feel the warm liquid sand underneath my feet. The longer I stay here, the more I realize that early mornings are beginning to become my new favorite thing, the way the sun reflects a beautiful orange glow over the horizon, the sound of the very few birds that travel in the morning makes everything seem peaceful.

☆

The next three days were spent with Julian, Liam, and Trina. We all agreed that it would be fun to spend time together while Liam and Trina were here. Most of our time was spent in Honolulu, Liam suggested that we'd go. I was a little hesitant at first, given I've only travelled to Maui and back to San Francisco, but I agreed and so we took a boat to Honolulu, the boat ride was exhilarating. Watching the waves crash against the boat underneath us, a gentle breeze blew past making my bangs flow into my eyes a bit.
I could sense Julian's wandering eyes loom over me as we stood a few feet away from each other, Trina in the middle of us, her left arm curled around my right, and Liam on Julian's left, occasionally making small talk with him and then taking a drink from his glass.
When the boat reached the dock, we took a taxi to the hotel called, 'Moana Surfrider, Resort & Spa'. The exterior of the resort was exquisite, the tall palm trees blew creating a gentle and smooth breeze as we got out of the taxi. The hustle and bustle of people and cars coming and going filled my ears as we made our way into the resort's lobby. Julian, Trina and I waited while Liam checked us into our rooms.
"Okay." Liam says, walking back over to us with our room keys. "Girls in one room, boys in the other." I was relieved to hear that Trina and I would be sharing a room instead of Julian and I. Even though we had shared a room before, it has been a year since we saw each other and looking at him right now brings back those painful memories. The memories of which I feel guilty about.
After walking down the seemingly long hallway, Trina and I finally reached our room. Trina unlocks the door and I am immediately in awe of the room, two queen sized beds next to each other, made up nicely, two bedside tables on either side of the beds, several portraits hung on the walls adding more color to the white walls. And to top it all of, the balcony that gave us the best view of the crystal blue ocean.
"I wonder what the boys are doing." Trina says as she places her suitcase on the bed, sitting down next to it. I hum and look out towards the balcony, also wondering what Julian and Liam could be doing in their room.

☆

The sound of the waves crashed as I watched Julian, Liam, and Trina, swim in the water. Trina's curly brown hair was tied in a ponytail, her bangs clung to her forehead from the water. Her red bikini shaped her curves perfectly. Liam's loud and obnoxiously funny laugh filled the air around them. Liam's laugh is so contagious that I have to laugh.
My laughter dies down as I watch Julian walk out of the water, moving some of his hair away from his eyes. The world around me seems to stop as I look at him. I move my sunglasses down a little to watch the water droplets glide down his lean smooth muscles of his chest and stomach, The wind was blowing vigorously, making his hair blow in different directions.
"And may I ask, why are you just laying on that beach chair and not swimming Annie Grace?" Julian asks, sitting down on the beach chair next to mine, drying his hair with his towel.
"I could ask you the same thing." I giggle. "I'm reading." I say, holding up my book.
"Instead of swimming?" Julian fake gasps.
"I can do that later, right now I want to finish this chapter." I turn back to my book. "I will never understand you Ms. Grace." Julian says as he places the towel,on the chair and goes back into the water.
The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly at the beach. Trina and I lay against the beach chairs, watching Julian and Liam toss a football back and forth. Julian's biceps tenses up everytime he catches and throws the football. Everytime Julian would toss the ball to Liam, Liam would attempt to catch it but he'd miss and he'd make this funny shriek that made me and Trina laugh.
Every once and a while, Julian would glance in my direction. His dark chocolate brown eyes brightened when he'd see me and he'd smile and wave a little and I'd return the gesture.
"You know, He still loves you." Trina speaks up suddenly, I turn my head in her direction but she just keeps looking at Liam and Julian. He still loves me. Those four simple words caught me off guard, my eyes widen a bit and my heart starts beating faster.
"I see the way he looks at you. He's never stopped loving you, I don't think he'll ever stop loving you, Annie." Trina says. I stay silent for a moment, not really sure how I can reply to that.
I look back over at Julian and watch as he looks back over at me, our eyes meet and for a short second, I knew that he still loves me.

☆

<>Waking up Slow by; Gabrielle Aplin

The sound of the loud music blared from the speakers in the nightclub. Since it's Liam and Trina's last night in Hawaii, we went to celebrate the bittersweet goodbye. It felt freeing as I danced to the music playing, swaying my hips and moving my arms as I danced in a slow majestic pace. The scent of sweaty bodies and alcohol and the sound of laughter filled my senses. Everywhere I looked, friends danced with friends, lovers danced with lovers and the cluster of bright pinks, electric blues, yellows, and vibrate greens flashed around the nightclub.
"Annie!" I hear and I turn around to see Liam, Trina, and Julian standing behind me, bright smiles on their faces. "We're going to get drinks, want to join?" Trina asks, wearing a bright red spaghetti strap dress and red heels to match. "Yes, I'm in desperate need of a drink." I answer.
The DJ kept playing a variety of techno, house and hip hop music as the four of us sat on stools at the bar. Liam ordered everyone their drinks but instead of alcohol we got mocktails expect he got a beer instead.
"To making this the best last night in Hawaii ever." Julian says, holding up his glass.
"Cheers." We all say together and clink our glasses together. Trina takes a sip from her drink and looks between Liam and the dancefloor, "I wanna go dance again." She says and puts her drink down. She hops off her stool and takes Liam's hand and leads him to the dancefloor, leaving me and Julian alone.
I can feel Julian's eyes burning into me as I watch Liam and Trina dance as I sip from my drink.
"You look nice tonight." He says but I can barely hear him over the loud music. "What?" I shout.
"I said you looked nice tonight." Julian shouts back.
"Oh, well thank you. You look nice tonight too." I smile.

<>Vulnerable by; Tinsahe- remix version (this part was inspired by the party scene in Chemical Hearts)

Suddenly, the music changes and I suddenly get the courage to ask Julian to dance with me. I hop off my bar stool and stand in front of Julian. "Wanna dance?" I ask, slowly walking backwards towards the dancefloor, swaying my hips slightly as I move.
"No thank you Annie." Julian laughs. "Why not? Are you scared?" I ask, taking his hands and slowly moving him with me to the dance floor. I pull him towards me and wrap his arms around my waist and my arms go around his neck. Our bodies move at the same slow and rhythmic pace, I lean in closer until our faces are about mere inches away from each other. I can feel his hot breath on my lips and I can smell of his mocktail. I lean in closer so our bodies are pressed up against each other with my breath close to his ear.
The longer we stood here swaying to the music, the quicker the memories floated back, how we danced like this at prom and at his brother's wedding. I couldn't help but look back at Julian, I searched his dark brown eyes and realized that he shared the same look that I have right now.
Time slowly began to slow and it seemed like we were the only people in the room. I wanted to kiss him right then and there but I was afraid of the outcome, the fear that what happened before, would happen again.

A/N: Hey my beautiful people! I apologize for the long wait... writer's block 🙄 I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to write more in the near future. ☺
Lots of love,
deathcuretommy1