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august 4th 2024

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IT WAS ANOTHER NIGHT SPENT AROUND A BONFIRE AT THE BEAUTIFUL BEACHES OF TGE MALDIVES. after everyone had noticed how little time they had left together, the twelve friends had been spending every single night at the beach or in the lounge.

arabella was laying down in the sand, her head in her boyfriends lap as he spoke to diego next to him. valentina walked up to them, coming back from getting drinks from the cooler, "here you go, baby." she casually spoke as she handed diego his drink, "thanks, tina." the spanish boy smiled in return.

the native girl gave bella and kimi their drinks, sitting down next to her 'fling', which no one believed anymore. in an instant, diego's arm wrapped around valentina's body, pulling her closer to him.

arabella watched valentina's eyes flicker for a split second, the two boys paying no mind to it. it was only for a moment, but arabella knew exactly what that was.

valentina made eye contact with her, as bella gave her a clear look of 'what was that?'. the colombian girl averted her eyes quickly, pretending not to have seen arabella's questioning gaze. we're gonna have to talk about that, she thought to herself.

bella acted immediately, sitting up from her position on her boyfriends lap. his attention immediately shifted to her, "what's up?" he asked. she knew she couldn't just rat valentina out, "i need to have so girl talk. it's urgent." she smiled comfortingly, not wanting to worry the italian boy.

"did i do something?" the comforting clearly didn't work the way she planned it to, "no! no, it's not about you, cariño, i promise." she rushed out, giving him a peck on the lips, smiling after. "okay good, go gossip." he encouraged, motioning for her to go and do her thing.

bella quickly gathered up the five other girls, pulling them away from their partners, "i have to speak to the girls, if we're not back in twenty, just call." bella announced to the boys, who all looked mildly confused at arabella's sudden actions.

when the six girls were out of earshot of the guys, bella motioned for them to sit down in the sand. they gathered in a circle, awfully like a ritual. "did kimi do something? do we have to kill him?" valentina asked to start the conversation.

arabella laughed in response, "no babe, i wanted to talk about you actually. what's up with you and diego? and don't say it's casual, i saw your eyes when he put his arm around you just now." the spanish girl politely demanded.

she could see valentina thinking about what she should reply, "i don't know. i don't know why i ever suggested casual because is it really casual now?" the girl opened up, sighing to herself.

"i've known diego for more years then i haven't known him, and trust me when i say that he wants more then 'just casual'." linnea spoke, laying a hand on valentina's shoulder for comfort.

the four other girls nodded in agreement, "i haven't known diego long enough to say stuff like that, but from what i've seen, he definitely doesn't think of casual when he looks at you." nerissa chimed in, smiling at valentina.

"i don't know guys, i just— i think i need space. space from him, i mean. to think and reflect and not do something stupid." the colombian girl said, looking down at her hands.

arabella shared a look with lucy and linnea before turning back to face valentina, "val, i understand you need to think, but diego hates being ignored without a reason. we tried to surprise him for his fifteenth birthday and we didn't talk to him the whole day at school. we went to surprise him in the evening, but he sent us all home and didn't speak to us for a week. i just don't think ignoring him will help anyone." lucy tried to sway valentina's thoughts.

of course, they wanted to help her and let it play out but, diego was also their friend and they didn't want to see him hurt. it'd be unfair, to keep him in the dark and let valentina ignore him and her growing feelings.

"i'm sorry, i just need space to breathe." valentina rushed out, getting up from her spot on the sand. "no, val— come on!" lucy tried to stop her, but in vain. the colombian girl had walked off in a hurry, leaving the five other girls behind.

"me and vira will check on her, i don't think she'd listen to you three right now." nerissa smiled sympathetically, "we didn't mean it like that. we really do understand her. but diego's our friend too, we have to look out for him as well." bella reasoned with a sad smile.

"we know, we'll talk to her." elvira said, walking off in the direction valentina went, nerissa trailing after.

"let's just go back to the guys, tell them those three went to get ice cream or something." lucy trailed off, not wanting to raise alarm among the boys. the two other girls nodded, linnea sending a text in the girls group chat, 'we'll tell the guys u went for ice cream, this is none of their business.'

the three girls joined back with their counterparts, going with the lie they had made up and telling them valentina, elvira and nerissa went to the ice cream parlor.

arabella joined kimi again, making him look at her as she laid back down into her previous position. he had his legs flat to the sand as he was leaning on his elbows to hold himself up. one of his hands reached bella's face as he moved a stray piece of hair away from her eyes, "what was that all about, hm?" he asked absentmindedly.

she kept his eyes on him as she smiled innocently, "nothing for you to worry about, kimiko. we just had to discuss something." she responded, smiling faintly as she stared into his eyes.

kimi lifted arabella's head off of his legs momentarily as he changed his position. he moved to his side, leaning on one elbow, his left leg resting on the sand and his other leg upright, leaving a space for arabella to lay her head back down on. ( if you don't get it i have a reference drawing in the authors note )

when the three missing girls returned to their bonfire, valentina made eye contact with bella first. a look that said 'we're good, i'm good', which made the spanish girl nod at her with a smile. she was happy their friendship wasn't ruined by something this stupid.

all of the couples stayed like that for the rest of the night, laughing with each other. arabella treasured these moments, knowing this would be the vacation she was going to tell her future kids about.

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belladeluca

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CEE SPEAKS !
here's the reference drawing, for the record I NEVER SAID IT WAS GOOD.

hi sara baby!!!!

*.• dedications !
L0VENYMPH everlarksaep halfwayheart joaoflms besos4nico