It All Started At 6 a.m.

Chapter 12

Leah

Words could barely do any justice to describe the beauty of the entire scene that laid in front of me.

We were standing on a cliff that looked over the ocean. The cliff itself was surrounded by the ginormous pine trees on all three sides of it. Beneath the cliff, the ocean waves were crashing against the rocky surface creating a calming melody in harmony with the chirping of crickets.

The entire place was illuminated by the crescent moon as the moonlight reflected into the far ocean creating a rippling effect. The ocean waves looked milky-white as they roared in their glory.

It was like a completely different world here.

The crescent moon, a stark contrast to the dark blue canvas of the night sky that was lightly splattered with the stars, was shining luminously above us. There is something different about the crescent moon which just makes me stare at it and zone out the rest of the world. Even though the crescent isn't whole, it's still complete. And this, this just being complete in itself, makes it all the more enticing to watch than the full moon.

I didn't realize my mouth was hanging open until Ethan put his finger under my chin and pushed it up. I stared into his eyes and they looked mesmerizing. With the moonlight glinting in them, the pools of his blue eyes mirrored the ocean.

"Come on, Leah." He took my hand in his and started walking towards the edge of the cliff. He placed the bags down and sat down on the edge of the cliff with his legs dangling from the edge. "Come sit." He tugged at my arm and I sat down, still in awe with my surroundings.

Ethan took out our food from the bags and handed me mine but for the first time in my seventeen years of existence, I couldn't concentrate on eating. I mean, this entire thing, this late-night sneak out, this beautiful scenery, the way Ethan's face glowed due to the moonlight as the wind blows through his hair and tousled it into an appealing mess, it all felt so surreal. And when he looked at me with those ocean blue eyes of his, my breath fucking hitched in my throat.

Is this all even real? Or is it all just a figment of my imagination?

"I have always wondered how to shut you up. There has to be something that can shut Leah Scott up, other than sleeping, right? I didn't know it would be this." He unwrapped his food and took a bite off it. "You know, you've been quiet for the past fifteen minutes, neither you've taken a bite of your food and it's seriously bugging me now. The Leah I know literally inhales her food and definitely doesn't stop talking until she gives a headache to the other person. Say something."

"Shut up and let me process all of these," I gestured towards our surroundings, "and you, relish my quietness till it lasts." I nudged his shoulder with mine.

"I prefer the talkative one. The normal one." He grinned cheekily at me before continuing, "Right now, the one in front of me is neither eating her food nor eating my ears off." He nudged my shoulder back.

"You know, I can push you off the cliff," I glared at him as I took a huge bite of my food, and oh my, I was on cloud nine. It was that good. My eyes closed on their own accord as I savoured that delicious food. And I wasn't even embarrassed about the moan that had escaped whilst enjoying that damn quesadilla.

I opened my eyes and noticed Ethan brushing his hand through his hair repeatedly as his other hand was curled up into a fist. Why was he frustrated? Huh, you can never guess with this boy.

"What's cooking up in there?" I poked his head with my finger and chucked away the wrappers of our food into the bag to throw it away in the bin that we saw when we were walking up here.