Let's Start Again

Chapter 8

I now understand why everyone was screaming as they got into the sea earlier, the water feels like ice. The bottom of Ashton's shirt just about covers my bikini bottoms and is now touching the water as the waves gently brush over my bellybutton. Everyone is continuing to play around as Luke laughs at me.

"I can't do this it's too cold" I gasp through chattered teeth as the water takes my breath away.

"Just put your shoulders under and it won't feel as cold" Luke explains with his own shoulders under the water.

"No way! I need to do this gradually" I laugh attempting to lower myself in the water but jump back up almost instantly as the cold hits me.

"Trust me" Luke says with a smile as he moves closer. He takes hold of my hands under the water and I feel the warmth from him on my skin "Put your shoulders under quickly and you won't feel as cold. We'll do it together on the count of 3". He then stands up so we're both out of the water.

I pause looking at him. He's still smiling at me and looks genuine. There's something about this group of guys that I find myself trusting instantly, they don't seem like any other guys I've come across, they seem different.

"Ok" I say hesitantly. Luke smiles as he keeps his eyes on me. He counts down as I brace myself for the cold to hit me, 3, 2, 1. We quickly drop into the water and my shoulders go under as promised. I can't help myself from taking in a short gasp of breath as we stay there for a moment. I wait for my breathing to slow back down and then begin to relax in the water. "You're right, it doesn't feel as cold now it's actually quite refreshing."

"I told you to trust me didn't I?" he smiles.

"Where's Ashton?" Michael questions and Luke let's go of my hands "I swear if he's drinking all the beer whilst we're in the sea he's going to get a slap" his tone is playful as he looks back to the beach at Ashton who's just sitting there watching us.

"He's driving, surely he wouldn't drink to the point where he's over the limit?" I ask Michael.

Michael swims over to where I'm standing. He places his hands on my shoulders gently and turns my body slightly to the left of Ashton. There's a few people on the beach waxing up their surfboards in the distance and there's some sand dunes that lead up to a few houses which back onto the beach.

"What exactly am I looking at?" I turn to face Michael with a frown on my face.

Michael smiles and removes one hand off of my shoulder and points towards the houses. "You see that house painted light blue, with the balcony looking out at the sea?" He asks me and I nod "We go there to write or record music sometimes. So if we drink too much we'll just crash there".

I can't stop my jaw from dropping as I turn back to Michael in disbelief. "You are joking right?" He laughs at my reaction and shakes his head. "You guys must be really good at what you do" I turn back to the house as I admire its beauty.

"We were alright I suppose" his tone is smug but playful as he goes under the water and disappears. I try to follow where he's gone but I can't see him anywhere as the waters too dark. I then feel his hands on either side of my legs and his shoulders hitting my knees. I naturally fall back slightly as I'm raised out of the water and realise I'm sitting on Michael's shoulders.

"Michael what are you doing?!" I gasp laughing as I grab hold of his forehead and he steadies me by places his hands on my thighs holding me in place.

He then instructs Taylor to get on Calum's shoulders and Luke will be the referee. He explains that the rules are to knock the other person off into the sea. Calum wastes no time in getting Taylor onto his shoulders. Luke helps to steady her as she's laughing so much she's almost falling off.