HAWAII | KIAN LAWLEY

forty two

THE TRUTH
9th September 2020

Lono sat down at the table, at Kian's request. He had no idea why Kian wanted to talk to him. Lani had taken Alaïa out food shopping, so they had something decent to cook with later.

"I wanted to talk to you about Alaïa." Kian said as he sat down at the table, his hands treaded together in front of him.

"Shoot." Lono nodded, giving the boy permission to ask or say what he wanted.

"What's the deal with the water?" He questioned bluntly. He saw Lono stiffen but remain quiet. "I know it's not just cause 80% of the water is unexplored, Lono, I'm not stupid."

Lono let out a heavy sigh and ran his hand over his face.

He'd never forget that day. He thought his sister was going to die.

Truthfully, he still had nightmares about it, some ended up with him not pulling her out in time and others ended up with him drowning too, leaving Lani alone.

"I don't know if she'd want me to tell you." Lono leant back in his chair, crossing his arms and looking towards Kian who seemed genuinely worried about the girl.

"Please, Lono, I want to help her." Kian muttered softly.

When he asked Danny if he knew the real reason, he came up with the same bullshit excuse, but he did tell Kian that Alaïa loved the ocean as a kid. It was how they'd met.

"Something happened when she was 8." Lono paused. "That's all I'm saying." He stood up and walked over to the kitchen to get a beer from the fridge. Kian followed him and jumped up on the side.

"What happened to her?"

"Look man, I don't know if she'd want me to tell you." He muttered hesitantly.

"I won't tell her, I swear." Kian placed his hand over his heart as he looked at the fair haired man in front of him.

"Okay." Lono nodded. "When she was 8, she and a friend she made, Elizabeth, we're swimming in the sea." Lono paused and almost flinched at the memories. "The tide it got too rough for them. They could swim back to shore, they weren't strong enough."

Kian noticed that Lono began to tear up. He offered a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

"I ran in and pulled Alaïa out, she been under water for a while, but she was okay." He paused and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Elizabeth, was under for longer. I still can't get her moms cries out of my head." He looked up to Kian who looked down at him sympathetically. "I managed to pull her out, but her pulse was weak. Her heart rate was slow and she was barely breathing."

Kian's mouth parted in shock.

"Lani had got someone to call and ambulance whilst I gave Elizabeth mouth to mouth." Lono paused as he felt a cold shiver go down his spine. "She stopped breathing, man. We don't know what happened her after that. If she's alive or dead, we don't know."

"Shit." Kian muttered.

"Alaïa thinks she's dead." Lono informed the boy. "I tried to find her, tried to get in touch with her mom or something, but I couldn't find anything."

"What are you two talking about?" Alaïa questioned as she walked in with a paper bag filled to the brim with groceries.

Lono rubbed his eyes and took the bag of groceries off his youngest sister.

"Nothing." He shrugged and eyed Kian, to make sure that he'd stay quiet.

Alaïa wrapped her arms around Kian's torso and rested her head on his chest. Kian's arms instantly wrapped around the small girl and kissed the top of her head.

"I missed you." Kian whispered into her head. She stood in between his legs and looked at her siblings.

"I missed you more." She muttered. "Lono, what are you cooking tonight?"

"No sure yet, let see what shitty ingredients I have to work with?" Lono teased as he put away the groceries.

~

Alaïa laid in between Kian's legs as he traced patterns on her exposed waist. Her eyes fluttered shut and relaxed at his touch.

"Lai?" Alaïa hummed in response. "I love you."

Alaïa grinned and turned to face the boy, who had a light blush on his cheek.

"Really?" She had to hold back her excitement.

Kian shyly nodded, his heart was pounding.

"Is it too soo-"

Alaïa cut the boy off by connecting their lips. Her hands threaded through his hair, his hands gripped her waist and pulled her closer to him. The kiss was slower, more passionate than usual.

He hasn't ever felt this way about anyone before, all his previous girlfriends he never said I love you to. His heart was racing at the thought of him being in love with this girl.

"I love you too." She muttered against his lips. "So much."