Ashley came up behind me and zipped up my wetsuit. I tried not think about the way her fingers felt on my back as she held the wetsuit together with one hand and slowly zipped it with the other. Her fingers lingered at the base of my neck and then her hands went across my collarbones and down my shoulders from behind.
"Ready?" She said, grabbing her flippers and snorkel mask off the table.
"Ye-yeah," I said, obviously a little flustered and my cheeks burning. I grabbed my flippers and mask as well and took a deep breath before I let her lead the way back up to the main part of the boat.
Chandler was sitting on the edge of the back of the boat, his feet dangling into the ocean with Grace on his lap. Bindi was sitting next to him, cross-legged with Noosa's container in front of her. Mine and Ashley's mums were standing nearby as well.
"Okay so how are we doing this team," I said, grabbing my camera bag off the couch as Ashley and I approached where everyone was gathered.
"I think you and Ashley should get in first, and then Chandler or Bindi can lower Noosa in and we can hang out here to make sure she gets on okay and then you can take your photos," Mum said.
"That sounds good to me," Ashley said.
We sat down next to Chandler and Bindi and I started setting up my camera and putting the waterproof camera cover on it. Ashley put on her flippers and sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the boat, flippers in the water, her head turned to look at me.
Once she saw that I had the camera ready she jumped in the water, holding onto the boat. I jumped in after her, treading water next to her.
Bindi and Chandler picked Noosa up out of the container and lowered her into the water in between Ashley and me, with Grace still on Chandler's lap.
"Bye-bye Noosa," Grace said, gently petting her shell as Chandler and Bindi lowered her towards the water. Noosa moved her flippers in an attempt to get to the water quicker, which is a good sign as it shows that she healed well and was ready to be released.
As soon as Bindi and Chandler got her in the water, she was off. Ashley and I quickly dove under the water, following Noosa a small distance away from the boat. I snapped photos of her as she swam, making sure to get plenty of the coral reef in the photos as well, I knew Ashley would love seeing photos with the corals and she could use them for artistic inspiration.
We swam around and I took photos for several minutes, coming up for air or using our snorkels when we could. Eventually, Noosa had gone farther than we were comfortable with swimming, and Ashley and I came to the surface.
"I think I got some really great shots," I said as we trod water. I looked around to see the boat, and thankfully we didn't get that far from it. However, Ashley seemed out of breath. "You alright love?"
"Yeah," she said, panting.
"Oh, your shoulder, right?" I said, remembering how her shoulder injury from when we were kids makes swimming a bit harder for her.
"Ye-yeah, but I'm okay. It was worth it, we just need to get back to the boat so I can breathe," she said, still a bit out of breath but she was able to laugh slightly.
We both dove underwater again, this time swimming back toward the boat. I surfaced before Ashley and held onto the edge of the back of the boat. I looked around in the water, trying to see if I could figure out where she was or if something had happened.
My heart briefly dropped in panic when she didn't surface in a few seconds, but I saw her shadow right by my feet, and then she popped up, grabbing the edge of the boat.
"Sorry, I'm slow," she said when she saw the look of concern on my face.
"It's alright, I was just making sure you were okay," I said, setting the camera on the back of the boat.
"Well? How was it?" Mum said excitedly.
"It was legendary," I said, looking up at her. "Do you want help getting onto the boat?" I asked Ashley, knowing she was probably still so out of breath.
"Yes, please," she said, panting a bit still.
I quickly pushed myself up and onto the flat part of the back of the boat. Then I sat next to where she was holding onto it and helped pull her up in a slightly awkward way, but it didn't matter as long as she got up there.
"Thank you," she said, pulling off her snorkel.
"Of course," I said, doing the same.
"I think we got some really great photos," She said.
"I know, I'm excited to look at them later," I said, thinking that this was something else we could do while she was over for movie night.
"It was so amazing watching her swim away, she really went for it," Bindi said, smiling.
"Yeah she was so eager to get out there," Chandler added, still holding onto a babbling and excited Grace.
My and Ashley's mums went back to the front of the boat, to start us on our way back to land. The rest of us got up and walked over to the little sitting area, where Ashley and I took our flippers off and pulled our wetsuits down to our waists.
She sat there with her flippers by her feet and her snorkel next to her, in between us. Bindi and Chandler sat across from us and Grace was playing on the floor in the middle with some toys she found.
There were a few towels on the couch, and Ashley grabbed one, using it to dry her hair. I watched as she carefully towel-dried her hair, her curls coming to life as the towel absorbed the water.
I couldn't help but stare for a few seconds as she ran a finger through her hair and shook it out before setting the towel down. She tried to explain to me before that she didn't like using towels to dry her hair too much, but it wasn't really something that made sense to me. I think it had something to do with the fact that her hair was curly.
I looked back down at Grace playing happily on the floor. Bindi and Chandler were talking but I wasn't paying attention. I was still thinking about Ashley, even though she was right there next to me.
I loved the way she took care of herself. It was never anything fancy like other girls- she never really had her nails done unless it was for special occasions and usually it was just plain polish and it was usually taken off within a couple of days. She either left her hair in her natural curls or threw it into a messy bun. She took care of herself without going over the top and she still knew how to dress up if the occasion called for it.
But she never looked bad or messy. Even on her "bad" days, she looked like art. To quote one of her favourite books that she's read to me: "Art wasn't supposed to look nice, it was supposed to make you feel something".
"Robert?" came Chandler's voice, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry, what was that?" I asked, feeling slightly embarrassed for not paying attention. Ashley giggled at me.
"I asked if you two were gonna put together the Lego set we got you tonight," Chandler said.
"Oh, yeah that was in the plans with our annual Christmas movie night," I said.
I noticed Ashley got up and went back to the bathroom, I'm assuming to get out of her wetsuit and put her diving gear up.
"Well, that sounds fun. A nice, relaxing end to an eventful day," Bindi said.
"Oh, yeah. However, I'm sure Ashley is going to want to watch Nightmare Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They're great movies but I don't think I'm ready for the songs to be stuck in my head for the next 2 or 3 days," I said, laughing.
Ashley and I of course had a few movies that were must-watches every year, and Nightmare Before Christmas was always one of them, she loved the art style. I think it was probably one of her favourite movies.
She came back up the steps, smiling at me as her eyes met mine. I smiled back at her.
"Oh, can we see how some of the photos turned out? I know you plan on editing them, but just a little sneak peek?" Bindi said, smiling and with hope in her voice.
"Oh, of course!" I said, taking off the waterproof camera case.
Bindi squeezed herself in between Ashley and me, and Chandler came and sat on the other side of me once I got the case off. Grace saw all of us sitting huddled together and decided she needed to squeeze into our huddle too, so she climbed on top of Bindi's lap.
I went back to the photos I took of Noosa's release and started with the first few of Bindi and Chandler lowering her into the water, with Grace doing her best to help too, of course.
Bindi, Chandler, Ashley, and even Grace marvelled at the first couple of photos that I scrolled through, pointing out things like the corals in the photos, the way Noosa's flippers were moving, and Bindi and Chandler's faces as they lowered her into the water.
We laughed and talked about the photos for a minute when I decided that the rest of the photos should remain a surprise, for now.
"Well, it looks like we're almost back to the dock so I'm gonna put my gear up," I said, standing up and heading back to wear the bathroom was.
I took off my wetsuit, hung it up with my other gear next to Ashley's and slipped my scuba gear into the cubby next to Ashley's.
I thought of some of the other Christmas movies she might want to watch tonight, and I wondered if she already had a list in mind or if she wanted to see what was on Netflix or even Disney+ and go from there. I liked that we had a few movies we usually watched every year, and sometimes we'd check out the new ones that came out.
I made my way back to the sitting area, where Ashley, Bindi, and Chandler were actually quiet for once, which was kind of surprising for Bindi. Ashley was generally quiet unless she got to talking about art and art ideas and other things she was really interested in, then she tended to hardly let anyone else get a word in. Ashley could talk a lot if she wanted, but she also knew how to comfortably enjoy silence.
I looked around and could tell we were going to be docking within a few minutes, so I gathered up the last bit of my things. Ashley noticed and did the same, making sure she had her shoes.
The boat came to a bit of a rough stop as mum parked it at the dock. Chandler got out and tied the line around the post to ensure the boat didn't drift away.
My and Ashley's mums got off the boat, with Chandler and then Bindi following behind, trying to coax Grace off as well. However, Grace wanted to walk with Ashley and me, so I picked her up and handed her to Bindi on the dock, before stepping off the boat and holding my hand out to help Ashley off as well.
Ashley smiled and shook her head slightly before grabbing my hand with hers and stepping off the boat. I noticed she still had her shoes in her other hand, and I laughed slightly at her walking back to the ute in her bare feet.
Grace grabbed my hand, walking with Ashley and me. I noticed Ashley's mum stopped ahead of us.
"Are you kids just going to go back to his house?" She said, motioning slightly to me.
"Yeah, if that's alright?" Ashley said, looking up at her and grabbing Grace's other hand with the one that wasn't holding her shoes.
"Yeah, that's fine," Ashley's mum replied, her voice slightly rude, as if she was offended that Ashley wanted to spend time with me, as if this wasn't the plan the whole time.
"Why don't you two head there now, and we'll meet you there?" My mum piped up, and I noticed she stopped not that far ahead of us. "Since we have to bring the van back to the zoo anyway, and we don't really need you guys for that. You can just go ahead and get back to the house and set up for movie night."
"Sweet as. That'll work and we'll see you guys later. Love you," I said, turning to hug my mum.
"Love you too. Be safe," she said back.
Ashley gave her mum a quick hug too, and we handed Grace back to Bindi.
"Ashey!" Grace called as we started walking away. She wiggled and pulled in Bindi's arms, stretching to try to reach us.
Ashley thrust her shoes at me, and I grabbed them in one hand. She did a light run back up to Bindi and Grace, tickling Grace when she got to them.
"I'll see you later, okay? I'll be at Uncle Robert's," I could faintly hear Ashley say to Grace.
"Uncle Robert?" Grace said in her little baby talk.
"Yes, exactly," Ashley said. "You and your mum can come to say goodnight to us on your way home."
"Okay," Grace replied, sounding a little sad that she wouldn't be hanging out with Ashley and me later and that it would just be to say goodnight to us.
I watched as Ashley walked back over to me, her hair glowing in the fading sunlight. She fiddled with one hand, taping and rubbing her fingertips together and against the tip of her thumb. She looked around, taking in the scenery of the docks and the ocean. As she walked closer, I could hear her singing lightly.
"Watcha singing?" I said as she got closer to me. I stuck the shoes out to her. She slipped her fingers in them, carrying them near the heels with one hand.
"The song you showed me yesterday," She said, blushing softly. "It's been stuck in my head since."
I chuckled at her. "Hey, It's a good song. And like I said, it reminded me of you."
"I think it's definitely a fitting song for me," She replied before continuing to sing.
I watched her walk a few steps ahead of me, taking in the wild mess of curls that her hair became from the ocean water and the wind on the boat ride back to the docks. Curls sprung out in every direction, taking on all kinds of shapes. It was more like a mane, really. She lightly swayed her body as she sang, moving her arms out from her sides a little bit. She was in her own little world, and I was so lucky to be a part of it.
She glanced over her shoulder at me and stopped singing for a second.
"You coming, Tarzan?" She said. The sun hit her eyes just right, making them sparkle as she looked at me, smiling.
"I am, I'm just taking a second to admire the view," I said, smiling back at her.
She blushed slightly, and then held her free hand out towards me, which I took in mine, interlacing our fingers and we sang the next part of the song together as we made our way through the parking lot to the ute.
"Walking through the city, look at all the pretty things she sees
Cause she's a happy lil hippie, nothing gonna get her down
She got a diary full of memories that she'll never read
'Cause she's a happy lil' hippie, nothing gonna get her down"
We sang loudly, swinging our arms and dancing slightly in the parking lot, laughing as we did. I loved seeing Ashley like this- losing herself in the moment and enjoying it. without stressing about anything else that may be getting her down.
I unlocked the passenger door for the ute, holding it open for her.
"Thank you," she said, tossing her shoes on the floor first. She then stood up on her tiptoes and reached up, and I realized it was to kiss me.
I leaned down slightly to meet her lips with mine, and we shared a short but sweet kiss.
After we pulled away, we stayed there with our foreheads touching for a minute. I couldn't help but smile at her and enjoy her beauty.
Then I felt her hand snake up and the tip of her index finger touched my nose as she whispered, "Boop", before busting into a fit of giggles.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" I said, grabbing her sides and tickling her.
"I think I'm hilarious," she said, laughing more as I tickled her, gently pushing her against the side of the ute.
"Okay," she said, out of breath, "okay. That's enough for now."
I moved my hands off her sides and stepped back, giving her a bit of room to breathe.
"All good?" I asked after she seemed to have caught her breath.
"Yeah, I can breathe now," she replied, laughing slightly. "Are you ready to go?"
"Whenever you are," I replied.
"Yeah, let's go. I'm ready for Lego building and movies," she said, climbing into the passenger seat of the ute.
I handed her the bag of camera equipment that I had brought on the boat, and she put it down by her feet.
I went around to the driver's side and climbed in, starting the ute. Ashley had connected her phone and was playing music before I could even drive away.
A/N: Hi everyone! As of finishing this chapter I am still on vacation BUT I am working on a few other chapters as well so I have a little backlog to update from, but I wanted to get this out to y'all!
How are we feeling about longer chapters? This one was closer to 3,000 words, and I'm thinking between 3,000-3,500 may be a good length from here on out.
How are we feeling about a ✨spicy✨ chapter? I've had some people suggest it, but I wanna know y'all's thoughts too!
I will be working on the playlist soon, and I'll add it in when I get it done! Thanks so much for reading!