Morning came and I found myself still in Sals room I had my head on his chest curled into a ball and his arm over my shoulder I could tell he was awake by his breathing "Morning sleepy" he smiled as I rubbed my eyes on his t-shirt Sal gave a laugh my head rose and fell with his breathing.
I looked up watching him as he curled my hair around his fingers smiling "Sal?" he looked down at me yawning "Yeah?"
"Is this weird?"
Sal thought about it "yeah it's totally weird?"
I got up from the bed immediately stretching and shaking off the weirdness "I'm Uhh gonna go wake Brian for the beach." I smiled pointing towards the door.
Sal tried to move "ah fuck" he was obviously in pain from the fall "Yeah you go do that I'm gonna just lay here and die" he laughed pulling a pillow over his head.
I sneaked into my room where Brian was still fast asleep lying on his back he looked so cute with his mouth open and hair all scuffed. "CANNONBALL" I roared taking a run and jumping onto his stomach Q woke with a scream before laughing when he seen me gazing at him my elbows propped up on his chest. "Morning Q-utie" I giggled starting into his eyes
"You son of a bitch" Q cursed flicking my on the nose. I stretched up kissing him softly he groaned as I ran my hands through his hair sliding his hands around my waist, his lips were soft as I ran my teeth along them lightly teasing him I pulled away smiling as he pouted "No fair" he stretched his hands out beckoning me to return to his grasp
"C'mon lazy the day is dawning and the beach is calling" I yelled running down the hall to Joes room
"What time is it?" Murr groaned from under his blanket as I barged my way into their room and threw open the blinds. "Just after seven thirty" I sang
"Go back to bed Morning, it's too early" Joe protested to the new day
Within the hour three very sleepy Americans grumbled and yawned their way down to the kitchen. I crept into Fallons room trying not to wake the sleeping dragon that was my older sister finding her wetsuit and swimsuit I sneaked back out before she caught me I was so excited to get back in the water apart from my impromptu swim the night before it had been so long since I'd been in I couldn't wait to taste the salt water on my lips and feel light as a feather gliding through the water.
As I stood in my room pulling at the legs on my suit I could hear Apollo enter the kitchen "Good mornin Jokers, ready for some water sports?" the guys gave a grumbled response "Alright sweet, well the delightfully beautiful Bronach from the surf shop is going to deliver the kayaks to the beach within the hour meanwhile here are your wetsuits"
"You really don't expect Gatto to squeeze his gut into this do ya?" Brian laughed
"Hey fuck you man I'm a beach babe!" Joe retorted to his friend I giggled my way into Sals room as they proceeded to argue over the wetsuits
"Hey could you zip this for me?" I motioned to my back Sal gave a yell of pain as he sat up "Are you sure you don't wanna come with?"
Sal shook his head "There is no way I'm getting back in that water again, it was too much of a close call" he frowned as he replayed the incident in his head "I'm so scared Maggie" he whispered softly
"Hey no tears, it's over now you're safe a little bruised but safe, when Fallon had her accident in the water it took her months to get back in again. Just have a rest for a while, then come down and watch later okay" I patted him on the shoulder and got up to fix myself in the mirror I loved how the wetsuit sucked so much in, my body became curvy in places I wanted It too. I actually didn't feel disgusted looking at myself.
"Damn" Sal muttered under his breath
"A problem Salvatore?" I raised my eyebrow to him. Sal turned red and began to stutter
"I...I..I..You uh you look good" he looked ready to explode with embarrassment
"Sparrow Thorne beach goddess" I giggled striking a pose "Catch you later Sally"
I could hear the grunts of annoyance coming from each of the guys rooms as much as I love the sea wetsuits are a bitch to get on first time. You choreograph your own interpretive dance trying to get into the thing that consists of leaping in the air, pulling and swearing violently.
I made my way downstairs where my brother sat cross-legged on the table already suited up eating coco-pops from the box "APOLLO THORNE" I roared in my best Fallon voice "get your hand out of that cereal box!" Apollo didn't even flinch "Nice Try buddy, but you haven't got her ear piercing pitched roar quite yet" he hopped down off the table and motioned me towards the door "got a surprise for you little bird."
We stepped out into the morning sun I squinted my eyes to see whatever it was he was standing beside. Loki and Bartleby were leaping around my feet more excited than I was to be getting walkies on the beach. My jaw dropped when I seen my old purple kayak a little faded now but still intact "Oh my god is that Ariel?!"
Apollo nodded "the very same, poor thing hasn't been used in years, thought she deserved a day out" I threw my arms around my brother it was so sweet he kept it all these years I had racked up so many hours sailing on this thing she meant a lot to me.
Q emerged from the house pulling and tugging at the wet suit "I feel ridiculous"
"Yeah you look it too" Joe jibed coming behind him
"oh shut it Gatto I think he looks great" I teased kissing Q on the cheek he smiled and wrapped his arms tight around me burying his face into my hair "There's my little mermaid" he spoke sending a shiver down my spine
"Careful honey" I warned "Don't get too carried away the suit reveals all" I winked before lifting one side of my kayak and setting off down the trail to the beach.
Bronach O'Reilly sat on the beach kicking the sand between her toes. Apollos face lit up when he seen her she was a few years above me and below him in secondary school through their mutual love of the beach they became best friends always causing mischief together.
Bronach was gorgeous a proper surfer girl rarely to be found in anything else but her signature red and black wet suit or a pair of boarding shorts and baggy t-shirt. Numerous piercings and tattoos decorated her body much to the horror of the village. Bronach owned the surf shop in town thanks to a gracious loan from Papa O'Reilly who along with the Brothers McAllister owned most of the property in and around Sheephaven.
Bronach welcomed me with a fist bump "Nice to see you back little Thorne"
"Thanks O'Reilly, hope you've been keeping this one out of trouble" I smiled elbowing my older brother in the ribs. Bronach gave a laugh her lip rings moving from side to side "aw I canny promise that now" she ran her fingers through her red curly hair smiling at my brother "Are you going to his gig on Saturday night?"
I looked up to my brother "Apollo?! You didn't tell me?!" My brother gave a shrug he was far too laidback for this own good nothing phased him "I only found out this morning Bronach's Da has agreed to give me a shot at a regular appearance in their pub"
I was so proud of my brother music had always been a passion of his since he could talk, he was finally letting other people apart from his family and friends hear it.
"So these are the guys you were telling me about?" Bronach motioned towards the three jokers standing staring panicked at the water her freckled nose wrinkled as she sized them up giving a shrug "I've seen worse candidates for kayaking, Now guys the two best pieces of advice are keep your balance and don't panic, if you fall in just swim if you're in difficulty the dogs will recognize it and come to your rescue" she affectionately patted Loki's head as she instructed.
"Holy shit its fucking freezing" Q cried as he put a foot in the water while Murr was just leaping about the place like a beached fish and screaming. Joe stood beside me bent over laughing at his troubled friends "Lemmie show you how this things done Irish" he winked taking a sprinting start towards the water Joe screamed and swore as he plunged his whole head underwater I couldn't help but laugh at these three guys so out of their comfort zone.
After a lot more swearing at failed attempts at trying to stay balanced in the kayaks the guys where coming along quite well. I sat on my trusty purple kayak kicking my feet in the water watching the them play gladiators with their paddles, three middle aged men who had barely matured a day since their twenties it was kind of hard to believe Joe would be a dad soon he was flying home in a few days to be with Bessy through her final trimester and I just knew that would bring about the conversation of when we all would be going back. The guys had filming to complete and the producers were ringing nearly every day to scold about them not being back yet usually one of the guys would just hang up on them but I knew it was time for the fun to end soon and get back into the rat race.
It was so difficult being here to think any sort of rat race existed, days just came and went people lived and died and were mourned like the waves brought in a new tide then washed it away again.