"Cause this is my favourite thing by far
And you defy everything I've ever known."
....
Will had no idea what to expect when they got down to the shore of the cove. The cliff walls rose up like intimidating borders around them, a strong orange colour with various shades slashing through them. He wondered if the horizontal shades were indications of water levels from the past.
The orange set off the blue green of the water between the walls and though the thought of swimming or boating too close to the cliffs was frightening in Will's head, the view was actually quite calming.
He understood why Captain's Cove was one of Adora favourite places.
"The cave is over there, you can see the opening. The tide should be getting lower, so I can take you in to look if you like?" Adora pointed and Will's eyes followed her arm.
The entrance to the cave was a black whole in the orange and he felt his head shaking. "No, I don't think I want to see inside there."
Adora chuckled. "Alright, it is pretty dark and dank this time of the year."
All Will could do was nod.
"I like this part of the cove the best." She took his hand and pulled him across the loose sand.
He looked down at their connected fingers and closed his around hers instinctively. It didn't just feel instinctual though, it felt right somehow.
They walked around a jutting corner of orange wall and she dropped his hand and collapsed in the dry sand.
Will blinked and looked down at her as she closed her eyes and started moving her arms and legs in the sand.
"I'm a sand angel!" She cried with glee.
The laughter snorted from his nose so loudly that Will had to put a hand to his face to stop it.
She was serious!
She had no qualms in what she was doing, and sure enough her arms and legs were pushing the sand into the triangular shapes of a dress and two wings.
All he could imagine was the amount of sand in her hair.
But looking down at her smiling face was so adorable he had to make himself breathe.
"Cute." He nodded, finally finding a voice and something that was a safe enough reaction to what he was witnessing.
"The sand is really soft in this part, and it's pretty much always dry. Come on." A hand wrapped around his calf and he felt a gentle tug bring him down to his knees. His hands caught him from falling further.
The sand was amazingly soft here.
His grin was gone as he felt his knees sink in slightly and his fingers clenched some sand.
"Wow." He lifted a fist of sand up and watched it fall through his fingers. "I am not laying down in this though. You can spend the next week washing it out of your hair, but I'm not."
"Baby."
"Excuse me?"
"You're a baby." Her green eyes locked teasingly on him and he felt a blow to his pride.
"I am not. It's just... I've noticed sand gets everywhere, and I admit, I'm not a fan."
She sat up and frowned. "Have you spent much time at the beach since you moved here? Do you swim?"
"I swim." Will nodded. "We have pools where the beaches run out you know."
She smirked. "It's OK, I don't swim much, I won't force you into the water, at least not in winter."
"I don't know if I'd be able to fight waves and currents anyway." He admitted looking out to the blue between the cliff walls.
"You're talking to someone who is barely over five feet tall... You think I can handle them?" There was a laugh in her voice and his shoulders sagged.
"Well, we won't be going swimming anytime soon then, great. I'm glad." He sat down beside her and wiped some of the sand off the denim knees of his jeans.
She pulled her hair over her shoulder and started to shake it gently.
He could see nothing but sand in her almost-black locks.
Her hair wasn't like Marti's, they both wore it long, but Marti's was either straightened, or waved.
Adora's had lazy waves mixed in with almost straight sections. He got the feeling she didn't do much to her appearance.
Not that he thought she needed to.
"You didn't answer my other question, Will, have you been to the beach much since you moved here?"
"No. Admittedly a lot less than I imagined I would." When his parents told them they were moving to a beach town, Will imagined a lot more time spent at the beach.
He wasn't quite sure why he hadn't spent much time there, maybe the grey weather had more to do with it than he thought, but he didn't think it was that.
Maybe it was more non-existent memories.
"Have you seen a sunset?" He could see her looking at him curiously from the corner of his eyes and he smiled slightly before looking away from the water.
"Not here."
"Wow." She was up so fast she threw sand off her jeans towards him with the hurried motion. "I know the best place! Come on." She started to pull on his arm and he got up and followed her back to the dug out steps leading out of the cove.
He watched with a grin as her small feet hit almost every single step on the rush up, while his longer legs allowed him to skip a few steps at a time.
When they reached the top she hurried around the car park and over to a wooden decking, similar to the ones near the waterfalls.
"Do you trust me?" She stopped and looked at him seriously.
He frowned and turned his head away slightly. "What?"
He looked around them, trying to figure out why she would need to ask that question.
"I promise it's safe." She added before she turned her body to the wooden barrier and started climbing it.
"What are you doing?" He cried in surprise.
"Come on, I promise, it's safe." She grinned at him as she landed on the other side and he felt his stomach churn. There was a sign a bit further along the decking prohibiting people from climbing and walking on the cliffs, yet that was exactly what she was expecting him to do.
"I don't know..." He put his hand on the top railing hesitantly.
"Please?"
Dammit.
He looked down and started to climb the wooden barrier. It was a strange feeling being so close to the edge of the cliff, terrifying really.
He moved a lot more cautiously than Adora did, but followed closely.
There was only a thin layer of sand covering the rocky surface of the cliff and she carefully, fluidly moved around rocks and plants.
It took a few minutes to get where she wanted to be, but when they reached the spot she sighed and sat down, her legs hanging over the drop.
Will heart was racing, but Adora had no clue.
"Is this safe? Is that safe?" He remained standing behind her, and looked down.
He could see the waves crash against the cliff below them and leaned back, feeling a little dizzy.
"It's safer sitting than standing." She patted a spot beside her. "The direction is the way to the city, if you look over to the side..."
He followed her directions and his lips parted as he saw the sun reflecting off glass windows of the holiday apartments on the Esplanade.
"Wow." He sat down then, but didn't let his legs hang as she did.
"If you get a good sunset, it almost looks like the town is on fire." She told him.
"I hope we get a good one." He muttered quietly.
"Me too."
It was weird wanting to make the moves. Adora kept glancing sideways at Will, trying to figure out when she could touch him, and where.
Mostly she felt a strange urge to lean against him, to hold his hand. She moved closer to him on the ground as he sat cautiously on the edge of the cliff with her.
The sun was starting to turn the clouds a dark pink and she felt herself biting the corner of her bottom lip.
She felt his arms against hers, he wasn't as muscular as his brother, but she could feel some strength through his jacket.
His flight jacket that he had worn the first day he had started school.
She tried to keep her legs swinging slowly, as she out her hands on the ground beside her.
Will was watching the horizon and it was almost a painful anticipation in her chest.
She'd had a crush before; the feelings of excitement with Gus were different to this longing.
She knew Gus better than she knew Will, how as it she felt safer and more desire for him?
Would it be lame to ask if she could hold his hand?
She saw him shifting and he mirrored her position, his arms moving beside him and slightly behind.
She felt his hand brush against hers and closed her eyes.
This was the time.
Now, Adora, do it.
She moved her fingers across the ground between them until she felt his, and then rested her hand over his.
She swallowed a lump, waiting for his hand to pull out from underneath hers, waiting for a reaction.
His fingers spread a little and let hers go in between.
Her heart skipped beats and she felt her lips turn up into a small smile.
She bent her fingers into the spaces in his and felt the warm skin contrasting her cold skin.
Her eyes looked down at their hands, and the small space of ground between them, she didn't dare move her head to look.
Neither did he at first.
She felt like her chest had suddenly become a huge, empty cave with nothing at all inside it, not even air.
She took a deep breath and could feel the salty atmosphere from the waves crashing below them.
She closed her eyes, just focusing on the feeling of his hand under hers, their fingers entwined in the simplest way.
"Adora?"
She opened her eyes and turned her face towards Will, he was looking at her now.
His whiskered jaw line led her eyes to his face, his hazel eyes staring at her. He had a strange insecurity that looked back at her, the opposite of Tom's intense hazel, and strange endearing.
"Yea?" She had to clear her throat to make a sound.
Will looked from her to their hands. "I'm really not sure if I'm ready for anything serious yet..."
Her heart dropped and she felt her face crinkle.
"But, I want to try." He finished, his voice thick with uncertainty.
She felt like she could breathe again and she let go of a shaky breath.
"I don't want to hurt you with my hesitations." He continued.
She smiled softly at him. "I know you had a bad ending with Elissa." She started quietly, her eyes moving to their fingers. "I don't mind if you have days were you want to hide, or be silent."
His face started to smile.
"I won't rush you into anything you don't want." She bit her bottom lip. "Even if I ask every step of the way and sound as lame as hell. I just don't want you to feel you have to do anything or lie to make me feel better."
"I won't, thank you." He leaned towards her and she took a deep breath as their lips met on his movements.
It was nothing more than lips, but it felt perfect.
When he pulled back, he was smiling at her. He took his hand out from under hers and draped his arm over her shoulders.
She felt her body sag and she leaned into him.
It was faster than she ever imagined, but it felt right.
The sky threw colours over the water, and the wind got colder on the top of the cliff. She didn't need to see the sunset, as beautiful as it was, she could watch tomorrows, or the day afters.
All she wanted to concentrate on was the feeling that was expanding her chest; it wasn't an empty cavern anymore, but a bright light trying to explode out of her ribcage.
She had always know Gus was just a crush, a summer fling, was this what it felt like to really like someone?