AT THE ASSCRACK of dawn, I hauled Chase out of bed and threw him into the passenger seat of David's Range Rover. Okay, well maybe that was a little bit of exaggeration.
Getting Chase out of the bed took many kisses and hugs, but eventually we were both in the car—one of us basically still asleep. Usually, the only reason I would ever wake up would either be because I'm having a nightmare or there's a chance to win a lifetime supply of chicken nuggets.
Well, I guess now there's another reason: Chase Everett.
Since Chase was meant to be leaving early tomorrow morning, I had only today to spend time with him. I was also going to use this day to show him what he would be missing if he never comes back from Seattle.
He has to come back. I don't think I would survive.
I barely made it through the six months we weren't together. I'm still not even sure how I managed that. Being with Chase felt like I had been reborn in a weird, creepy sense. I felt like I was finally breathing and that for the last half-year I've just been suffocating.
Chase was sleeping as I drove us through the quiet, dark streets of Holden Bay. The sun was barely awake either and the sky was turning a dark shades of indigo. I found it so fucking adorable at the fact that Chase was holding my hand the entire time.
Sure it made it a little difficult to drive but he looked so damn cute.
I remembered a tiny little stretch of beach that was surrounded by dark green bush, a little secret haven I had found one day on a late afternoon bike-ride. It seemed I was the only one who had discovered it and when I use to live here, I would go swimming there instead of the main beach.
I lamely labelled it Jones Cove.
I pulled the Range Rover over to the side of the road and gently woke Chase up with more kisses. With his hand in mine, I grabbed the tote bag of our things from the backseat and hauled him through the bushes.
"Ah—shit—fuck." Chase continued to hiss behind me as our skin caught on the bushes, "Jones, have you finally snapped and this is where you kill me?"
I sigh dramatically, "Unfortunately, not yet."
"You're so funny." Chase laughs sarcastically as I giggle and pull him towards the other side the the bush.
Chase hisses again from the pain and I scoff at his weak ass. I'm just such a great girlfriend, aren't I? Bitch, hand me my reward.
I glance over my shoulder to see Chase frowning down at the ground, making sure he didn't trip. I was in love with every little thing he did and I realised, in the most fucking cliche way, that Chase was reward.
He was also my damn punishment at sometimes too.
When we finally pop out the other side, I drop the cotton tote bag onto the sand and stare out over the ocean. There was only a few feet between the sand and the water's edge where waves softly crashed onto the shore.
There was only the sounds of birds and the moving ocean that could be heard. The sky was now a little lighter as the sun had risen a little above the horizon behind us.
"You brought me here to go swimming?" Chase asks as I turn around to face him. He was giving me a blank stare and I roll my eyes, "We can go swimming later, Jones"
"No, I've got other things planned." I smirk as I pull my white linen sundress over my head, leaving me in only a pair of tangerine-coloured bikini bottoms. Chase's hazel eyes instantly drop to my chest like the simple creature he is, "I told you last night that today was going to be busy. But no, you wanted to stay up late."
"Uh, if I remember you were the one who kept seducing me." Chase smirks and folds his arms across his broad chest and tight white crew neck.
I purse my lips and hum, "Mmmm...I'm sorry, I do not recall those events."
"Jones—" Chase scoffs as I turn around and skip into the water. It was cold but I welcomed the chill as it woke me up from the last bit of sleep that was clinging to me. It was a crisp type of cold and I dive head first under the waves.
When I surface, I turn around and keep only my eyes above the surface. I watch as Chase, now shirtless, walks like the damn model he is into the water. The sky was now ablaze with the new sun and the golden light bounced off his tanned skin.
"It's fucking cold." Was the first thing to come out of his mouth as he reaches me. I stand up from my crouched position and wrap my arms around his neck. The smooth rolling water came up to about our hips.
"I'll keep you warm." I smirk as I press my chest to his and swoop down, trailing kisses up his neck, "You wanna know what raises the body's temperature?"
Chase, who was easily distracted my my lips running up and down the skin of his neck and shoulder, hums, "Hmm?"
"A water fight."
A with that, I splash a huge amount of water at his chest before turning and running away. Chase chuckles at me before running after me. I squeal loudly, hoping the the nearby houses didn't hear. Chase hits me with a tidal wave and it makes me stumble.
I spin back around and splash him. We were like children, splashing each other in the water. The sun was climbing higher and higher into the sky as we ran like headless fucking chickens in the shallow water.
Chase eventually ends up wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and dunking the both of us under the water. We were both laughing as we surface and Chase gently picks me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as he walks the both of us out of the water.
He lies down one of the towels I had bought, still holding on to me might I add. His strength was amazing and turned me on very easily. That was not surprising at all, really.
He rest me down on my back and then lowers himself down on top of me.
I giggle as he face comes down in front of me, "Hi."
"Hi." He smiles as his face hovers above mine, his eyes flickering over all of my features, "Fuck, you're so beautiful Jones."
"Thank you." I smile as I reach up and run my fingers through the front of his wet hair. The dark strands fell down in front of his eyes and it made my stomach tighten at the sight, "I guess you're okay."
"Wow, you really know how woo me, don't you?" Chase chuckles as he swoops down and presses his lips to mine. He pecks my lips a couple times before trailing his dramatic pecks down my neck, onto both breasts and then onto my stomach.
It makes me giggle at the ticklish sensation and he glances up at me from my stomach with a heart-stopping smile. I reach down and cup his cheek.
He gently grasps my wrists and turns his face to place a soft kiss to the inside of my palm, "Don't look at me like that, Jones. I don't want you to be sad because of me."
"I'm not sad because of you, Everett. I'm sad at the thought of loosing you." I explain softly, trying to keep my fears as well as tears at bay. His eyebrows slant slightly as he glances up at me with such a soft, passionate expression.
"You're overthinking this, Jones." He says as he pushes up so his face was hovering directly above mine once more.
I scoff, "Probably."
"I..." Chase trails off before he shakes away whatever he was thinking, "Please don't worry about that today. I just want today to be normal like every other day."
"Okay. You want normal?" I ask as a smirk cross my lips and I slip one hand into the front of his board shorts. I trail a finger down the length of him and his hips buckle under my touch.
"Hayden..." He growls out as his eyes meet mine.
I wrap my hand around him and peck his lips cheekily, "Shh, this is normal Everett."
✩ ✩ ✩ ✩
We spent the rest of the morning making love on that stretch of sand. We were enclosed by all the trees surrounding us and where no spying eyes could see us. I mean, sure the amount of times we have sex might be a little unhealthy but I've got six damn months to make up for.
After we both had a little nap in the morning sun, we woke up and got dressed. It was about one o'clock by the time we were climbing back into the Range Rover. I definetly had to buy him a present for allowing me to use his vehicle for the whole day.
Chase was falling asleep in the passenger seat beside me and I found it really cute the way he would doze off then wake up suddenly.
Eventually, I pulled into the already packed area of cars and found a parking space.
"Aren't you guys coming here on Saturday?" Chase asks as he stretches his arms above his head, the bottom of his white shirt riding up his abdomen.
"Yeah, but I wanted to come here with you today." I smile softly as I lean across and kiss his cheek, "This is like our second first date."
"How poetic." He says sarcastically as I roll my eyes and clamber out of the driveway. I grab my bikini top from the bag and slip it on underneath my dress. I wasn't about to flash some poor little kid my breasticles on the fucking rollercoaster or something.
Chase, who had made his way around the car, was leaning agains the closed door with his arms folded.
"What?" I ask with a small smile while pulling the straps of the bikini top onto my shoulder.
"Nothing." Chase shakes his head with an adorable grin. I close the back seat door to the vehicle and Chase takes the keys from my palm, locks the car and then intertwines his fingers with mine. We walk through the maze of cars towards the entrance of the carnival, "What else do you have planned for today?"
"If I tell you I'd ruin the surprise." I smirk up at him as he lifts our hands and kisses the back of mine. I giggle as I pull him towards the line for tickets. We slip in between a group of boys who seemed to be in there junior year if not entering into it.
The kept turning around and staring at me. They would also wriggle their eyebrows at each other before chuckling. One boy was brave enough to meet my eyes and I give him a soft smile.
Chase pulls me closer into his side and kisses my neck. I feel his tongue poke out along my skin and I giggle at the sensation as I put my hand to his chest.
"What was that for?" I asked as I stare up at Chase who was glaring at the staring boys. I glance out of the corner of my eye to see all the boy's expression drop and they're heads all swivel to the front.
"Isn't that what the kids say?" Chase smirks down at me, "I licked it so its mine."
I roll my eyes at him while shaking me head. Of course, leave it to Chase to get jealous over a couple of young boys staring at me.
Eventually we bought our tickets and I was pulling Chase through the gates and into the carnival. It seems everyone had shown up for the grand opening. This carnival was a little different than the rest and I realised the town counsel must've paid for an upgrade or something.
I pull Chase over the rollercoaster and we wait in the line. I was practically bouncing up and down on my toes. It had been a while since I had been on one. Chase called me a child, I called him an asshole, and it was magical time.
We went on many rides after that. We also participated in a couple carnival games. I completely crushed a six year old at the water-gun clown game and I won a pair of moustache-glass which I rocked like the boss I was.
"We need to take a picture." I grin up at him through the glass. We were walking through the crowds of people, hand in hand, on our way to get cotton candy. "I need to remember how happy I was in this moment."
"Jones, you say that like I'm not coming back." Chase tells me as I pull his phone from his pocket and bring up the camera. We move over to the side where Chase wraps his arms around my waist. We lean back against the wall of one of the striped tents and I hold the camera up.
Chase presses a kiss to my cheek and I take the picture. He reminded me of the one Mom had taken on our graduation day. And yes, that picture did go up in the guest bathroom but I made her take it down.
It's now apart of the collage of frame photos on the wall of the staircase. It made my heart hurt everytime I saw it when Chase and I weren't together. I did find him staring at it though a few weeks ago.
He was just silent, leaning back against the wooden rails and just staring at it. I never mentioned it to him.
After we had our photo taken, we walked over to the cotton candy machine and Chase paid for one to share.
"Hayden!" I hear and I turn around to see none other than Emily waving at us.
She was standing hand-in-hand with a boy and walks over to us smiling. I hadn't seen him before but he looked like a nice boy.
"Hey, Em." I smile as I mindlessly wrap my hand around Chase's arm as we both turn to face her.
"Hi Chase." Emily smiles at my boyfriend in the way a girl should not be smiling at their friend's partner. I brush it off.
Chase nods with a blank face, "Hi Emily."
"I thought you were hanging out at the house today." I smile as I lean my head against Chase's bicep. Either she was fucking legally blind or just super dumb to see that we were now together.
"We were but Henry here invited me to the carnival." Emily smiles up at the boy who smiles softly back down at her and nods. "I didn't know you guys were coming here today to."
"Like I said last night, Chase is leaving tomorrow so I wanted to spend as much time with him." I explain as Chase takes his time to nod, but then he gazes elsewhere. Emily was staring up at him with those big blue eyes but he wasn't paying her any attention.
"Hey, that cotton candy looks good." Emily says as she points to it in Chase's hand.
"We got it from that machine over there." I point as both Emily and Henry turn their heads.
"Baby, would you want to go get us some?" Emily asks while pouting up at Henry. I noticed the way she glanced at Chase out of the corner of her eye. Was she...was she trying to make him jealous or something?"
"Sure." Henry smiles as he turns and walks over to the machine.
"It looks super sweet." Emily continues as she turns back to us. I shrug as I take another bite.
"There are sweeter things, I guess." I explain as I turn to Chase and place a kiss to his neck. I poke my tongue out in the same manner as he did and I feel him tense under my touch. I settle back down on my heels and wipe the corner of my mouth, "Yup, not as sweet as Chase."
Emily's eyes were wide as she stared at me. I couldn't help but smirk at her as I could feel Chase's stare burning a whole through the side of my head.
"Oh well, we better let you enjoy your date with Henry. Maybe we'll catch up with you guys later?" I ask, already staring to pull Chase away from her.
"I—uh—yeah, sure." Emily nods, completely stunned by what I had just did. She then scratches the back of her neck, "I should go help Henry with the gotten candy."
"You do that." I smile sweetly at her as she glances up at Chase once more before turning and hurrying after Henry. I was giggling to myself as I watched her run away. I can play this game all fucking day, Emily.
My giggling sobered as my gaze trailed up to Chase's face to see the most erotic expression hiding in the depths of his hazel eyes.
"Isn't that what the kids say?" I smirk as I trail a finger along his chest, "I licked it's so its mine."
"Yup, it's time to go home now." Chase announces as he throws the cotton candy in the nearest bin and pulls me out of the carnival like a madman on a mission. Oh this was going to be so fucking sweet.
✩ ✩ ✩ ✩
Luckily, everyone had decided to go to the beach today. When Chase and I arrived back, we came straight to the bedroom. I wasn't sure how much time had passed but after a few rounds and a nap, I woke up the the sun setting.
As we lay, basking in the golden light, I reach over to the bed side table and pulled out a book. I settle back against Chase's body.
"I had so much planned." I pout as I hold up the diary from my past, "We were going to go to the movies, the animal shelter and then we were going to have dinner."
Chase lay on his side next to me, his head propped up by his hand. The sheet was barely covering his pelvis and the top of his hip was sticking up. Chase glances at the pages before me.
"I don't care what we do, Jones, as long as I'm with you." Chase explains as he picks up the top of the book and throws it on the ground, "All I wanted was to spend the day with you."
My heart wrenched as I stared up at him. What the hell was I thinking? I was too busy caught up in trying to show all the reasons for Chase to stay that I forgot to truly spend time with him. He was so damn special.
"I'm sorry." I mumble as Chase frowns at me, "I just wanted this day to be happy so you could remember it like this."
"Hayden, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not going to leave you." Chase grumbles and I could feel him getting angry right now.
I meet his glare, "You can't say that."
His jaw clenches, "Yes I can."
"No you can't!" I exclaim as I push up, "I want to be fucking selfish and keep you here all to myself! But I don't want to be holding you back from something you want as well. That's not fair."
"Hold me back all you fucking want, Hayden Jones." Chase says as he sits up as well. I turn to face him so my folded legs were against the front of his thigh. "I don't care as long as it's you and me. Only us, don't you get that?"
"Yes I do. But like you said you need time to figure things out." I explain as I reach up and play with the strand of hair that had fallen onto his forehead, "Maybe you also need that time to figure out us. We're in this type of honeymoon stage and our judgement is a little bit fuzzy at the moment."
"What are you saying, Jones? Don't fucking tell me you want to break up again. I can't do that—I won't do that." Chase seethes as he takes a hold of my wrist.
"No, I'm not saying that we break up." I laugh at the preposterous accusation. Chase starts playing with my hand in his lap, "I'm saying take your time when you leave. Don't text me, don't call or don't even think about me. I want you to at least experience what the world could be without me."
"I already did and I fucking hated it." Chase mumbles angrily while playing with the fingers of my left hand in his lap. He was increasingly focused on my ring finger and it made my stomach drop because I knew what he was thinking.
"Chase," I sigh out as he glances up at me with a heart-breaking expression, "Please do this for me."
He pauses for a second, "Okay."
"And if you end up choosing me, I'll be so fucking happy." I grin as a smile pulls at his lips, "But if you end up choosing you, I'll be fine with that. This whole time I've been so selfish with you and all you have ever been is kind and giving. I want you to be selfish this time okay?"
Chase nods silently and I lean forward and kiss his lips softly.
"I love you." I whisper as Chase's eyes flicker up to mine.
"I love you." Chase replies as he kisses me back. I smile at him while staring deep into his eyes. Even though I hated it, I at least had to give him a choice. He never had a choice in anything that happened before.
From getting shot to me breaking up with him. None of it was his choice. I loved him so much and I knew he needed this time to figure things out with a clear head. I wasn't going to be there to distract him from his own life.
"Well, after all that vigorous activities, I need a drink." I smirk as I go to turn around my Chase grabs my hand to stop me. I glance over my shoulder at him with a confused frown.
"I'll get it." He explains as he hops out of bed and pulls on his board short. He then crawls back on to the bed and kisses my forehead, "Go have a shower, I'll join you later."
"Okay." I smile at him as he quietly leaves the bedroom. I huff as I throw myself back down on the bed. I felt like crying and screaming but nothing came out. I just stared mindlessly up at the ceiling.
After a bit of silence, I pull myself from the bed and grab a white folded towel from the top of the dresser. As I was wrapping it around my naked body, I could hear cheering and clapping from downstairs.
Then all of a sudden it stops.
I frown at the door but nonetheless continue to wrap my body in the towel and then leave for the bathroom.
hmmmm, wonder what all that cheering was about
guess we'll never know...or will we ;)
also, this piece of beautiful art was sent to me on instagram. i love it with all my heart and it honestly brought a tear to my eye
or several because i was laughing so much while out at dinner with my family and my mascara was not fucking waterproof.
oh well, i love it regardless so thank you to liziibombshell
(i put both because i just love the names)
also, sorry for not updating in a while. i've only updated PRB because those are pre-written chapters
all of my professors are seemingly ganging up on my because all my four-thousand word essays are due tomorrow
anyway i'm technically brain dead but i hoped you enjoyed this chapter!