birds // hs

0.7

After my early morning shift, Harry and I changed into some more suitable clothing and walked to a little diner that he claimed was 'the best damn thing south of Miami'.

Well the lemonade was delicious, I'll give it that much.

"So you're from Washington?"

"Yes," I smiled through a long sip of milkshake. "Seattle. You?"

His dark green eyes stared at me for a long second, like he wasn't sure whether or not to answer. "Augusta."

"Maine?"

"Yeah, but most people don't know that," he grinned. "Is Seattle fun? I mean, what do you do there?"

"Read a lot," I shrugged as he finished his second order of fries. "Listen to music, look dramatically out the window at the falling rain."

He laughed loudly. "Oh really?"

"Yep."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you come all the way down to this shithole? Most people just vacation in Destin or Miami."

"My grandpa lives here, first of all, and I don't know, it just seemed right."

"Interesting."

"Well why did you come here, mysterious mister Styles?" I wriggled my eyebrows at him for effect and he grinned, shaking his head slightly as we got up and left the tiny place.

"Long story," he answered easily. "Family problems, to put it simply."

I squinted up at him through the weak light and sighed in relief as the rain stopped. The sand was now damp and difficult to walk on but Harry insisted that we check on Niall, who had the afternoon shift. Something about a brotherhood and a ham sandwich.

He spotted us from pretty far off and jogged to meet us, his snapback backwards and his tan skin nearly glowing in the fresh light. "Glad to see you survived the sunrise watch, Rachel," he grinned.

"I was late," I sighed, shaking my head. "Liza was pretty pissed."

"She was just in a bad mood," Harry piped up. "She hasn't been laid in like two months."

Niall's jaw dropped. "Two months?"

Of course I felt completely uncomfortable and my cheeks turned to nearly the color of tomatoes but I just cleared my throat and looked at the water.

"Are you coming to the party tonight?" Niall asked me once the previous conversation died off.

"No," I answered immediately. "I um, I have plans."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

He looked at with a sideways grin. "What a shame."

_______________

Harry dropped me off at home in his big black Range Rover and promised to bring my clothes by later, which I told him he didn't have to do. He insisted anyway.

The rest of my evening was spent reading and sorting my room out, unpacking boxes, hanging up clothes, and so on. I hung all my pictures and posters and dug out my favorite old blanket- a big, soft yellow one that my grandma gave my mom after she had me in the hospital. My mom wanted to give it away so I stole it out of its box and hid it away, and now it was my favorite.

After finishing up my room and poking around the old house for a little while, I was sitting on the front porch when a shadow approached on the sidewalk. Of course, I thought the worst.

"Don't freak, it's just Liam," the figure said as it came to the steps. I recognized the broad shoulders and large muscles and felt a weight drop of my shoulders, although I still didn't know this boy much better than I knew a stranger.

"Hey," I smiled, standing so I was in front of him. "What's up?"

"Harry told me you weren't at the party and I sort of thought you might want to hang out or something."

"Um, what did you have in mind?"

He grinned. "How do you feel about shark-watching?"