Euphoria | Sapnap

twenty-three

Ashlyn POV.

The difference in temperature from back in Texas to here in Brighton was noticeable, instead of a warm breeze blowing in our face it was a cool one. Nevertheless the sun was shining and I could feel the heat burning my exposed shoulders.

We were walking to the beach, which wasn't far from our B&B, I was glad because secretly I was still a little tired from the flight over here.

Everyone was walking in front of me, mostly chatting amongst themselves. I wanted to join in their conversation but I couldn't help myself from taking this walk to clear my head a little.

It was peaceful here, there wasn't loud chatter and busy traffic. Instead, I could hear the birds tweeting and the small crashes of the sea against the wooden pier. I felt a smile on my face, it was calming to be back in a place I loved so much, but this time I was with people I had grown so close to.

"I love you guys."

I don't realise the sentence leaves my mouth until Punz turns towards me with smirk on his face.

"Has being back home made you soppy?" He asks, with no judgement, but instead a warming smile on his face.

"I guess it's made me realise how lucky I am to have met you all." I continue speaking my thoughts to the man I really haven't known that long.

He was walking in front of me, Harper walking closely next to him. His pale hand was tightly connected with her tanned one, it made me happy to see them this way. I've always wanted Harper to find someone who treats her respectfully, even more so after she was there for me through my messy break up.

When I concentrate on their hands again, something was different. Punz was no longer next to her and when my eyes look for him, he was now walking to the left of me. Harper didn't seem to notice as she continued to laugh with George and Clay.

"I know you probably don't want to hear this right now and he'd surely punch a tooth right from my mouth if he knew I even suggested this." He talks fast, barely taking a breath in between words.

"But Sapnap is not the same man he was when you met him. It's cliche, I know that. But if I really think about it I've seen him smile more in the last month or so then I have the whole time I've known him."

I was looking carefully at him, waiting for a loud laugh or a break in his serious stare. I was waiting for any sign to tell me he was joking, but he held his stare, only confirming he was being serious.

"Sapnap doesn't do dating and he certainly isn't one to show any emotion other than hate and anger." My voice holds sadness when I speak.

Punz noticeably frowns as the words leave my mouth, clearly he was expecting me to agree with him. I didn't want to agree with him, I didn't want to hold enough hope in Sapnap being a changed person only for him to rip it all away again.

"You still think of him so lowly? Why?" He sounded confused. After all the years he had known Sapnap I was puzzled at the fact he didn't know why I still held up a wall. He must've seen Sapnap act this way before, I know there's a poor girl out there somewhere who thought he loved and cared for her.

"I wonder what her name is." I slowly talk.

"What?" I hear confusion laced in his voice.

"Never mind." I compose myself, flicking my hair off my shoulders. Coming into view before us was the cobbled beach, giving me the perfect reason to walk swiftly away from Punz and join our chatting friends.

"I still can't believe this is the first time you've taken me to see your home Ashlyn!" Harper looks genuinely amazed at the beach adjacent to us.