falling into your ocean eyes [e.c]

Chapter 1

Eleanor's twitching.

She takes a deep breath, as discreetly as possible, and attempts to focus on the smooth leather of the steering wheel in the grip of her hands. On the empty road ahead, the sun is dipping below the horizon. The blue sky is blending into an endless gradient of warm peach.

But if Eleanor thinks about the settling sun too much, she's forced to think about the way the golden rays caress Louis' cheek as he sits beside her. The way he huffs at the sun visor that stopped doing him any favours and slouches comfortably in his seat, content enough to lean back and soak up the sunshine. The way he's bathed in the soft glow of the sun, golden ribbons of sunlight dancing across the tendrils of hair falling over his eyes. He's utterly radiant.

"You alright there?"

Louis' voice is a soft rasp and Eleanor would've missed it if she wasn't hyperaware of everything about Louis at the moment. She chances a glance and finds Louis now turned to face her, lips quirked slightly. He looks relaxed enough as his tired eyes blink back at Eleanor, but Eleanor doesn't miss the concern woven into the subtle furrow of his brows.

Eleanor turns back towards the road. "Why wouldn't I be?"

She can see Louis' shrug out of the corner of his eye. "You can't sit still enough to drive straight. I'd like to get to the cave in one piece, you know?"

Eleanor huffs a laugh and shakes her head, hair flopping over her eyes slightly. Louis reaches out to slide it back in place, so that Eleanor's view is unobstructed. She would feel bad for her uncharacteristically subpar driving if she doesn't already feel like crawling out of her skin. "You're very, um, distracting."

She manages to catch Louis' slow blinking disbelief morph into an amused quirk of the brow that has Eleanor flushing crimson. She's never been one for subtlety.

She hears Louis' chuckle over the faint hum of the radio. It prompts Eleanor to take her eyes off the road again to allow herself a glimpse of the crinkles she knows will be forming around Louis' eyes. She really needs to focus on the road.

"Sorry, darling."

The apology slips out of her through a barely contained grin, accompanied by a slight hand that reaches out to tap at Eleanor's thigh. Eleanor doesn't think twice before taking it in her own and bringing it to her own smiling lips. Because that's just something they do.

It's what they've always done.

Eleanor and Louis have always been EleanorandLouis; no boundaries in their friendship. There's no distinction, their affectionate nature blurring any pre-existing lines drawn in the sand. Always joined at the hips, tactile to a fault.

Eleanor wonders when it became a necessity for her to be as close to Louis as possible, all the time. She doesn't know which of Louis' soft touches provoked her devotion. She can't distinguish which of Louis' gentle caresses kindled the yearning Eleanor feels for her tenderness; for something more.

For now, Eleanor will take what she can get.

Dusk descends in the time it takes to arrive at the beach, followed by black skies and glimmering stars.

Louis throws himself out of the car before Eleanor has even had a chance to put it in park. He leaps over the railing separating the car park from the shore, immediately sinking his feet into the sand. He throws his head back with a smile and wiggles his toes. Eleanor can't help her own smile forming at the sight.

They make their way to the small cave tucked away into the recesses of the coastline. The only sounds that accompany them are the gentle squish of the sand beneath their feet and the roar of the waves.