The Golden Coast: A Locklyle Fanfiction

Part 5

  Lucy sat down on a ridge of sand overlooking the water, kicking off her sandals and dipping her toes into the cool water. A slightly chilly morning breeze ruffled through her hair. She'd been recently letting it grow out of her usual, slightly choppy bob and now kept it just below her shoulders and neatly trimmed. He sat down next to her, their shoulders brushing. 

  Lucy interrupted their silence. "When I was little, me and my sisters would go down to the riverside and just play there. It was our little sanctuary. It was okay, but it felt empty without Norrie." her voice cracked and trailed off.

  Lockwood sensed they were travelling into unfamiliar territory. They held a silence for a few minutes, staring out at the ocean. Lucy leaned against him slightly. Lockwood tensed, then relaxed, but his thoughts were now exploding all over the place.

  "There was an incident. We thought it would be easy to defeat. I went back to report, and I heard screams. I found Norrie ghost-locked on the ground. Our supervisor was there. He saw us and I knew he heard our pleas for help. But he left. He didn't help us, so I wouldn't help him anymore. So I left, just like he left us and I came here." she confessed. "She's probably never gonna wake up." Lucy's lips tightened. 

   "Paul was a little older, protective, and he was usually at the front of the group, along with Steph. I remember patrolling with Julie and Alfie-Joe. We were particularly close, as I was on most of their missions." Lockwood's stomach dropped. "They're all dead?" he asked. Lucy sighed, then whispered a small, sad 'yes'. 

  They sat in silence for a little longer. Lockwood intertwined his fingers with hers. "Those visitors will be arriving in a few hours." he announced to break the silence. "Plenty of time for a quick dip then!" Lucy grinned mischievously, covering up her expression as genuinely as she could, and pulled off her crop top to reveal a strapless dark blue swimsuit, then jumped into the water, dousing Lockwood completely. She came up without even being out of breath, light shades of pink on her cheeks from the sudden cool of the water, the tips of her reddish hair spreading out in the water, glowing in the warm sunlight. "Why do you have a swimsuit on?!" Lockwood gasped, pushing wet strands of his hair out of his eyes. "We're at the beach, doofus!" she said. 

  The shoreside was getting more crowded by the minute. Lucy swam while Lockwood watched, then finally jumped in after her. When he surfaced, he saw Lucy talking to a boy. He was a little shorter than Lockwood, standing a few inches taller than her. He had sandy blonde hair, a golden-brown tan with a spatter of reddish freckles and icy blue eyes. A slightly crooked grin ran across his face and they were chatting nonchalantly like they had been best friends for a lifetime. 

  Lockwood gently touched Lucy on her shoulder. She turned to look at him and her face brightened into her familiar grin. He smiled back at her, glad to see she still reserved it for him. "Oh Lockwood! This is Daniel" Lockwood smiled at him, slightly defensive of Lucy. He quickly quashed his thoughts and stuck out his hand to shake Daniel's. "Just call me Dan." the boy grinned at him as well. "You prefer your last name?" Lockwood nodded. "Right, have a friend who does the same thing." he laughed, not in a mocking way but in a sort of friendly way.

  Lockwood checked his wrist before realizing he'd left his watch behind. "Oh, we might have to get going." he flashed an apologetic smile at Dan. "Our friends are arriving by plane in a short while, and we'll have to spruce up our place." Dan grinned, particularly at Lucy. "It's fine. Guess I'll call you later?" Lucy smiled back at him. "Sure!" She grabbed Lockwood's hand and they both swam back to the shoreside and walked up to the apartment, Lockwood's thoughts pinballing all over the place as they did so.