Trapped in my head

Chapter 56

"We're leaving in five minutes Amelia if you're not ready then we'll leave without you!" Alex yelled up the stairs. They were planning on spending their first day of vacation at the beach, enjoying the sound of the waves, the sun and the quietness. But as always, Amelia was taking forever in the bathroom.

"Hey! Don't yell at her. And we are waiting for her." Link said, making Alex glare at him. It was indeed very funny to watch. "Have you put on sunscreen yet Mer?" Andrew asked her as she was walking around in the open living room, pacing up and down to keep herself busy. "No. It's sticky." She said, continuing to walk around. Andrew sighed, looking at Alex a little helplessly. "Mer, the last time you had a sunburn you couldn't even lay down in bed, for days, remember?" he said, looking at her sternly. She stopped pacing. "I remember." She muttered, scratching her fingers.

"I'm here I'm here we can go!" Amelia said, hurrying down the stairs and nearly tripping over the picnic basket that Winston and Andrew had prepared together.

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Ten minutes later they were at the beach, setting up the parasol next to the three beach basket chairs they had rented for the week as well as the picnic blanket and some camping chairs. Pulling out the sunscreen one more time Andrew held it in front of Meredith who was wearing a short legging and one of his shirts. Looking at him annoyed she took the bottle from him, sighing. He just chuckled at her but his chuckle quickly turned into a grin as she took off her shirt, revealing an olive green swimsuit. "Wow." Andrew whispered, making her look up at him.

She just smiled confidently, starting to apply some sunscreen onto her arms and face. The next few minutes she just stood there, her eyes closed, her arms lifted up a little to make sure the part of skin with sunscreen wouldn't touch her bathing suit as she waited for it to dry. He just chuckled at her. She was so adorable. "You okay?" he asked amused as everyone was already in the water or sunbathing by now. "Mhm." She said, pressing her eyes tightly shut. "I just don't want to feel how sticky my skin is because of the sunscreen." She added, making him smile as he walked over to her and gently placed a kiss on her lips. "What about we go into the water, you won't even feel the stickiness." He suggested, taking her hand in his.

Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes again. "Okay." She said, following him down the beach to the water. "Anything I should know?" he asked before they went in, smiling at her as she looked around. "I hate walking on stones, I don't want to touch any algae and if I see a jelly fish I'm out" she said anxiously, taking a few steps closer to him. "Alright, I don't see any algae here, there are just a few stones and no jelly fishes in sight." He said, placing a kiss on her cheek in order to calm her down. He couldn't even begin to understand how she must be feeling right now since all this kind of sensations she would be met with in the water were quite overwhelming for her. But he wanted to show her how relaxing and refreshing walking through the water can be. He needed her to shut of her mind for once, he needed her to be not overwhelmed right now. Because the past few weeks had been hard for her and she had to take some time to feel her feelings, understand and cope with them and he hoped that this vacation, that certainly included going into the water, would help her with that.

Very slowly she started moving forwards while he just tagged along, wanting to give her as much time as she would need. Carefully she started to walk through the low-levelled water, very aware of every step she took. But he knew that she wasn't relaxed, she wasn't calm and her heartrate was probably way too high. A few minutes later they finally went in completely and swam a little together until they found a spot where they could comfortably stand. "That felt good." She said, taking a deep breath. "And it smells good. Usually the sea smells like fish but right now it's just- salt. I like that." She said, taking another deep breath until she started coughing since she had inhaled too much air at once. He just started laughing. "You're hilarious." He said, leaning in to pull her into a passionate kiss after she had caught her breath again.

They just stood there, kissing, enjoying how the water surrounded them and the soft waves splashed against their bodies. And now, while being so close to her, he could almost feel her heartbeat which was slower now. She was finally starting to enjoy all of this.

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After another twenty minutes swimming around and kissing in the sea he noticed that she was starting to shiver and her lips had turned slightly blue as well. "We should get out and get you warmed up a bit." He suggested, taking her hand and starting to walk back to the beach with her. As they reached their little camp again Meredith was violently shivering in the cold air so that he quickly wrapped a towel around her before drying himself off as well. Sitting down in one of their free chairs he pulled her onto his lap and started to run his hands up and down her arms in order to warm her up again while she cuddled into his chest. "Getting warmer already?" he asked. "Yes." She said, her voice and her whole body still shaking what gave away that she was lying. Reaching back he grabbed another towel and covered her with it as well, holding her close. "Better." She whispered after a few minutes as her trembling started to get less and although she was sure he didn't notice he was indeed very aware of the fact that she was just seconds away from falling asleep. Since he wanted her to get some rest and she was clearly fighting against the sleepiness overtaking her he started to rub her stomach in slow circles and applied some more pressure onto her upper body. And not a minute later she was fast asleep, snoring away happily. She was mentally exhausted and needed every second of sleep she could get to rebuild some energy for all the daily challenges that were about to be put on her. All those challenges she was facing every single day.

So, he just sat there, letting her sleep on him where she felt entirely safe and comfortable. 

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