Deals with Daisy // LN4

71 ~ Midnight Swim

Just a small spice warning. Like level one spice... barely spice at all but I'm interested what people think...

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Lando's POV

I hadn't really thought much of this over. If I'm honest then I hadn't thought any of it over and I was now way in over my head. Although I was on step two in my plan to win her over, suddenly I felt as though I was much deeper in the shit than that.

Step One. Reassure her that I'm not interested in Elena...
Okay so I haven't totally nailed step one just yet. I sort of lost my ability to explain that our breakup wasn't temporary as I'd been so thrown off by her choice of vocabulary, as though convinced that it was obvious we were meant for each other. Even though she knew that Elena had broken up with me because of her... I don't think she fully understood that it was because of her.

Step Two. Flirt...
Yes... I am also struggling with this one. If she was ever at all attracted to me I would guess that it was probably only decreasing from the beginning of this holiday - not increasing. I felt like a bumbling idiot, half committing to doing something and then bailing out because I was making even myself cringe from embarrassment. When she wanted to be, she was impossible to read and so the only thing I was really seeing was her cheeks going red and the occasional choking on water... neither was really letting me know that I was actually moving out of the friend-zone at all or whether she just thought I was being ridiculous.

Step Three...
Okay, you got me, I don't have a step three. I hadn't managed to come up with much of a plan with Max earlier because we agreed that Daisy is fucking impossible to read or predict. However it was safe to say that standing with just Daisy on the beach in the pitch black of night was not where I thought step three was going to leave me... and I'm not sure how much of a fan I was of it as I bite my lip and look out at the vastness in front of us. Suddenly teasing her so much this evening felt like it was having it's revenge on me.

"Don't tell me you're chicken Norris?" Daisy teases me, her voice clear as it cut through the otherwise dead quiet night and even though her figure wasn't the easiest to see on the beach, I didn't really need it because I was gripping so tight to her hand there was a real chance I might break it. The beach was so private and the area so quiet that there was only the moon light to see her in and somehow, it was making her glow. She looked ethereal for real and I think that if Mila was here to see her she would be more convinced than ever that Daisy is not from this planet because even after two decades of knowing her, I was feeling some serious doubt as well.

"N-no," I stutter back because the answer was yes. It was a huge yes.

I knew she wanted to do something after the dinner even though everyone else was all tired from big days, she had energy to do something. Hell I was pretty wiped out as well from my revelations but I still wanted to be there for her and so I figured we'd do something easy. However, now that I was standing in the middle of a night so dark that it was almost covering us like a blanket... I was feeling way out of my depth. I didn't like the dark and yes maybe it was stupid but oh well. It was how I felt and when I'd suggested a midnight swim... in my mind I had meant the light up pool at the back of the villa, with lots of lights on for us to stay sane.

Not the beach that was about five minutes away from all other people and lights. "It's just d-dark," I say back, cursing how obvious my lack of confidence was in my voice. It's quick to fade though as Daisy's giggle once more cuts through the darkness and her hand wraps in mine, not just around but fully interlacing her fingers with mine as she steps in front of me.

"Come on silly... it's the same as during the day," she tries to assure me and I just frown lightly, trying to remember if anyone had mentioned any jellyfish issues or sharks. Her fingers draw me back out of my panic though as she traces my cheeks and suddenly I'm only aware of her, carefully caressing my cheek to comfort me, as though trying to physically wipe my fear from my mind... and she's succeeding.