❛ i don't want to go to go think i'll make it worse,
everything i know brings me back to us. ❜
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･☼
❛ cousins felt like a second home to the brooke family, year after year they would return to the same place every summer. but this year felt diff...
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chapter nineteen — summers gone
The sun glistened on me as I lay peacefully on the towel beneath me, my eyes softly closed as I reflected on this summer. It hadn't been smooth sailing since day one yet, it had all been leading to this place, these people and him. I felt a smirk creep in on my face as a shadow appeared above me; I concealed my laughter and kept my eyes tightly shut yet the flickering sensation made it difficult.
Cool droplets splattered onto my face as I opened my eyes in surprise to see Conrad's figure shaking as he continued to spill the residue from his hair onto me like a shaggy dog. I couldn't help but laugh making my ribs tighten up from soreness, a tense pain still trapped within my body but I chose to ignore it.
I closed my eyes briefly as I turned my head, still as I was graced by his soft laughter that made butterflies erupt in my stomach.
"You're back," I beamed, staring in awe at his face that was laced with a smile; seeing him happy made me happy and I know it sounded cliche but I loved it.
"I'm back," His voice was hoarse as he leaned over me, slowly tracing around the golden heart necklace he had gifted me.
His hands were cold from when he had been in the sea; the familiar smell of salt and vanilla was engrained and I could loath over it all day. I wanted to stay here all day in Cousins, the sun always shined, the sea was seconds away and Conrad was here.
Our lips connected and we kissed, his lips moving in motion with mine, they were soft as his damp hair left droplets on my forehead I felt myself smiling into the kiss. I pulled away softly to catch my breath noticing the small fade of a smile on Conrad's face.
I felt a book slam shut next to me as I was abruptly startled from my daydreaming, I wasn't in Cousins, Conrad and I weren't together, and Susannah was dead.
I quickly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as people beside me started packing away textbooks and laptops. This wasn't Cousins, in fact, it was far from it, this was the real world and that world was sad and consuming.
"It's the end of the lecture Olivia," A boy I knew vaguely as Noah prompted as he began to stand, I nodded shutting my own book as I gathered my thoughts. I went to shove the book into my bag but I haltered as he placed his hand on the book.
"You're reading The Maze Runner in French?" He questioned, flipping through the pages aimlessly before handing the book back to me.
"Yeah trying to, I fell behind on French and needed a way to keep with it," I answered as I took the book from his grasp, I had little to no energy to carry this conversation.
I've found that with reading escaping to your dreams is easier than living with your memories because memories are cruel and they haunt you.
The distant echoes of my laughter with Conrad were engrained in my mind, the soft sounds of the trees swaying in the wind as the waves rolled in and out. Hand in hand we walked down the path of the beach house as our shoulders bumped into one another. It was the morning after the Debutante ball and I had Conrad to myself; with no distractions or interruptions, he was mine.
