Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 11

Julian

I've never slept in the same room as a girl. I never had a girl come up to me and ask me to sleep in the same room as them. When Isla came to me last night, I was shocked to see her standing there. At first, I thought I may have been dreaming, but I hadn't. She was standing there, worry edged all over her face. I had been worried that she was scared about something or that maybe she was hurt, but she just needed company.

I was glad to be in her company because I didn't know how scared she was of being in a house all alone. I have lived on my own before and have done it enough to not be scared anymore. But Isla hadn't been alone before, and that's why she needed me to stay with her.

When I wake up the next morning, I place my hand in the air to meet the ceiling. I hadn't gotten used to sleeping on a top bunk because I usually sleep on the bottom one. But when she had asked for me to sleep on the top one—to be more close to her—I couldn't say no. She was exhausted and needed me to comply so she could fall asleep. I was there for her.

I swing my leg off the bed and sit up in my spot slowly. Then I lower my legs to the ladder and climb down as quietly as I can. Isla has proven to wake up later than I do, so I knew that she would be okay, and I didn't want to disturb her rest. I climbed down the ladder to see that I was correct and that Isla was sleeping. Her hair was a mess around her face, but her face looked calm in the way she breathed in and out softly.


I leave her to her slumber, quietly grab my phone, and leave the room. I close the door behind myself and head upstairs to my room. After heading to the bathroom and doing all that I needed to do, I find myself in the kitchen. But once I get in the kitchen, I find that we have run out of breakfast food. I knew that the organization had booked this house and ordered food along with it to last up until we were leaving. It was us who had overstayed our welcome; therefore, there isn't any more food for us.

I close the fridge and head back into the living room. I debate whether I want to go out and get breakfast from the store but then decide against it. I didn't want to go out and buy food just for one day here, so I thought about going out and ordering something instead. But that plan would be a loss if I were going into a cafe here on this island; I might as well dine in. But then I'd be eating breakfast without Isla, and I didn't want her to think that after cooking meals for her for the past two days, I was leaving her to fend for herself.


So, I decide to wait it out, and when Isla wakes up, the both of us can go and get something together. I stay on my phone as I wait for her, and after thirty minutes, Isla emerges into the living room with a hand under her shirt and one in her hair. She looks like a mess, and yet, the look works for her.


Once my eyes make their way over to her face, she gives me a little smile. "I'm so tired today. Did you make breakfast yet?"


"Sorry," I say to her with a thin-lined smile. The other days, she hadn't expected me to make food for her, and yet the first time she was expecting it, I did not withhold it. It makes me feel weird knowing that, in a way, I'm disappointing someone. "There isn't any food here. I thought that we would go out and get something."


"Oh," she says, dropping her hand from her hair but keeping the hand under her shirt where a silver of her stomach was showing.


"Yeah," I say with a little shrug, eyes darting away from her exposed skin. "But as long as you have already packed, we can eat breakfast and go out and do things until our flight."


Her eyes lit up at that, liking the fact that we can make the most of the half-day we have. She had been all about enjoying our last full day to the maximum yesterday, which is why we swam in the dark yesterday. I wasn't ready for that, and yet, it was kind of fun. It was kind of awkward when we stumbled into each other, and well, I knew that I had messed up by looking at her lips. I didn't know what came over me except for the fact that I was caught up in the moment. I didn't even know her, and to want to kiss her was something else. I was used to her these past two days, which was the reason I got caught up. Thankfully, it wasn't too awkward afterward, and Isla had moved on.


She gives me a large smile as she turns on her heels and says, "Let me put on an outfit and then come check on my suitcases. I'm definitely down to explore this island one last time."


"Okay, I'll be waiting here," I shout back to her, but she has already headed out to her room once again. I don't have to wait too long until she is back in a new outfit and has some more clothes in her hands. The outfit that she has on is a casual one that consists of a white tank top with light-colored flowers and a pair of jeans. She puts away the extra clothes in her suitcases, and then I watch as she struggles to close them.


I put my phone away in my pockets and headed toward her. Dropping next to her, I say, "As amusing as watching your struggle is, here, let me do it."


She slaps my arm, and I let it brush past me because I was used to this now. I place my hand on the zipper and another on the suitcase, pushing it down and closing it smoothly. Once I'm down, I grab the suitcase by the handle and stand up. Isla stands up next to me, and I wheel the suitcase by the front door, where mine was already waiting there. I turn back to where Isla was standing with a sweater in her hand, and my mouth slightly drops at the fact that we forgot one.


"When did you notice that wasn't inside?" I ask her, starting to move down to unzip the suitcase. She shakes her head at me as she chuckles. "This is for the airport, Julian. It gets cold down there."


"That's true," I say to her, and she places the sweater on her suitcase before turning to me. Clapping her hands together, she says, "Well, let's go."