Have a Little Faith

Dakota's POV

Dakota's POV

I spent the majority of the next month in the pool. Whatever muscles hadn't developed in my shoulders from all those years of swimming, were definitely there now. The first couple of hours had been hell, my arms and legs feeling as if they'd fall off, our instructor pushing us until we felt like throwing up. The weather hadn't always been nice - Mark still forcing us to practice even if it began raining.

But the many gruelling hours in the chlorine water payed off when I was finally handed my certificate and applauded by the audience who stood beaming proudly at their children as they passed over the stage one after the other. My audience stood full of pride in the first row, smiling up at me, his golden eyes glimmering in the sun light. I laughed and blew him a kiss, feeling my heart swell with a foreign emotion at all the support he had invested in me, pushing me to do my best and never giving up on me. Countless massages and encouraging words from Levi had gotten me through the training phase. Now I stood proudly on the stage, next to people I had gained as my friends, proud to say that I was a fully accredited life guard.

When the MC had finished his speech and Mark had congratulated us once more we were allowed to leave. I jumped down from the stage and ran to where Levi stood with open arms.

"I'm so proud of you" Levi said, pressing a tender kiss to my forehead.

"I'm pretty proud myself" I said, grinning up at the certificate in my hand. The blue and white border gave the pretty certificate the whole ocean vibe, my name stamped in gleaming letters in the middle.

My eyes flickered up from the certificate and swept across the chairs next to which parents took their children into the arms. My own were somewhere half way across the globe doing god knows what. They hadn't bothered coming to my graduation ceremony in school either. I sighed, my shoulders slumping every so slightly at the fact. I scolded myself for being disappointed once again by their lack of presence.

Not wanting the feeling to weigh me down I wrapped my arms around Levi once more and hugged him tightly. He didn't question me, seemingly knowing what I was thinking. He wrapped his strong arms around me and kissed the crown of my head.

"I want to show you something I've been working on in the little free time I had in the last couple of weeks" I said, glancing up at Levi.

He looked at me questioningly but nodded his head, a small smile tugging at his lips.

* *

After the short drive home in Levi's beautiful car we stepped through the front door of the quiet empty house. A muscle in Levi's cheek twitched at the silence but he carried on after me, kicking off his flip-flops in the entrance and switching on the light for me.

I led the way up to my room and indicated for him to sit on the bed. 


I pulled the easel closer to the bed, and when it was finally close enough I smiled at Levi and pulled the cloth away from the canvas.

It dropped to the floor and Levi's eyes widened as he looked at my painting. A flicker of uncertainty ran through me as I began wringing my hands together. He looked perplexed as he stared at the image. My eyebrows creased as I stepped closer to him.

"You don't like it?"

Levi's eyes flickered from my oil painting to me and back.

"This is... this is incredible" He finally mumbled as he stepped closer to the painting, examining every inch of it.

The picture I had chosen depicted Levi from the back. He was shirtless as he stood at the water's edge, his feet being washed over by the water that had crawled up the beach. His hair was unruly as it blew in the wind. His face was angled towards the ocean but a peaceful smile had settled on his lips as he watched the waves.