Rising Tides (Human!lapidot)

Chapter 24

Lapis almost squealed when Peridot mentioned going to the beach. The beach was her favourite place to go; it calmed her down when she was stressed or angry and she enjoyed spending most of her evenings just laying on her back in the water and staring at the sky as the sun set. Now she'd get to share all that with Peridot. Though she didn't think the blonde would appreciate it as much as she did.

Peridot was packing essentials when Lapis finally made her way down the stairs and into the living room to see the smaller girl placing suncream into her backpack. She gave Lapis a goofy smile before zipping up the bag and slinging it over her shoulder. Lapis guessed she was ready then.

"You should change into some shorts, its pretty hot today" Lapis glanced out of the window. Surprisingly, the sun was out, shining bright onto the empty street.

Peridot looked at her as if she were crazy. Her eyes darted down to her leg then back up to Lapis. She understood.

"Ok fine, but wear something...less tight" the bluenette had nothing against skinny jeans, but wearing them to the beach was a bad idea.

"I don't think I have anything other than pyjama bottoms and long shorts" Peridot replied quietly, embarrassed at her clothing choice.

"I think I might have something" Lapis suggested with a small shrug.

Peridot blushed and looked sway in an attempt to hide it. But Lapis saw and understood if she was uncomfortable with the idea.

"It's either that or shorts"

The blonde was having a mental debate. Wearing Lapis' clothes did sound nice. Awesome even. But they hadn't known each other for that long so it'd be really awkward on Peridot's side. Right now shorts sounded like a better idea. But would she ever have this opportunity again? Probably not?

"Peridot?"

Peridot jumped slightly at Lapis' voice. She slowly looked up, eyes wide.

"Y'know, I think you should wear shorts but I'll bring some loose trousers if you're that uncomfortable" Lapis had made the decision for her.

"But-"

"No buts, now go change!"

Head down, Peridot stood up and went back to her room. With a small smirk, Lapis made her way to the kitchen for snacks and came across several shop bought sandwiches in a bag. Wow Peridot was prepared. Or maybe she bought them for herself and forgot about them?

Light footsteps sounded from the stairs, muffled by the carpet. Peridot descended slowly and carefully, fingers gripping onto the wooden rail so hard her knuckles were turning white. Sure, she'd gone up and down these stairs with her prosthetic thousands of times but today felt different. She suddenly became very self conscious as she walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but light grey shorts that went down the her knees, an open green flannel shirt with a black shirt underneath and fuzzy rainbow socks, because why not.

"Cute" Lapis blurted before she could stop herself.

Peridot blushed again, fiddling with the long sleeves of her shirt. Another silence broke out. Lapis sighed and picked up the bag and following Peridot back into the living room.

"Do we need anything else?" The bluenette asked as Peridot once again slung the backpack onto her shoulder, took off her socks and slid on a pair of worn sandals.

Peridot shrugged and opened the door for Lapis before walking out after her, getting into her car, and starting it up. The drive to Lapis' house was quiet but it was peaceful.

As the car stopped, Lapis got out, waving a thank you to Peridot before running into her house and grabbing what she needed: her blue bikini, two towels, one to sit on and the other to dry herself, a couple of books and magazines and her phone. Lapis quickly changed into her swimwear before sliding her clothes back on and walking out of the house in record time. It only took about five minutes.

Lapis stepped into the car, pulling her seatbelt over her chest and clicking it into place. Peridot started the car, turned on the radio and set off towards the beach. It was a short ride from Lapis' house, only a two minute drive and a five minute walk. Well, depending on the traffic and how enthusiastic you were about heading to the beach.

The car stopped in the gravel carpark adjacent to the beach and both girls got out and grabbed their stuff from the boot. Peridot was a lot more hesitant, already feeling people staring at her leg as she picked up her green blanket, shut the boot and locked the car.

Lapis noticed Peridot's distress right away and wrapped an arm around the smaller girls shoulders and led her onto the sand.

"I'm gonna get sand in the joints" Peridot sighed to herself, mentally hitting herself for not realising sooner.

"I'll help you get it out back home if it gets to bad" Lapis reassured her, pulling her closer.

They found a nice quiet spot near the edge of the beach where no one was around to question Peridot or flirt with Lapis. Yeah, that happened a lot. But now she had Peridot with her. She could always pretend to be dating her?? Maybe.

She watched as the blonde set down her blanket and sat down, pulling a book from her bag and opening it up on the bookmarked page. Lapis smiled at how cute she looked with her freckles glowing in the light. And her eyes looked even more stunning in the sun.

Lapis pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it down beside Peridot who snapped her head away from her book to stare at it. Her face turned red as she slowly looked up. Lapis looked stunning.

The tan girl smirked at the flustered blonde and spun around. She walked into the ocean and once she was deep enough, dived into the cool water. Instantly, all her troubles faded away as she closed her eyes and let the water rush around her body. This was nice.

From the sand, Peridot stared at the spot where Lapis had dived in, her face as red as a tomato. She was too gay for this...

(Edited)