29 - beach day
millies pov
i glanced at my watch as finn and i started to walk back to his cabin, it was almost twelve so i guessed everyone would be awake.
we walked into the room to see everyone sat in a circle on the floor, picking at the food from yesterday morning.
"save some for us, geez!" i said, taking a seat next to sadie. finn took his jacket off and kneeled down next to me, digging into the food in the middle of the circle.
"where were you?" sadie asked between mouthfuls. i felt finns smirk burn into me, but refused to meet his gaze, shrugging and playing it cool. " went for a walk." i said and she dropped it.
"what's today's plan?" gaten asked, smacking his hands together to let crumbs litter the floor.
"we could go back up to that cliff maybe?" caleb replied. my skin prickled at the mention of the cliff, finn and i exchanged glances before i looked down. staring at the carpet my fingers nervously teared.
"um maybe not.." finn said awkwardly, clearing his throat. i didn't look up, i just kept pulling the brown fibres out of the floor until a pile of thread laid scattered in front of me.
"how about a beach day?" sophia piped up, breaking the awkward silence. i nodded, looking up again but still refusing to make eye contact with finn or sadie. i didn't want to think about the night before.
-
stepping onto the sand i felt it immediately entered the sneakers i was wearing, making my feet crunch as i stepped. i stared at the ground as i walked, not speaking.
"you okay?" finn asked, linking his arm into mine. i nodded and met his eyes, smiling weakly. the sight of the cliff in the distance was painful, if finn wasn't there i would be at the bottom of it. the thought made me shudder.
"hey mills.." sophia said, calling me over. i walked to her and looked where she was pointing. "aren't those your shoes?" she said, furrowing her brow. i spotted my white converse, sat in the sand, my socks tucked inside of them.
i looked down at my feet, trying to avoid the question but she squeezed my arm and brought my eyes back up to hers. "what's going on?" she said softly. i sighed and gestured for us to sit down. everyone else joined and all eyes were on me expectantly.
finn sat next to me and grabbed my hand. "you don't have to do this." he whispered into my ear, i shook my head. i did have to.
i opened my mouth and spoke, not stopping until the story was out.
-
everyone stared, open mouthed. i looked down and fiddled with the sand under my hands. "i'm so sorry millie." caleb said, after that a chorus of "me too"s and "yeah"s flooded in. finn just put his arm around me and held onto me. not letting go.
breaking the silence, gaten yelled "noah!" and stood up. i looked over to where he was headed and spotted noah approaching the group, jack and wyatt plastered to his side.
i smiled seeing his face was healing. he looked happy.
he joined the group and we began to forget my story. time started to fade away as we sat, squinting in the sun and talking, laughing, happy.
-
i grinned, finns hands gripped my waist as he held me above his head. he counted to three before letting go and i crashed down into the water, closing my eyes as the coolness seeped into my skin.
i brought my head back up out of the water and met with finns eyes. he smiled and slung his arm around my shoulder.
i turned to look at the sun as it set in the horizon. the waves crashed around us and in the moment i didn't care that my clothes were soaked. everyone else was in the water too, just slightly further along the shore.
finn tugged my arm, pulling me back round to look at him. he brought his hands to my upper back and pulled me closer, leaning in to kiss me.
i smiled into the kiss and shut my eyes, losing myself.
