Fallin' for ya... and for you, and maybe you too?

chapter 1

Brady smiled at his computer for the first time in days. He couldn't help himself from grinning ear to ear,  not when he finally had a positive answer ! He couldn't wait to tell Mack, she was going to freak out. He could picture her face as he told her the news, and the vision made him chuckle quietly.

He suddenly got the urge to get up and dance around. While he indulged himself, someone cleared their throat behind him. Still clutching his air guitar, he turned around to face the intruder.

"Mack !" How did she manage to always have perfect timing ? She was smiling fondly at him, dressed in a black and pink surf suit, her long hair in a ponytail. 

"Don't stop just because I'm here," said Mack. "I'm enjoying the show."

"Nah,  now that you're here I don't have to dance alone. Come on !" Brady held his hand in invitation.

Mack laughed and seized his hand. They began to dance around the room, making up the steps as they went and laughing along the way. They stopped dancing slowly, their eyes fixated on each other, the distance between them growing lesser and lesser until they were hugging, holding each other tightly.

"Um, Brady ? Why are we hugging ?"

"Shhh, just enjoy the moment, will you ? Isn't it nice ?" Brady held her even tighter, his hands gently moving across her back.

Mack relaxed in his arms. He could feel her shoulders loose their tension as she hid her face in the crook of his neck. She was taking deep breaths as if she was trying to regain control of herself. Which meant something bothered her.

"Mack ? Are you okay ? Do you need to tell me something ?" He spoke as gently as he could. Brady didn't want to force her to share anything she wasn't comfortable with, but at the same time she was obviously distressed about something and he needed to help her.

"Can we talk later ?" Her voice was so small and insecure, so unlike her, it made Brady's throat tighten. He only squeezed her tight one last time in answer before letting her go.

"Okay. You wanna go to the beach ?" He hoped a bit of surfing would be enough to distract her from her worries and make her smile again.

"Yeah, that's why I came by actually, to see if you were up for a bit of surfing with me," replied Mack. She already looked more like her usual self, confident and flirty.

"Oh, I'm always up for it when it comes to you," said Brady. Mack lifted her eyebrows and bit her lip, staying silent and waiting. What he said finally registered and he blushed.

"Not like that ! It wasn't an innuendo !" She grinned at him and batted her eyelashes, taking the few steps between them until they were once more close enough to touch. She lifted her arms and settled them around his neck. He took the hint.

"Unless... You want it to be an innuendo ?" His heart was racing, and close as they were he was certain she could feel it against her own ribcage.

Her only answer was to kiss him. She tilted her head upwards, never breaking eye-contact. She looked at him as if to say well, what are you waiting for ? Get your mouth down there ! He obliged and lowered his face to meet hers. She smiled and sighed against his lips and he drank her in. They were both smiling through the kiss, which made it a bit awkward, but neither cared. Brady's hands moved out of their own volition, one around Mack's back to keep her close, the other behind her ear and across the side of her neck where it meets the skull.

Mack broke the kiss first. She rested her forehead on his chest for a few seconds then met his gaze again.

"So, we're going to the beach of what?"