ғʀᴏᴍ ᴘᴏʀᴛʟᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟ.ᴀ. » ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟ sᴇᴀᴠᴇʏ

Chapter Twenty-Six

Friday, August 31, 2018

I push open the glass doors of JTB's main building on campus and walk out into the warm August air, gushing with satisfaction, relief, and joy.

Today marks the day when my book was approved to be sent through JTB to a publishing company. They will go through an editing process of their own. In about a year, my book will be released to the world.

As soon as I get in my car, I call Blaire and tell her the official news. She rants for ten minutes non-stop about how proud she is of me and I grin with bashful acceptance the entire time.

Once her rambling has come to a close, I tell her that I'm headed to Santa Monica Beach to celebrate with the boys. She insists that I need to stop talking to her and go meet them, but not before she demands that later on I convey every detail of every moment that I have with Daniel tonight.

I've kept her up to date on everything, including when I realized that I'm in love with him, all of the tight hugs we've shared, the late night talks before we say goodnight, and his concern and care for me at all times, so I promise to tell her if anything else happens before she hangs up.

I do not have words to describe how I feel as I drive to Santa Monica with the windows down and the radio on. I feel much like I did the first day I arrived here: careless and simply happy.

JTB is over. No more late nights. No more stress. No more worrying until I'm sick. No more staring at a laptop screen for hours. Just peace and more opportunities to be with the boy I love.

About an hour later, I park the car that technically belongs to the boys in the lot near the beach. The band wanted to go shopping before I finished my classes this afternoon so they got an Uber to bring them down here around noon.

My jaw drops in awe as I open the car door and stand on the ledge next to the seat for a better look at the ocean crashing against the shore in the distance.

This is only the second time I've been to the beach, the first being a trip with the Porters a year and a half ago when they found out I had never been prior to that, and it's even more breathtakingly than I remember.

I scan to the right and don't see the boys, but when I look to the left, I see five figures doing flips in the sand and I know for a fact that I've spotted them.

I've almost reached them without being noticed when Corbyn looks up, sees me, and then screams my name with glee, calling the full attention of the entire group.

Daniel whips around and runs towards me without hesitation, sliding his arms around my waist and spinning me off the ground twice once he reaches me.

"You're all done?!" he exclaims as he sets me back down, in reference to finishing JTB's program.

All I can do is nod rapidly and grin like an idiot because too much joy seems to be blocking any words from leaving my mouth.

***

We've already been here for three hours, but I never want to leave.

My arms extended behind me are the support keeping me upright as my legs are outstretched in the warm sand. I gaze at the sky, once again amazed and stunned by it's beauty.

At the ocean, the view of the sunset is different than it is anywhere else I've ever seen. The expanse is vast and seemingly unbroken; nothing is on the horizon to break up or obscure the landscape that stretches on as far as the eye can see in each direction.

"Appreciating everything again?" Daniel says with a small chuckle.

I look away from what's in front of me to where he's sitting on my right just to swat him on the upper arm with the back of my hand.

He laughs and flinches away saying, "I didn't mean it as an insult; it's fine that you're weird!"

I grab a handful of sand, throw it at him, and then scramble to get to my feet knowing he'll retaliate. He's always been a quicker moving individual so he manages to tackle me to the ground before I even stand all the way up.

Somehow, I escape his arms as a laughing mess and roll several feet away from him.

"Would you two just date already?!" Jack yells from where he and Corbyn are sitting nearby, looking over the scene with smiling faces.

I throw sand at him too before taking off towards Zach and Jonah who are wading knee-deep in the ocean. I start to make my way to them, but ultimately stop running and wait for Daniel who is following me calmly.

"Truce!" he calls as he approaches me, arms raised in the air.

I laugh and nod, signaling my approval.

"I can't get over how gorgeous it is here," I comment as Daniel stands next to me, the water just barely coming in contact with my bare feet.

"I know," he agrees. "You never will. I haven't yet, at least."

We fall into a lapse of silence, content with standing next to each other and laughing lightly as Jonah and Zach - mostly Zach - struggle to push each other under the surface of the water.

Daniel sends a slow clap in their direction when the older boy wins with a triumphant cry.

I shake my head at the twenty year old and seventeen year old who are still acting as if they're twelve.

"Shorty?" Daniel says quietly.

"What?"

"I'm really proud of you."

I turn to look up at his profile, bathed in the light of the descending sun.

"Thank you," I say, and I mean it. "You do know... that I'm here because of you, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Daniel... the whole reason I'm here - in L.A. - at all is because you. It was your idea to let me come stay with you and the guys. You encouraged me when I thought I was worth nothing. You made me believe in my own work to the point where I actually applied to JTB. Everything about where I'm at in life right now came around because you pursued whatever it was you saw in me when we met."

He finally meets my eyes, his own lit up with light, making them more clear than I've ever seen them. His lips are pulled into the smallest of smiles as he looks at me, making my heart beat out of control.

"Everything, Daniel," I whisper. "All thanks to you."