rome and clem

part five

she took him to a beach. out of all the places they could've gone, a beach?

rome hates beaches. the sand getting stuck in between his toes, it's such a coarse texture and it gets everywhere. he also hates the sound of the ocean, he finds the constant swishing annoying. the only thing good about this whole adventure is the girl walking beside him.

"so, rome, why'd you move schools?" clem asked, her curls bouncing over her shoulder with every large step she took to keep pace with rome.

he shrugged. "eh, certain circumstances transpired into bigger, worse..circumstances."

she laughed, "look, if you don't want to tell me that's cool. just starting conversation."

"just a heavy topic for me." rome answered, she stopped suddenly and he turned back around with a cocked eyebrow. "something wrong?"

"no, quite the opposite, actually. let's sit here." she said, plopping herself down on the sand.

rome gave the sand a disgusted frown before slowly inching closer to the ground and sitting beside her.

she noticed his expression, smiling. "you okay?"

"yeah. I just hate the sand."

"why?"

"it's nothing, just...something about it..makes me feel sad."

"what?" she gasped, "does the complete opposite for." leaning her head back and shutting her eyes to breathe in the fresh air.

he sighed, crossing his ankles over one another. "what do you like about the beach?" he asked.

"what do I not like is the better question." she chuckled. "well, it makes me feel alive, y'know. like the sound of the waves crashing..or when you're by the shore and the water hits your ankles every once in a while..it's also perfect for watching the sunrise and set. it just- it makes me feel like i'm here for a reason."

"here?"

"on earth."

"oh."

she nudged his shoulder playfully. "i'm weird, I know."

"no, no. I don't think that."

"really? my boyfriend tells me i'm as weird as it gets whenever I start rambling on about stuff, thinking too much about everything and anything." she shrugged.

rome brought his eyebrows together, "don't let anyone tell you you're weird. especially not him." he rolled his eyes.

clem caught his eye roll, her lips twitched upwards. "do you know carter or something?"

"carter? who? no...I just.." he trailed off but never finished his sentence.

"can you swim?" she asked after a stretch of silence.

"swim?...yes." he said warily.

she stood up abruptly and extended her hand down to him.

"what're you doing..." he asked.

"we're going to swim."

"we don't have bathing suits."

"we don't need them." she said, pulling her shirt up and off her head.

"shit." he cursed, grabbing her hand and running with her to the water.

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happy new year's eve!