A Fine Line.

Chapter 2.

I laughed to myself as I ran after Harry, flicking sand up with our feet as I chased after his bobbing mass of hair. He cleverly discarded his shirt on the sand mid-run before sloshing into the water with huge leaps over the waves. I rushed in shortly after him, fully clothed as I jumped on his bare back, his incessant laughter filling me with happy, carefree feelings as Harry and I briefly flashed back into childhood mode.

My smile broadened as it was just us two, the images of a chubby, curly haired little boy fighting the currents of water with a little brown haired girl on his back came flooding back to me. All my anxiousness from meeting Harry's friends were eased out of me as I clung to his back, my legs locked around his waist as he held my thighs in place.

"Get off, or you know what happens, Jaycee" his tone was challenging, to which I responded by hugging his shoulders/neck tighter. I closed my eyes, preparing for the inevitable as he chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Okay!" he announced, "3..2..1!"

I held my breath and pressed my cheek against his shoulder and back as he pulled my thighs tighter and pushed us under the deliciously crisp water, the familiar whoosh encircled my ears as we went under the surface of the water.

I began laughing uncontrollably under the rolling water as Harry's hands found my sides and were prodding them lightly and carefully. I opened my eyes briefly to come face to face with my best friends, his long hair was out of curls and floating around aimlessly beside his head, as was mine. We both grinned, blowing bubbles out our noses as we resurfaced with exasperated exhalation before exploding into stupid fits of giggles.

Harry winked at me, preparing me for his body, and with a sort of swift movement he was in my arms, splashing the water around like a toddler. I grinned at him again, my cheeks feeling like they could shatter from the nonstop smile Harry had plastered on my face. He batted his eyelashes at me and threw his hands around my neck as I held him behind his back and under his knees. I shook my head wearily and waded deeper into the water, Harry's weight gradually became basically nonexistent as the water level deepened to my armpits.

"What the hell's this?" an amused voice echoed from what I guessed to be a couple of metres behind us, I blushed profusely at a second glance of the odd position we were in. Harry stood up beside me and instinctively I almost cowered into his side, I wasn't used to new people and I was terribly shy in front of Harry's bandmates. Knowing this, Harry wrapped his arm around my waist as we turned to face the four other shirtless boys who were either grinning, smirking, laughing or a mix of the three.

"Don't bite your lip, Jayce. They're only teasing" Harry murmured next to me as the boys came bounding towards us. I nodded and unhooked my lip from my teeth, unawares I had done it in the first place, and plastered my practiced smile on my face. Self-consciousness and anxiety ran through me as they came closer to us, I inwardly cursed myself for not being more outgoing.

Their splashes covered us from head to toe in a wall of blue and foamy white and suddenly my waist was taken and I was dunked under the water. I struggled for air as the water took me by surprise, I gasped and panicked and surfaced with a fluster, and in an unfamiliar pair of arms.

My eyes practically bulged from my head when everyone erupted in laughter except Harry and I, his eyes matched mine and held his arms out knowingly to me as I desperately broke free from my captors grasp with uncomfortable squirming. I briefly glanced to Louis, Niall and Liam's confused faces and quickly debunked the situation as Zayn who had grabbed me.

I shook my head and buried my head in Harry's chest, using his body to steady my own against the stronger waves that lapped against us. I could practically sense their confused, almost judging gazes on me. I inwardly cursed myself again for my inevitable reactions and quickly mumbled a 'going inside' to Harry before practically running on top of the water to our precious beach house.