4am

nine

There is no way that Saffron can be expected to sleep after the events of this afternoon. It's almost 1am when she decides to check if Noah - her boyfriend - is awake.

    Sure enough, light is radiating from his bedroom window, through the shut blinds. As if sensing her watching, he suddenly pulls them up and she sees him slouching in his window seat, looking as wide awake as she feels. He waves and she waves back, noting that their kiss(es) and new relationship status have only served to make her feel even more jittery at the sight of him.

    However, instead of the gap of heavy, humid air between their two windows, they're now separated by a torrential downpour of rain.

    Deciding against opening her window and letting everything get soaked, Saffron tries to think of an alternative. Her face lights up when she spots an old sketchpad she never used. She grabs it, along with a permanent marker off her desk.

Hi :)

    Noah quickly reads the paper them smiles, turning away from the window and disappearing from her sight. He returns a few minutes later, holding a notebook and a Sharpie.

Hi, good idea with the paper!

    She notices that his handwriting is the same rough scrawl that originally wrote her the wifi code and, more importantly, his mobile number. The thought makes her chest contract; perhaps that's what it feels like to have a boyfriend you actually have a crush on.

    For about ten minutes they exchange mindless notes and pointless doodles, until Noah's eyes glow with excitement and he begins quickly scribbling something on a new page of his notebook. At last, he reads it through then holds it up.

I've got an idea: let's sneak out and go to the Little Beach. I'll drive us there - it will be awesome.

    Saffron thinks back to the wild-hearted laughter of their afternoon there previously, then thinks about how much better it would be now that they're together. The response is obvious.

Sounds great. Meet you round the front in like 5 mins?

    Noah flashes her a thumbs up then turns around and grabs a jacket along with the keys to Leila's car. He'll pay her back for the petrol later.

When he gets outside Saffron is already there, sheltering from the heavy - although thankfully not too cold - rain.

    "Hey," he whispers.

    "Hey," she replies. Then, remembering that now that she's his girlfriend he can kiss her whenever he wants, Noah does just that. She smiles against his lips. "I've never sneaked out at night before."

    "Me neither; I guess there's a first time for everything."

☆

If Saffron thought the Little Beach was amazing in the daytime, it would have to be described as awe-inspiring by night.

    The sand is still soft between her toes; the sea still laps gently at the shore, but somehow the silvery light reflecting off the water makes it feel far more magical.

    The rain continues falling persistently, soaking her clothes and plastering her dark hair to her head, but she doesn't feel cold.

    Since they're already wet, they figure they may as well just go straight into the sea. So they do, plunging head first into the cold water with their fingers twisted together.

    Laughter ripples through them both as they splash each other, the salty water stinging their skin and their eyes. Anyone onlooking would probably find them immature and silly, but they're alone on the beach - and, besides, they couldn't care less about anyone but each other.