Meant To Be

Chapter 5

Oooh btw if the writing is in italic, it means it's either a flashback or a dream or a text message. You can figure it out yourself :)

--Dawson's POV--

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Don't you want to go swimming?" Aria's voice is tremulous.

"If you want to go swim in the freezing cold water, be my guest." I say and roll onto my stomach.

"You were the one that begged me to come here with you and now you don't even want to go swimming with me." She says, disappointed.

"Babe we have 3 months here, we can swim whenever we want just not today."  I tell her and close my eyes.

"Oh, okay then." She pouts and leaves the bedroom.

I groan and force myself to get out of bed. I could barely walk to the bathroom in a straight line but I still do to brush my teeth and wash my face. I put my black swimming trunks on and leave the bathroom shirtless. When I enter the living room, Aria is sitting on the couch and watching television. She is wearing my t-shirt and her favourite grey shorts from H&M. She looks so freaking adorable when she's mad and has that sullen look on her face. 

"Why don't you have your bathing suit on? Aren't we going swimming?" I ask her with a smile.

She looks at me with a surprised look on her face. She practically jumps off the couch and runs to me. Her hands wrap around my neck and I wrap my arms around her waist. She stands on her toes to place a kiss on my cheek and runs to the bedroom to change into her bathing suit.

I check my phone for any text messages or emails but the only text I got was from Noah.

*Enjoy your trip, asshole. Say hi to James for me if  you see him :p*

 I reply with a simple 'thank you' along with a thumbs up emoji and grab a glass from the cabinet to fill it with water. I bring the glass to my mouth as Aria comes out with her bathing suit on and I nearly spit the water back into the glass. She looks incredibly beautiful in that striped bathing suit she bought online. I swear to god, this woman turns me on so much.  

"It's a bit small on me right? I should change into something el-" 

"NO! I mean... no, it looks amazing on you. Should we go?" I interrupt her.

"Yes, let's go. Whoever reaches the dock first wins." She says and starts to sprint on the grass.

I catch up on her easily and within seconds I am carrying her on my shoulder. She is laughing and screaming at the same time while hitting my back with her fists. Her punch is completely harmless and totally pain-free. I put her down when I reach the end of the dock. I dip my toe in the water and try to hide the fact that it's cold as hell. She looks at me one last time before grabbing my hand and I give her a small kiss on her forehead. She dips her toe into the water herself and gives me a shocked look.

"I told you it was cold. Well, there's no turning back now." I laugh at her.

--Aria's POV--

I surprise him by jumping into freezing water. I swim up to the surface expecting to see him standing at the dock but I am proven wrong when I see that the dock is empty. Suddenly, I feel something pulling at my feet. I scream and try to swim out of the water but Dawson appears behind me laughing. 

"You scared the shit out of me Dawson!" My tone is taut.

"I'm sorry, I was just messing with you." He says while laughing.

I move to hide behind the large rock in the lake when Dawson tries to swim towards me. 

"Hey, come here. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that." Guilt is in his voice.

"It's okay, you just startled me a bit." I say truthfully.

"Okay. You want to swim further? It's going to get deeper though." He asks.

"How short do you think I am?" I say with a sarcastic gasp.

"Well, you do have to stand on your toes whenever you kiss me so-" 

I splash him in the face with water and he gasps.

"No you didn't." He says.

"Yes I just did." I reply.

"Here let me make it up to you." 

He swims towards me and he picks me up and says "See, now you're taller than me. Happy now?"

"Very." I say and give him a small peck on the lips. 

He puts me down and we begin to swim further away from the dock. The water is clear as day and the lake is wide and is surrounded by tall trees along with mountains in the distance. We stop in the middle of the lake and my feet can barely touch the rocks at the bottom. Dawson notices me struggling to stand so he turns to face me and picks me up. I wrap my feet around his waist and his hands are on my hips.  

I stare at his lips and I bite the bottom of my own. He moves his right hand from my hips to cup my cheek. He notices me staring and caresses my bottom lip with his thumb. He wets his lips with his tongue and he presses his lips against mine. That familiar scent of mint reappears and my heart beats a thousand times faster than it was only a minute ago. He pulls away from the kiss for a second.

"I love you." He says under his breath.

"I love you more."  I say and press my lips to his again.

And in that moment, I knew that I would always be his and he was always mine. I was safe in his arms and nothing could ever come between us. No argument, no distance, no misunderstanding and nobody could ever separate us. It was him and me, always and forever.