Imperfectly Beautiful (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #3)

Lighthouses and Labors

Four Months Later—September

-NATALIE-

The refreshing cool breeze of the ocean tousled my dark, curly locks and recently cut bangs around my head as I felt like a princess walking along a stretch of the beach in Martha's Vineyard. My fancy blue sundress that I'd worn for a night in town at an upscale restaurant danced in the wind and I happily gave into my urge to skip while tugging DJ along with me.

He chuckled and took slightly longer strides as a few strands of his brown hair slipped from its ponytail and ruffled around him in sync with the loose flaps of his blazer, dress shirt, and khaki pants, "What's gotten into you, pretty girl?"

"Oh, just life—and love," I smiled and turned so that I skipped just ahead of his path. "Don't you just feel the magic in the air tonight?"

A grin planted on his face and he nodded, "I do, but I've felt it every night this summer with you."

"Yeah?" My cheeks reddened slightly as I twirled again, this time to the side of him where I could dip my toes in the ocean all the while keeping our fingers intertwined.

"Yeah," he nodded as I looked back up at him and into those brown eyes that made me feel like the center of the universe. "I love you, Tallie."

"I love you too," I smiled back as I paused for a minute just to stand and let the water whip around me and he did the same before taking a step closer. "Do you think the magic is a little stronger tonight?"

"Hey, guys!"

I turned my eyes just up ahead to see Nate and Michelle, Maria and Tony, and my cousin, Aiden and his girlfriend who just so happened to be DJ's cousin, Samantha, all standing and waving in our direction except for Nate who had his hands on either side of his mouth for a makeshift megaphone.

I reluctantly let go of DJ's hands and we both picked up our pace to come over to the six of them who'd served as the "adults" on this trip along with Tony's mom, Katherine, who was letting us all stay in her giant beach mansion. In the corner of my eye, I could also see Logan, Simon, Danielle, and their newest friend, our neighbor, Andi, headed over from the opposite direction.

"Alright, guys, listen up, Michelle's feet are sore, Maria isn't feeling great, and Aiden's got to drive back to Boston tomorrow so we decided we're going to head to the house and call it a night," Nate explained and I looked over at my sister and sister-in-law who both looked any day away from having my nieces and nephew. "Now all of you are about to be in high school as of next week, so I think you're old enough that we can trust you to hang out here on the beach and get home by curfew checks on your own. Can we do that?"

Inside, I couldn't help chuckling at the way that Nate had become the self-appointed replacement for Dad when he wasn't around, but I nodded anyway right along with the others who all murmured that we'd be fine and agreed with Tony that we knew about the hidden key in the flower pot just in case on some off chance the butler didn't open the door for us.

"Well, alright, be good, and please, don't do anything you wouldn't do if Mom and Dad or your parents were here," Nate pointed his finger before turning and landing his eyes on me and DJ for a bit too long.

I gave him a look, "I'm sixteen, I know right from wrong, okay?"

"They'll be fine, Nate," Aiden shrugged. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"You don't want me to answer that," Nathan shook his head and looked at him. "I got drunk playing beer pong on the beach when I was in high school."

"Yeah, no drinking, okay? If you do anything, just be safe everybody," Tony reasoned. "No swimming in the ocean or goofing around or whatever. Think before you do something stupid and if you think it might be stupid, don't do it. And trust me, I know, when you're about to do something stupid, there's always that little thought in the back of your head, 'maybe I shouldn't do this'. Listen to that voice. Please."