strangerThings oneshots

You Bring the Summer

You Bring the Summer

tvaine

Even though the sun shone down from the high and bright blue sky, there was no point in believing it was a wind-free day. Branches of trees were swaying in the cool summer blow that went over the hills and whipped people’s hair. Max didn’t care about the wind that ruffled her hair right now. She was more excited about seeing the ocean again after such a long time.

She could already feel the salty mist on her tongue as she guided Lucas down a pathway that led them to the beach.

When they reached their point, Max stopped them both, loosening their hands before she turned her head around to Lucas. His eyes were widen in shock, a small smile forming on his lips. He couldn’t hide the fact that this, the sea - was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Blue waves of salt came up and licked the sandy beach-side and left sweetness of salt in the air. Lucas needed to get into the water.

“Beautiful, right?” Max said after a while of silence, not really expecting an answer as she already knew what the answer would be. Of course the ocean was beautiful.

Max always saw the ocean as a calm and relaxing spot. Back to when she lived here, in California, she used to sit down on the beach after skateboarding for hours and hours long. Just the feeling of having sand beneath her bare feet, between her toes and to feel the soft sand escaping through her fingers was enough to make her want to stay here forever.

Lucas rushed to take off his shoes and took a spring towards the sea. Max moved slowly behind him, taking in her surroundings after all those years. It was exactly like she had remembered it - however the amount of ice cream shops had increased. A small smile formed on her lips as she thought about how hard it was going to be for Lucas to decide where he wanted to buy his ice cream from.

When Max reached the water, Lucas was already out with water up to his knees. She took off her shoes as well and threw them behind her - hopefully they wouldn't get caught in the waves that lurked up on the land. As her toes met with the water she couldn’t help but feel a shiver running through her body. For being midsummer the water wasn’t exactly hot.

After a while of splashing water at each other, they decided to take a walk along the coast. They both had decided that after Lucas had met the ocean for the first time (and maybe bought an ice cream or two), they would take a walk and then head for Max’s father. She hadn’t seen him for years, only talked over the phone.

Later, when they were walking hand-in-hand there was something that caught Lucas’ eye. He dragged Max along for some meters before he leant down to pick it up. Seeing Lucas being on the beach must’ve been like what her father saw when Max, as a young girl, also was on the beach. It was the same kind of eagerness towards sea shells and other handy things you could come across along the coast.

When she was younger, her father, mother and her would come down to the beach and search for seashells. Or at least her mother and Max would. While her mother and Max sat in the sand, searching for seashells, her father was out on the waves, surfing. When he came back in, she gave him all of the seashells she had found. He used to keep them all, and she hoped that he still did.

Lucas brushed away some sand before a colorful scallop shell came in full sight and Max could see what the enthusiasm came from.

Out of all the shells Max had ever seen, this was quite an ordinary one. It had beautiful combined colors and there was no visible missing pieces - it was a whole, colorful scallop shell. The bright colors on the surface blended beautifully together. Red, orange and a hint of purple.

“Here, have it,” Lucas said, handing it to her.

“No, you take it." She said, putting it back in his hand. "It’s a reminder of the first time you saw the ocean.”

“It’s also a reminder for you as the first time I saw the ocean.”

“That makes no sense,” Max chuckled and locked their hands again. She loved every moment being with Lucas, and even more when it was just them two, alone.

And after quite some time, Lucas realized that their visit to the sea had lasted longer than expected. They had no clocks, but the sun was starting to descend behind the hills - displaying that the evening had come, and it was time to leave.

Earlier they had sat down on a bench and decided to watch the ocean. They sat for quite some time, eating their ice cream and watching as the foamy waves hit land with an unbelievable force, making loud splash-noises.

“If you go throw this, I’ll go start up the car.” Lucas said and handed Max his ice cream cup. He wasn’t a fan of eating ice cream out of a cone. He ate ice cream so slowly that it always melted and would drip down on him before he got the chance to finish it.

“Run and I’ll take your time.” Lucas said as a challenge and started counting as Max started running towards a bin. Seeing Max run towards Lucas again as the sun went down the hills made Lucas think about Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. Her hair was as fiery as the sun, and her big bright smile shone just like the sun did. She was such an unique soul, just like the sea shell he found earlier. Whenever he saw Max, there was a light flutter moving around his body. It felt like there was a force creeping up his face; forcing him to smile. Even her eyes were magic, and if he hadn’t known better he would describe them as the bright blue sky - but now he knew. They were the color of the ocean.