One of us is lonely

Chapter 3

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FINN ZIGZAGGED THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE SOUTH, Red on the back of his bicycle. She had her headphones in, bobbing along to The Killers as they drove away from Oliver's mansion and towards the beach. She stretched out her arms and tilted her head back, enjoying the fresh breeze in her hair. The afternoon sun was hot on her skin and she remembered she had forgotten to put on sunscreen. Well, she thought, in a few hours at least she'd live up to her nickname. Finn made a soft right turn that caught Red's attention. They rode ahead, Mira, Gabriel, and Jake following closely behind. They had never taken this route before. Their usual hangout spot was on the left of the bakery, but now Finn rode right. As they drove a bit further, Red recognized the trees and the houses. They became less and less luxurious as they passed them by. 

"Finn, what are you doing?" Red was quick to jump off her brother's bike as he stopped at a place she knew all too well. It was the border between North and South. A few feet more to their right was the Patio. 

"I thought I'd show the guys this side of the beach." He said with a shrug but Red crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head in disbelief. "Red, what? It's the most beautiful part of town." 

"No Southsiders, remember?"  She growled. "Finn, we made that damn rule." 

"It's no big deal, Red. We'll stay on the Southside, alright? No harm done." She kept shaking her head, but Finn turned around. He was not in the mood to deal with his sister's stubbornness. If two years ago, a group of Southsiders would've come as close to the border as they were now, Finn would've beaten them up. They'd think twice before coming again. Now he shook hands with those exact people and laughed and hugged as they made their way down the beach. As time passed, Finn became more and more like them. Their mother did too and Red, she stayed exactly the same, longing to go back to where she belonged. 

"That's far enough, Finn." She warned as her brother came dangerously close to The Patio. She could see the trunk of the fallen tree and the remains of an extinguished fire. She let out a breath of relief as she noticed no Northsiders near. Finn obeyed his little sister, sitting down in the sand a few feet away from the border. Mira and the guys followed, letting themselves fall down in the warm summer heat. Mira spread out a towel and took off her shoes, lying down next to Gabriel. Her blonde hair was tousled over his sunkissed skin and he lovingly stroked her arm. Jake opened the cooler that Mira had brought and fished a few bottles of beer out of it. 

"Toss me one," Red said, holding her hands up in the air, ready to catch a bottle. Jake quickly looked at Finn, asking for permission and Red rolled her eyes. "Jake, you gave me a bottle of vodka for my eighteenth birthday," she reminded him. "I think I can handle a beer." Finn smirked and softly shrugged. 

"She's her own boss, man," Finn explained. "Nothing I can say would stop her." 

"You'd do better to remember that." Red teased. She popped the cap off her bottle and put it to her lips, allowing the bitter liquid to enter. Jake softly smiled and shook his head. He was the last addition to their little group, even after Finn and Red. He'd moved from New York with his parents almost a year ago. Red had first met him on her birthday and Jake, not being aware of how old she actually was, had brought a bottle of vodka for the birthday girl. In his defence, Mira had told him to "just bring some food or drinks". While the others had stayed with beers and some takeaway, Jake had gone all out with a very expensive bottle of vodka. The look on his face when Finn pretended to be mad at him for giving hard liquor to an eighteen-year-old, was priceless. Ever since then he was careful when giving Red anything with alcohol in it. 

They spend their entire afternoon at the quiet spot on the beach. Every now and then a few hikers would pass by them but most of the time it was just the five of them. Mira and Red sat side to side, watching as the boys tossed a ball around. They laughed as Finn tackled Gabriel to the ground in order to take the ball from him. He in return, scrabbled up and lifted Finn off the sand. He was a big guy, almost 6"3, so he took the much smaller, pale boy from the ground with ease. Jake ran towards them, helping Gabriel to toss Finn in the water. They yelled and screamed and Finn writhed in their grip. It was no use though. He was quickly thrown in the water and both Gabriel and Jake jumped on top of him to keep him under for a little while. 

"He had that coming." Mira laughed as Finn struggled to get above water. 

"That's what you get for being a dick," Red replied. Finn eventually managed to escape Gabriel's grip and ran after Gabriel and Jake as they made their way back to the girls, laughing and pushing each other around. As boys do. A dripping wet Gabriel then decided that Mira would be his next victim. Before she knew it, he'd lifted her off the ground and carried her through the sand, she squealed and he spun her around. Finn dried his curls with his towel before sitting down next to Red in the sand. It was a little after five when they eventually all managed to make their way back to the circle. Jake handed the bag of chips around and complained about there not being any more beer while Mira took the last can of coke. The afternoon had been kinda nice, Red had to admit it. It reminded her so much of her days in the North, only now it wasn't just her or her brother or her and PJ. Now she had some actually friends who weren't half that bad. Now she could go home to take a nice long shower and have a decent meal instead of yesterday's leftovers. She would go to bed without a single worry on her mind and tomorrow they would do it all over again. She couldn't understand how all of that didn't make her happy. Why she longed to go back to a life running from the law. 

"No fucking way!" Gabriel suddenly shouted, jumping up from his spot next to Mira and running off into the distance. The four others looked at what had made Gabriel jump up in excitement and they saw the silhouette of a boy getting closer to them. Gabriel hugged the guy and they did some weird handshake before making their way back to the group. 

"Who's that?" Red asked curiously. She watched as the guy came closer. He was tall with sunkissed skin and messy light brown hair. He wore a pair of navy blue swim trunks low on his hips, an unbuttoned shirt on top of it that showed off an impressive set of abs. He laughed alongside Gabriel, talking about something Red couldn't understand. 

"That, my friend," Mira said, a strange smile on her lips, "Is Ares Blythe." 

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A BIT SHORTER and a bit of a filler, but these chapters are also crucial to the story. Hope you liked it! As always, your votes and comments are so insanely important to me. 

I love you! ✖ ELENA