Never Enough // NH au

1.5 in which Juliana is exactly where she needs to be

warnings: swearing, sexual content, mentions of unsafe sex, PLEASE NO READERS UNDER 18

Julianna was restless. She's tossed and turned the whole night, feeling some sort of anxiousness in the pit of her belly. She settled at the table with her journal and a cup of soothing tea. Gordy was asleep on the bed, leaving her thoughts as her only company.

The words were jumbled and didn't quite make sense when Julianna looked at them on the page. She furrowed her eyebrows, sitting back. She took a sip of tea knowing full well that the possibility of sleep was unattainable when her mind was like this.

Julianna did the only thing she could think of that kept her grounded. She tugged her wetsuit on in the kitchen and tied her hair up into a bun on the top of her head. Gordy didn't even stir when she slipped out the back door, bag slung over her shoulder.

Julianna grabbed her surfboard from the porch, taking the steps slowly to the beach. She learned how to surf out here. The waves were calmer than most people would like, but Julianna liked it this way. She liked sitting on her board, feeling the ebb.

Julianna reasoned, there was a part inside of her who liked to loosen control. To give it up and let something else make the choices for a while. She didn't have to think while she was on her board.

The moment she climbed on her board, her mind cleared. The initial shock of coldness caught her breath in her throat. It wasn't long before the warmth filled her body. Julianna found herself laying on her stomach, eyes drifting shut as the ocean pushed her toward the shore, not allowing her to get lost.

It wasn't scary to put her trust in the ocean. When the tide pushed her away, instead of pulling her in, Julianna knew she was safe. Time didn't exist while she was out here.

Only when her fingers were pruned and her cheeks were frozen, did Julianna finally think about getting out. Her eyes drifted between the two houses. There was something about being here that made Julianna think it wasn't a coincidence that she met Niall.

Could it be? That someone had a hand in the events that lead them both to end up here in no mans land. It's what Julianna wanted to believe. Fate and destiny and all of the words that mean 'you were meant to end up here' comforted Julianna. They kept her sane when her mind was spinning.

Julianna saw Niall's door open just as her toes dug into the sand for the first time in what felt like hours. She watched as he walked down to the shore, two cups of coffee in his hand.

She was bursting. Julianna smiled, setting her board down as he approached her. Niall kissed her softly, asking, "how long have you been out here?"

"I dunno," Julianna chuckled, reaching behind her to unzip her wet suit. "What time is it?"

"Nearly nine," he told her.

"Then almost four hours," Julianna nodded, pulling her arms out of her sleeves. She pushed the second skin off of her body, bending down to grab her towel out of her bag. She toweled at her stomach, not mentioning the way Niall was watching her.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked.

Julianna shook her head, pulling a sweater out of her bag. She pulled it over her head and grabbed her sweatpants, tugging those on. Julianna took the coffee from Niall, kissing him gently. "Thank you," she murmured.

They sat down in the sand, a silence settling over them. Julianna sipped the coffee gratefully. She felt tired for the first time all night.

It was no coincidence, Julianna told herself, that they were here. It wasn't. She sipped her coffee, letting the warmth fill her up.