Family Ties. (A The Strokes Love story)

Chapter 28

June's PoV

I woke up in Julian's arms, blinking away the hallucinatory black spots that the sudden bright sunlight caused.

It was a gorgeous sunny morning, and there was not one cloud in the sky. I stretched and rolled out of Julian's arms carefully so that I wouldn't awaken him.

I looked out of the giant window, and gasped softly when I looked at the sparkling sea. A group of dolphins were swimming through, and they lept out of the water and dove back in gracefully.

"Good morning, beautiful." His voice came suddenly.

I turned to see a sleepy, yet just as attractive Julian sitting up in bed, staring at me.

His hair was tousled and falling slightly in his eyes, which was irresistible.

"Good morning," I replied, blowing a kiss towards him. He extended a hand to 'catch' it, then held it to his heart, closing his eyes and doubling over.

"My mission in life is complete; I've got the kiss of a goddess, right here in my heart." Julian said dramatically.

I laughed and shook my head lightly.

"You're too much, Julesy."

"I know." He replied, with a small smug smile. I rolled my eyes, and opened the balcony window, which let in a warm, salty gust of sea breeze flow into our room.

"What a beautiful day." I gushed mindlessly, stepping out onto the balcony, staring at the sea.

"What a beautiful day, indeed," Julian agreed without hesitation. He walked on to the balcony, admiring the morning.

"Surprise #2 is today," He reminded me with a coy smile.

I smiled back.

"I wonder what it is."

"Not telling you yet, but you'll love it. Also, wear a swimsuit." Julian hinted, winking. I showered, and got dressed, wearing a black bralet and shorts over a strapless gray bikini.

Julian walked out and saw me, shaking his head, with a slight frown.

"What?"

"June, do you ever stop being so beautiful?"

I laughed.

"Oh, stop." I chuckled, trying to cover the pink blush on my face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, so can you tell me what the surprise is now?"

I asked as I walked hand in hand with Julian down the boardwalk. I licked the ice cream cone that Julian treated me to for 'breakfast'.

"Nope." He said, biting into his cone. I playfully swung our hands.

"Please, Julian?"

He finished off his cone, leaving a small crumb on his top lip.

"But if I tell you now, it won't be a surprise." Julian pointed out, chewing the rest of his cone.

I wiped the crumb off his lip as we neared the end of the boardwalk and came upon a dock.

"True-" I said, trailing of in confusion as Julian led me onto the dock.

"Here we are. Surprise #2." He said, holding his hands out to the water where the dock ended abruptly.

"I'm confused," I said to him. Julian said nothing as he stood in the same position, as if he was waiting for the surprise to arrive by boat, or something.

Sure enough, it did.

A middle aged man sped up in front of the dock, in his speedboat.

"Morning, Casablancas!" The guy said, waving to Julian. Julian smiled back.

"Morning, Marty. June, this is Marty. He's a big part of surprise number 2."

I smiled.

"Hi, I'm June." I said, smiling and shaking his hand.

"Hi, June. How would you like to go parasailing today?"

I gasped, smiling and bouncing like a child. Julian smiled at me, squeezing my hand.

"Yes-! I've always wanted to!"

Julian helped me into the boat, then Marty helped us strap into the harness connected to the parachutes. I took my flip flops off, and Julian took his converse off.

"Ready?" Marty asked. Julian interlocked fingers with me.

"Yes!!"

He took off, and before we even knew it, we were above Ocean City.

"Oh my god," I said, taken by the view. Julian looked in awe.

"It's so beautiul..." I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

The sea breeze was perfect and cool, in contrast to the hot weather that the morning sun brought.

I closed my eyes and took in the wonderful salty sea air.

"This is so perfect!" I yelled in happiness. Julian smiled and pointed to my left.

"Look at the sun and the skyline. It looks like they're touching."

"This is the best morning ever," I gushed.

When the ride ended, Marty rode us around in the boat for a while, until the time reached early afternoon.

Near the shore, but not too close, Marty stopped at a clear spot of water. If you looked down, you could see the sand at the bottom.

Julian took off his shirt, looking at me, smiling.

"You coming in?" He asked. I took off my shorts and shirt, and jumped in. The water was so clear, and when I opened my eyes underneath, I could see Julian just like I was wearing goggles.

We swam around the clear area for a while, and when we resurfaced and got on the boat, it was well after 1 o'clock.

"Julian, that was so amazing," I said to him cheerfully as we walked on the boardwalk afterwards.

"Okay, June. I have surprise 2.5 for you."

"2.5?" I laughed.

"Yep. Surprise 2.5 is me telling you that Surprise 3 is also today."

I smiled, and kissed Julian happily.

"I love you so much. I would never be able to imagine me loving someone as much as I love you." I said to him, sitting down on a bench with him.

"I love you too, sweetheart." He replied, his eyes gazing at my lips. I caressed his face gently, then pulled him gently towards me as my hands moved to the back of his neck.

His lips grazed over mine softly, his mouth opening very slowly, opening my mouth as well.

He let go; but he was still so close that his nose was still pressed into my cheek, and vice versa.

We stayed like that for several seconds.

"God. I love you. And the more I say it, the more I feel unsatisfied, because that just simply isn't cutting it to display my love for you."

*~*~*~*~*~

Until Julian decided to reveal Surprise #3, we decided to head back up to the hotel room and relax. Since it was a beautiful day, we had the balcony door wide open. Julian and I laid on the bed, half-watching daytime game shows and smoking cigarettes.

Halfway through a heated round of Family Feud, my cellphone rang. I haven't touched the thing since I put it in my bag.

"Hello?" I asked, having picked it up without looking at the number.

"June," Albert's voice came.

"We need to talk."