My Summer Love Story | ✔️

ch. 53 ✰ forever and always

My thighs land onto the warm and soothing sand as I lean back against it, taking a relaxing breath in. Akash situates beside me and he grabs food to eat from the picnic basket, the bouquet of roses planted on the sand. Whilst that occurs, the soft wind blows around me, tickling my ears as my eyes glaze over his face.

"I'm going to eat a sandwich," I gesture towards the veggie sandwich wrapped around in aluminum foil. "Well, feel free to take it," he winks, and I giggle as I immediately start to unwrap the aluminum foil, revealing a delicious looking sandwich. Then, I delve into the food as Akash takes a bite from his burrito.

"Mm, did you make this?" I ask him, and he nods his head proudly. "Yup, sure did. But you already know about my amazing cooking skills."

"That, I do," I smile. And it's the truth; Akash is an amazing cook, and whenever we go on our dates, he always insists to make food because he's always wanting to show off his wonderful cooking skills. I'm honestly not complaining though because his food is absolutely marvelous, especially compared to mine's because I cannot cook for shit.

As silence infiltrates around us, I find myself looking towards the calming waves that crash onto the shore every now and then. Seagulls caw in the distance as some of them land on the sand, nipping at certain bits and pieces of it.

I indistinctively tear off a piece of bread and throw it towards the seagulls as they scurry over to the one piece, pecking at the bread as Akash and I laugh out loud. "Wow, didn't know seagulls get so worked up over one fragment of bread," he says alongside his laughter.

After that settled down, we stuffed our food away and packed it into the basket. We were basically stuffed by then, so Akash and I decided to take a little stroll alongside the shore. So, we left our items here and I took my sandals off, letting my feet lay amongst the warm sand.

Finally, we get up and walk over to the shore, the sand gradually starting to get wet and sticky. Akash holds my hand as we wander alongside the shore, the freezing cold water sometimes reaching my toes and I clench my teeth together as I try my best to not yelp out loud.

But Akash's hand gripping mine suddenly makes all the freezing-cold feeling seep away from my body, instead replacing it with a warm feeling that settles in my stomach, that same warm feeling that has been there for a while and I just cannot seem to wrap my mind around to what that warm feeling is or even called.

Silence still remains around us, but it's not awkward silence. Instead, this silence speaks words, thousands of words that connect between us. The bond Akash and I share is that special where we don't feel the need to break that certain silence because we appreciate it to a much deeper level.

But I decide to break the silence anyways. "What a hectic few months it's been, huh?"

Akash takes a deep breath in as his hand grips tighter around mine. "I know. But, hey... at least we got through it together." He flashes me a bright smile as I chuckle, beaming up at him. "Yeah, definitely. And part of my happiness is because of you, baby. I mean... I was in such a dark place before we went to Costa Rica, and I know you were annoying when we first started talking—" Akash snorts— "But you turned out to be not so bad, obviously because you're my boyfriend."

"That is true," he gleams. "I'm glad I'm with you, though. And I'm glad you're happy as well."

"And that is all because of you," I sing song. "First of all, you were there for me when my parents went through that horrible accident. And you also made sure that I was happy and satisfied when you opened up a whole new store... that I owned, and just for me. Honestly, Akash, no one has done this for me. So... words cannot truly describe how I feel about all that. Not even a simple thank you will."