Unexpected
Chapter 19
Charlie’s POV:
“Get up get up get uuuuup! Time to go to the beach!” I groan as I hear Emma’s sing song voice very close to me. I open one of my sleep heavy eyes to see two big blue gems staring down inches away from my face through a mess of curly blonde hair.
I reach for my iPhone on the night stand and see that it’s barely 8:00 in the morning. On my day off.
“S’too early.” I mumble as I roll over and cover my face with a pillow. Apparently that’s not the answer Emma wanted to hear as my warm blankets are ripped from their place on my bed.
“Nope! Charlie Elizabeth Cadigan, I did not fly all this way to sleep in when we have a perfectly good beach at our disposal. Now, you get up before I throw cold water on you.” I flip her the bird, but also drag myself up in a sitting position, knowing that she would actually pour water on me if I didn’t start moving.
“You’re lucky I like you so much.” I mutter as I rub the sleep from my eyes. She laughs and picks up our room phone, punching a few numbers in before plopping down on her bed. I look over and see she’s already in beach attire, sporting a stark white cover up over her favorite green sequined bikini.
“Hi! Charlie and I want to go to the beach. So get the boys up and we’re meeting downstairs in 30 minutes for breakfast. Thank you, dear! Byeee!” I’m assuming it’s Niall she’s speaking to as her bye has more than one ‘e’ on the end.
After she’s off the phone I call down to Paul’s room and double check that it’s okay we go to the beach. He informs me that there’s a private beach a few minutes down the road that he has already approved of and tells me he’ll get the security team ready to leave within the hour.
I walk over to the bathroom and make myself beach presentable. I throw my hair up in a bun and wash my face before brushing my teeth.
“So which of these new suits are you wearing? You have to make sure it’s a cute one so you make a good impression on Mr. Styles.” I walk out of the bathroom, mouth filled with toothpaste, and see Emma pulling out all the suits from my case.
“I wahs hinkhen da noow what whun. ” I say and she gives me a confused look. I run to the sink and spit the foam from my mouth out in the sink. “I was thinking the new white one.” I yell from the bathroom.
“Ooo! Very cute. Mama approves.” She says as she walks over to the bathroom and tosses the suit at me. “Now hurry up! I want to soak up as much sun as I possibly can before we leave!”
I change into my suit, and check myself out in the mirror before throwing on my cover up. The top of the suit is a bandeau style; a large broach is fashioned in the middle of the top with bright colored gems on it. The bottom has tie strings on both sides, the strings being a turquoise color. I put my cover up on over my suit and pack my beach bag with the necessities: sunscreen, tanning lotion, a huge towel, sunglasses, my iPod, a water bottle and the newest edition of Cosmo.
Emma and I make our way to the elevator and head to the breakfast buffet in the lobby. We grab ourselves plates of eggs, bacon and toast and go outside to sit on the covered deck in the back of the hotel.
The boys finally make it down after ten minutes of us sitting there and I laugh when I see how tired they all look. Zayn already has his sunglasses on, sits down next to me nursing a steaming cup of coffee.
“Morning, babe. Sleep well?” I crunch down on a crisp piece of bacon and laugh as he flips me off. He is one of the worst morning people I have ever met. Louis, Liam and Harry all come back a few minutes later with food and I feel butterflies enter my stomach as Harry winks at me before sitting down across from me at our table.
“This is great, guys! The lad working the buffet said it’s all you can eat!” Niall bounds over with two heaping plates of food.
“I think that’s what ‘buffet’ means, Ni.” Louis sarcastically replies through a mouthful of eggs
“Are you sure you can finish all of that, mate?” Liam laughs as he takes a bite of his toast. Niall tucks a napkin into his cutoff before grabbing a fork and digging into his eggs.
“Watch me!” We all laugh and chatter while everyone finishes up their food, Niall of course eating every single morsel off his two plates. Paul comes over and tells us he has the shuttle waiting outside to take us to the private beach. We all grab our bags and head to the front.
“Will there be surfboards there? I’d really fancy catching a wave or two.” Liam exclaims and Louis agrees with him.
“We’re got someone coming out to give some lessons, I knew one of you would want to.” Paul says as we head out the door. Thankfully it’s still early and there are only a few paps waiting in the bushes to take our pictures.
“I just want to lay down on a towel and sleep.” Zayn mutters as we pile into the shuttle and zoom off to our destination. It only takes us about ten minutes to get there after we wind down a small dirt road to a secluded parking lot right next to a gorgeous sliver of beach.
We all scramble out of the shuttle and make our way to the water. The sand is hot and smooth underneath our feet and we jog to a spot close to the waves, hurrying to throw our towels down to have something to keep our feet from burning. The boys strip down in seconds and are running like mad men towards the ocean.
“Wait! You forgot your sunscreen!” I yell at them, realizing afterwards how motherly I sound. Emma laughs as she peels her cover up over her head. I follow suit, loving the way the hot sun scorches my newly uncovered skin. I take out my bottle of sunscreen and begin to lather a thin layer all over my body. Like hell I’m going to burn on our first day here! I get my arms, legs, chest and stomach and have to ask Emma to get my back.
I hear a loud wolf whistle coming a couple hundred feet away from us as she bends down to get my lower back. I look over and see the boys watching us from their spot in the ocean. I shake my head and Emma laughs as she finishes me and I begin to do her.
After we are properly protected, we swiftly tip toe through the blistering sand and finally make it to the edge of the ocean. I put a hand over my brow, noticing how far the boys have gotten out. Emma and I slowly make our way into the warm water. The waves are fairly calm, some occasionally pushing her and I back towards the shore.
I let my hair out of its bun on my head and dive under a wave coming right at us. Instant terror fills me as I feel my top flip down my stomach. I cough as I come up for air and try to fix my suit.
“You okay?” Emma is looking at me with a concerned look and I give her a sheepish grin.
“Remind me to not dive underneath any more waves unless I want to flash everyone here!” She falls into the oncoming wave in fits of laughter. We finally get out to the boys and I’m thankful when I realize that the ocean floor is a foot higher so I don’t feel like I’m drowning. The waves are more relaxed out here as we all float around in the crystal clear water.
Emma swims over to Niall and tightly grasps his neck. My heart flutters as I see him give her a quick peck on the cheek. Ugh, they’re so cute it’s almost sickening.
“Oi! None of that out here!” Louis yells and I see Niall’s face grow pink underneath the bright sun while Emma just sticks her tongue out at him. I’m looking around, confused as to why I don’t see a curly mop of hair anywhere when suddenly I shriek at the top of my lungs as I feel something grab onto my ankles and pull me under water.
I come up spluttering and wiping my eyes from the salty water that has begun to irritate them and I hear a deep chuckle resonating from a warm body very close to mine. I don’t have to have my eyes open to know that two green orbs are staring down at me. I finally manage to get them open and I, of course, see Harry standing inches away from me with a huge dimpled grin on his face.
“What was that for?!” I say as I punch him in the shoulder, only causing him to laugh even more.
“Sorry, love. Just wanted to freak you out.” He smiles and I am instantly no longer angry at him. The power this boy has over me with just those stupid crooked smiles of his. He can never know that, because I am fairly certain he would use it as a weapon against me.
He slides his arm around my waist and pulls me close to his bare chest. I sense my heartbeat start to irregulate, hoping he can’t feel it, as he leans in close to whisper in my ear.
“That suit looks amazing on you.” He breathes, I shudder at the closeness of his mouth to my ear and feel his slick ringlets tickling my temple. I’m about to lean in slightly so I can feel his cheek on mine, but I see Zayn giving us a confused look out of the corner of my eye. I quickly step out of Harry’s grasp on me and swim over to Louis and grab onto his neck from behind.
I try to focus on the conversation Liam and Louis are having but I feel Zayn’s piercing stare burning into the side of my face. Shit. I bet he saw that whole thing. Not helping the cause, Charlie. Pull yourself together! Again, hating how much of an effect that stupid curly headed boy has on me.
We swim around in the ocean for a little while longer before we’re all heading towards the shore. Emma and I want to start sun bathing as soon as possible, Zayn also agreeing with the idea. Louis and Liam run over to their bags and start putting on their wetsuits, arguing over who will catch the biggest wave when they go surfing. The two children, Harry and Niall, have decided they’re going to make the largest sandcastle Miami has ever seen.
As the group goes their separate ways, Zayn, Emma and I all flatten out our towels and stretch out on them. I let the sun evaporate the remaining water off of my body before lathering myself up with my coconut scented tanning oil.
“Do you want any sunscreen or lotion, Z?” I turn to look at Zayn who is sprawled out on his stomach.
“Nah. I don’t burn. Only tan.” I huff and remember how dark skinned he already is. I lay down on my towel and pop in my headphones, sneakily playing the boys’ songs. It’s terrible how much I love their music now and is almost surreal that I know them personally. Sometimes I forget who I work for.
After an hour of baking, Emma and I make our way back down the beach to cool off, leaving Zayn snoozing on his towel. We come across Niall and Harry working extremely hard on their sandcastle. It actually doesn’t look half bad. I watch as Harry smoothes off one side of the base, his pink tongue poking out of the side of his mouth and his brow furrowed in concentration. A sheen of sweat has developed in between his shoulder blades and I can feel my stomach tighten as I watch his back muscles tense when he begins to dig a moat around the castle.
He looks up through his mess of hair, extra curly from the salt water, and smirks at me.
“Enjoying the view, love?” My cheeks start to burn as I watch him continue to dig.
“I-uh, you really need sunscreen, Styles. I can already start to see you turning pink.” Good save, Charlie.
“You too, Ni. I’ll go get some sunscreen so they can put it on.” Emma runs up to our bags and grabs the lotion. Harry and Niall stand up and dust off before walking over to us. Emma squirts a dollop of white cream into my hands and I make a spinning motion with my finger towards Harry. He chuckles and turns around so I can get his back.
I don’t realize my hands are shaking as I lift them up to start working the lotion onto his shoulders. As I glide over his warm skin, I take the time to enjoy the absolute perfection of his back. I start to feel muscles I didn’t even know existed on the human body. I smile inwardly when he shudders as I trace my fingertips slowly down his spine. I am having WAY too much fun with this. Once I’m finished, he turns around and stares down at me with hooded eyes.
“Thank you.” Is all he says and I can barely keep my knees from knocking together. Niall has begun to get his front and he throws Harry the bottle. I watch as he rubs the lotion over his well-built biceps, then focusing his attention on his solid pectorals. He can tell he’s making me salivate so he lifts his arms up to get the undersides of them, flexing as he worked. I began to question whether or not I was going to be able to wait three more days to make up my mind.
Emma has to drag me away from the boys towards the ocean so I stop oogling Harry.
“You are so smitten right now.” Emma says to me as I still haven’t taken my eyes off of the boy in the bright yellow swim trunks. She splashes me to get my attention and I finally break my gaze to look at her smiling face.
“What?”
“You haven’t been able to keep your eyes off of him this entire time! Smitten.” She points at me and I sigh loudly.
“Can you blame me? It’s kind of hard to focus when I have to look at him shirtless while he rubs lotion all over his..” I trail off as I daydream about his muscles, slick with sunscreen. Emma splashes me again, earning her a death glare.
“Then what are you waiting for! You didn’t even need three days! Go for it! You deserve it. He’s SO fit.” She says before dunking her head under water to wet her hair down.
“I mean, yeah, he is very nice to look at. But, that’s only one part of it. I want to make sure he’s definitely changed.” Emma rolls her eyes at me and crosses her arms over her green sequined chest.
“Sometimes you think too much. I think you’re just scared. You and Niall have both told me how much he’s changed over the past few weeks. You have your proof!”
As much as I didn’t want to believe her, she was right. I was stalling. Of course I was scared! I hadn’t been with anyone since Eric. It was just hard to make the first move. But I knew if I didn’t then he never would; he knows that would be crossing the line. Hell, all of this is crossing the line. We’d have to have a conversation about it if we were to actually start something between us.
“I can’t figure out if you’re the angel on my shoulder, or the devil.” She smirks before laying back to float with the waves.
“I’d like to think of myself as being a bit of both.”
We spend the entire day at the beach. Paul has our lunch brought out to our place in the sand, and we sit and eat under the shade of the canopy Niall and Liam put together for us. When the sun starts to set, we all take a plethora of sunset pictures, which mostly ends up being the five boys doing crazy things in front of the camera as Emma and I crack up while we capture it on film.
Paul has every base covered as he and a few security guards carry down handfuls of wood to make a fire along with fixings for hotdogs and s’mores. It’s quite entertaining to watch Zayn try to make a fire, telling us over and over again that he’s a true fire master. He finally gets a good one going and we all start to make our dogs and s’mores.
I’m sitting cross legged on my towel next to Niall who has Emma sitting in his lap. Of course, Niall is the messiest eater, finding a way to get marshmallow all over his cheeks. Which Emma cleans off while giggling uncontrollably; again, the cutest couple I have ever witnessed.
After we’re stuffed with food, Niall brings out his guitar and the strums a few of their songs while the boys harmonize along. I bet every fan girl would KILL to witness this. It’s chilling the way each of them sing so in sync with one another.
After Niall puts his guitar away so he can lay down on the towel next to Emma and look at the stars, I deep in conversation with Liam when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up over my head and see Harry staring down at me.
“Wanna go for a walk?” I look over at Emma who heard what he said and she shoots me a
huge grin before giving me two thumbs up. I gulp as I take Harry’s hand to stand up, brushing off my legs from the sand. I follow silently beside him as we walk down by the edge of the water. The sun has completely set by this time and the air has gotten less steamy.
I close my eyes and try to focus on the calming sound of the waves crashing on the sand, but it does no good for my poor heart, beating away like a maniac. I’m alone. With Harry. On a beach. It’s all too perfect. Could I really do this?
“Did you have fun today?” Harry asks beside me and I look up into his eyes, admiring the shadows playing on his face made by the moon’s glow. I nod and muster up whatever smile I could.
“Mmm, it was a great time. I especially liked when you and I kicked butt at Chicken. Liam was getting so angry at Louis that he kept falling off his shoulders!” Harry deep laugh echoes over the sand and he slings a heavy arm over my shoulders.
“We are a pretty great team aren’t we, love?” As many times as he’s called me that, my chest tightens when I hear him call me ‘love’. Does that mean something? I mean, have I really already made up my mind?
“I haven’t been to a beach in so long. Not after our vacation to Greece.” I look up at Harry as he speaks again, our pace has slowed as we drag our feet through the tide creeping up on the damp sand.
“What happened?” He smirks before he stares down at his feet.
“I went out to the beach late one night because I liked watching the waves at night. It’s just so…peaceful. You know? It’s almost like a whole different world at night. Compared to when it’s congested with hundreds of people. At night, you can truly appreciate the beauty of the sea. Anyways, my mom freaked out at scolded me for an entire week. After that, we never went back.”
I stopped in my tracks as he finished his thoughts and he looked at me quizzically.
“What’s wrong?” He didn’t understand why I had such a big smile on my face when I shook my head at him.
“Nothing. It’s just, funny. The same thing happened to me. Ironic how something so similar happened to both of us.” I look up into his gaze and breathe in sharply as I take in his moon washed features.
And that was when I felt it. The switch I had been waiting for. I was going for it. It was too perfect to not just GO FOR IT.
“Harry..there’s something I want to tell you.” I dropped my gaze to my fingers, binding them together tightly. I had my eyes closed and was trying to calm my breathing when I felt a large hand cover both of my knotted ones. My heart thudded loudly in my ears as he took one of my hands in his, rubbing his thumb gently against my knuckles.
“What is it, love?” I took a deep breath before I looked back up into his sparkling eyes.
You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. Oh shit. Try not to focus on his perfect hand grabbing yours right now. Come on. You can do this.
“Well..I uh..I guess what I want to…see, there’s um..” I stumble my words like an idiot as I try to get the words to just come out of my mouth. Just tell him you like him! It’s not that hard!
“Calm down, Charlie, before you hurt yourself.” He chuckles and I feel my cheeks burn as he notices my anxiety. I realize I probably won’t be able to tell him without sounding like a complete moron.
“I think it would be best if I just showed you.” I whisper, just so he can hear, and I let my hand fall from his warm grasp as I inch closer to him, never loosing eye contact. At this point in time, my heart is hammering so hard against my ribcage, I’m afraid it might burst out of my chest. I see his eyes grow wide as I lift my arms and lock them behind his neck, feeling his baby curls tickle my thumbs.
I step up on my tip toes and pull him down close to me until our lips are ghosting over each other. I can feel his warm breath wash over my face, laced with the sweet scent of chocolate and marshmallows. He’s closed his eyes, waiting for me to move the last inch, and I do as I press a chaste kiss to his lips.
It feels like my head is about to explode as I melt into his perfect mouth. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me flat against his chest as our lips move in absolute synchronization with each other.
After a minute, I feel his tongue slowly dart out to trace my bottom lip, and I separate my slightly swollen lips to let him enter. I’m thankful he has such a tight grip around me because I would be a pool of goo on the sand with the magic he’s performing with his tongue. Our kiss deepens and I feel my hands reaching up to grasp onto his slightly stiff curls, rewarding me with a throaty groan that jolts right to my center.
We finally unlock our lips from each other and rest our foreheads together, panting for air. I lick over my swollen lips as I massage Harry’s scalp with my fingertips. How had I gone this long without kissing him? I mean, I know we’d already kissed, but this time I actually wanted it to happen. I felt Harry sigh deeply as he began rubbing circles on my spine with his thumbs.
“Well, I can say without hesitation that that was the nicest thing anyone has ever had to say to me.” I giggle as I lift my head up to look into his eyes, and my breath catches in my throat. Seeing him for the first time after our first real kiss is like witnessing a whole new person.
Every little thing about him has been intensified. I appreciate his beauty more than I ever had before. He smirks and I watch as the dimple shadows on his cheek. I unlock one of my hands and stick my pointer finger in the indent, shocking him in the process.
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” I mumble as I stare at his beautiful face. His chuckle vibrates against my chest. After I’ve had my fill with his dimple, I let my palm rest against his cheek. My thumb runs lazily over the heated flesh and I feel one of his hands leave my waist to grab my hand and press it against his hot mouth. Tiny fireworks go off in my chest as he places small kisses against my palm and on the underside of my wrist before he puts it back on his cheek and closes his eyes at the touch.
“I’m so glad..Charlie, I’m so happy. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you properly.” He whispers while he continues to shut his eyes. I can’t manage to not feel him on me so I put my other hand on the opposite cheek and pull him in for a slow, yet passionate, kiss. I sigh as I revel in the perfection that is his lips. It just feels so right.
I pull away slowly and drop my voice in a serious tone as I press my forehead against his again.
“I know. It took me a while to come around, but I really wanted to kiss you too. I just want you to know, this isn’t going to be easy. I don’t want to lose my job. We’re going to have to be very secretive about this. Don’t tell anyone.” I feel him nod in agreement against me as I continue.
“And, I would really like to take this slow. I’m still..I’m still kind of messed up from Eric. I can’t..I don’t want to get hurt again.” I feel my heart sink as I the thought of my heart breaking crosses my mind.
“We can go as slow as you want, love. And just know that I will never, ever hurt you. And I’ll kill anyone who does. I care a lot about you, Charlie. And I’m never going to let you go.” He pulls me closer to him and I can tell that he’s being completely sincere, which in turn makes my heart inflate three sizes larger.
I nestle my head in the crook of his neck, placing a soft kiss on his visible collarbone. We hold each other tight for a few minutes before letting go to walk down the beach hand in hand and back towards the fire. I of course let go of his hand before we are visible to the gang.
“Jeez! You guys are finally back! We thought we were going to have to send Paul and the crew to come find you two!” Louis yells from his spot next to Liam and Zayn.
Zayn.
I look over at him and I can tell that his eyes are narrowed from the light bouncing off his angular face from the fire. I sit down next to Harry on my towel and think about the best time to tell Zayn. He has a right to know. He’s my best friend, besides Emma. And I want to explain the entire situation to him.
But when to do it?
///
We are all exhausted from our day at the beach as we make our way back to the hotel. The car ride was definitely interesting as Harry and I held hands underneath my beach bag. His thumb traced shapes on my wrist, sending tingles up my spine.
I couldn’t believe I had just kissed Harry Styles. It’s going down as the best kiss I have ever had. Hands down. Well, he didn’t have much to compete with seeing as how Eric was probably the worst kisser on the planet. So. Much. Tongue.
We pull up to the hotel and all scramble out and into the air conditioned lobby. Everyone is leaning up against a wall as we ride the elevator up to our rooms. Harry and I walk slower behind everyone so we can have a few seconds alone in the hallway to ourselves. Niall and Emma kiss quickly outside our door as she opens up our door and walks in, winking at me before shutting it behind her.
Again, we find ourselves standing outside my door at the end of another amazing night. Harry grabs my hands, enveloping my small ones in his. I admire the already tanned skin of his forearms as he whispers.
“Tonight was amazing.” I look up into his dazzling green eyes and can’t help but smile widely.
“Yeah. It really was.” We stare at each other for a while before he takes one of his hands and presses his pointer finger underneath my chin, slowly pulling me close to him. He bends down and our lips meet again, giving me a warm sensation in the pit of my stomach. He finally lets go of my chin and I stay there for a second with my eyes closed, enjoying the after effect of his kiss.
He chuckles as I blink out of my haze when he pulls one of my hands up to his mouth and places a gentle kiss on my knuckles before looking up at me with burning green eyes.
“Goodnight, love. Sweet dreams.” With that, he smiles and walks down towards his room. I wait until he shuts his door to press my body against my door and slid down until I’m sitting on the floor.
Wow.
///
Harry’s POV:
FINALLY.
IT HAPPENED.
I could barely think straight as I walked down to my room after leaving Charlie in front of hers.
She finally let me in.
I closed my door and did a little fist pump in the air as I shucked my clothes off on the floor and pulled out a new pair of Calvin Klein’s to sleep in.
I jumped into bed and sighed heavily as I recapped the day in my head. From seeing Charlie in a bathing suit for the first time. WOW. And then the very nice run down she was gave me when she was lotioning my back. I could tell she was starting to lose it. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of me.
And then the kiss. The most perfect kiss I could have ever experienced. And it was with Charlie.
CHARLIE.
This girl has become one of my most important sources of happiness. She just makes my head fuzzy and my heart beat harder than a hammer beats a nail. She is so beautiful, inside and out.
And she’s all mine.
“Get up get up get uuuuup! Time to go to the beach!” I groan as I hear Emma’s sing song voice very close to me. I open one of my sleep heavy eyes to see two big blue gems staring down inches away from my face through a mess of curly blonde hair.
I reach for my iPhone on the night stand and see that it’s barely 8:00 in the morning. On my day off.
“S’too early.” I mumble as I roll over and cover my face with a pillow. Apparently that’s not the answer Emma wanted to hear as my warm blankets are ripped from their place on my bed.
“Nope! Charlie Elizabeth Cadigan, I did not fly all this way to sleep in when we have a perfectly good beach at our disposal. Now, you get up before I throw cold water on you.” I flip her the bird, but also drag myself up in a sitting position, knowing that she would actually pour water on me if I didn’t start moving.
“You’re lucky I like you so much.” I mutter as I rub the sleep from my eyes. She laughs and picks up our room phone, punching a few numbers in before plopping down on her bed. I look over and see she’s already in beach attire, sporting a stark white cover up over her favorite green sequined bikini.
“Hi! Charlie and I want to go to the beach. So get the boys up and we’re meeting downstairs in 30 minutes for breakfast. Thank you, dear! Byeee!” I’m assuming it’s Niall she’s speaking to as her bye has more than one ‘e’ on the end.
After she’s off the phone I call down to Paul’s room and double check that it’s okay we go to the beach. He informs me that there’s a private beach a few minutes down the road that he has already approved of and tells me he’ll get the security team ready to leave within the hour.
I walk over to the bathroom and make myself beach presentable. I throw my hair up in a bun and wash my face before brushing my teeth.
“So which of these new suits are you wearing? You have to make sure it’s a cute one so you make a good impression on Mr. Styles.” I walk out of the bathroom, mouth filled with toothpaste, and see Emma pulling out all the suits from my case.
“I wahs hinkhen da noow what whun. ” I say and she gives me a confused look. I run to the sink and spit the foam from my mouth out in the sink. “I was thinking the new white one.” I yell from the bathroom.
“Ooo! Very cute. Mama approves.” She says as she walks over to the bathroom and tosses the suit at me. “Now hurry up! I want to soak up as much sun as I possibly can before we leave!”
I change into my suit, and check myself out in the mirror before throwing on my cover up. The top of the suit is a bandeau style; a large broach is fashioned in the middle of the top with bright colored gems on it. The bottom has tie strings on both sides, the strings being a turquoise color. I put my cover up on over my suit and pack my beach bag with the necessities: sunscreen, tanning lotion, a huge towel, sunglasses, my iPod, a water bottle and the newest edition of Cosmo.
Emma and I make our way to the elevator and head to the breakfast buffet in the lobby. We grab ourselves plates of eggs, bacon and toast and go outside to sit on the covered deck in the back of the hotel.
The boys finally make it down after ten minutes of us sitting there and I laugh when I see how tired they all look. Zayn already has his sunglasses on, sits down next to me nursing a steaming cup of coffee.
“Morning, babe. Sleep well?” I crunch down on a crisp piece of bacon and laugh as he flips me off. He is one of the worst morning people I have ever met. Louis, Liam and Harry all come back a few minutes later with food and I feel butterflies enter my stomach as Harry winks at me before sitting down across from me at our table.
“This is great, guys! The lad working the buffet said it’s all you can eat!” Niall bounds over with two heaping plates of food.
“I think that’s what ‘buffet’ means, Ni.” Louis sarcastically replies through a mouthful of eggs
“Are you sure you can finish all of that, mate?” Liam laughs as he takes a bite of his toast. Niall tucks a napkin into his cutoff before grabbing a fork and digging into his eggs.
“Watch me!” We all laugh and chatter while everyone finishes up their food, Niall of course eating every single morsel off his two plates. Paul comes over and tells us he has the shuttle waiting outside to take us to the private beach. We all grab our bags and head to the front.
“Will there be surfboards there? I’d really fancy catching a wave or two.” Liam exclaims and Louis agrees with him.
“We’re got someone coming out to give some lessons, I knew one of you would want to.” Paul says as we head out the door. Thankfully it’s still early and there are only a few paps waiting in the bushes to take our pictures.
“I just want to lay down on a towel and sleep.” Zayn mutters as we pile into the shuttle and zoom off to our destination. It only takes us about ten minutes to get there after we wind down a small dirt road to a secluded parking lot right next to a gorgeous sliver of beach.
We all scramble out of the shuttle and make our way to the water. The sand is hot and smooth underneath our feet and we jog to a spot close to the waves, hurrying to throw our towels down to have something to keep our feet from burning. The boys strip down in seconds and are running like mad men towards the ocean.
“Wait! You forgot your sunscreen!” I yell at them, realizing afterwards how motherly I sound. Emma laughs as she peels her cover up over her head. I follow suit, loving the way the hot sun scorches my newly uncovered skin. I take out my bottle of sunscreen and begin to lather a thin layer all over my body. Like hell I’m going to burn on our first day here! I get my arms, legs, chest and stomach and have to ask Emma to get my back.
I hear a loud wolf whistle coming a couple hundred feet away from us as she bends down to get my lower back. I look over and see the boys watching us from their spot in the ocean. I shake my head and Emma laughs as she finishes me and I begin to do her.
After we are properly protected, we swiftly tip toe through the blistering sand and finally make it to the edge of the ocean. I put a hand over my brow, noticing how far the boys have gotten out. Emma and I slowly make our way into the warm water. The waves are fairly calm, some occasionally pushing her and I back towards the shore.
I let my hair out of its bun on my head and dive under a wave coming right at us. Instant terror fills me as I feel my top flip down my stomach. I cough as I come up for air and try to fix my suit.
“You okay?” Emma is looking at me with a concerned look and I give her a sheepish grin.
“Remind me to not dive underneath any more waves unless I want to flash everyone here!” She falls into the oncoming wave in fits of laughter. We finally get out to the boys and I’m thankful when I realize that the ocean floor is a foot higher so I don’t feel like I’m drowning. The waves are more relaxed out here as we all float around in the crystal clear water.
Emma swims over to Niall and tightly grasps his neck. My heart flutters as I see him give her a quick peck on the cheek. Ugh, they’re so cute it’s almost sickening.
“Oi! None of that out here!” Louis yells and I see Niall’s face grow pink underneath the bright sun while Emma just sticks her tongue out at him. I’m looking around, confused as to why I don’t see a curly mop of hair anywhere when suddenly I shriek at the top of my lungs as I feel something grab onto my ankles and pull me under water.
I come up spluttering and wiping my eyes from the salty water that has begun to irritate them and I hear a deep chuckle resonating from a warm body very close to mine. I don’t have to have my eyes open to know that two green orbs are staring down at me. I finally manage to get them open and I, of course, see Harry standing inches away from me with a huge dimpled grin on his face.
“What was that for?!” I say as I punch him in the shoulder, only causing him to laugh even more.
“Sorry, love. Just wanted to freak you out.” He smiles and I am instantly no longer angry at him. The power this boy has over me with just those stupid crooked smiles of his. He can never know that, because I am fairly certain he would use it as a weapon against me.
He slides his arm around my waist and pulls me close to his bare chest. I sense my heartbeat start to irregulate, hoping he can’t feel it, as he leans in close to whisper in my ear.
“That suit looks amazing on you.” He breathes, I shudder at the closeness of his mouth to my ear and feel his slick ringlets tickling my temple. I’m about to lean in slightly so I can feel his cheek on mine, but I see Zayn giving us a confused look out of the corner of my eye. I quickly step out of Harry’s grasp on me and swim over to Louis and grab onto his neck from behind.
I try to focus on the conversation Liam and Louis are having but I feel Zayn’s piercing stare burning into the side of my face. Shit. I bet he saw that whole thing. Not helping the cause, Charlie. Pull yourself together! Again, hating how much of an effect that stupid curly headed boy has on me.
We swim around in the ocean for a little while longer before we’re all heading towards the shore. Emma and I want to start sun bathing as soon as possible, Zayn also agreeing with the idea. Louis and Liam run over to their bags and start putting on their wetsuits, arguing over who will catch the biggest wave when they go surfing. The two children, Harry and Niall, have decided they’re going to make the largest sandcastle Miami has ever seen.
As the group goes their separate ways, Zayn, Emma and I all flatten out our towels and stretch out on them. I let the sun evaporate the remaining water off of my body before lathering myself up with my coconut scented tanning oil.
“Do you want any sunscreen or lotion, Z?” I turn to look at Zayn who is sprawled out on his stomach.
“Nah. I don’t burn. Only tan.” I huff and remember how dark skinned he already is. I lay down on my towel and pop in my headphones, sneakily playing the boys’ songs. It’s terrible how much I love their music now and is almost surreal that I know them personally. Sometimes I forget who I work for.
After an hour of baking, Emma and I make our way back down the beach to cool off, leaving Zayn snoozing on his towel. We come across Niall and Harry working extremely hard on their sandcastle. It actually doesn’t look half bad. I watch as Harry smoothes off one side of the base, his pink tongue poking out of the side of his mouth and his brow furrowed in concentration. A sheen of sweat has developed in between his shoulder blades and I can feel my stomach tighten as I watch his back muscles tense when he begins to dig a moat around the castle.
He looks up through his mess of hair, extra curly from the salt water, and smirks at me.
“Enjoying the view, love?” My cheeks start to burn as I watch him continue to dig.
“I-uh, you really need sunscreen, Styles. I can already start to see you turning pink.” Good save, Charlie.
“You too, Ni. I’ll go get some sunscreen so they can put it on.” Emma runs up to our bags and grabs the lotion. Harry and Niall stand up and dust off before walking over to us. Emma squirts a dollop of white cream into my hands and I make a spinning motion with my finger towards Harry. He chuckles and turns around so I can get his back.
I don’t realize my hands are shaking as I lift them up to start working the lotion onto his shoulders. As I glide over his warm skin, I take the time to enjoy the absolute perfection of his back. I start to feel muscles I didn’t even know existed on the human body. I smile inwardly when he shudders as I trace my fingertips slowly down his spine. I am having WAY too much fun with this. Once I’m finished, he turns around and stares down at me with hooded eyes.
“Thank you.” Is all he says and I can barely keep my knees from knocking together. Niall has begun to get his front and he throws Harry the bottle. I watch as he rubs the lotion over his well-built biceps, then focusing his attention on his solid pectorals. He can tell he’s making me salivate so he lifts his arms up to get the undersides of them, flexing as he worked. I began to question whether or not I was going to be able to wait three more days to make up my mind.
Emma has to drag me away from the boys towards the ocean so I stop oogling Harry.
“You are so smitten right now.” Emma says to me as I still haven’t taken my eyes off of the boy in the bright yellow swim trunks. She splashes me to get my attention and I finally break my gaze to look at her smiling face.
“What?”
“You haven’t been able to keep your eyes off of him this entire time! Smitten.” She points at me and I sigh loudly.
“Can you blame me? It’s kind of hard to focus when I have to look at him shirtless while he rubs lotion all over his..” I trail off as I daydream about his muscles, slick with sunscreen. Emma splashes me again, earning her a death glare.
“Then what are you waiting for! You didn’t even need three days! Go for it! You deserve it. He’s SO fit.” She says before dunking her head under water to wet her hair down.
“I mean, yeah, he is very nice to look at. But, that’s only one part of it. I want to make sure he’s definitely changed.” Emma rolls her eyes at me and crosses her arms over her green sequined chest.
“Sometimes you think too much. I think you’re just scared. You and Niall have both told me how much he’s changed over the past few weeks. You have your proof!”
As much as I didn’t want to believe her, she was right. I was stalling. Of course I was scared! I hadn’t been with anyone since Eric. It was just hard to make the first move. But I knew if I didn’t then he never would; he knows that would be crossing the line. Hell, all of this is crossing the line. We’d have to have a conversation about it if we were to actually start something between us.
“I can’t figure out if you’re the angel on my shoulder, or the devil.” She smirks before laying back to float with the waves.
“I’d like to think of myself as being a bit of both.”
We spend the entire day at the beach. Paul has our lunch brought out to our place in the sand, and we sit and eat under the shade of the canopy Niall and Liam put together for us. When the sun starts to set, we all take a plethora of sunset pictures, which mostly ends up being the five boys doing crazy things in front of the camera as Emma and I crack up while we capture it on film.
Paul has every base covered as he and a few security guards carry down handfuls of wood to make a fire along with fixings for hotdogs and s’mores. It’s quite entertaining to watch Zayn try to make a fire, telling us over and over again that he’s a true fire master. He finally gets a good one going and we all start to make our dogs and s’mores.
I’m sitting cross legged on my towel next to Niall who has Emma sitting in his lap. Of course, Niall is the messiest eater, finding a way to get marshmallow all over his cheeks. Which Emma cleans off while giggling uncontrollably; again, the cutest couple I have ever witnessed.
After we’re stuffed with food, Niall brings out his guitar and the strums a few of their songs while the boys harmonize along. I bet every fan girl would KILL to witness this. It’s chilling the way each of them sing so in sync with one another.
After Niall puts his guitar away so he can lay down on the towel next to Emma and look at the stars, I deep in conversation with Liam when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up over my head and see Harry staring down at me.
“Wanna go for a walk?” I look over at Emma who heard what he said and she shoots me a
huge grin before giving me two thumbs up. I gulp as I take Harry’s hand to stand up, brushing off my legs from the sand. I follow silently beside him as we walk down by the edge of the water. The sun has completely set by this time and the air has gotten less steamy.
I close my eyes and try to focus on the calming sound of the waves crashing on the sand, but it does no good for my poor heart, beating away like a maniac. I’m alone. With Harry. On a beach. It’s all too perfect. Could I really do this?
“Did you have fun today?” Harry asks beside me and I look up into his eyes, admiring the shadows playing on his face made by the moon’s glow. I nod and muster up whatever smile I could.
“Mmm, it was a great time. I especially liked when you and I kicked butt at Chicken. Liam was getting so angry at Louis that he kept falling off his shoulders!” Harry deep laugh echoes over the sand and he slings a heavy arm over my shoulders.
“We are a pretty great team aren’t we, love?” As many times as he’s called me that, my chest tightens when I hear him call me ‘love’. Does that mean something? I mean, have I really already made up my mind?
“I haven’t been to a beach in so long. Not after our vacation to Greece.” I look up at Harry as he speaks again, our pace has slowed as we drag our feet through the tide creeping up on the damp sand.
“What happened?” He smirks before he stares down at his feet.
“I went out to the beach late one night because I liked watching the waves at night. It’s just so…peaceful. You know? It’s almost like a whole different world at night. Compared to when it’s congested with hundreds of people. At night, you can truly appreciate the beauty of the sea. Anyways, my mom freaked out at scolded me for an entire week. After that, we never went back.”
I stopped in my tracks as he finished his thoughts and he looked at me quizzically.
“What’s wrong?” He didn’t understand why I had such a big smile on my face when I shook my head at him.
“Nothing. It’s just, funny. The same thing happened to me. Ironic how something so similar happened to both of us.” I look up into his gaze and breathe in sharply as I take in his moon washed features.
And that was when I felt it. The switch I had been waiting for. I was going for it. It was too perfect to not just GO FOR IT.
“Harry..there’s something I want to tell you.” I dropped my gaze to my fingers, binding them together tightly. I had my eyes closed and was trying to calm my breathing when I felt a large hand cover both of my knotted ones. My heart thudded loudly in my ears as he took one of my hands in his, rubbing his thumb gently against my knuckles.
“What is it, love?” I took a deep breath before I looked back up into his sparkling eyes.
You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. Oh shit. Try not to focus on his perfect hand grabbing yours right now. Come on. You can do this.
“Well..I uh..I guess what I want to…see, there’s um..” I stumble my words like an idiot as I try to get the words to just come out of my mouth. Just tell him you like him! It’s not that hard!
“Calm down, Charlie, before you hurt yourself.” He chuckles and I feel my cheeks burn as he notices my anxiety. I realize I probably won’t be able to tell him without sounding like a complete moron.
“I think it would be best if I just showed you.” I whisper, just so he can hear, and I let my hand fall from his warm grasp as I inch closer to him, never loosing eye contact. At this point in time, my heart is hammering so hard against my ribcage, I’m afraid it might burst out of my chest. I see his eyes grow wide as I lift my arms and lock them behind his neck, feeling his baby curls tickle my thumbs.
I step up on my tip toes and pull him down close to me until our lips are ghosting over each other. I can feel his warm breath wash over my face, laced with the sweet scent of chocolate and marshmallows. He’s closed his eyes, waiting for me to move the last inch, and I do as I press a chaste kiss to his lips.
It feels like my head is about to explode as I melt into his perfect mouth. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me flat against his chest as our lips move in absolute synchronization with each other.
After a minute, I feel his tongue slowly dart out to trace my bottom lip, and I separate my slightly swollen lips to let him enter. I’m thankful he has such a tight grip around me because I would be a pool of goo on the sand with the magic he’s performing with his tongue. Our kiss deepens and I feel my hands reaching up to grasp onto his slightly stiff curls, rewarding me with a throaty groan that jolts right to my center.
We finally unlock our lips from each other and rest our foreheads together, panting for air. I lick over my swollen lips as I massage Harry’s scalp with my fingertips. How had I gone this long without kissing him? I mean, I know we’d already kissed, but this time I actually wanted it to happen. I felt Harry sigh deeply as he began rubbing circles on my spine with his thumbs.
“Well, I can say without hesitation that that was the nicest thing anyone has ever had to say to me.” I giggle as I lift my head up to look into his eyes, and my breath catches in my throat. Seeing him for the first time after our first real kiss is like witnessing a whole new person.
Every little thing about him has been intensified. I appreciate his beauty more than I ever had before. He smirks and I watch as the dimple shadows on his cheek. I unlock one of my hands and stick my pointer finger in the indent, shocking him in the process.
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” I mumble as I stare at his beautiful face. His chuckle vibrates against my chest. After I’ve had my fill with his dimple, I let my palm rest against his cheek. My thumb runs lazily over the heated flesh and I feel one of his hands leave my waist to grab my hand and press it against his hot mouth. Tiny fireworks go off in my chest as he places small kisses against my palm and on the underside of my wrist before he puts it back on his cheek and closes his eyes at the touch.
“I’m so glad..Charlie, I’m so happy. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you properly.” He whispers while he continues to shut his eyes. I can’t manage to not feel him on me so I put my other hand on the opposite cheek and pull him in for a slow, yet passionate, kiss. I sigh as I revel in the perfection that is his lips. It just feels so right.
I pull away slowly and drop my voice in a serious tone as I press my forehead against his again.
“I know. It took me a while to come around, but I really wanted to kiss you too. I just want you to know, this isn’t going to be easy. I don’t want to lose my job. We’re going to have to be very secretive about this. Don’t tell anyone.” I feel him nod in agreement against me as I continue.
“And, I would really like to take this slow. I’m still..I’m still kind of messed up from Eric. I can’t..I don’t want to get hurt again.” I feel my heart sink as I the thought of my heart breaking crosses my mind.
“We can go as slow as you want, love. And just know that I will never, ever hurt you. And I’ll kill anyone who does. I care a lot about you, Charlie. And I’m never going to let you go.” He pulls me closer to him and I can tell that he’s being completely sincere, which in turn makes my heart inflate three sizes larger.
I nestle my head in the crook of his neck, placing a soft kiss on his visible collarbone. We hold each other tight for a few minutes before letting go to walk down the beach hand in hand and back towards the fire. I of course let go of his hand before we are visible to the gang.
“Jeez! You guys are finally back! We thought we were going to have to send Paul and the crew to come find you two!” Louis yells from his spot next to Liam and Zayn.
Zayn.
I look over at him and I can tell that his eyes are narrowed from the light bouncing off his angular face from the fire. I sit down next to Harry on my towel and think about the best time to tell Zayn. He has a right to know. He’s my best friend, besides Emma. And I want to explain the entire situation to him.
But when to do it?
///
We are all exhausted from our day at the beach as we make our way back to the hotel. The car ride was definitely interesting as Harry and I held hands underneath my beach bag. His thumb traced shapes on my wrist, sending tingles up my spine.
I couldn’t believe I had just kissed Harry Styles. It’s going down as the best kiss I have ever had. Hands down. Well, he didn’t have much to compete with seeing as how Eric was probably the worst kisser on the planet. So. Much. Tongue.
We pull up to the hotel and all scramble out and into the air conditioned lobby. Everyone is leaning up against a wall as we ride the elevator up to our rooms. Harry and I walk slower behind everyone so we can have a few seconds alone in the hallway to ourselves. Niall and Emma kiss quickly outside our door as she opens up our door and walks in, winking at me before shutting it behind her.
Again, we find ourselves standing outside my door at the end of another amazing night. Harry grabs my hands, enveloping my small ones in his. I admire the already tanned skin of his forearms as he whispers.
“Tonight was amazing.” I look up into his dazzling green eyes and can’t help but smile widely.
“Yeah. It really was.” We stare at each other for a while before he takes one of his hands and presses his pointer finger underneath my chin, slowly pulling me close to him. He bends down and our lips meet again, giving me a warm sensation in the pit of my stomach. He finally lets go of my chin and I stay there for a second with my eyes closed, enjoying the after effect of his kiss.
He chuckles as I blink out of my haze when he pulls one of my hands up to his mouth and places a gentle kiss on my knuckles before looking up at me with burning green eyes.
“Goodnight, love. Sweet dreams.” With that, he smiles and walks down towards his room. I wait until he shuts his door to press my body against my door and slid down until I’m sitting on the floor.
Wow.
///
Harry’s POV:
FINALLY.
IT HAPPENED.
I could barely think straight as I walked down to my room after leaving Charlie in front of hers.
She finally let me in.
I closed my door and did a little fist pump in the air as I shucked my clothes off on the floor and pulled out a new pair of Calvin Klein’s to sleep in.
I jumped into bed and sighed heavily as I recapped the day in my head. From seeing Charlie in a bathing suit for the first time. WOW. And then the very nice run down she was gave me when she was lotioning my back. I could tell she was starting to lose it. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of me.
And then the kiss. The most perfect kiss I could have ever experienced. And it was with Charlie.
CHARLIE.
This girl has become one of my most important sources of happiness. She just makes my head fuzzy and my heart beat harder than a hammer beats a nail. She is so beautiful, inside and out.
And she’s all mine.
Notes
GUYS I'M FINALLY BACK!!First off, before I get into anything, I just want to say a HUGE thank you for being so understanding in this difficult time for me. And all of your wonderful comments you left on this story; I cherish every single one of you. Thank you so so much! Anywho, I'm safe, but my car was totaled. Stupid snowy Ohio highways. So I've just got a lot going on right now that has just been completely stressing me out. Now that I have to buy another car and my Dad is making me pay for my car insurance now AND also said he no longer feels obligated to pay for my tuition because he's an asshole, I have to put off graduating college until next year when I can get more loan money. Which I'm really sad about. So, I think once school is over this semester, I'm going to throw myself into writing to keep my mind occupied.
Alrighty, so how did we like this chapter? I tried to make it as long as possible because I've been gone for so long! Lots of good things happening!
HARRY AND CHARLIE, PEOPLE. IT'S OFFICIAL. Should we start making ship names yet? Charry? Harlie? Which do you prefer? Comment below!
What do you think Zayn is going to do once he finds out about Harry and Charlie's relationship? Do you think he'll be understanding?
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So much love, SO MUCH LOVE, from me to you. I love you guys SO much.
-Natalie Xxxxxxx
Please updated ASAP pleas lov this story :)
4/2/14