Maybe This Is Love, |✔️

Chapter 28

AUTHORS NOTE- so guys finally this is the second to last chapter. The bittersweet feeling of this coming to an end but grateful for having finished it. I hope you guys have been in enjoying it so far, Thank you for all of your support! xxx

After eight blissful months spent with each other, it was almost time for Parker to finally leave. They still had 3 weeks until his flight to Italy.

The smell of vanilla ice cream was lingering in the summers air. Harley-Blair was sipping on a glass of echo falls whilst laying on Parker's warm bare chest.
It's true what they say, you are your name. Sorrisi means smile in Italian and Parker hadn't stopped doing so since the Summer began.

Both the A and AS level Exams had finished and the gang had decided to have a beach day to celebrate. It was Harley's idea, she could see how stressed out Parker had been during exam season. He was working so hard to obtain the grades he needed for his scholarship so now that it was over she suggested that they all have a barbecue on Beaumont Beach.

It felt like it was years ago when Parker first told Harley he was leaving. She remembers the pain she felt back then and compares it to the peace she felt right now.

She's come to terms with it and she knows it needs to happen in order for the both of them to be happy. They're teenagers, relationships at this age aren't destined to be forever. No matter how much love they feel for each other at this moment, there's no avoiding that fact.

Sander and Cassie were frolicking in the water whilst Zacchias was manning the barbecue station. He was shirtless already even though he hadn't got in the sea yet and was wearing an apron that said 'Kiss the cook'. It seems like he and Jasmin were back together because she couldn't stop smiling at him whilst doing what the apron said.

The sound of seagulls and Cassie giggling brought great comfort to Harley.
She sighs happily and secretly wishes that this feeling could last forever.

"Hey, " Parker murmurs into her hair, inhaling the scent of her coconut and peach shampoo.

"Hey," she says back. She intertwines her fingers with his and raises them in front of the sun so the heat hits the back of their hands. "Do you believe?"

"In what?" his confused voice sounded muffled because of her hair. "God?"

"No, in magic."

He chuckles lightly, and Harley could feel the vibrations of it across her scalp. "Of course, how do you think I got you?"

That made her smile. That made her smile a lot. Parker always knew the right things to say.
She couldn't help but wonder about all the other girls he's going to be making smile in the future now that their romance was soon to be over.

"You alright?" He wounds his arms around her bare flesh. She wore a white bikini top today and some blue shorts, something she'd never dreamt of wearing before. She felt comfortable. His naturally tan skin had turned so brown over the course of the summer that it closely resembled the tone of Zacchias' skin. Harley breathed in the fragrance of his cologne mixed with the strawberry smoothie he had earlier.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Suddenly, he sits up and grabs a small box out of the pocket of his grey Nike shorts. "Happy birthday, HB." Harleys jaw dropped open. How did he know? She never told anyone about her birthday as she doesn't normally celebrate it.

"Remember when I told you I was going to take my time to learn you? I'm forever going to make you smile even when I'm not there." he leans forward and his warm breath tingles on her nose. "Open it."

She opens the little box and inside contains a silver locket with a tiny pencil and spider engraved on it. She opens it up and inside was the photo they took on a date at the National Portrait Museum in London. They were both smiling in the camera, cheeks squishing together. They looked happier than ever. She remembers that day vividly.