Midnight Memories

Chapter 7 - Drenched

From the look on his face, I could see that he probably remembered his memories from his childhood here. I wanted to ask him what he meant by getting away from the chaos, but I don't want to ask until he's comfortable speaking about it himself.

Suddenly, his phone began to ring, interrupting our thoughts. He grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket and answered the call. We stood in one place as he spoke to someone on the phone. I didn't want to eavesdrop, so I walked towards the water, wetting my feet and embracing the breeze that hit my face.

The ocean, the wind, rain, and sunsets were my source of happiness. No matter where I was or what I would be doing, if it were raining, I'd go out and dance in the rain. If there were a sunset, I'd sit there until sundown as I admired the colourful sky and tried to create shapes and figures out of the pink cotton candy clouds. If there were water, I'd walk inside and embrace it. If it were windy, I'd take a deep breath of the fresh breeze and remind myself that I was strong and capable of this life. I believe that nature is what has kept me going my whole life. It's the most beautiful thing, but like many things in life, even nature comes with a bit of danger.

Lost in thought, I hadn't realized that Zane finished speaking on the phone. He came from behind me and splashed me with the cold water, soaking my dress. "Oh, you're so done!" I gasp, receiving a chuckle from him. As if knowing my next move, he begins to run away while holding his stomach from laughter, which slowed him down.

I caught up to him and splashed water at him, catching him by surprise. He suddenly turned around and crouched down to grab more water. "Zane, I swear to God if you get me more wet, I will kill you," I hiss.

Wait, no, no, wrong words. Fuck. Shit. I didn't mean wet in like that way. God, I hope he didn't think of it in that way. "Get you more wet, huh?" he smirked devilishly.

Fuck. Why Ruth? Why?

He did as I thought he would, and we both continued to soak each other with water while laughing and cursing.

We finally stopped as our arms grew tired and stood there in wet hair and clothes. His shirt stuck to his body, exposing his perfectly defined abs. I couldn't help but stare down at them. "My eyes are up here, sweetheart," he warned me in his charming British accent.

I rolled my eyes and tried to walk past him, only to slip on something under the water. I yelped in surprise as I almost fall backwards, but Zane catches me right on time. His arms were looped around my waist, and my body was facing his. We stayed still for a while as we stared at each other in the eyes. His grey irises were locked on mine, and I couldn't help but admire them. "Thank you," I mumbled, keeping my gaze locked on his. "You alright, love?" he asks as I slowly rise up to my feet, and he begins to loosen his grip on me. "Y-yeah, of course, " I smile.

BAKERY

"Thank you," I say as he hands me my purse, and we make our way to our cars. "Are you thanking me for drenching your clothes with water now?" he smirks. "No, I mean, thank you for today," I chuckle. He simply smiles at me, "I was actually heading over to your place. Axel and Elec stayed over the other night, and they called me to pick them up."

"Right, about that. Why did they stay over?" I ask in curiosity. "They were drunk, and they wanted to spend the night with your friends," he responds. "How come you didn't stay?" I was desperate to know. I mean, not that I want him to or anything. But his friends stayed, so I figured he would stay too. "If you want me to spend the night, just ask, darling," he winks as his lips pull up into a grin. "You're annoying. Do you know that?"

"You're a cruel woman. Did you know that?" He mocks me. "At least I know," I smirk up at him. He chuckles, and we go back to our silent phase.

"So I'll see you at home then?" I ask before thinking. I almost facepalm myself after what I just said. Oh my goodness, what is wrong with me. Why can't I use the right words???

I could see the confused expression on his face. "I meant my house. Since we're both...you know, like heading over to my house, so you can pick—I'll see you soon, love," he cuts me off with a smirk playing at his lips as he walks off to his car.

He probably thinks I'm stupid, doesn't he? I should just run upstairs as soon as I reach the house before facing him again.

"Yup, see you soon, " I mumble as I turn around and enter the driver's seat of my BMW. We both start the engine simultaneously and reverse out of the parking lot.

We reach the gates, and the guards hold them open for us to enter. I park my car in the driveway, and he does the same. Unfortunately, I couldn't follow my plan and run-up to the house to avoid him because he got out of his car before me. I walked out and slammed my door shut as I turn to look at him. We could hear loud music playing from the house.

Fuck. I wonder how my Abuelita and Chloe are handling everything. "You didn't mention that they were partying," I look up at him. "They never mentioned it to me either," he shrugs.

***I really wanted to add the song here, but it just wasn't working out! Sorry guys, but if you'd like, you can check it out on youtube!***

"Ookay," I turn on my heels and make my way to the house as Zane follows along. I open the door wide to see Shay standing on the kitchen Island dancing and singing along to "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus, with a beer bottle in her hand, while the others cheered and sang along. Zane and I stood there staring at them in shock and amusement.

Shay finally spotted us, hopped off the kitchen island, and made her way to Zane and I, singing and dancing. I couldn't help but throw my head back in laughter with her sloppy dance moves.

The others headed over to us with Elec's hand sprawled over Asia's shoulder while Axel and Aria followed along. "You guys are crazy!" I chuckled, forgetting about everything that worried me earlier and enjoyed seeing my friends having fun.

Shay grabbed my hand and pulled me to the kitchen, and I'm sure they did the same with Zane. "Shay, what are you doing?" I called out over the loud music. "We're having fun little sis," she climbed up on the kitchen island again, pulling me along with her.

At the moment, I couldn't care less that my Abuelita was lying half-dead on her bed, as the music was on blast. I didn't even care to ask or look for Chloe. I just wanted to appreciate this moment and enjoy it while it lasts. "Come on, lover boy, don't be shy!" Shay called out as she crouched down and grabbed a bottle of beer from the counter, and threw it over to Zane, who was just watching us, as he leaned his back on the wall and sparked his cigarette. He caught the bottle in the air and shook his head while chuckling at Shay.

Elec, Asia, Aria, and Axel, we're dancing to the music. Asia had her arms looped around Elec's neck as they both screamed the lyrics to each other while dancing.

Aria and Axel, we're probably speaking about Shay because they looked her way the whole time as they spoke. Shay handed me a bottle of beer, and I raised the cap over to my mouth and opened it with my teeth. I downed the bottle and danced with my sister, with my soaked clothes. Zane, being Zane, was still on the other side of the room, watching us.

I motioned over to him to dance, but he simply shook his head with a smile. I wonder why he never has fun with us. What is it with him and not trying to enjoy his time with his friends? He was perfectly fine earlier.

I brushed off the thought and hopped off the counter, leaving Shay to dance on her own. I walked over to him and held my hand out in front of him, receiving a confused look. "Hand," I motioned to my hand with my eyebrows. He took the hint and held my hand in his. "We're dancing tonight. I don't care what you say," I turn around, pulling him along with me and the others. He hesitated at first but finally gave in. "What am I going to do with you, Ruth?"

"Dance with me, lover boy," I smiled at him, receiving the gesture back. "Loverboy, huh?" He smirks.