That Summer Feeling: SUMMER 4EVER [H.S.]

ENDLESS SUMMER I

'let's hope the sun will show us the path'

ONE YEAR LATER — JUNE

It'll never change. The distinct smell and feel of it. When the breeze carries the salt from the ocean and drags it along all the flowers and the palm trees and runs it through your hair. It's sticky and briny, and it's so familiar and enveloping, you could almost taste it.

In a way, it smells like home. It is a home. For all of us. It has been for the past three summers. And now a fourth for most of us.

With each sparkle glimmering over the tops of the waves underneath the sun, I wonder if I'm still dreaming. This site hasn't grown old or boring. I can't imagine a day out here ever would. I've been waiting for it since we left it. I've been waiting for the moment I get to go out on the road, drive up all those mountains, and pull into the driveway of the house. When I get to sleep to the natural white noise of the ocean and wake up to it. When I get to sit out here in this balcony of the usual room Harry and I share. Going out into the beach, burying my toes in the sand, and experiencing it all as if it was the first time. It's the most magical thing that could happen all year.

We've been awake for about an hour, spending our first official day here laying in bed and savoring the moment while simultaneously gaining the energy to leave it. We came in pretty late last night, wanting to enjoy a few hours to ourselves in this house before everyone else gets here. We made sure everything was still working properly and it's all clean and ready for another summer.

It wasn't going to be the same this year and I'm not sure if it ever will. Too much has changed since the last time we spent it here. And it's going to keep changing— you can't stop life from happening.

I hoped it would feel the same. I hoped that the minute we stepped foot inside the house, everything would miraculously reset. The house would soon be filled with the same laughter, the same people, and the same fun adventures. I hoped our world here wouldn't crumble. It'd stayed protected by some magical shield. Seeing as we only have a week here and over half of the group won't be coming, all I could do is hope it feels the same, but I know it won't.

I could hear his footsteps before he rounded the open doorframes of the balcony. I smile at him, instantly warmed by the new sight alone. Harry insisted on bringing up breakfast to enjoy out here. He's someone I can still always count on to make me smile, ease me with his presence, and be with me here and wherever I go. That's something I know in my heart will never change.

"Wow," I tell him, looking over the wooden tray he set down on the small table in front of the couch I'm sitting on. The salty air now mingles with the butter of the croissants and the freshness of the orange juice and bowl of berries.

"You went all out for us, lovey." I eye the small details like the small jar of strawberry jam and a plate of butter next to the utensils and the stack of napkins. One detail catches my eye and my heart the most. There's a bright purple flower on one corner of the tray and a white one on the opposite corner— both of them are beach roses.

"Of course. I'm not gonna half-ass our first breakfast here." He grins at me, briefly pecking my lips before sitting down beside me underneath the knit blanket. "Or any breakfast we share."

I smile wider when he picks up the white flower and delicately places it behind my ear, locking the short stem over my hair. The subtle aroma caresses me like it did the first time he gave me the same flower.