Regret

Chapter Twenty Two- You're Getting Me All Wet

A/N: How is everyone? Guess who got second degree burns from visiting Miami? My english self was not prepared for the heat. On the side note, moving to the states for college has been a lot of fun. I'm loving it so far. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter :)

My eyes were glued to the orange flames in front of me. I watched as the flames engulfed the wood and lit up the area around me. I was close enough to feel the heat radiating off the fire, but I was far enough not to get burnt.

I must have been staring at the fire in my own world for a good ten minutes before I was pulled out of my trance. "For someone who hates fire, you sure do like staring at it." Carter sat down on the sand beside me, resting his shoulder against mine.

His hair blew in the wind as he too stared at the fire, but my eyes weren't on the fire anymore. They were on the boy beside me.

I could see his freckles from how close we were sitting, I watched as he furrowed his brows like he was remembering something as he looked at the flames. All thoughts of me being annoyed at him went out of the window as I realised I couldn't stop staring at him. I must have looked like a freak, but I didn't care.

Three months ago, I would've laughed in your face if you told me I would be attracted to Xander. Still, here I am, staring at the guy I've hated for years, wondering if my feelings for him are more than just attraction.

He had been on my mind all day. Even when I wasn't near him, I thought about him. I couldn't get him out of my mind, and I hated it. I wasn't the type of girl to get hooked onto a guy so easily, but deep down, I felt like there has always been a part of me that had these feelings. I just hadn't accepted it.

I knew I was playing a dangerous game with myself, one where I would only get hurt, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to run my hands through his hair and talk to him for hours. I wanted to get to know him better, but I knew I couldn't.

He would always be my best friend's brother, and I would always be the girl he pushed away.

I was no longer getting entrapped by his looks as my eyes drifted towards the fire, getting lost in the patterns of the flames as my thoughts took me into a dark place.

They led me down the path of my mother's death.

Before I could think too deep about my mom, my thoughts were interrupted by someone nudging my shoulder. I looked to my right to see Xander getting up from the ground. He brushed off some sand from his shorts and looked down at me.

"Get up, stop being depressing and let's go have fun." He held his hand out for me to take so he could pull me up. Before I had a chance to brush off the sand from my legs, Xander crouched down in front of me and grabbed the back of my thighs, hurling me over his shoulder.

"Xander! Put me down right now!" My screams were louder than the music startling the rest of the group, but once they realised what was happening, they all started laughing and my failed attempts of getting him to put me down.

"Wait, why are you walking away from the fire?" Xander ignored my question and started to jog with me on him. His arms held my legs in place so I couldn't kick him once I realised where we were going. "No! Xander, the water will be cold now. My hair only just dried from earlier." I whined, but he didn't slow down his jogging. My ribs began to ache from being pressed against his shoulder, and soon I could see the ocean as he walked into the water.

"Come on, princess, live a little." He laughed, and I squealed as my toes dipped into the cold water.

"Don't you dare Xan-" my sentence was cut short from being thrown over his shoulder. My body was submerged by water, and my butt hit the soft sand. I quickly pushed myself off the ocean floor and reached the surface where I could stand.