sunflower - h.s.

seventy one

"Good lord who allowed this whole family into the United States?"

"Customs." Grey chuckles out as we stare at, well , everyone as they follow Harry's steps to pop up on a surfboard. Harry was in front of them all - Ren, Ayesha, Danny, Maeve, Lilah-Rose - demonstrating on an actual surfboard while they laid on the sand. My mum, Bella, and Holland had run back up to the house to grab some snacks while Grey, Lexi and I had decided to watch over Lucy and Mars as they built sandcastles. Danny and Ren had been shoving each other into the sand for the last ten minutes, Ayesha constantly telling them to cut it out, Lilah and Maeve had been non-stop talking about some of Maeve's newest designs, and Harry - bless his heart - had been trying and failing to keep everyone's attention.

"If Harry drowns, you still have to perform tonight, Flor." Lexi nudges my side with a light giggle. I'm about to respond when Mars bounces in front of Lexi with a seashell in her hands.

"Mummy, what is this?" Mars mumbles, digging her feet in the sand as Lexi smiles at her. It warms my heart, seeing how happy Lexi gets with the girls around. I wish she didn't have to travel so much with Harry and I. We had talked about it, Harry and Lexi and I, about trying to figure out a way for Lexi to spend more time at home, but Lexi swiftly ended the conversation saying that as long as the girls can join us all on tour occasionally, then she'd be fine. We've already figured out how'd we split up tour busses to include a bunk for the girls. Mars tugs Lexi away towards the starfish shape the girls had carved into the sand. Grey chuckles beside me.

"Y'know, when you were little," I turn to Grey, looking over the tattoos on his arms. He had told me he started getting them when he was sixteen, one of his older friends was an apprentice at a studio and hooked him up. I smile when I see the little cursive F he has on the inside of his left elbow. "Visiting your grandparents, I used to take you on walks around the lake and we'd pass by a frog or a rock or literally anything - you'd pick it up, look up at me with those big, cartoon eyes of yours and just hold it up to me. I'd tell you what it was and you'd just toss it away like you couldn't care less about it - it was the funniest thing to me, having this little girl look up at me like I knew everything in the world and then just kind of shrug and keep on going."

"Sounds like me." I chuckle, Grey smiling over at me. His smile looks like mine, minus the dimple. "What was I like as a little kid? Y'know before everything happened."

"You were..." He smiles, taking a breath. "You were sassy, and smarter than a whip - always talking, drove your mother crazy sometimes. You ran everywhere, climbed everything, created any mess you could. Your grandmother used to say Tornado Flower would come through the living room anytime you had arts and crafts time."

"I remember that from when I was ten. There's still a stain on the living room rug from paint I spilled, Nan was livid."

"Eh, you kept life interesting, it's what we loved about you." He wraps an arm around my shoulders. It feels familiar, for some reason.

We had gotten closer over the last few weeks, after we all decided to put the past behind us. I liked Grey, he was a cool guy - an artist. He taught at a secondary school in the city, painted in his free time. He had two cats - like Holland - and a dog named Sassy. We would get coffee every week - he likes the ultra sweet drinks that cost more than a pint. He showed me photos from when I was a little kid, back when we were all happy and together and before I could remember anything.

It felt weird sometimes, seeing myself in photos and memories but not being able to recall them. I wish I could. I wish I could remember the weekend trips to my grandparents when my mum and dad were happy and together. When Ren and I would run around without a care in the world. When his parents were together. When we were all living in our own little world where only we existed.