Muse

Chapter 35

They couldn't make it in time for the sunset. By the time Izuku had brought Alyssa to the beach, the sun had already slipped past the horizon. He couldn't help feeling the sliver of disappointment that they had missed it, hammering in the final nail to how much of a disaster the night had been. For all of his planning, almost everything he had done had not gone according to plan. All day, he had been trying to work himself up the courage to take that final step. The sunset was supposed to be his way of creating the perfect moment and finally give him the courage to go through with it. However, all of that seemed inconsequential the moment he saw Alyssa's face light up the moment she spotted the blue horizon.

"You brought me to the beach?!" she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in place.

"Well, you said an ideal date for you was to walk on the beach."

"I know, but that's just something everyone says on their dating profile, like 'I like seafood, men with a good sense of humor, and enjoy long walks on the beach.'"

"Oh... well, do you like seafood and men with good humor?"

"Yes," she admitted, "but that's not the point. I can't believe you actually brought me for a cliché walk on the beach."

"...It is kind of cliché, isn't it?"

"It's okay. I like cliché," she smiled softly before she took his hand and then proceeded to drag him behind her like a child trying to get their parent to hurry up.

"S-Slow down, Alyssa! The beach isn't going anywhere," Izuku said, trying to hold back the laughter building in his throat at her enthusiasm. She had such intense bursts of high energy, it was almost hard to keep up with her abrupt mood swings.

"Shut up. I've been waiting forever to go to the beach. Do not judge me for this!" she admonished him playfully, tugging him towards the ocean before Izuku dropped his hand from her grip, staring at the water's edge. The whole shore was covered in seaweed. "What's wrong?" she asked, oblivious towards the mess by her feet.

"Nothing. It's just... I had this whole plan for us to be here at sunset and the beach was supposed to be nice. Guess I can't even plan that right."

"Aww it's okay, Izuku. I don't mind. I really like evening walks, and the sun probably would have been too bright for my eyes anyways."

"Oh... I didn't think about that," said Izuku. "But the beach is all gross and covered with seaweed."

Alyssa just shrugged. "So? Just don't walk in the seaweed. High tide probably brought it in. It'll wash it out again," she waved dismissively before an idea occurred to her. "You know, you actually can do something pretty interesting at night on the beach. You just gotta look for bubbles in the sand and start digging."

"Oh yeah?"

"Uh-huh. When my dad married his third wife, they had their location wedding in Florida, so after the rehearsal dinner, he took Jo-Elle and I out to the beach that night to dig up ghost-crabs with his new in-laws. We'd use flashlights and try and catch as many as we could and put 'em in a bucket, and whoever caught the biggest crab won."

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun."

"I did... Until I realized that crabs are basically armored, water spiders with pincers that move really fast, so that freaked me out real quick when I was trying to catch them," Alyssa laughed shakily. "I guess we'd probably need a spade, bucket, and a net to really do any of that, huh?"

"That's okay. We'll save that for next time."

"Mmmm another beach date? I can't wait! Oooh I bet you'd look hot in a swimsuit," Alyssa gushed before bursting into a fit of giggles at his flustered expression. She leaned into him, giving him sort of a half-hug as an apology for embarrassing him before her fingers laced with his. Izuku loved the way that her hand fit into his, like a missing puzzle piece. Her fingers were thin but so soft and smooth. He also loved the little details, like how often he saw pencil lead smeared on the side of her right hand or ink staining her fingertips. When he mentioned this to her, he noticed Alyssa never really accepted the compliment, just going on about how her sister stole her moisturizer and she had to wash her hands so often when she painted, though she always blushed when she got one. In a way, it made him want to praise her more.