Aurelie. [H.S]

CHAPTER 42

2nd January 2018

Barbados

Aurelie's POV

Sand. Everywhere. "Harry, I swear to God if you don't put that down-"

His dimples are on full display as the powdery substance slips between his fingers, his palms in a cup shape to preserve as much as possible. "I am the sand man." he says in a robot tone, inching a step closer to me. I cross my arms across my body in an attempt to protect myself.

"Seriously H..." I warn him, widening my eyes and praying that he leaves me alone. Another step closer. Just as he reaches out to throw it on me, I make a sharp turn and sprint towards the water. Diving in with a splash, I feel my foot be tugged behind me, making me face-plant against the smooth waves.

I gasp for air as I break back above the water, clearing my matted, salty hair from my eyes. Harry soon plods in after me, wrinkling his nose at the temperature. "Pussy." I tease, under my breath.

He clearly hears me as he clicks his tongue distastefully, his fern tattoos just covered by the water. "You know you could've killed me by pulling my foot? What if I hit my face on the bottom or something?" I completely overreact, trying to hide my joking.

He shrugs and kicks his foot on the sea floor then paddles further towards me, pulling my hips so that our stomachs are touching. "Well, do you know what the floors made out of?" he whispers, tucking more stray hair behind my ears. "Sand."

Abruptly, he disappears underwater, leaving only a trail of bubbles behind him and a blurred image of his brown hair as a memory. When he emerges, his hands are full of wet sand- practically slime.

"Harry..." I groan, knowing that he's not going to give this childish act up. He draws a line down both of my cheeks with his thumb, the gritty feeling of the sand against my skin reminding me of nails on a chalkboard. I scrunch up my eyes in disgust.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he asks, hoisting me up so that my legs are wrapped around his hips. He smiles up ever so slightly at my lips, and I lean down and peck him. "It's like paradise here." I comment quietly.

The beach is covered in empty towels, the majority of people disappearing back to their hotels or houses for lunch. Harry reaches down to the water's surface and splashes the water around.

"Do you like living in England?" he questions, resting his chin on my collarbone. I take in my surroundings before answering.

"Of course."

"Don't lie to me Ellie." he speaks softly, reassuringly.

"Well... I like seeing you happy. And it's clear that you're happy in England. So yeah, I do like living in England." I smile and kiss the top of his head.

"But do you like living in England? Not just because of me?"

"I mean, it's a change, definitely. But I can see myself living there in the future. Growing our family."

Clearly impressed with my answer, he hugs me closer to him than humanly possible, droplets of water from my hair falling against his cheek. "Anyone could be taking pictures right now." I try not to ruin the moment, but can't help but state the obvious.

"Both of our phones are off, let them say what they want to say." he shrugs. Sometimes I wish that I could have Harry's happy go lucky attitude. I thought it was best to keep the fact that my phone's still on secret from him. "Can we not talk about it?"

I nod quickly, regretting my decision to bring it up in the first place. I hate to ruin such innocent situations like these so often. He smiles at me, making me a feel a little better. Yet still, I'm reluctant to hold the eye contact.