𝐄𝐳𝐫𝐚 | 18+

31

When I wake up, Ezra isn't in my bed. The sunlight shines through the thin curtains and I lay on my bed, the sheets somewhere on the floor. I groan and rub my eyes with the backs of my fingers.

Outside I hear a pan clatter followed by a chain of swears. I slowly get up, ignoring the dizziness lingering in my head, and pull the door open. Ezra doesn't seem to notice me as he cooks with his back facing me. It takes me a minute to establish in my mind that he's shirtless. His back muscles flex as he works at something in front of him and I look down to hide my blush. I walk into the bathroom and lazily brush my teeth and wash my face.

I remember what happened last night by seeing the marks on my neck. I run my fingers down the bruises and wince at the soreness of it.

I walk out and make my way towards Ezra, poking lightly at his back.

"Buongiorno." He says, throwing a smile in my direction.

"Morning." I respond, not fully knowing what he just said but hoping it was something along the lines of good morning.

"Making pancakes?" I ask, peeking over his arm to see batter being baked on a pan.

"Yeah." He responds. He flips the pancake and it's perfectly golden brown.

"I can do that too." I mutter, but it's not true.

He makes the rest of the pancakes and I just stand there, watching in awe as almost all of them come out perfectly. He slips them onto two different plates before turning around with a bright smile. As soon as he sees me his grin drops into a frown and his eyes lower from my neck. He sets the plates down to the side, keeping his eyes trained on a spot on me before gently lifting my chin with his index finger. He tilts my head in different directions and I realize he's glaring at the marks he left on my neck. I immediately move my hand onto my neck and look into his eyes.

"It's fine." I shake my head, before he has the chance to say anything. Sorrow lies in his eyes as he anxiously bites the inside of his cheek. He removes my hand from my neck and I let him because, to be honest, It doesn't bother me if he sees the marks.

"I'm sorry." He breathes, his cool breath fanning onto my neck. He leans down and presses a kiss onto my neck. His lips feel like a cloud and I wonder what they would feel like on mine but he's already pulled back.

"They'll be gone in a few days." I shrug, looking down to hide the blush forming on my face. He hums, but it's not in agreement.

"What are we doing today?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"My Greek friend suggested a few places we should visit and one is a path that leads to a beach." He explains, grabbing the plates again. He sets them both down on the table and sits down. I sit down in front of my plate and start eating one of the pancakes. They're amazing.

"Cool." I say, but I'm entirely focused on the food.

"It takes about twenty minutes to go down and half hour to walk back up." He adds.

"And there's a beach at the end?" I ask.

"Yep. I'm bringing my swimming suit."

"Sounds good."

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"I did not sign up for this." I gasp, sucking in the cold air from outside in hopes to calm my sick stomach. We're going up the windiest I've ever been through and according to him, we're almost there. Part of my sickness, is the seatbelt that is dead set on crushing me into the seat.

"Look, there's only...one more minute." He says, pointing towards the map, as he harshly turns the steering wheel to fit the tight turn. I swallow and grip onto the door handle, sticking my face out of the window and into the fresh air.

I sigh in relief as he pulls into a circular open patch where there are a few other cars are parked. As soon as the engine is turned off, I jump out and breathe deeply. He walks out and smiles at me.

"Shut up." I roll my eyes.

"I didn't say anything!" He chuckles. We walk up a road and we're met with a small dirt path.

"If you didn't know, hiking is not my forte but I thought we'd already gone over this..." I mutter, venturing off into nature. The trail is slightly declined downwards and thick bushes act as walls on both sides. In the distance, I can see the turquoise blue water and sand. There aren't that many people.

"Are we going there?" I ask, pointing towards the gulf of water.

"Nope." He passes me and heads forward, stepping over random branches in the path.

"I think it'd take a lot less time to roll down, don't you think?" I ask.

"I do, wanna try?"

"I do, you first." I chuckle.

"Yeah, okay." He laughs.

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The 'hike' as he said was only about twenty minutes long. There were a few places where I risked falling and potentially came close to death, but I'm alive so let's not think about that.

"Right or left?" I ask. The path breaks into two smaller paths that lead to two different beaches.

"Left." He answers dryly. I go left and we find ourselves on a small opening.
There's no seaweed at all except for a few dark patches of green beneath the water. The water is a deep turquoise color in the distance but it's clear at the shore. I look to the sides and see a few people sunbathing, while a few swim in the water. Ezra takes my hand in his as he passes me, leading me towards a free space towards the edge of the sand. We set our things down and I immediately rip my clothing off, leaving me in my swimsuit, hence I've been walking in the blaring sun for what feels like forever and I'm sweating like a turkey on Thanksgiving day.

I neatly fold my clothes and wait for Ezra to get in his bathing suit before walking through the sand towards the water.

"It's so cold!" I squeak, jumping around in the water.

"Keep splashing me and I might throw you in." Ezra says, but I take it as a challenge. I stop jumping and blink at him. He slowly walks through the water until he's waist-deep. Meanwhile I'm standing here like a dork at the shore because it's too cold.

"How did you do that?" I ask, referring to him just walking into the water without turning into an icicle.

"Boh." He shrugs.

I whip my hand in the water and send drops of water in his direction, splashing him.

"You're on, Lee." He growls, charging towards me. I screech as I try to run away, but the water gets in my way and I end up trying to jump over it. But it's to no avail because he somehow caught up to me and he pushes me in.

I fall face first into the water and the temperature of it has chills traveling down my spine and my skin feeling like it's been pricked with thousands of needles.

I stand back up and give him the finger. He laughs evilly before diving into the water. I slowly walk in, letting myself adjust to the temperature every so often until I'm able to go all the way under and come back up, wiping the water away from my face. I feel a pair of big hands on my shoulders and I spin around to see Ezra smirking behind me. I grab a handful of water and splash it into his face. He sighs deeply with his eyes closed. I laugh as I dive underwater, hoping to get as far away as possible from him as I can, but of course he catches up pretty quickly. And it doesn't end pretty.

word count: 1414
☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎

yOo my sleep deprived ass can't rly think straight rn so i'm just hoping this chapter is understandable. I'll eventually read it again and correct some things but ye for now enjoy :D
Stay safe<3
-S