Chasing the Clouds || H.S. [ONGOING]

Seventy-Eight

"What a feeling in my soul.
Love burns brighter than sunshine.
Let the rain fall, I don't care.
I'm yours, and suddenly you're mine.
And it's brighter than sunshine."

Song: Brighter Than Sunshine — Aqualung

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𝓝𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟏

With one big jump, Zayn came down, landing hard against the trampoline, causing Andie to fly into the air as her giggles bubbled out of her.

"You really took flight that time," Zayn laughed, bouncing over to stand above Andie's body after she landed.

She lay on her back looking up at him with a wide smile on her face, her long blonde hair spread out across the trampoline's surface.

"My brain feels like it knocked against my skull on that one," she giggled, pressing her hand against her forehead.

"Wouldn't want that," he said as he dropped down on his knees between her sprawled legs.

"No we wouldn't," Andie agreed, watching as he leaned forward, placing his hands against the trampoline on either side of her head, hovering above her.

"Mm," Zayn breathed as he dropped his face down, leaving a kiss on her forehead.

"You're sweet," she cooed, smiling up at him as she brought her hands up to rest at his sides.

"You're cute," he countered as he leaned in, leaving another kiss. This time on her lips.

It had been a couple of weeks since the two of them started dating, and it was like a teenage dream come true. He was beautiful, charming and sweet. Everything she wanted in a boyfriend. Andie was just so pleased with how fate had brought them back together.

If he wasn't in her life, she was certain the ratio of crying to laughing would be excessive. But lately, in Zayn's presence, all she could do was smile. He made her a very happy girl.

When Zayn pulled back from their kiss, Andie tugged on his shirt to coax his lips back down to hers. He kissed her again, this time lapping his velvety tongue against hers. It was becoming one of her favorite things— kissing Zayn. She remembered how good of a kisser he was two years ago, and he somehow only seemed to get better over the years.

If making out was the only thing they ever did with each other, she would be okay. It was that much fun. Honestly, the butterflies never quit.

"This... sometimes this doesn't feel real," Zayn chuckled, pulling up to look at her.

"What?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows in question.

"This. Us," he said as he slipped off of her and sat down next to her on the trampoline.

"I know what you mean," she said as she sat up too, smiling over at him. It felt surreal somehow.

"I mean, camp was so long ago and like... you just became a memory, you know?"

"I definitely know," she said with a soft smile.

"Hmm," Zayn breathed, humming into a smile.

Andie bit her lip as she watched him, waiting with bated breath for him to continue talking. Zayn was a naturally quiet person and didn't go out of his way to talk, but Andie sure loved it when he did.

"It's funny. For two years, you were like, the one that got away, you know. But now you're here. It's like we got this second chance and it just... it's fucking cool," Zayn gushed as his smile brightened his whole face.

"I know exactly what you mean," she replied with a nod of her head. It was literally how she saw him too, how she felt about their relationship.

"I always thought about you over the years. I'm so happy that life worked out this way," he told her sincerely and it caused the best kind of feelings to float through her.

"Me too, Zayn. I'm so happy," she agreed, leaning in to kiss him again. He wrapped his arm around her, tugging her body against his as they kissed.

"I had a massive crush on you that summer," Andie breathed against his lips, finally confessing her truth.

"Did you?" He asked, pulling back just enough to look at her in the eyes.

"Mm-hmm," she hummed, smiling at him and she could see the blush flooding his cheeks as he looked at her in disbelief, "You had to have known."

"I didn't," he chuckled.

"Remember the day they tried to get us to go fishing?" Andie reminisced, causing Zayn to laugh out loud.

"We were the only two who refused," he added and the memory caused Andie to smile.

Neither of them wanted to hurt the fish or the worms they used as bait. Andie found it completely pointless to go fishing if your intentions weren't to eat the fish in the end. It was just animal cruelty at that point. Zayn felt the same way.

"We just sat on that overturned canoe and talked shit about the counselors," Andie chuckled and Zayn breathed out a laugh.

It was the first time that she and Zayn really connected. After that, Andie would go out of her way to make sure to keep that friendship open through the weeks that he was at camp, sometimes seeking him out on purpose just to talk to him.

She remembered one time that she got in trouble because she was supposed to be making a stupid birdhouse in the arts and crafts building, but instead, she snuck out to play a game of hacky sack with Zayn and his bunkmates. Honestly, anything to be in his orbit. She didn't even know how to play hacky sack. But it worked entirely in her favor when Zayn began giving her tips on how to keep the little bean bag from hitting the ground.

"Couldn't stop thinking about you, ever. Carly used to tease me about it. 'Ooh, there goes your boyfriend'. And anytime you and I interacted, she would always say something stupid like 'when's the wedding?'," Andie confessed, causing him to toss his head back, laughing out loud.

"I had no idea," he said, tightening his grasp on her.

"Mm-hmm," she chuckled to herself, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment, "But look at us now."

"Look at us now," Zayn agreed, leaning in to kiss her lips again.

"Mm," she hummed, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek as he coaxed her down onto her back on the trampoline, really kissing her. Butterflies ravished her stomach as her excitement consumed her.

Yes, if kissing was all they ever did... she would definitely not be disappointed. Nothing about Zayn was disappointing. Truly nothing at all.