Lachlan's P.O.V.
My arms shook as we neared the beach, the glimmering ocean and yellow sand not appealing. I had been scared to death of beaches since my closest childhood friend was killed by box jellyfish in Australia. He was in an area with no cell phone coverage and they were too far away from civilization to get any medical attention. He died.
Although I had been terrified of the beach before that, that was last straw. Even though it was coming up to two years since he had died I still could never bring myself to go to the beach again. I couldn't bear to go back to a place someone I knew had died.
Rob was in the drivers seat of the car, and he squeezed my hand gently. He knew my fear of the ocean and he knew I had a good reason to be scared and a very good reason to stay away.
The car pulled up at the parking place beside the beach and Rob unbuckled his seatbelt, stopping when he noticed my posture. He leaned over and undid my seatbelt for me, squeezing my hand again.
"You know you don't have to go in if you don't want too, I just want you to be comfortable." I nodded, taking a deep breath and stepping out of the car and into the blaring sunlight. The sun was blazing and I could already feel my skin burning underneath the heat. I didn't have the darkest skin in the world so I tended to burn very easily, sunscreen was my one defence.
Rob was carrying a cooler and two bags, so I took one off him and we walked down onto the sand, kicking it up and letting it warm my toes. There wasn't very many people on there beach, a few lifeguards up in the building and one standing in the shade of a large umbrella.
There was a picnic blanket in the bag I was carrying so I pulled it out and lay it out on the ground, placing whatever was left over in the bag on top of it. Rob pulled out some sunscreen and tugged on the hem of my shirt, pulling it off. He opened the cap and squirted the white liquid into his hand and rubbed it onto my back and chest, making me shiver.
The sunscreen was cold, very cold and I flinched when it first touched my back and Rob smiled apologetically at me, rubbing it in. I did the same for him and we waited about 10 minutes before he attempted to get me to go into the water.
We left our shoes on the picnic rug and he held my hand as we walked down towards the water. When the sand started to become darker and wetter I slowed down, reluctant to move any further. Rob looked up at me, his hand still in mine and his free arm made its way around my waist.
"You know you don't have to do this. If you're scared tell me, please." I nodded but took in a deep breath, knowing that if I didn't go back into back into the water I probably never would.
Cautiously I placed my feet into the water, letting the cool waves wash over my feet and toes. Rob stood beside me and sat down in the water, pulling me down with him. I gasped at the cold water washed up my legs and goosebumps appeared on my skin, almost making me pull away from the water.
Over about half an hour, Rob slowly coaxed me into the water bit by bit, until we were up to our waists. I was shaking nervously in the water and Rob was gently holding onto my waist to prevent me from being knocked over from the waves.
He was a stronger swimmer than I was, he basically grew up in a pool and although it wasn't an ocean, he was very good at swimming. I had always struggled with swimming but being from Australia it was basically an expectation. We lived on an island, it was warm and the ocean was all around us. Swimming in the ocean was expected.
Every time we went on a school trip to the beach, I would sit on the side with one of my friends, who also happened to be afraid of the ocean.
Rob's gentle splashing stirred me from my thoughts and I smiled at him, as he continued to splash me. A wave splashed me from behind and became slightly worried. The waves were getting a little bit bigger and it scared me, but when Rob let go of my hand I looked up, only to see him being swept back towards the shore.
All of a sudden my feet were swept off the ground and I was being pulled out to sea, underneath the waves. I could see the surface of the water several feet above me but my body and head were under the water. I desperately tried to draw in a breath but all I felt was water entering my lungs. It caused me cough and more water entered my throat, choking me.
The waves had sucked me out into deep water and I couldn't stand up, it was too deep. I struggled to the surface and sucked in a deep breath, before the current pulled me back under. With the breath I had I held it for as long as possible, trying to get to the surface again.
My head broke the surface again, but before I could take another breath I was under again, so I took in a mouthful of water. I spluttered and a burning sensation formed in my chest, tearing my throat apart. My arms started moving slower as my body fell into unconsciousness and an almost calm overtook me as the last of my energy failed me.
My head moved to look up and I could see the lighter blue of the top of the ocean, something I knew I wouldn't reach again. At least not alive.
My hands floated upwards and my eyes started to close, the calmness and tranquillity of the blackness almost calling me. With one last effort I pushed my body towards the surface and as I did so the blackness took over, taking the last of my life.
Rob's P.O.V.
I coughed and spluttered, almost on the verge of unconsciousness as someone dragged me out of the water. They lifted my head and held it to the side as I sucked in deep breaths, my eyes opening. I looked up to see several people in red and yellow, lifeguards.
My eyes closed again, and before I could do anything blackness took over.
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The next morning I was back on the beach, helping the search party look for me missing boyfriend. I felt so guilty, almost that it was my fault because I convinced him to go into the water.
I had been taken into the hospital and monitored for water inhalation, and they released me early in evening. I had returned to the beach to find it had been cleared until he was found.
They had been searching ever since he had been reported missing, but by 8 at night, we were told we were no longer searching for a person, we were searching for the body.
I was with a group of lifeguards while we were searching and I was silent. We all were. It was starting to becoming lighter, dawn almost approaching and we still had no clues to where Lachlan was.
I wanted so badly to believe he was alive but something told me that he hadn't survived. He couldn't survive 24 hours in the water. If drowning hadn't taken him first, hypothermia or exhaustion would have drowned him instead.
There was a yell from behind us and I turned around to see someone sprinting into the ocean, water flying everywhere. They grabbed onto something in the water and hauled it onto the beach. I almost threw up.
It was a limp body, blond hair and a light blue face. It was Lachlan. One of the lifeguards turned me away from the body, holding me so I couldn't turn back and look at him.
I felt a sob choke me and tears started fall down my face, knowing all my hope had disappeared. There were voices behind me, all talking and whispering. A motor roared and a buggy, one used for the lifeguards patrol. It was towing a motor boat, and I knew that that buggy and boat would carry Lachlan away.
I heard rustle and then a countdown from 3, before more rustling and the motor again. When I turned around again, the buggy was heading back up the beach, a white bag in the boat. There were scuff marks in the sand and many people were just standing around, slightly shocked.
That rip ruined everything.
