Low Tide Lovers (Peter x Reader)

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

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𝑨 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓

"𝐒ome kid came in today," my mom said, "Real gold coin worth a thousand." I bit my lip. That could only be two people. My mom had gone in to talk with Don. She and that man were awfully close. 

It was still pretty early in the afternoon. My mom shot me a questioning look as I began to slide on my shoes. I needed to tell Peter that my mom knew about the coins. She would grow suspicious and probably say something.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" She asked. I quickly thought of a lie.

"Sorry. A friend invited me to hang out with them. I forgot until now."

I was fully expecting her to lecture me, or tell me that I couldn't go. But she just smiled. I waved and skipped the steps on the porch, running down the sidewalk.

Gulls soared above and cawed. I stared at them, waiting for the door to open. A car passed behind me. The door clicked. Peter stood before me. I sucked in a breath.

"My mom knows about the coins," I whispered. He pulled me inside. I was probably worrying too much. But, to be fair, this was a crime. We stole. You can't overreact about a crime, right?

"Peter, I'm telling you, she's gonna get suspicious. You have to watch out. And God forbid she finds out that I took part in it-"

Peter rested his hand on my arm. I stopped talking. I needed to stop freaking out. I swallowed.

"Y/n. Calm down. We'll be fine," he assured. I nodded, looking at my hands in my lap. He was right. He had to be.

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I forgot how small this boat was. We sped across the water; the peninsula was quickly coming into view. I glanced at Peter. His face was tinted pink from the sun. 

Peter and I led Alan to where we buried the coins. Alan carried an oar with him. He held it sort of like a shield. Was he scared?

"Here," Peter said, pointing to a tree with an "x" carved in it, "Dig." 

Alan drove the oar into the ground. It made a loud thump. It took him quite a while to reach the bag, but finally, the oar jammed against the sack of coins. He pulled it out from the dirt and opened it, laying each one out in columns and rows. I watched his hands.

The two of us lay on the ground as Alan kept messing around with the gold. I picked up leaves and twirled them by the stem, examining them. I stared intently at each one I picked up.

"Across the bay, passed the migrants, the trees, up the dunes, and about a hundred yards into the woods," Peter traced his finger across the map, tapping the x, "X marks the spot." I peered over his shoulder at the paper. A little x was drawn around the middle, marking the tree.

"Very original," Alan said sarcastically, "Y'know we don't need a map we just dug it up." He smirked, flipping a coin in his grasp.

"Ninety-nine coins," Peter said, "Plus the one we pawned." We glanced at each other before Alan finished.

"One hundred thousand dollars." He propped himself up on his elbows. 

"Probably more," Peter said. His brother questioned his words. 

"More?"

"It's kinda like selling a rare baseball card or selling a hundred rare baseball cards. Collections are always worth more together."  I shifted my position, propping my head in my hands. I watched a small spider crawl over the corner of the coin sack.

"What happens if someone comes looking for these," Peter asked. He looked at his older brother, eyes glinting in the sun that fell through the canopies. 

"He's dead, Peter," Alan said. I shrugged, listening to them talk.

"Well, I think it's pretty suspicious if we just turned all these in," Peter said. 

"Yeah, it is," I said from behind. His brother looked at me and Peter. I turned my head away, gazing at the trees. Birds flew in and out of the tops of the trees. Leaves crunched as squirrels ran around the ground, dodging trunks and such.

"-In case the cops come snooping," I heard Alan say. I turned my head same time as Peter when we heard a twig snap in the distance. 

"Yeah, maybe you're right." I hadn't heard much of the conversation. "So we leave it buried here, and we wait," Peter told us, "Go about our normal lives and not tell anyone." I half smiled. 

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When we reached the shore, the boat was high in the sand. The tide was low. "Damn, I didn't know low tide was so bad here," Alan said, "Wanna push or wait it out?"

Soon, three pairs of jeans, two shirts, and three pairs of shoes rested in the sand. I swam in my shirt, which was slightly oversized. The water ripped between the three of us as we floated around, talking about nothing in particular.

Peter dipped his head into the water. I watched the bubbles breach the surface; I waited. When he came back up, his hair was slick against his head. I grinned at him.

"Hundred grand," Alan began, "Y'know how much money money that is? That's like, house building kinda money." I blinked. I shifted in the water. My reflection was all wobbly and distorted. Little bubbles popped up on the surface when I moved. 

"That's Benny money!" Alan exclaimed, jumping up. I laughed. Alan could be such a dork sometimes. So could Peter, and even myself. Seagulls cawed as they flew through the blue sky above. The clouds blew overhead, shadows cast in various places on the water. 

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"What would you buy?" Alan asked. All three of us sat in a line. I wiggled my toes in the soft sand. The water before us rippled. Peter's sweatshirt hung, oversized on my small frame. My legs were still exposed, tanning in the summer sun. Peter mumbled something, but I couldn't quite hear. Of course, his brother loudly interrupted.

"No, what do you want," He asks again, "You can have anything you want." Peter shifts in his spot in the sand.

"Well, does it have to be something I want? M-maybe it's something I don't," he says, looking at me and back at his feet. His brother shrugs, opening his mouth to talk once again.

"Yeah, you can fix a lot with money. What don't you want?" Alan asks. I glanced at Peter, and I could tell he was thinking. He looked at his brother before speaking,

"I-I hate selling fish," he starts, "I hate that smell," Alan nodded, "I hate hang drying my clothes, I hate our boat, let's get a new boat." I smiled. In my head, I hoped they got everything they wanted.

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