lost in the light {n.h ou}

los angeles, i'm burning up for you

summer

The beginning of summer passed like a wave going back to the ocean. Quick at first, and then slowly dragging. Water covering every piece of sand. Leaving a mark from where it had once been. Until nothing was left but a faint memory.

Days were a tangle of limbs against sheets with a thread count too high for Charlie to consider. Skin warming and darkening under the heavy California sun. Each day gave way for more freckles on Niall's back for Charlie to connect. Eucalyptus hung everywhere and left the air heavy with its sweetness. When the heat finally got to be too much, clothes were left in haphazard piles. Bare shoulders and bare legs, cutting through crystal waters.

July found them both there. Late evening. Sun early in its farewell behind the hills. Golden hour as Niall called it. Everything was saturated with colors -oranges and yellows and pinks. Soaking them in gold and making the world rose colored.

It was fitting because this place -the two of them, were a bubble. A beautiful, wonderful, rose hued bubble. Tucked away deep in the canyon. Sure the outside world existed, but it could never reach them here. Niall's place had become a haven. Sex anywhere and everywhere. Meals cooked between the two of them. Music wafted through the open doors out onto the grounds where flowers bloomed along the walls. Something beautiful to keep everything unpleasant out.

It was easy to forget their responsibilities. Charlie was on summer break, the only thing to worry about was work -and Ana's European wife was whisking her away the month of August. Niall was on break from chasing the sun around the world. Weeks he had been off on the other side of the globe. But he came back here and even when he left again part of Charlie knew he would come back to this place.

Charlie made her way down the steps out to the pool. Beers in hand, condensation already rolled down her fingers from the heat. Back in the house, the record finally started playing. Something from the fifties Charlie had found on the shelf and had remembered her father playing it around the house years ago.

Water splashed against the edge of the pool. Ripples moving towards the corner as Niall cut through the middle of the water. Back and forth and back and forth. He would do this sometimes. As if struck with a sudden burst of energy and a need to get it out. Charlie had started to wonder if it was just a way to push out any thoughts he didn't want.

For that, she couldn't blame him.

She dipped her legs over the edge into the water. Swinging her feet around, she brought the beer to her lips and waited. Doing nothing in the world but drinking and listening to the sounds around her. Softly humming the tune of the song. A couple minutes later Niall finally surfaced, mouth turning upwards when he noticed Charlie sitting there. He swam over to her, hooking his hands behind the back of her knees.

"That one for me?" Niall nodded to the beer by Charlie's thigh.

"Yeah," she handed it to him. "It was cold but you seemed busy."

Glass to his lips, Niall drank deeply. Nearly halfway finished by the time he stopped. Charlie had to give him credit, he only grimaced slightly. "Love a piss warm beer."

Snatching it from his hands, Charlie sat it back down on the edge of the pool. "Like I said, it was cold."

Niall hummed, pushing himself between Charlie's legs. Drawing patterns over her skin with water droplets. Occasionally his lips helped complete the design. Before she could help herself, Charlie giggled when Niall brushed over a spot on her knee. The sound made a smile break across Niall's face and -and this wasn't love, Charlie told herself it wasn't love between them. It was only that when Niall looked at her that way, Charlie swore he could be a man she loved. Really loved. And then in a moment, like a lens shuttering closed on a camera, he was gone. Pulled away to keep a distance.