It's You [H.S.]

5.5 | You without me

26th August 2016

They forgive the early start when they arrive at the famed Blue Lagoon, just a few minutes drive from Geejam, and find it practically empty.

Successfully beating the crowds, the breathtaking natural watery playground is pretty much theirs alone for a couple of hours.

They splash and duck under the stunning waterfalls before climbing up and jumping off the huge almond tree with branches trailing all the way down into the water.

Jeff and Glenne commandeer a wooden raft and head off to paddle around the lagoon, leaving Harry and Eloise at the swing.

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Dappled sunlight filtering through the trees above dances across their features as they arrange themselves to be able to squeeze on to the swing together. He sits first, straight on. She pulls herself over him to sit side on with one leg bent up over his, the other hanging below them.

She alternates between playing footsie with him and trailing her toes through the surface of the brilliant turquoise water as they sway gently in the breeze.

Pulling her focus from the tropical fish darting through the crystal clear water beneath them, she casts her eyes up over all his tanned skin on display, only to catch him looking pensive, pulling at his lips, deep in thought with his unseeing gaze locked on something across the lagoon.

After drinking in his beautiful features for a beat, she lifts her hand from the rope to cord her fingers into the short hairs at the nape of his neck to get his attention.

"You have your thinking face on again...", she anchors her other hand across his lap, fingers soothing along the side of his thigh.

He hums lowly, breaking his stare to look into her eyes, reflecting the bright blue hue of the water. "Sorry, I've been doing a lot of that", he admits.

"Talk to me, baby... What's on your mind?".

"Just a lyric that I can't quite crack", he sighs.

"And, well, lots of things, I suppose", he adds with a shrug. "The album. The pressure. The success of the band and bowing out from that at such a high, and what that means for starting afresh without any guarantees or safety nets".

"Go on...", she encourages with a gentle drum of her fingers on his thigh.

"I've only ever known huge success. Unfathomably so, really. We had fun, but there was always heaps of pressure to keep getting bigger and better. But there was a whole machine in place making that happen for us. What do I know about it all, really? Without that safety net?".

"You lived it. You know how it felt. You've got great people around you. Just keep trusting your instincts".

"Well, they're wobbling a bit", he chuckles softly.

"That's totally normal", she says slowly, pointedly, with a reassuring grin.

"I guess I need to work out what success looks like for me now. I need to set my sights a little lower".

"In what way?".

"Hitting number one in eighty countries overnight? Raking in hundreds of millions on tour?". He'd worry about sounding big headed, but he knows she knows that's just the tip of the iceberg.

"Don't sell yourself short, baby. You have millions of dedicated fans eager to hear what you'll do next. They'll be patiently waiting for you when you're ready to share it. And there will be millions more that don't even realise they'll love it yet. It's so exciting!", she grins, squeezing his thigh.