Waiting | a fanfiction

chapter eleven

My eyes fluttered open at the warm, soft hand on my face. I groaned and stretched, before looking up to see Lucas.

"Good morning, beautiful," he smiled. I rolled my eyes because I knew that I did not look beautiful in any way, shape, or form in the morning.

"Hi, Lucas," I wrapped my arms tighter around him and buried my head in his chest. I didn't want to move.

"Hey, get up. We've got a big day ahead of us." Lucas tried to get my head off of his chest, but he had no such luck.

"Not yet," I murmured. Lucas let out a soft sigh before holding me tight against him.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked softly.

"Great, because I was with you." I smiled up at him and he rubbed his nose against mine, smiling back.

"Are you ready to go yet?" He asked after a few silent minutes.

"Yeah, I guess so," I sighed. Lucas was so perfect, I just wanted to lay beside him forever.

Lucas gently pushed me off of him and got up to get ready. I grabbed my bikini from the counter where I had let it dry, and I walked into the bathroom to change while he changed in our room. When I came out of the bathroom, I fixed up my hair in the mirror, but a bruise on my neck caught my eye. Only it wasn't a bruise...

"Lucas!" I whined, although I had already known this was going to happen. He ran over to me and I pointed to my neck.

"Oh," he said, stifling a laugh.

"It's not funny! What's everyone going to think?!" I rummaged through my makeup bag to try and find something that would cover it.

"It's fine," Lucas said, putting his hands on top of mine. "Let them think what they want to think. All I know is that when I'm with you, I'm happy." He looked deep into my eyes and I stared back into his perfect blue ones, my heart melting.

"Well, in that case, shall we?" I asked, breaking the eye contact after several minutes. I offered him my hand, and he grabbed it tightly. He locked his fingers with mine and gently rubbed my hand with his thumb as we headed to the beach together.

•••

"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up!" Tony called from the beach.

He was standing by a net that I could only assume was for beach volleyball. Lucas and I waved with our free hands and jogged over to Tony.

"Lonnie and Jonathan should be here soon," he said once Lucas and I had reached Tony.

"Are we gonna play some volleyball?" Lucas asked.

"Only if everyone wants to," Tony said.

"I'm game," I raised my eyebrows in delight. I had played beach volleyball a couple of times throughout my years of attending summer camp.

"I'll be Shelby's teammate," Lucas' eyes gleamed as he squeezed my hand warmly.

Just then, we could see Jonathan and Lonnie approaching. When they got to us, we were divided into teams: Lucas and I against Tony and Jonathan. Lonnie agreed to be the ref for this round since we had an uneven five.

The guys let me serve first, but I didn't really care whether they were being sexist or not because I knew that this would get Lucas and I to an advantage. I tossed the ball in the air and hit it square on. I watched as it soared over the net, and it landed in the sand. In Jonathan and Tony's box.

"That's my girl!" Lucas shouted and ran over to hug me. He picked me up and whirled me around in a circle, and when he set me down again we whooped and cheered and bounced around, excited about our victory.

"Well, I hope that was enough of a victory to cheer you up when you lose!!" Tony and Jonathan said in unison. It was obviously rehearsed, so Lucas and I just chuckled.

It was Lucas' serve this time. He spiked the ball over the net but Jonathan bumped it back over to our side.

"Get it, Lucas!" I yelled. Lucas rushed over to the edge of our boundary and bumped the ball back over the net.

We went back and forth for a while before Tony spiked the ball and it landed out of our court. Lucas and I rushed over to each other to celebrate again, and we cheered and cheered while Tony trudged over to get the ball.

The game lasted for over an hour, and it finally ended with Lucas and I beating Jonathan and Tony 11-4.

"Well, that was fun!" I panted, sweaty and out of breath.

"Yeah. Tons." Tony rolled his eyes as Jonathan approached us.

"Good job, you two," he said, offering his hands to us for handshakes. Lucas and I smiled at Jonathan's good sportsmanship and shook his hands.

"We should go cool off in the ocean," Lonnie suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, too hot to do anything else.

"Come on, Shelby!" Lucas took my hand in his and pulled me out into the ocean.

He guided me out to where the water was at our chests and we floated around with the waves. Although it was calmer further out, we would occasionally get pummeled by a couple waves and cling to each other for dear life. Lucas and I spent the whole day together in the ocean, just laughing and enjoying the presence of one another.

"I love you," I told him as he held me, the two of us bobbing up and down in the Pacific Ocean.

"I love you too," Lucas said before he kissed the top of my head. He kept holding me tight to him and I clung to him in return.

"What are we going to do tonight?" I mused, leaning my head against Lucas' shoulder.

"I dunno," he responded. I closed my eyes and moved my arms so I could massage his back. It was the least I could do for him.

We stayed like that until it was nearly dark, and we were interrupted by Tony and Lonnie calling us back to shore. I wrapped around Lucas' arm and walked with him to Lonnie and Tony.

"Would you two like to join us for a meal?" Lonnie asked considerately as soon as Lucas and I were near them.

I looked at Lucas and he looked back at me, and our thoughts were exchanged through that one glance.

"We're not very hungry so I think we'll come out for some food later," Lucas said.

"Thanks for the offer, though," I added. Tony and Lonnie nodded before walking away, and I nuzzled my head against Lucas' arm.

"Do u wanna go back to the room, honey?" Lucas asked in the sweetest voice I'd ever heard. I nodded against his arm and he led me back to our hotel room.

•••

"So what are we gonna do?" I asked, flopping onto my bed.

"What do you want to do?" Lucas asked me instead.

"Well, we could watch a movie... or play a game... or read... or go on a walk... or eat something... or..." I trailed off at the end and turned to Lucas. His eyes locked with mine, and he picked me up off of my bed and set me right in front of him.

Lucas kissed me passionately and I kissed back, my heart fluttering. Although we had kissed a million times before, this time felt different. Different in a good way. He pulled me onto his bed with him as we kissed, and I rolled over so he was on top of me.

We kissed, and we didn't stop. I knew then and there that I would kiss him forever and always, and that he would always be mine.

"I'm marrying you someday," I whispered when we had finally pulled away for air.

"Well, good, because I'm proposing to you someday." Lucas and I stared at each other for a couple moments before moving in to kiss each other again.