I let myself loose despite the obvious glances Harry is giving me. I don't even hesitate when I let my dress fall and pool around my ankles in a crinkle of sky blue fabric. I disregard the heatedness of my cheeks and the persistence of Harry's stare. I resist the temptation to rub the throbbing in my back, the pain ebbing away with each passing second.
Charlie insists on a game of Tip — just like old times — and Lilli starts off the game by giving him a loud slap on the back.
"You're it!" she squeals, dodging his counterattack and making a dash away. As she passes Ben, she gives him a little shove and that's enough for Charlie to reach forward with his long arms and grab Ben's shoulder.
Then he's whining, "Really, Lilli?!" But not a second too late, he's aiming for Emily, who's Naruto-running again. Lilli and I run into each other trying to escape Ben's grasp, and she latches onto me, using me as a human shield. Ben spots my helplessness and makes a run for me, but just as he reaches out to grab me, I duck and roll away. I know how much sand must be entwined in my hair right now, but the look Harry gives me when I rise to my feet is enough to melt my ankles.
Awe.
I shouldn't have let myself get caught off-guard because the next second I'm feeling the sting of a slap on my bare back, and I'm swivelling to watch a smug Ben jog off. Instead of chasing after him though, I slowly turn and give Harry a grin. His lips drop into a small frown, flicking a string of satisfaction inside of me. I open my arms wide.
"Care for a hug, bro?" I exclaim softly, letting him savour the situation. I can only imagine the disapproving look on Lilli's face behind me.
"Not the time, love birds," Ben yells. "I wanna swim!"
Harry's cheeks flush red. I close my eyes to chuckle lightly to myself. Then I feel warm arms around me, holding me almost up and off of the sand. I tip my head back to look at him, but all I can see is his neck. I let out a breath on his skin and he shivers against me. His Adam's apple bobs up then down. I swallow the lump in my throat too.
I try to ignore the prickly feeling that my friends are watching this, because although Harry's arms are around me, hovering me over the ground, and I feel that I could drop, he seems like he'll lose it before I do. I let my hesitant self settle my hands on his back. The embrace is awkward, unnatural for us, and so it seems, mostly for him, but it's the best thing that's happened today. No, ever.
"You're it," I say.
The cold water surrounds me, but it doesn't suffocate me. It breathes a newfound freedom, and even more so with my hand resting in Harry's.
We hold each other's hands, bright smiles and eyes pointed fixedly at the horizon as the sun beams down. The cold travels up our bodies as we step into the waves, but as the seafoam tickles our thighs and warm bubbles wrap around our legs, we're no longer freezing.
"Hey, guys," Charlie calls out. We all turn towards him. With a long arm pointed he says, "Let's go further out where the sand bank is."
We all nod but I hear Lilli sigh. "I wish I could get a photo of all of us together like this."
Charlie smiles reassuringly at her. "Later we'll get one."
With that, we swim past the waves, paddling slowly, all the time in the world. The waves fade to lapping and then small rolls of waves, carrying us up and then down again. I glance at Harry a few times, and I catch him looking at me all of those times, all times with a sort of worried expression written on his face. I smile at him each of those times, but he becomes more furtive each time.
On the fourth time, he withdraws a little, swimming further away. Instead of disregarding like I usually do, I've decided that I'd rather him annoy me than ignore me. I slow down my movements and roll towards the right, joining Harry's side. Just as I'm about to take his hand, I hear Charlie say, "No loitering, guys. We're nearly there."
When we do finally reach the sand bank, I trust the sandy seafloor to meet my toes, and it does; just barely. On my tip-toes and the soft rolling of the ocean passes every half-minute, lifting me off the sand, carrying me backwards. The feeling is addicting, and we spend what feels like hours just letting the waves lift us like we're weightless then push us back to shore. By now, my cheeks feel completely fried, but the smile on my face remains as Harry takes my hand underwater.
Out of the water now and quickly drying under the intensity of the sun, I slip my dress over my swimmers, then dance aimlessly around, letting the refreshing air blow around my dress. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Harry watching, so I dance over to him and take his hands. He tugs back a little, hesitant to continue, but I tug back playfully, leading him around, swinging my arms around.
"God, will you two stop for a minute?" Lilli teases, sounding exasperated. "Aren't you guys hungry?"
I hum loudly, trying to drown Lilli out. Some music would be nice around now.
"Tasmin!"
I finally lend my friend a glance, and although she's smiling, I can see how stiff it is, how forced. I close my eyes and continue dancing, gripping Harry's hands a little tighter now.
"I'm not hungry."
"You'll complain later," she warns.
"I won't complain to you though," I reassure her. "I'll complain to Harry. Harry'll let me, won't you, Harry?" I ask, and it takes him a moment of staring, but he nods.