We've Met Before

9 - June Fourth

KAIA

Cade and I have spent the entirety of the last two days ambling through the Florida beach. I've been sitting out on the balcony for the last half hour thinking about my beach bucket list.
"I want to go see the sunset." I say out loud.
"Can you not see it from the balcony?" He laughs, amused.
I groan, hauling myself upward. "Do you have no vision? Cade, it's not the same to watch from a screen than to watch on a stage."
"Is that a metaphor?"
"No," I deadpan.
An enlightened smile appears on his face, and I know he's in for trouble.
"What if we go watch it, right now." He says, as if he's just told me the idea of his life.
I contemplate the idea for a couple seconds, before shaking my head profusely. I start rotating around the room, apprehensive at his commitment to make me worry.
"We can't. Mom said lights out at 7:30. She said happy hour is at the bar at 8:00 and she doesn't want us meddling around."
He raises an eyebrow. "What if I told you that I could get both of us out of this hotel, and your mom would have no idea."
"I'd say you're full of shit," I respond, a smile creeping on my lips.
"Mm," He hums, "Guess you're going to have to learn the hard way not to doubt me." He grabs ahold my wrist and begins dragging me out the door.
I'm not able to contend against him because I'm already bubbling with laughter. A hysterical giggle escapes my lips and I can't help but sprint along with the blonde-haired boy tugging at my hand. He looks back at me and the world has stopped in it's orbit. Seconds have become frozen, and I drink from the glint in his eyes.
The excitement continues as he pushes a maintenance door which sits nestled between the emergency staircase. We both fly through the door, and run by all the confused hotel staff.
I hear a string of cuss words, and I shout apologies until we finally make it outside the hotel.
Cade let's go of my hand and ushers me down the Florida sidewalk. Dusk has set in, and the sky is painted in arrays of purples and pinks. The weather is humid, and hot. I feel the concrete warm my feet through the soles of my shoes.
We start treading closer to the water. The warm sand bristles under my feet as it gets caught between my sandals and my toes.
I can't blink.
If I blink, I'll miss it all.
"It's so gorgeous," I whisper, caught in awe.
"It is," He responds.
I turn towards him and he's already looking at me, and I feel like I've swallowed a marble, or maybe a penny, or a quarter, I don't know.
Cade's mischievous smile appears back onto his lips, daring me to test it. He inches his shoulders towards my knees, and he wraps his toned arms around my legs. I hang against his back and start screaming.
"Cade Steele let me go!"
Cade ignores my squeals and attempts to throw me into the water.
Tears have formed at my eyes from my laughter and I decide to kick him against his stomach. He falls back onto the sand and I give him a light shove into the water. I stand victorious, and feverish, as I watch him laugh with his entire body. He rises back from the water, dripping, shadowed with purple and pink tints.
"You think that's funny?" He threatens through broken laughter.
I smirk, and nod silently. He runs towards me and finally manages to pick me up effortlessly. His arms drop me into the water and I take my drenched shirt off.
Thank god I kept my bikini on.
I stand between the waves, and the sky, and breathe in what heaven must feel like.
There's such an innate serenity in the things that are helplessly beautiful. The sort of things that can't help be anything but beautiful. The sky is one of those things, the ocean is one of things, and being among those two things makes me believe that I could be one of those things too.
If I am worthy enough to experience this, and to marvel in it, then maybe I'm enough to believe I'm part of the scenery as well.
Cade paddles towards me, and soon enough he's by my side. I look at him, and I see concern painted over his features.
He brings his wet thumb to drag under my eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"What?" I exhale.
"You're crying sunshine," He says, using a nickname I had never heard him use before.
"It's all so pretty," I sob, realizing too late that I really am crying. I'm shattering.
"Do you feel overwhelmed? Don't cry, Kaia. Look at me," He brings his hand to my chin and turns my head to face him. "There's nobody I can imagine who deserves to be part of all of this more than you. I look at the sky, and the ocean, and you, and realize how lucky of a man I am to stand to witness it all."
It's as if he's read my mind, my worries, my aspirations in one.
I lean into his hand and feel myself melt underneath his touch.
    I broke the rules tonight.
I broke every rule I've subjected myself to.
I told myself I wouldn't think too much of myself, and that I'd never place myself among the things that I value in life.
I broke the rules tonight.
Cade broke my rules for me tonight.
——
I come back to take a shower, ridding my body of all the sand, and dirt from the ocean.
I exit the shower, clothed, and find Cade standing out on the balcony. I pick up a book and sit down on a white rocking chair beside the bed-stand.
He turns towards me, and I immediately duck behind the book I'm reading.
Too bad I already lost the paragraph I was at.
He breathed out, "I need a cold shower."
He silently enters the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Fifteen minutes later, and he's come out fully dressed. He dons a white t-shirt and plaid pj pants.
I check the clock.
10:34 pm.
I'm moving mechanically. I can't afford to lose my cool in the middle of this barely conditioned room, while my family is silently sleeping on the other side of these walls.
"So um, what side do you usually sleep on?" I ask Cade, shutting my book and hugging it against my chest.
"Whichever is fine, really. I'm not picky." He mumbles.
I nod and place my book on the nightstand.
    I watch him lift the white covers, laying on the right side of the bed, facing the ceiling. I do the same, except on the left. I shut my bedside table lamp off, and stare at the ceiling along with him.
    Neither of us says a word. I think this is the closest we've ever been, the closest I've dared getting, both physically, and emotionally.
    I've slept alone in my bed for years. Nobody has ever been inside my room at home. I usually stroll to the study, or in the living room, or somewhere along the kitchen when my friends come by. I isolate  my bedroom as the one place inside my home that is  untouchable.
    There's a both a fear, and desire for closeness,
    For vulnerability, and I'm afraid and content that I've surpassed all expectations I once had for it.
    His shoulder is touching mine, and I feel as if all my senses have cornered themselves in that sliver of skin. They're all sensitive, and heightened, awaiting for something else to happen.
    Something, even if it's nothing at all.
    I'm scared that if I close my eyes, this moment will be gone. If I go to sleep, it will all disappear. Every moment I've ever harbored has decimated to specks, and small dots in my memory.
    What makes me even sadder, is that memories are supposed to be just that.
    Fleeting.
    I struggle to keep my eyes open, but I decide that I must savor this moment. I must take in the details.
    The smell.
    The taste.
    The sound.
    The touch.
    The sight.
    "Are you awake?" Cade's voice interrupts my analysis, and I freeze.
    Yes. "No."
    He chuckles, and turns on his side to face me. I keep my back against the mattress, but I turn my head to face him.
    I can see the chisel of his cheekbones in the moonlight, and the curve between his neck and jawline.
    He's so painfully beautiful.
    "Do you think that I'd be successful as a football player?" He asks, his voice small, and shy.
    "Yes. You're very talented. There's a reason why you're the almighty quarterback," I tease.
    He laughs, but it seems sadder than it was two minutes ago. "I got a call from Alabama, they said they want to talk to me about 'furthering my career' and all that crap."
    "You sound so upset about that."
    He sighs, staring at the sheet connecting both of us. "I'm not, I think. There's just so many variables in my life Kaia. I don't think I can leave home, even if I wanted to."
    He feels trapped. I want to know why, part of me wants to ask, but I can't.
    "I hope you know that everyone around you would support what ever decision you take," I can feel my heartbeat accelerate.
    Cade yawns, inching his head on my shoulder. "If we ever get lost; if I'm ever apart from you; promise me, for the love of god, that you'll find your way back to me." He nestles his face into my neck, and I can feel his nose graze my skin.
    It's no longer a sliver, it's the entirety of my body that's exhilarated.
    Burning for him.
    Burning by him.
    "I promise."