There were a lot of things I was thankful for; my family, my health and the good old air conditioning that was pretty much the only thing getting me through the hot July included. But at that moment in time, as my feet were buried in the sand and the sun was glaring down on me, the thing I found myself praising the Lord for were sunglasses. Now, I know their main purpose is to protect your eyes but in my case they were protecting a lot more than that. They were protecting my pride. If Harry could see just how often my gaze drifted to the dark-haired beauty that was currently lounging on a sunbed a few feet away he would never have let me forget it for the duration of my stay at Virginia Beach. Then again, now that it was my last day it probably wouldn't be much of a problem but hey, a guy's got nothing if he doesn't have his pride. Just ask your dad.

I'd seen her around. Yes, that was possibly because after I'd seen her the first time I began to consciously look out for her everywhere I went, but I could never get the courage to grow a pair and talk to her. I came close a few days ago when I'd seen her sat in the small diner near the beach but as soon as I'd stood up a couple of other guys sat at her table. She'd looked up from her book and when she acknowledged her new company I saw her eyebrows bunch together. It was freaking adorable. She didn't look impressed when the guys tried to chat her up and I was caught between laughing at their obnoxious attempts to get her to touch their biceps (I didn't even know that guys in real life did that any more) and storming over there to rid her of the problem. I clenched my fists and forced myself to stay put since I could only imagine what it would look like for a creepy stranger to ride in like a white knight on a horse. She didn't even know who I was. Yet. After a few attempts to tell the guys she wasn't interested she packed up her book and put her sunglasses on before making a smooth exit from the diner. The two guys looked at one another in confusion. Yes, I thought, how anyone could have turned you down I have no idea, maybe it was something to do with the bugger that's dangling from your hairy nose. I quickly got up from my own booth and walked out of the door but my dark-haired beauty had gone. It was that moment when I realised if I didn't get a grip on myself soon I would probably end the summer with a criminal record for harassment.

And now here she was again. I'd seen her every day from the very first day we'd arrived here. That had to mean something right? I'd never been one for unrealistic idealisms (anyone who tells you I was just doesn't understand that none of my ideas are unrealistic) but there was something about this girl who made me believe in fate.

"Are you actually going to throw that ball or are you just going to stand there fondling it from another ten minutes?!" Harry called from over the net. "I don't care either way; just let me know so I know if I have time to buy a soda."

"Ha ha," I replied. "You'll be buying me a soda when I beat you. Again." And with that I threw the volleyball into the air and prepared to hit it with enough force to actually get it over the net. For all my confident words, I actually sucked at sport. The only reason I'd managed to win the last game was because the sun was coming from behind me and meant Harry had to squint just to see which direction that ball was coming from.

The only thing I wasn't prepared for was a sweet little cough, sounding from somewhere to my right. In the back of my mind I knew who made the sound, that was why I was so intuned to it, but that didn't stop me from turning my entire body just in time for me to hit the ball with more force than I've ever hit a ball in any Gym class I've ever had. And it was in the direction of her.

"Shit."

The volleyball ploughed through the air towards her. I think I must have shouted something because she looked up just in time for the volleyball to connect with her face, knocking the huge dark sunglasses onto the sand.

Well you wanted to talk to her, I thought sarcastically, here's your chance to get a few words in before she files for a law suit. Let's hope she doesn't find out about the way you've been stalk- ah, noticing her. That's really not going to help your case.

"Dude! What the hell was that?!" Harry shouted but I could barely hear him, I was already walking towards the girl, who was lying on her back with her hands on her face.

I rushed forwards and knelt beside her. Leaning over her, I tried to block the sun from her face since her glasses had fallen off and my eyes met her green ones, so green that they matched the deep colour of her dress. I knew it. I looked at her eyes, looked and gazed and told myself that if I got the chance to look into those eyes everyday for the rest of my life nothing, nothing, would ever make the world seem dark and lonely again. Looking into her eyes felt like coming home, like my whole life I'd been looking for something and I'd found it in those two dazzling green gems. Then she blinked and I realised I looked like a complete idiot.

"I am so sorry." I gasped, "Are you okay? Do you need help? Let me help you to the lifeguard's station. Here, I'll carry you. Did I already say I was sorry, because I am so, so sorry."

"I'm fine." She said bitterly, not that I blamed her, and tried to sit up. I moved away slightly to give her space but as soon as she was in a sitting position her head tilted to the side and her eyes almost rolled back into her head. I reached out and grabbed her shoulders to steady her before she fell off the sun lounger. Her skin was like satin beneath my fingers. "Whoa, maybe not so fine. Could you pass me my water? It's in that bag." She gestured vaguely to the woven beach bag that was next to her sun lounger. I reached in, brought it out and opened it before giving it to her. She took it gratefully and brought the bottle to her lips. Her lips. I was almost as mesmerised at those as I was with her eyes. I looked away while she continued to drink, conscious of that fact that if these thoughts continued to go through my mind at the rate they were doing now; my shorts might not be able to hide just how much I liked thinking them.

Once she'd drained the entire bottle she looked better; less dizzy. "Thanks." She said.

"Are you really okay?" I ventured. "You could have a concussion or something. I should really take you to the lifeguard."

"I don't need a lifeguard but I think I might need some new sunglasses." I looked over to the pair that had been knocked off her face and found that each lens was shattered.

"This is all my fault. Here, I'll give you some money to buy some new ones. How much did they cost?" I was already reaching into my pocket to extract the few bills I kept on me when she answered.

"$200."

My hands stilled. "Two hundred dollars?" I forced out.

She nodded seriously, "They were a present from my parents." If I'd been wearing a shirt, I'd have been tugging at the collar by now.

"Well, ah," I stuttered, trying to find the words to tell her that I didn't actually have that amount of money when she laughed.

"I'm just messing with you. To be honest I actually did have a pair that cost $200 but I sat on them the other day," she blushed. Actually blushed and here I was thinking that there was no sight more beautiful than her eyes. "I had to run to Walmart to try and get some cheap. This pair actually cost $3.96."

"I'm not going to lie, you had me sweating like a whore in church for a moment." I said, relieved to find some of the confidence I'd been lacking for days returning to me. "I'm Liam."

I extended my hand and she grinned. "Ruby," She said as she took it.

Ruby.

"Well, Ruby, while I may not be able to afford designer sunglasses, what I can offer is almost priceless."

Ruby gave me a wary look as she replied, "Oh yeah? And what would that be."

"If you're not going to let me carry you to the lifeguard you could at least let me carry you to that diner on the board walk, they have the best sundaes that are to die for on a day like today." I mentally crossed my fingers and prayed with everything I had that she would say yes.

"I know the ones." She contemplated for another moment and then focused back on me. "But tell me, Liam," I loved how she said my name, "which is the priceless part of this offer? Buying me ice-cream or carrying me there?"

I smirked, "You can decide."

I saw a suppressed grin and nearly fell to my knees to kiss the sand when she stood up and grabbed her bag.

"It's okay, I'll walk."

And we did; right past Harry who was looking at me in disbelief. "Lee, you're the only guy I know who can almost give a girl a concussion and still get her to go out with you!" He shouted after us, "You gotta tell me how you do it." I pretended not to hear him.

Edit: A/N - I just want to thank you all so much for reading this, I was only expecting a couple of people to look at this one shot as when I wrote it there wasn't even a fandom for The Darkest Minds (it had been in storage on my laptop until someone created a category for TDM here) but each review/follow/favourite is so lovely and I really appreciate it. I haven't reread this myself in a while so I was mortified at the amount of spelling and grammar mistakes I'd made and as much as I love the idea, this is not one of my best written pieces. But regardless the support in the reviews is amazing and just thank you thank you thank you, I really believe that without the encouragement I would be so critical over my writing that I might be tempted to stop. You have no idea how much they mean to me :D 33