I looked into the ocean, and as cliche as this saying is, it was beautiful. The steady pace of the waves crashing into the rocky coast, the vast blue canvas, stretching all the way until the horizon; sometimes I thought how could I ever deserve such beauty.
As I listened the silent ripples, a single hand laced through my own, and without knowingly, I smiled when I felt the familiar bump of the ring. Looking up, I couldn't help but smile even wider.
His honey coloured hair was disheveled in the messiest way possible, with some flopping on one side and the others sticking out in random directions.
And before I knew what I was doing, my fingers were gently combing through the golden locks.
Ross jumped at the sudden contact. But as soon as he realised it was just me, he distinctively relaxed. I carefully tamed the locks back down to his forehead as though they were delicate pieces of china, beautiful and fragile. And while my eyes were locked on my current task, I felt a pair of glowing hazel eyes locked on me. I blushed in embarrassment as I caught him staring.
Then all of a sudden, a loud bang ran through the evening air. This time, Ross and I both jumped in surprise. The navy blue sky was lit with bold streaks of colours and sparks, light was glowing everywhere, from the sky, to the sparkling sea. And when I searched for the brightest one, my eyes landed on a certain blonde.
His eyes were glinting with with unmistakable joy, and I felt like we were back under the christmas tree, when we were still 6 and everyone received something either expensive or pretty or cool. Johnny Wheeler opened the box and found a full set of train tracks, Melissa Travis unwrapped the pretty pink paper wrap and got a new pair of princess glass shoes. Even when I was 6, I was a hundred percent convinced that those weren't from each other's Secret Santas, instead they were from the rich parents. I was watching Ross the entire time when he opened the present I gave him, and I still remembered a bead of sweat sliding down my face. Would he hate it? Would he want one of those expensive lego blocks instead? But seeing the astonishment in his eyes when he unraveled his present, I was instantly relieved.
Clutched in front of the little blonde boy was a jar of glittering fireflies.
Looking into his eyes now under the fireworks, I could see the plain amazement in them. I guess he always had a soft spot for bright and glowing things. Just as the last firework fired into the night sky, he looked at me.
I leaned on the metal railing for support as I was caught off guard because this time, instead of peeking at me, or giving me small glances, he just looked at me plainly, as if he's got nothing to hide. And just as he opened his mouth to say something, something in my jeans vibrated loudly.
I let out a breath of air I didn't even know I was holding. "Hold on a sec." I said, fishing for my phone.
"Hey babe." Said the masculine voice in the other side.
I cringed slightly at the choice of words. 'Babe' vaguely reminds me of those ladies dancing around on a pole. Ignoring the word choice, I push the thought aside and put on my usual cheery voice.
"Hi Jack!" Evidently, any trace of smile or grin on Ross' face had disappeared. My heart fell a little at that.
"So, whatcha doin'?" He screamed. That was when I noticed the loud music in the background. He's probably in the club or some kind of party. Or at least, that's where I thought he was since he brought me to a club to our first date.
"Oh, nothing." I quietly replied. The irritating noise from the speaker is really destroying the mood of this place. Stupid clubs.
"How about you? Where are you?" I asked tentatively, trying not to sound like an over-protective girlfriend.
"Oh I'm at the bar. Sparrow's bar? Remember that place?" He shouted into my ear. And once again, I cringed. But this time, it wasn't because of the choice of words (though I didn't really like the word 'bars' either) but because he was screaming extra loud.
"Yeah, how can I not remember?" I said, my voice faltering in reverie. It was the first time a man actually puked on my lap, and let's just say it wasn't very pleasant.
"So Jack, why did you called any-"
"Jacky...what's taking you so long?" A seductive woman's voice rang in the background.
"Hello?" I asked urgently into the phone. My heart was panicking. What was happening over there?
"Oh Brit, hold on a second okay? I'm talking to my girlfriend here. Go back to the sofa, I'll meet you there in a minute."
"Oh hey Laura. Sorry, what was it you wanted to ask me?" By then, tears were already stinging my eyes. I shoved the phone back into my jean pocket and violently wiped at my eyes.
"LAURA!" I snapped my head up in daze. I felt like the world was spinning, and objects were fading in and out of sight. How could he say that so openly? Didn't he have any respect for me? Why-
"Laura! I called you for like 8 times and you were just out of focused, what's up with you these days?" Ross said harshly. At that, I cried even harder.
"Laura, are you okay?" His voice softened as he saw that I was crying. He got down to his knees and searched my eyes.
I glanced down at him, and all I saw was a blurry Ross. I must look horrible now, with mascara sliding down my face and makeup clotting up in chunks.
"Sorry, that was a stupid question. Of course you're not okay." He murmured to himself. And then his face was inches apart from mine.
His lips crashed into mine and my sobbing stopped abruptly. What was Ross doing? A sensible part of me asked. But my instincts took over as I moved my lips in sync with his. His hands were on my waist, and mine were placed gently on the crook of his neck. Playing with the little curls on the bottom of his scalp, I kissed Ross with everything that was built inside of me for the past 11 years. He had no idea how much I wanted to do that.
Pulling away, he was grinning as if he won the lottery. I laughed at the look he got on his face.
"What was that?" I blurted out accidentally, and I wanted to swallow the words right back in this instant. Did I have to make everything more awkward than it needs to be?
"You thought that was awkward?" He asks with mock hurt, but through his eyes I could see that he was floating with joy, because there was the same glint in his eyes when he watched the fireworks and fireflies. I stifled a giggle of the effect I had on him.
"No...I mean, well, I don't-" Shutting me up, his lips were planted on mine again, and this time I didn't hesitate before I responded. But we took it slow this time, because we knew we had all the time in the world.
AUTHORS NOTES: God that was cheesy. I'm sorry! I'm very new to all of this, I swear I'll do better next chapter! Thankyou everyone who is still here with me till this moment, you have no idea how much this means to me. I'm not gonna force you to vote or comment, but I would appreciate it if you could give me some suggestions on how to improve my writing! You know what they say! Practice makes perfect! So stay tuned for the next chapter! Cheers!