A/N: Because sometimes you have to drop everything to cheer a friend up.
Dedicated to Morgan.
Sidenote: I don't know what it's like in other countries but in the UK, we have a festival called bonfire night or Guy Fawkes night which essentially involves bonfires and fireworks and a guy called Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the houses of parliament. Anyway, since it's tomorrow (Nov 5), I thought it might be appropriate to write this. So here it is! Enjoy?
Pre-Game/AU
Sam rubbed her gloved hands together, her breath mingling in with late night smoke. The flames crackled and splintered, lapping at her face with a blissful, orange glow.
"Marshmallows!" Ashley exclaimed with excitement, diving for the plastic bag that Beth had just opened.
Sam laughed, watching Ashley pluck one – or two. Or five – of the marshmallows and skewered them onto a wooden sticks she had clutched in her hand.
Chris held his hand out like a gentlemen, muttering something beside Ashley. She smiled the brightest, passing the stick over to him. Regret crumbled on Chris' face as soon as he realised that offering to toast Ashley's marshmallows meant that he'd have to risk his life by getting close to the blazing bonfire. He stared at it in horror as if it were the final boss in some video game that he couldn't defeat.
Cracking his neck, he crushed his eyes closed and lunged towards the bonfire, stabbing the end of the stick into the sand and lurched back before he started to burn. He whistled, Swiftly wiping his forehead.
Ashley's eyes glittered as she looked at him, like he was Channing Tatum or Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Sam could swear she could see sweat dribble down the side of his face, underneath his glasses. Sam chuckled. When were the two of them ever going to make a move?
The sky was a darkening, inky blue, sinking into black. The sun was low, slipping underneath the ocean, but it brushed a golden glow across the lapping, sloshing water, not missing every person's eyes.
"Nah," Emily waved her hand as her best friend offered her the contents of the marshmallow bag. She lay relaxed on the dark sand, sunbathing in the fire's glow. "Not good for my skin."
But Sam caught her sneaking the occasional marshmallow and plopping it into her mouth when she thought no one was looking. Sam raised an eyebrow. She smirked. She wouldn't say a word.
"Hey guys!" Josh tumbled into the group, guitar strapped around his shoulder.
Hannah visibly cringed, Beth audibly groaning, as soon as they saw the musical instrument. "You're not going to play that, are you, Josh?" Hannah begged. She was glancing at Mike behind her, who was busy planting fireworks in the sand a stretch away. Sam sighed at her best friend. She obviously didn't want to be embarrassed in front of her crush.
"You bet I am!" Josh fist pumped the air. Chris limply copied the gesture, whooping with a lack of enthusiasm, as he realised that he actually had to go back in to the bonfire and turn the marshmallows around. Nobody likes marshmallows just toasted on one side. Wow, Chris was signing up for a lot when it came to Ashley.
He obviously thought it was worth it.
"I want to hear it," Sam found herself saying. It just slipped out of her mouth. And Josh's eyes met hers effortlessly. The setting sun simmered behind him, his face in shadows and the occasional lick of orange flame. But she couldn't miss his eyes. They were glowing.
He smiled.
"Ugh, get a room!" Emily snapped with a mouth full of marshmallows.
"Ew," Jess make a face from the other side of the bonfire, where she'd been occasionally talking to Matt and constantly checking her phone.
Emily just threw up a middle finger towards her friend, smug and highly amused. Jessica grinned back, sneering playfully. There was nothing that could get in between their friendship. Even the occasional profanity.
Josh coughed. "Okay," he strummed the guitar's strings clumsily, though he wore a look that said 'I'm a boss'. Chris had finally managed to retrieved Ashley's marshmallows after much struggle. Surprisingly, they weren't burnt.
She beamed as she sucked on one of the marshmallows, her cheeks flushed underneath her scarf. Chris looked pretty pleased with himself – despite his life-risking task – and his cheeks were pretty toasty themselves.
"So, this is a song I wrote... a little while ago," Josh introduced, grinning.
"Five minutes ago!" Chris shouted from behind him.
Josh swivelled and glared at his best friend. Whatever happened to bro code? Sam laughed. One of those laughs that creases at the edges of her eyes.
"Anyway," Josh said pointedly, recollecting himself. "I put a lot of effort into this," he added extra emphasis on every possible word he could, narrowing his eyes at Chris who grinned sheepishly. "So..."
"Fireworks!" Hannah shouted with delight.
Josh groaned. "Seriously?" he muttered under his breath, shrugging with exasperation even as everyone spun to watch Mike light the fireworks and then immediately sprint across the beach at high speed, like he was in a Jurassic Park movie or something. Admittedly looking very cool in a Jurassic Park movie.
Fireworks sizzled up into the night air and exploded. Colours crackled and mingled and evaporated, followed by more. Gasps fizzled throughout the group. Jess was filming the display nearby on her phone, Matt not far away. Chris looked like he wanted to hold Ashley's hand. If she hadn't been clasping her marshmallow stick with both hands, he actually might have. Emily dipped her hand into the marshmallow packet only to come up empty. She glared around the rest of the group, as if to ask, 'How did that happen?'
"Is this even legal?" Beth, eyes locked on the fireworks, leaned into her sister and whispered. But Hannah swiftly shooshed her twin with a flapping hand, eyes locked on Mike and glimmering as she watched his every movement.
And Josh. He slipped in beside Sam. They both hovered at the back of the group, watching with contentment at the flashing and exploding fireworks.
And, through it all, she felt Josh's fingers brush against hers, even through her gloves. His eyes were glimmering gold and every other colour under the sun as he watched the fireworks. But she could feel his heat on her.
And, in the burning darkness, she wrapped her hand around his.
He sang the song for her later. When no one else was bothered to listen. It was something about marshmallows and being toasty and it made absolutely no sense.
But she loved it anyway.