Chapter 2

"Time!" Coach Willy clicked on his stopwatch. He checked the time and proudly smiled at me. "Three seconds faster," he noted. "You just keep on getting better. Keep it up, Charlie." He scribbled notes on his clipboard before tapping my head with his pen. "Now, get out of here. I have the boys coming in for practice in a while."

"Absolutely, not that the boys pay any attention to me," I grinned, hoisting myself off the pool. I grabbed a towel and headed to the showers. On the way there, I caught sight of the boys swimming team entering the pool house for their practice. I easily found Rin and jogged over to him. "Hey," I bumped his side with my shoulder. "Did Russell and Lori tell you about tomorrow?"

Rin looked at me confused, clearly answering me that his home-stay parents did not.

"Well, spoiler alert," I said, watching him as he began to stretch his arms and legs. I noticed the other guys peeking at me from the corner of their eyes but took no mind of me. Even Coach Willy just passed by me to retrieve his clipboard for the boy's swim team. "So since it's your first week here in Australia, Russell and Lori thought that it would be nice to show you some... Australian things, so we're going to a zoo tomorrow and an aquarium after that. Then we're all having a little camp out by the beach." I caught sight of Coach Willy pointing his finger at me then to the showers. "To make things short, a weekend of fun." I patted Rin's bare shoulder then lightly jogged away. "I'll meet you after practice, okay?"

"G'day, Charlie," Russell lightly thumped my shoulder. Usually he would go for my back, but I currently had my backpack on with the things I needed for this weekend. "Rin's just finishing up. He had a late start today. Training's been rough, huh?"

"Probably different from what he's used to," I shrugged. "It's an adjustment process, I guess. Coach Willy is certainly different from my elementary swim coach. That woman was pretty chill."

"I hear that you're really helping him a lot, even with his English classes," Russell said. "I really appreciate it."

I smiled shyly. "I don't get a lot of friends," I admitted. "I would rather keep the ones that do stay." Feeling a bit awkward for opening up to my neighbour, I said, "I'll go see what Rin's up to." I ran inside and took a little detour to greet Winnie before heading to Rin's door and knocked.

"Come in."

"Hey," I entered his bedroom. "You ready?"

Rin, who was hunched over his desk, immediately stuffed a couple of papers into an envelope. He sealed it shut and stuffed it in the pocket of his jacket. He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's go."

"We still have fifteen minutes," I told him. "They're still loading up the vans with camping stuff and food." I caught sight of the envelope peeking from his pocket. "Is that for your friend?" I asked, glancing at it.

"Yes," Rin replied shortly, pushing the envelope further in his pocket. He cleaned up his bed before heading to the door. "Come on."

I paused and surveyed Rin's room. It was the complete opposite of mine. His floor was clean and didn't have a single item of clothing littered over it. Even his bed was neatly made. "Your room is pretty tidy," I pointed out. "Is it a Japanese thing?"

"Maybe," Rin shrugged. "Do you not clean room?"

"I constantly get nagged for it," I chuckled. "It's not a mess though. I would rather call it an organised clutter."

Rin nodded thoughtfully, smiling in amusement.

"Okay, fine," I admitted. "I only clean it once I start tiptoeing around my room. I got better things to do, you know?"

"Rin! Charlie!" Lori called out from outside the house. "Time to go!"

"Hey, it's my turn!" I whined, reaching out for the koala.

"It is not letting go," Rin said, making no effort to separate with the cuddly marsupial. "It's so cute."

I huffed and crossed my arms. I looked up to the caretaker who was watching them in amusement along with our parents. I poked her on the arm to gain her attention. "It's my turn," I said, frowning impatiently.

"Oh, hush now, Charlie," Mum tutted at me.

"We're here for your boyfriend, remember?" Tyler teased, lightly elbowing me in my side. "Besides, we've been here three times! That koala's probably sick of your ugly mug."

I glared at my brother. Then a smirk emerged on my face. "Fine," I shrugged in false defeat. "If I can't carry a koala," I said, stepping closer to Tyler, "then I'll be the koala!" I jumped for Tyler, wrapped my legs around his waist, and wound my arms around his neck.

"Ow! Mum!" Tyler choked, his legs wobbled as he struggled to stay balanced. "Can't... breathe..." He repeatedly tapped on my arms as a plea to release him.

"Man, you really need to get more exercise, Ty," I suggested, giggling. I loosened my arms to give my brother some air but remained attached to him. "Even Rin has more muscular arms than you."

"Oh, shut it," Tyler scoffed, reaching back to grab hold of my legs to steady me on his back. "You're getting quite heavy as well there, Charlotte."

I grimaced at my brother's use of my real name but quickly grinned. "All muscle weight, dear brother," I bragged.

"Do you still want a turn with him?" the caretaker asked me, looking amused with our sibling banter.

"With the koala or the shark?" Tyler snickered.

I hopped off Tyler's back and lightly kicked his leg, making him yelp. "Heck, yeah," I cheered. I slowly approached Rin and the koala. Instead of taking the koala, who still seemed to not want to separate from Rin, I just reached over and hugged them both.

"Now isn't that adorable," Lori commented, giggling.

I tried not to notice Rin's arm reaching around to hug me as well nor be aware that he was blushing and tried to hide it behind the furry head of the koala. Tyler certainly did and did not hesitate to point it out, embarrassing Rin and me. What a little shit.

"Why are you giving me this?" Rin asked when I handed him the paper bag of animal feed. "Isn't this yours?"

"I only bought one bag," I shrugged, reaching in and grabbing a handful of feeds which I then stuffed in the pocket of my jacket. "The others aren't coming with us, by the way. They're off to get lunch, so we have about an hour to just wander around the petting zoo."

Rin narrowed his eyes at me. "Why only one bag?" he asked.

I smiled slyly at him and began making my way for the emus. "Because I can't run thirty miles per hour, Rin," I said, "and they can get really excited if they're hungry and spot a bag full of food."

"What?" Rin looked worried. "Charlie, come back here! Charlie!"

I just laughed and continued walking with Rin cautiously trailing behind me.

Rin was hiding behind my back during the first few minutes, but after feeding a couple of emus, he was able to started wandering by himself. Just as I suspected, a couple of emus caught sight of the paper bag and began stalking Rin. Rin broke out into a light jog to escape, but once realising that he wouldn't be left alone, he threw half the food pellets to the ground and made his final escape. Thankfully it didn't turn into a full chase.

I, on the other hand, was laughing my heart out at the scene that played before me. After three birds, my feeds had already ran out so I decided to just chill out with some ducks in a nearby cage. Rin shortly joined me, looking mildly harassed, making me laugh even harder.

"I'm impressed," I said, grinning. "You're as fast on land as you are on water."

Rin pouted at me and began walking to the kangaroo cages. "A small warning next time," he grumbled.

I jogged to catch up to him. "I did warn you." I laughed when he grumbled again and walked faster to avoid me.

The kangaroos were a step up. They seemed to like Rin, and he seemed to be extremely fascinated by the albino kangaroo that the wildlife park had. Not to mention his amazement with that one kangaroo that was carrying a joey in its pouch.

We then moved to look at bandicoots that Rin thought were simple rodents. Moving on to the next cage, there were a few platypuses, which Rin commented to be like misshapen ducks. After going through the other marsupials in smaller cages, we ended at the cage where a pack of dingoes were napping.

"Shiba inu," Rin muttered.

I raised my brow at him in confusion. "What?"

"Dingoes look like shiba inu," Rin said. He pulled out his phone and typed something in before showing me a photo of a dog that looked very similar to a dingo. "Very many in Japan," he added.

"It's fluffier though," I smiled, zooming in on the dog. "I want one! Mum isn't fond of pets though. Is this dog yours?"

"My sister's friend's," Rin answered.

"You didn't tell me you had a sister," I said. "Is she into sports like you?"

Rin opened his mouth to answer but closed it as if he didn't know what to answer. "Maybe," was his response with a small shrug.

"There you guys are!" Tyler called out, huffing as he jogged towards us. "Haven't you checked your phone? Mum's been texting you for the past ten minutes!" He stared at me intently. "Please don't tell me you tried to snatch another wombat."

"For the last time, I didn't steal that wombat! It snuck inside my backpack!"

On the way to the aquarium, we had lunch which also made Rin slightly queasy from eating while inside a moving vehicle. After I devoured my burger and fries, I was ready to take a nap, but unfortunately, we were nearing the aquarium. I was beginning to doze off with my head leaning on Rin's shoulder when I was tapped awake by Tyler who was riding in Russell and Lori's car in exchange of Rin.

"Okay, lovebirds," Tyler teased, reaching through the window and poking my cheek. "Get off your asses. We're here."

I sighed heavily and crawled out of the car. I then jumped on Tyler's back and snuggled in his neck, starting to fall asleep again. "Move, horsey."

Tyler grunted at my weight before chuckled and steadying himself. "Some thirteen year old you are."

"Someone needs to counter you, old man," I snorted.

After paying for our passes, we managed to get through the different aquariums and tanks of jellyfish and octupi before Tyler's arms were giving out. After claiming that I was a fat ass, he dropped me on my feet, saying, "Sorry, ma'am. This one's out of gas. If you want another ride, you can request one from your boyfriend." He jutted his thumb at Rin, who was busy poking at the aquarium glass from being amused at the octopus that was disguising itself as a rock.

"Do you even lift, bro?" I rolled my eyes. "And stop calling Rin my boyfriend. It's weird. He just moved here two weeks ago."

"He clearly likes you, which is surprising because you repel boys with that attitude of yours," Tyler said in a matter of fact tone.

"The only reason he likes me is because I can beat his ass on the water and not for the reasons you are assuming, so quit it."

"Not reasons," Tyler corrected, shrugging. "It's just one, and that reason is that he has a big fat cru— OWW!"

"Hey," I innocently smiled at Rin who was approaching us while my brother who was rubbing the spot on his arm that I just pinched the hell out of.

"Can I scale the fish? Can I scale the fish please?" I pleaded, putting on the best puppy eyes I can muster.

"Absolutely not. Lori and I will do that," Mum frowned, pulling the set of utensils. "Your father just sharpened the knives before we left. Only fish goes in this icebox, not fingers."

"Can I grill the fish then?"

"No," Dad said, hoisting out the fishing rods from the back of the vehicle. "Tyler, Russell, and I will be grilling the fish. You'll probably be playing with the coals anyway."

"Gee, I love your faith in me, Dad." I gave him a blank look. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"You kids will be cutting ingredients for the fish stuffing and salads," Lori said, patting my shoulder in attempts to cheer me up.

"We don't even get to try fishing," I pouted, crossing my arms.

"You're horrible at fishing," Tyler teased, sniggering.

"We figured you kids would enjoy swimming at the beach while we're out," Russell said.

At the word "swimming," Rin, who was silent but showed amusement at the bacl-and-forth banter, perked up. "I like that plan," he said.

"It's settled then," Dad said, ruffling my hair. "Tyler, grab the bait box and head to the boat. Russell and I will be setting up the hooks."

I followed Tyler to the car to grab my swimsuit and goggles. On the way, Tyler made an off-handed comment, saying, "Sunset swimming, huh? Romantic date." Needless to say, he headed to the boat with sand all over his back when I tripped him on our way back.

"Whew," I panted, crawling back to the shoreline and lying back on the warm sand. The sun was already setting, and I could see that the fishing boat Dad and Russell rented out was heading back towards the shore as well.

I rolled over to look at Rin who was lying down beside me, also trying to catch his breath. "I bet you a waffle from that café across the street that I beat you on the next lap."

"No." Rin shook his head, laughing. "I telling you. I saw shark in water during last lap."

I snorted and lightly flicked my goggles rubber band at him. "That was most likely a big fish. The only shark out here is you," I teased, blowing him a raspberry. After that, we were just lying down in silence, admiring how the sky gradually turned into an angry shade of orange as the minutes passed.

Then Rin sat up. "It's pretty, the sunset," he said. He grabbed my arm and helped me sit up to enjoy the view as well.

"Lori mentioned that you lived near the ocean. Are the sunsets as beautiful in the land of the rising sun?" I smiled playfully, careful not to let him be more homesick than he probably already was.

"Yeah," Rin replied, seeming to look farther than just the sunset on the horizon. "Better with friends."

"I'm your friend." I nudged his shoulder. "You miss them, huh?"

Rin nodded.

"Tell me about them."

After that, I seemed to have opened a different side of Rin. He still had some difficulty telling his stories in English, but he looked happier and had a more genuine grin on his face. Free from his usual shyness, he talked of his friends from a swim club back in Japan, each with their own dynamic personalities. However, the one who I noticed he talked about much was a boy named Haru.

"No way," I laughed with tears leaking from my eyes. "He really jumped in the water?"

"Yes, really," Rin said, laughing as well. "Haru is best swimmer." Then he continued with a grin, "After me."

I rolled my eyes. "I thought I was the best swimmer. Has Haru ever beaten you?" I teased with a challenging look.

"Yes. A lot," Rin said softly, a fond look in his eyes. "He is only friend I let beat me in swimming."

I slapped Rin's bare back. "Tell ya what," I said, "You're the only guy I will lose to in swimming." Smiling bashfully, I continued, "Well, you're basically one of my only friends. Everyone else thinks it's too weird for a girl to be competitive as I am."

Rin glanced at me and smiled. "You make good friend for Sousuke," he said.

"Man, you have a lot of friends," I grinned. "I'm quite jealous. Well, you should introduce me to Sousuke then. The more, the merrier, right?"

"Letter you saw?" Rin began.

"It was for him?" I finished, and Rin nodded.

"I write about you before."

I raised my brows in surprise. "Really? Very flattering," I smiled teasingly, hiding my inner embarrassment. "What did you write about?"

"You almost beat me in race."

I relaxed before bursting out in laughter. "Excuse me, sharkie," I said. "I did beat you on a couple of occasions. Don't get cocky." I earned an eye roll from Rin at that remark. "Did you get a reply?"

The Rin I knew returned as he blushed and looked away. "He said I like you."

At times like this, I've always deflected from the subject. In the span of a month, I knew that Rin was somewhat attached to me in a way that was more than just friendship. Crushes weren't an odd thing to experience at our age, but to be fair, it was completely awkward, considering that I focus most of my attention to swimming and continue to act oblivious to Rin's feelings.

Which is why I may or may not regret what I am about to say in the long run.

"Do you?"

Rin glanced at me and nodded shyly.

I closed my eyes and, in attempts to avoid misunderstandings that might hurt his feelings, I resisted the urge to sigh, knowing my assumptions were right. It may be awkward to friend-zone a good friend of yours, but it is also awkward to assume that someone has a crush on you. At this moment, I didn't know which was worse nor do I know how to reply.

I did regret it in the long run... or short run. I dug myself into a hole, and I didn't know how to get out. So, I only said the most common reply in this situation.

"Thanks."

Followed by a pat on the shoulder. A pat. A freaking pat.

The tension in the atmosphere was incredibly thick, and now, I really wished Rin agreed to that last lap. I needed to say something. Your arm, Charlie, your arm hasn't left his shoulder yet. Take it off. I think my brain just short-circuited.

"You guys dating now or what?" Tyler called out from the boat that was close enough to the shoreline.

I took that as my chance to escape. I grabbed a tiny pebble and threw it at my brother, missing and passed over his head and into the water. I got a raspberry in return.

"Hey, watch it," Dad shouted. "It's a rental, kiddo."

"So, what's the score?" Tyler whispered over to me while I was setting the table. He was bringing a stack of glasses and a pitcher of water.

I rolled my eyes. "I've known the guy for a month," I said. "We're friends. Mum will tear me out a new one if it was something more."

"Romantic sunset viewing did not work then?"

I irritably groaned, slamming a plate on the wooden table. "No, it didn't!" I snapped. "It is also quite disturbing how you are pushing your own little sister to have a boyfriend. Aren't you supposed to be a protective brother?"

"Hey." Tyler set the glasses down on the table, took a step back, and raised his hands in surrender. "I just like being a little shit. It's basically my job description as your older brother." He poked me in the side, making me smile a bit. "And what do you mean little? You're thirteen. You're practically an old lady."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "What does that make you then, ancient one?"

"With age comes wisdom, my dear sister." Tyler poked his nose up in the air. Then he looked at me fondly. "But teasing aside, I like him. Try to keep this one around. He's good for you."

I looked at my brother, disturbed. "Can you stick being a little shit? You're freaking me out. Are you dying or something?" I asked, shuddering from the awkward show of affection.

"I'm just saying," Tyler said, shrugging. "You're too focused on swimming and competing that you barely have any friends. It's nice seeing you hanging out with someone and just enjoy being young."

I pondered and took in Tyler's words. Knowing deep inside that he was right, I wrapped my free arm around his back and pulled him in for a side-hug. I let him go after a while and shuddered, bashful from the rare show of affection.

"You do know that only old people say that kind of advice, right?"

"Bed time, young lady," Mum scolded, light thumping the back of my head.

"But I want to look at the stars a little longer," I whined, huffing as I got to my feet. I dragged my feet along the sand and headed for the tents. "I bet Tyler's already snoring his ass off inside."

"You do know I can hear you, right?!" Tyler yelled from inside the tent.

"Both of you, hush!" Mum hissed, pinching my side. "Your dad, as well as Lory and Russell, are already asleep." She gave me a light shove toward the tents.

"Hey, he's the one who yelled," I complained, still making my way to the tents. I opened the flap and paused at the sight of Rin reading a book, half-tucked in inside his sleeping back. I turned at Tyler, looking at him questioningly. He merely gave me a shrug from inside his sleeping bag.

Then Mum gave me a light shove from my behind.

"Hey, watch it," I whined, stepping inside the tent. I carefully crawled to my sleeping bag that was set beside Rin, who was in between me and Tyler. As I climbed inside my sleeping bag, I asked Tyler, "Aren't you supposed to be in the middle?"

"I prefer to be as far from you as possible, so no, thank you," Tyler replied, closing his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rin merely looked at his left and right as he followed the incoming banter.

"You tend to cling to people like a bloody koala while you're asleep," Tyler murmured, his voice sounding like he was beginning to fall asleep.

"I'll keep my arms inside the sleeping bag then," I pouted, even though Tyler was fast asleep and couldn't see me. I stuffed my arms inside the bag and crossed them. I leaned my head to the side. "Good night," I said to Rin before closing my eyes.

I faintly heard a reply from Rin, which might have been good night in his language.

Thenext day, I found myself half-out of my sleeping bag with my arms around Rin'ssleeping bag and my face buried in his chest. To my surprise, his arms werealso around me with his chin tucked under his head.

Because I've been AWOL, I made this chapter a tad bit longer. Also, sorry that it's still friggin' late. I can probably give out a billion reasons, but who cares about that right? Ah well.

A little question. Anyone open to BTS fanfics? Maybe some drabbles? Leave a review if you guys want it here.

Reviews and faves/follows are greatly appreciated. I need that yucky praise. I didn't proofread this chapter, so someone point out any errors if you guys spot any.