Mr. Dupain drives to the Agreste's vacation house for everything to put their stuff away before they head to the beach. Walking into the house, they are all astonished as the place is perfectly clean and full of decoration.
"Make yourself home, guys!" Adrien walks in, the black shuffle bag slides down his shoulder.
"Adrien, does anyone live here?" Nino looks around "It looks so clean…"
"No, Nathalie probably called the cleaning service before we come." he smiles "There are 3 bedrooms, and Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng can sleep in the master bedroom. You girls stay in one and us boys stay in one, sounds good?"
Everyone agrees with the blonde as they move their stuff into the bedrooms. Marinette beams at the king-sized bed and plops her whole body onto the soft mattress. Alya changes into her swimsuit while Himawari walks to the balcony, admiring the fresh scent of the sea and the beautiful sunshine. Although enjoying the scene, there's a hint of anxiety and distress in the amethyst orbs as she looks down, biting her lips to disregard the bad memories from the past.
"Himawari, hurry up and get change, girl! We're hitting the beach in 10 minutes!"
"Ah…uhm…" hesitation spreads across her face "I'm a bit tired, so…"
"Are you okay?" the bluenette looks at her with concern "Come and lay down a bit, maybe you're having car sick?"
She smiles, telling her friend to not worry and enjoy her time with others. Both Alya and Marinette have skeptical looks on their face but the raven head has reassured them that she will be fine and lays herself on the bed.
The brunette rubs her head lightly before leaving the room with Marinette, leaving Himawari alone to rest. The boys and 2 adults are ready to hit the beach when Luka notices the raven head is missing. Turning to ask the bluenette, he is surprised when both girls say that the artist won't join them because she's not feeling well.
"Well, I'll stay with her to see if she needs anything." Ms. Cheng kindly says "It's not good to leave her alone like this."
"She told us to go and that she can manage herself, mom." Marinette looks at her mom "Besides, I don't think Himawari is happy to see you stay back rather than enjoy your time at the beach."
"Also, we'll be close to her, the beach is literally 5 minutes away. I think she will be fine."
With that, they all head to the front door except for Luka, who seems to be very hesitant about leaving the raven head alone in a place like this. Dropping his belongings, he tells the crew to go without him. The bluenette tries to say something but both Alya and Adrien have stopped her, telling her to leave them be as the brunette pulls her friend out of the house.
Luka walks to the bedroom and knocks on the door, telling her that he will come in before opening it. Himawari is not on the bed…
"Himawari?"
Calling out her name, the guitarist looks around, only to see her on the balcony looking out to the beach. Raises a brow, he slowly walks to her and notices how her body is slightly trembling like she's afraid of something.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"L-Luka?"
Putting a hand on her shoulder, the older boy turns her whole body to him, aqua eyes pick up a distress signal from her. She's holding the hands against her chest, lips quivering as she averts her eyes away from him.
Something is wrong…
He asks her but the girl refuses to say anything and tells him to go out with the group and have some fun. Luka frowns at her, not pleased with the response she's giving him. Aqua eyes turn to her again, this time with an intense stare. The guitarist is not having any of her words as his intensive stare force the girl to either tell the truth or suffer punishment. Himawari backs away a bit, cold sweat dripping down her body as she shivers.
"Uhm, it's nothing really. I just have bad memories of the sea, that's all…"
"Bad memories?"
She laughs in embarrassment, thinking about the time that her parents take the family out to the beach. She was 13 while the twins were 11. They were all having fun when her cousin decided to play a prank on them, on her to be more specific. She was enjoying floating herself on the sea when her cousin came up and pulled her down, drowning the poor girl in the salty water…
"I was so afraid that couldn't recover from it. – Himawari shivers – I'm sorry if I worried you and everyone… -
"Well, Marinette and Alya were both very worried but they're probably having a lot of fun now." Luka replies "Let's go!"
"Go? Go where?"
"To the beach, go and get change. I'm taking you to the beach today, whether you like it or not."
She stares at him, unable to process what he just said as Luka pushes her back into the room and leaves so that she can have the privacy to change her clothes. Himawari takes out her swimsuit, questioning herself on why she even listens to the older boy. The artist has a very bad feeling about whatever Luka has in mind, she hates the beach, and even if the scenery and the refreshing scent of the ocean calm her mind, she still hates it.
The raven head begins the generates scenario after scenario of what can possibly go wrong with her entering the salty seawater, either she's gonna drown herself or get someone to drown thanks to her stiff behavior. But Luka…
Himawari can see the determination sparks in his eyes when he told her to get dressed, he seems to be so sure about getting her to the beach that his positive vibe has rubbed on her. Looking at herself in the mirror, the artist sighs one more time before putting on a light, floral cardigan and walking out to the living room.
"Let's go…"
Blushing, Himawari accepts his offering hand and walks out to the beach with the guitarist, feeling the warmth of his palm against hers.
This…is…nice…
Walking side by side with Luka, she feels like her whole body is walking on air, her heart flutters in excitement. For the first time ever, the guitarist actually cares enough to stay behind and takes her with him, normally it would be Marinette and she will just observe from afar. This time, however…
"Hey! Over here!" Marinette screams, waving her hands at the pair.
They are having a beach volleyball game with Marinette and Adrien on one team while the two brunettes are on the other team. Mr. Dupain and his wife are lounging under the umbrella, taking their precious time to relax all the sour muscles after a week of work.
"Took you guys long enough, wanna do a quick warm-up before heading to the beach?"
"I, uh…"
"Sure!" he turns to Himawari, a smirk appears on the handsome face "Hope you're not a sour loser, Himawari!"
Oh dear…
She sighs and walks to Alya's team while Luka turns to Marinette's team. It's just a warm-up session, nothing to worry about… Right?
Boy, was she wrong…
The opponents don't seem to understand the meaning of 'warm-up' as they fire at her team with full force, from Marinette to Adrien to Luka, they keep smashing the ball down onto the sand like crazy. Their inner athletic spirits are screaming out while Alya and Nino are freaking out because of all the roaring and screaming coming from their opponents.
Luka smirks, turning his attention to the raven head as she sighs again and jump-serves the ball again, this time, landing directly at the guitarist's spot as he easily receives it. Marinette jumps and hits the ball as hard as she can, knowing that her attack will score another point for her team. The brunette girl is not happy, mumbling under her breath about how crazy and obsessed her friends are at being the winner.
"Marinette, you have gone too far now!" she exclaims, feeling mad for not being able to catch the ball.
"Aww, come on! You're no fun, Alya! Bring out your sport spirit!"
The raven head looks at her friend with an annoyed expression, feeling her body burns up with the passion of defeating her opponents and wiping up that smug smile of Luka. He has been looking at her with that silly face, even going as far as telling her not to be 'the sour loser'.
"You…" she points at Marinette, who stops her victory pose and looks at her friend "You will be sorry, Marinette!"
"Game on girl!"
Pouting, Himawari swirls the ball in her hands before performing another jump serve. This time, the ball lands on the sand field immediately, so fast that the other three can't even react. They look at her, astonished at her skill. Things are just getting interesting…
Another serve hits the sand as Himawari puts on her satisfied smile at their dumbfounded faces. Alya and Nino clap their hands, aiding their teammate through another set as the raven head keeps on scoring points and points for their team. Marinette is shocked when the other team is slowly catching up to them, all thanks to Himawari who is in her competing mood.
Amethyst orbs burn with passion when she tries to deliver the ball to Alya, over the net is Luka, jumping up to stop the ball. This is it…her greatest moment to show the older boy who is 'the sour loser', the ball is passed over to Alya and she hits it as hard as she can, scoring their victory point.
Turning to Luka, she smiles and holds out her hand.
"Hope you're not a sour loser, Luka…"
He smirks, amused as she uses his comment against him. Not that he minds or anything, but the guitarist thinks her actions are very adorable when she shakes his hand, blushing cutely at him as she giggles.
After the warm-up session, Nino and Adrien run to the sea, followed by Alya and Marinette. The bluenette has tried to convince her friend to come along but Alya stops her, saying that they're ruining the moment before leaving their friends on the shore.
Amethyst orbs gaze at the scene, sadly smiling to herself. Her friends look so happy, splashing each other and running around like little kids. Even Adrien has dropped all his 'gentlemen' look and play pranks on Marinette, which causes her to laugh and fire back at him. A sigh escapes her lips, she'd love to be down there with them but her thalassophobia is not helping the poor girl a single bit.
"Come with me…" Luka holds out his hand "Don't worry, I'll help you get through this."
"It's not that simple, Luka…"
"You don't know if you don't try. You can also stay near the shore if you want to."
With that, he grabs her hand and pulls her to everyone, slowly and steadily so that the poor girl won't freak out. Her whole body tenses immediately the moment she feels the cool waves splash against her feet, Himawari grips his hand tightly, swallowing hard when he turns to face her and holds both of her hands like a parent teaches the baby their first steps.
She looks at him and how her hands fit perfectly in his hold, it feels amazing…
The warmth of his big, calloused palms calmed her down a little bit as she follows him further and further until the seawater reaches her knee. Luka stops and gives her a concerned look, he doesn't want to force her and is very thoughtful about her fear of the ocean, thus making him stop walking so that she can get used to the height of the seawater.
"How are you feeling?"
"I, I don't know…"
"You are very brave, Himawari." he smiles, gentle hands still holding hers "Don't worry, I'm here for you."
The raven head blushes and nods her head, she doesn't know how to respond to that. Luka is so kind when he ignores his own fun to help her instead and this makes her wonder whether he did the same thing with other girls beside her. Himawari is not surprised if he does, the guitarist is kind and gentle, and his calm and composed personality make everyone wants to rely on him, including her.
A big wave comes up and splashes against them as Himawari's eyes open widely, panic rushes into her as she begins to experience lightheadedness and her heart begins to race. Her body freezes to the point where her feet started to numb and she grips tightly onto his hand, too afraid to let go.
"Himawari, are you okay?" he looks at her "Take a deep breath…hold…and… breathe out, easy now…"
Hearing his voice and following his instruction, the poor girl tries to get into the breathing exercise, her eyes close tightly as she tries to focus on the warmth of his hands. Deep and gentle as a breeze, his voice slowly turns into a lullaby that brings such calmness into her mind that helps Himawari to relax her grip on him.
"Are you okay? Do you want to go back?"
"I'm…I'm okay…"
Luka sees the hesitation in her voice and doesn't want to take the risk, he asks again as he crunches down so that his eye level is the same as hers. Aqua color meets the deep amethyst orbs, sincerely concerned for her wellbeing. A small smile forms on her lips, Himawari nods her head again, telling him that she's fine and just feeling a bit lightheaded but still wants to stand here a bit more.
Alya and Marinette spot the whole scene from afar and smirk to themselves, not understanding the situation at all. In their mind, they thought that Luka and Himawari are having an 'intimate moment' while in reality, it's far worse than that. The boys have gone to a swimming competition, leaving them behind on the float as the girls are gossiping about a lot of things, including the story of how to bring their other two friends closer.
Marinette, feeling bored, decides to 'steal' her friend from Luka. Slowly approaching them, she smiles at the scene of how caring the guitarist is to Himawari before barging into their conversation.
"Hey, it's getting hotter around here, right Himawari?"
"What?" the artist blushes, knowing what her friend is talking about "Where is everyone?"
"Oh, you know, just minding their own business. Come with me to the float, Himawari! Alya is waiting for you!"
She pulls her friend's hand as the poor girl struggles to break free, completely freaking out at the sight of Alya and how far she is from the shore.
"Marinette, hold on, you can't…"
"Come on! You have enough time with her already, Luka! Sharing is caring!"
While trying to tell Marinette that she's not comfortable, none of them notice the figure slowly walk towards them before a scream erupted as Himawari is 'ambushed' by Alya. The brunette goes in at full force, circling the arms around her waist and throwing her into the sea, similar to how her cousin had done to her.
The girls laugh out loud, thinking that they have successfully pranked their friend but…
"What are you girls doing?"
Snapping at them, he runs to her side and pulls the raven head into his arms, letting her cough and catch her breath. The salty water hurts her eyes as Himawari tries to rub it off with her wet hands, whimpering at the discomforted feelings.
"Oh, we're so sorry!" Marinette comes closer to her "We're so sorry!"
"Hey, what happened?"
Nino and Adrien walk up to them, having witnessed everything from afar.
"Are you okay? Can you stand up?"
Helping her wipe off the salty water, Luka's tone is full of concern when she doesn't respond to his question. As Himawari slowly opens her eyes and sees her whole body is sitting in the water, the unpleasant memories of her cousin's prank come back to her mind and the girl begins to experience hyperventilation. Her breath goes faster and more rapidly, her heart begins to race, and tears form in her as the anxiety becomes overwhelming to the point her whole body freezes on the spot.
Guilt rises in Alya and Marinette as they realize how serious the situation is, the bluenette tries to talk to her friend but Luka stops her, saying that just leave Himawari some space rather than gather up around her.
"She has thalassophobia."
"Oh no!"
The young designer lowers her head in shame, feeling so bad for putting a prank on her like that. Her friend is trembling in fear and none of them are able to do anything but just look at her, they want to help but none of them know what to do. Adrien bents down and tells her to breathe slowly while Luka holds onto her hand tightly because she has sought him, for his warm hand to calm her down.
"Let's get you back!"
She nods her head, trying to stand up but due to the lingering fear, her legs give out and she finds herself in Luka's arms.
"Can you stand up?"
Shaking her head, Himawari whimpers at how weak and miserable she is in front of her friend. The artist knows that she has caused them to be worried and guilted for pulling a prank on her and feels ashamed to even face them. Holding onto the older boy to hide her face, the raven head can feel her body heats up when Luka circles his arms around her. Lowering his voice to ask her, Himawari blushes as she nods her head at his offer.
The guitarist bends down a bit and lifts her up like she weighs nothing, walking back to the shore in front of their friend's widened eyes. Marinette's gaze follows them with a hint of jealousy and irritation. Luka doesn't even bother to look at her, putting all his heart into tending the raven head. She frowns, keeping a fixed gaze on the pair without questioning how close they have become…
Luka…
Behind her is the longing emerald eyes as the model exhales heavily…