Liam blinked at me, taken aback by my answer. The yacht swayed and billowed on the waves, moving us with it.

"Only you," I whispered. My eyes flickered to his lips for a split second and then to his dark eyes that matched the ocean of stars in the sky.

All reason left my mind. Without thinking, I pressed my lips against Liam's, my hand circling around his neck to pull him closer.

Liam responded quickly, moving his lips against mine. They were soft, almost silky against my own and I could feel the tickle of his breath beneath my nose. His fingers carded through the strands of my hair.

His arm snaked around my waist, pulling me even closer. Our bodies pressed together, both of us breathing heavily against each other.

My hands trailed down Liam's back, while my other played at the hair on the nape of his neck. He shivered under my touch and I smiled between our lips, triumphant at the effect I had on him.

I could taste our shared breath as our hearts thudded in sync with one another. The smell of Liam's cologne muddled my brain and all I could feel and focus on were the butterflies dancing in my stomach.

We finally broke apart, breathing heavily as we rested our foreheads against each other. Our lips curled up into identical smiles.

I rested my head on his chest as we sat in silence. My eyes fluttered shut as I listened to the steady thumping rhythm of his heart, while his fingers combed between the strands of my hair. The boat rock calmly below us. It had long stopped moving when we'd gotten far enough from shore and now, it floated aimlessly.

"I have an idea," Liam said, his voice reverberating through his chest and to me.

I found myself smiling, "What would that be?"

Liam and I sat up and he set our glasses of grape juice aside. My eyes widened when he swiftly pulled his shirt off, tossing it on the blanket.

"W-what idea is this?" I stammered, feeling my cheeks burn.

"We're on the ocean. It only makes sense that we go for a swim," Liam shrugged, smirking at my reaction. He stood up, loosening his belt and I pressed my eyes shut. The heat had spread from my face to my chest.

"Let's not do that," I managed to get out. The ocean during the day was creepy enough. It wasn't any better at night.

"You can open your eyes, I'm not naked," Liam said. Even with my eyes shut, I could tell he was smiling and very much amused.

I opened my eyes one by one, trying to focus my attention on Liam's face, and not any lower than that. Of course, I failed miserably.

My eyes trailed down his body, taking extra long on his toned stomach and chest. He only had his boxers on, the rest of his clothes scattered around. I swallowed hard, expertly avoiding the area below his torso. My stomach performed multiple backflips from the sight of him, rivalling that of an Olympic athlete.

I cleared my throat, tearing my eyes away from his body and to his dark, mischievous eyes, "I'm not going into the ocean."

"If you never face it, you'll never get over your fear," he raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's not a fear," I said sternly, standing up. "It's a strong dislike."

The wind was much stronger in the middle of the ocean, threading through the tangled strands of my hair. I shivered, pulling my jacket over my body.

"Same thing," Liam rolled his eyes, smiling. I tore my eyes away from his, my hands wrung together subconsciously.

He approached me, taking my hands in his. I glanced down at our intertwined hands. His hands were comforting and reassuring. Warmth blossomed in my chest.

"I'll be with you the whole time," he said. "I promise it's not bad. If you can stay in the ocean at night, you can do it during the day. Maybe, you won't dislike it anymore."

I gnawed at my lip. I'd never actually feared the ocean. It was more like an uneasy feeling because so little of it had been discovered. No one knew what kind of things were down there.

If jumping in tonight meant that I would no longer feel that way, then maybe it was worth it. I could genuinely learn how to surf by myself, free of worries and uneasiness.

I let out a reluctant sigh, meeting Liam's eyes, "I'll try."

A Cheshire grin spread over his face and I rolled my eyes. I pulled my denim jacket off, kicking off my heels at the same time.

"I'm ready," I told him.

He stepped towards me, his hand skimming over the skirt of my dress. A crooked smile played on his lips, "Damn, I was looking forward to you seeing you take this off."

I smirked, "Good things come to those who wait."

"That, you are right," Liam's arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer. My eyes widened when he leaned in to me, pressing his lips lightly against the tip of my nose. Immediately, my cheeks burned crimson. His eyes met mine, and he smiled, "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," I squeaked.

Together, we headed over to the side of the yacht and I peered over the railing and into the ocean. Slowly and with much effort, I crawled onto the railing. The wind brushed past me, billowing under my dress and through my hair. Liam followed after me.

Despite the wind, the ocean was calm, the wave crests crashing against the side of the boat. In the dark, it almost seemed black compared to the deep blue it was during the day. The water glistened under the moonlight, the reflection of the moon imprinted on the surface.

"You jump I jump?" Liam chortled from next to me. I raised an amused eyebrow at him before nodding. "One, two... three!"

I took a deep breath as we leapt off of the railing, pressing my eyes shut.

My body jerked up when I submerged into the frigid water, causing pinpricks and goosebumps all over the surface of my skin.

Our hands were connected when I kicked my legs hard, and my head broke through the surface of the water.

I swiped my hands over my face, removing the water from my eyes. When I opened them, the first thing they landed on was Liam.

He ran a hand over his soaked hair as he grinned from ear to ear, "So? Not so scary anymore right?"

I stared at him, appreciating how handsome he looked under the moonlight, almost angelic. Droplets of water raced down his face, around the tip of his nose and down his chin, lining the ends of his dark hair.

I was not at all apprehensive of the ocean with Liam next to me. I couldn't even feel the cold water prickling at my skin. It felt as if nothing could hurt me. It was the same feeling from so many years back when we made that promise. A promise that I'd never forget.

"No, it's not. Not with you," I said quietly, my lips twitching up. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Liam's lips held a soft smile. We floated around together, my eyes scanning over the dark sky. 

I didn't think I could ever get over the stars that could be visible so far from the city. They created specks of light in the black sky, complementing one another.

"Why did you stop surfing competitively?" I asked, turning my head to Liam.

Liam shrugged, "No reason, just lost interest I guess."

"Now, why don't I believe that?" I pondered.

He only looked at me with an eyebrow raised, smiling, "It stopped being fun, especially when I stopped having enough time for it."

I must have looked confused because he continued.

"I didn't have time for it when I started senior year. Grades mattered more and I guess the priorities changed," he explained.

"Yeah that makes sense," I sighed.

The same thing had also happened to me. I had to quit the lessons I was taking for the cello, so I never joined an orchestra like I'd always wanted to.

"What is your priority then?" I asked, my brows furrowing.

"Going to school, taking over my parents' company," Liam answered quickly, almost without thinking. I frowned at him and Liam chuckled, "Don't look at me like that, I want to do it. My parents worked hard to get their company that large, and I want to keep it going."

I kicked hard in the water with my legs, pushing myself upright. My frown curled back up into a smile, "That's great, it really is."

"Okay, now my turn," he grinned, running his hands through his hair to swipe it out of his face. "Why do you like riding on your motorcycle so much? I mean it's definitely more dangerous than driving a car."

I chuckled under my breath, his question catching me off guard. I'd never wondered why I liked it so much before, but now I knew exactly why.

"It makes me feel free," I told him, my eyes meeting his dark, scrutinizing one. "It gives me a sense of freedom that I didn't have back two hundred years ago, hell, even just a few months ago. I'm not restrained when I'm on it."

His forehead was creased as he watched me silently, and I bit down on my lip, hard. Maybe I had shared too much.

"I get it," Liam said, swallowing hard and I almost let out a breath of relief. "I might not understand it, but I know what you mean."

Liam and I floated around aimlessly for a while, talking about everything and nothing before we finally decided to get back onto the yacht. The water had grown unbearably cold at that point and the captain had hung out a ladder for us to climb our way back. My teeth were chattering wildly, and I was shivering like a chihuahua.

We even devoured the rest of the cheese platter and the rest of the grape juice.

As promised, Liam took me home by midnight — exactly on the dot. He'd walked me to my door and we shuffled awkwardly between our feet, our eyes flicking towards each other and then away.

My dress had finally dried after being in the ocean, though my hair was still damp. I wrapped Liam's jacket tighter around myself, relishing in the warmth that it gave me in the chilly night. After my dress had been soaked, my own jacket was not enough to keep me warm.

"Thank you, for tonight," I glanced up at Liam, a genuine smile spreading over my lips. "I had a lot of fun."

"Me too," Liam let out a light laugh. "I like spending time with you, a lot."

My stomach began to swarm with butterflies from his words.

I slipped off Liam's jacket and handed it back to him, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Liam nodded, leaning in. I sucked in a deep breath at the feeling of his lips on my forehead. Tingles spread through my body, almost sending a shiver up my spine from the contact.

"Goodnight Ophelia," he murmured against my skin, before he took a step back. He gave me one last dashing smile before he began making his way back to his car.

I bit back a smile as I stepped into my own house, shutting the doors behind me. This date was a magical one.

And all I knew was that everything had changed.

★★★

𝐻𝑖 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠! 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑒. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡!

~ 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝐼𝑛𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡