Josie is a notorious heavy-weight champion of not waking up on time. Her smartphone alarm is a psychedelic composition of blaring honks, a fire alarm background, and up-tempo music that can wake a corpse back to life. Josie's roommate has been, regrettably, privy to the deadly combination of erratic sounds blaring in the morning.

The first time Aimee heard the cacophony of sounds was on the first day of Aimee and Callum's arrival in the country. With the jet lag of hell, Aimee splattered on the bed, while Josie suffered through the early morning, after living it up the night before. The siren sound that shook her awake was such a frightening event that Aimee vowed to never let allow herself to sleep longer than her cousin, for her own sanity's sake.

So, Aimee's expectation to hear the cacophony of sounds, once again blasting through the small device at stupid o'clock, was nil. Aimee reaches for her phone on the nightstand and flickers it open with a swipe of her thumb to check the time. It reads five-thirty in the morning.

"Josie..." she takes the object that is closest to her and throws it at her cousin. "Your damn alarm is ringing..." she says while waiting for her cousin to move after being hit by the flip-flop that has landed on the bed. The alarm continues to ring and Aimee places the pillow over her head to stifle the sound. "Josie!" Aimee yells, frustrated.

"Why are you still in bed?" The sound stops ringing. "Wake up!" Josie shakes Aimee.

"Why are you waking me up?" Aimee peeks from beneath the pillow. "Have you seen the time?"

"You need to get up and get dressed now. Take your swimsuit."

Aimee drops back to bed. "Jos, I love you, but let me sleep." She turns her back to her cousin.

Josie pulls the thin bedsheet that covers her body and the pillow off her head. "You're going to be late!"

Aimee grunts, "Late for what?"

"Just get up and get dressed!" Josie picks up some of Aimee's clothes and throws them at her. Her smartphone rings again, but this time with a phone call.

"Who's calling you at five in the morning?"

Josie picks up the phone. "One sec," she says to the person on the other side. "Five minutes. Don't forget your bathers." she opens the door to the room and Aimee notices she is already dressed. "Hey, we are almost ready..." she says to whoever soul is on the other side of the phone and she leaves the bedroom.

Aimee gets up. "Bathers..." and huffs while getting dressed. "Can't believe I'm getting up again at this hour." She hears Josie's laughter outside. Aimee tries to look outside, but can't see who is there. She can only make out hushed voices.

Aimee walks outside the house and in the darkness she notices the red pickup truck parked with the headlights lighting the house entrance. Josie stands nearby in an animated conversation with Liam.

"It took you forever!" she shouts.

"Morning." Liam greets her.

"What is he doing here?" Aimee looks at them both, confused. "What is the matter with you two?"

"Come on, Pommie! We have a lot of ground to cover!" Liam says cheerfully.

Aimee stares at him incredulously. Josie pulls her towards the car. "You can't miss it!"

Aimee shakes her head at her. "Are you serious right now? After what happened yesterday?"

"Trust me," Josie whispers and opens the car door. "He is a well-intentioned guy for most of the time..." She glances at Liam that is now inside the vehicle. "That runs his stupid mouth too much!" she pointedly scolds her friend in a raised voice.

Aimee enters the vehicle, and Liam hands her a coffee mug. "To wake you up."

Josie closes the car door, beaming.

He turns on the engine. "What about Josie?" Aimee asks while Liam reverses his car.

"She'll be there."

"Where is there?" Aimee slumps in the car. "It's only 5 am, Liam."

He chuckles, "I know." Liam looks at her. "Sorry about yesterday. I was an asshole."

Aimee inhales the sweet smell of the coffee, ignoring his remark. "Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see." Liam turns on the radio, that plays music softly in the background.

The car ride only takes fifteen minutes and once Liam stops the car, Aimee shuffles in her seat and stares at him incredulously. "You woke me up at this hour to come here? The lighthouse? I thought we were on our way somewhere far! You realise Callum literally comes every morning here to the port for the fish?"

Liam smirks and, without saying a word, leaves the car, and takes the surfboards from the back. He bangs the side of the truck two times loudly. "Let's go!"

Aimee steps out of the car. "You're crazy and far too cheerful for my taste!"

Liam stands a few meters ahead. The sound of the rolling waves is the only sound.

"This is the Pass. The best spot for surfing around here. What's the first thing we do?"

Aimee mumbles, "Check the board" and she points at the board ahead.

He walks over to it and inspects it. "What do you see?"

Aimee sees one wavy line. "Strong currents."

"Well done, if we were here yesterday." He points at the numbers next to the marking. "See here? It's yesterday's date. This means we are the first here this morning."

Aimee raises her eyebrows at him. "We are the first at this hour? How strange!"

Liam chuckles at her sarcastic comment. "I'm going to inspect the water. You stay here."

Aimee stops him. "Wait, you're going out there in the dark?"

He picks up his board. "I'll be fine" He takes off his t-shirt.

Aimee gawks at his chiselled torso.

"Do you mind turning around? I need to put on my wetsuit." Liam says amusedly.

Aimee blushes and turns around in a hurry, which is rewarded with a light chuckle. She stands there, awkwardly thinking that he is getting naked behind her, and sips her coffee to avoid her filthy thoughts.

"Done." He hands her his clothes. "Do me a favour and place them in the trunk."

Aimee takes it and starts heading to the booth of the pickup. "This is not a great idea. You going out there in the middle of the night." Aimee turns back around and notices that Liam has already left.

She walks a few steps forward and tries to listen to any sound, but all she can hear is the sound of the rolling waves. She leans on the vehicle and panics. What if he gets hurt? She stares at her watch, counting the minutes passing by. Time seems to stand still and every second that passes by feels like an hour. The rolling waves that usually soothe her inner thoughts are, instead, riling her up. She glances at the watch again and shakes her right leg nervously, as she always does when she is about to go onto the stage.

"Why aren't you dressed up yet?" a voice from behind her makes her scream.

"What the hell, Liam?"

"Get dressed. It's perfect out there."

Aimee goes to the back of the truck and quickly puts on the wetsuit and ties her hair in a messy bun. She walks back and Liam hands her board. "Kept it safe," he smirks.

"I would have taken it if you hadn't been an idiot," she responds.

"Always with the answer on the tip of that tongue," he chuckles. "Let's go."

Aimee hesitates. "I'm not sure about this. It's really dark out there."

"Do you trust me?" Aimee stays silent and looks down at the floor. "I mean in relation to surfing. I know I've been an ass to you yesterday, but I've never let you down with surfing..."

"I guess..." Aimee shrugs.

Liam walks towards the beach, and Aimee follows him. "Follow exactly where I go so you don't get hurt. Your eyes should be adjusted by now to the darkness."

"Yes." Aimee can feel the soft sand beneath her feet. "Why are we doing this before daybreak?"

"We're today's dawn patrol."

"I do not know what that means."

"I know." he laughs. "But you will soon."

Aimee feels the water at her feet and looks down.

"Are you ready for the best feeling of your life, Aimee?"

She nods and they both enter the water and paddle until they pass the breakout point.

"It's safe. I know these waters like the back of my hand. I won't let anything happen to you," he whispers.

The sky breaks, and a sliver of light shines through.

"Oh, wow..." Aimee looks at the mesmerising combination of colours that starts parting sky and sea.

"Every surfer born and raised in Byron Bay starts on this beach at sunrise. Your father did it, and now so will you." Her breath comes to a halt, surprised by his words. "Find the perfect peak, and surf while day and night are still kissing."

Aimee scrutinises the ocean and looks for the peak. Once she spots it, she paddles and turns her board towards the shore. Once her board floats, effortlessly she pops up and stands, letting the wave glide the way for her, while she twists and turns, manoeuvring the board. Liam joins her and glides a few meters away from her, shadowing her moves inside the tunnel of water until the tide breaks and washes out.

"Look at the shore," he shouts.

Aimee glances at the shore and sees boards lined up vertically across the sandy beach. She can see Josie is one of the onlookers. Liam swims closer to her. "They're welcoming you to the tribe. You're now a Bay surfer."

Aimee waves at the surfers enthusiastically with her left hand while holding to her board with her right. She stares at the horizon and watches the sun rising steadily, steeling away the night's grace.

"Thank you. It's everything and more."

The surfers take the boards into the water.

"How do you know for certain it was here?"

"Like I said, all real surfers start here and from what I hear from Charlie, your dad was a real surfer. One of us."

"You asked about him?"

The current push their bodies towards one another. "Of course. I promised you... Charlie said he would be happy to tell you all about him whenever you are ready. He was part of the brotherhood, just like your uncle is."

Their boards knock one another with the strength of the waves. Liam hops on his board and positions his board so he can be closer to Aimee. "I have issues..."

"Tell me about it..." Aimee scoffs while maintaining her embrace of the board in the water.

"But I don't mean to hurt you." Liam takes her hand and touches her knuckles softly.

Liam moves his hand and caresses her face. "You're so beautiful."

Aimee's breath quickens and Liam's eyes dart to her lips. He tips forward his torso to meet her. He presses his lips to hers gently at first. Aimee's skin flares in goosebumps when reacting to his touch and her tongue pushes forward, parting his lips and caressing his tongue. He deepens the kiss until she breaks it.

Aimee smiles and looks at the rolling waves. "Again?"

Liam smiles back at her, "Yeah, again."

Aimee hops back on her board. They surf for another couple of hours before heading back to the sand with the sun now in its full glory.

"I need to head home. I'll give you a lift back or do you want to go back with Jos?" Liam says while pointing at Josie that is still catching waves.

Aimee dries her hair with the towel. "If it's not too much trouble..." she responds, attempting to prolong the blissful morning.

Liam places a longing kiss on her lips. Their tongues melting with one another in a heated moment. "We could have dinner together tonight," he whispers.

"That sounds tempting, but I'm actually having dinner at your brothers'. I'm helping with the birthday party planning, so Eva asked me to stay for dinner so we can go over things."

Liam places a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll still get to have dinner with you."

"And, your whole family." she laughs.

"Worth it..." he places another kiss on her lips before picking up his clothes from the sand.