Chapter Text
Summer was coming to an end, and so was the day. She saw the sun lowering in the sky and beamed, running across the field towards her grandpa's cottage.
"C'mon grandpa! We are gonna be late!" she shouted as she entered throught the door. The old man was cleaning the last dishes from dinner.
He dried his hands with a rag and turned calmly to the excited teenager. "It isn't even night yet, sunshine. How are we gonna be late?"
"We still have to get ready! I'll get in the shower, it won't be long!"
Her grandpa sighed with a smile while shaking his head. "Let's see if that's true."
She spent at least half an hour in the bathroom; she got dressed with the summer dress she had chosen earlier, then proceeded to apply some light blush on her cheeks and gloss on her lips, but when she tried to style her hair, she cried in frustration after 15 minutes.
"Sunshine, is everything alright?" There was a knock on the bathroom door.
"No!" she shouted. The door opened and her grandpa found her sitting on the floor, hugging her knees.
"Hey... weren't we going to be late?"
"I don't care anymore, I don't wanna go" she muttered against her skin.
"But why? You've been talking about the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies all week. I even got dressed up as you wanted, what do you think?" He opened his arms and turned around, showing her his outfit.
She sniffed and looked up. "You look okay... Go, I'll stay home."
The old man frowned and, with a gruff, he crouched down to sit on the ground next to her. The bathroom wasn't exactly big, so they were pressed against each other; he put an arm around her shoulders and pushed her close to him, she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder.
"What's wrong, sunshine?" he asked softly.
"I look terrible, I can't go anywhere like this!"
His grandpa frowned, looking down at her. After a moment, he got up slowly, took her hands and tugged at her. "Alright, let's fix it then." Reluctantly, she got up and let him put her in front of the mirror. "What isn't looking like you wanted?"
"The hair." she muttered
With those words, the old farmer began to diligently brush her hair and then braid it. He took a few hairpins from the sink and decorated the hairstyle; with that final touch, he put his hands on her shoulders and both observed their reflection on the mirror.
"If I may say it... I did an amazing job." he said. She giggled and kissed his cheek. He smiled. "Better?"
"Much better. Thank you, grandpa."
"Anytime, sunshine." he paused for a minute. "I want you to know that you are gorgeous, whatever you wear or however you style your hair, you'll always look perfect, got it?"
There was a moment of silence while she tried to hold back tears. As she didn't feel capable of speaking without breaking, she shook her head. The man squeezed her shoulders and moved back. "Let's get going then."
They got out of the cottage and as they walked down the path to the town, the old farmer looked at his granddaughter with an arched brow. "So... is this about the Colton boy?"
"What? No!" She turned red and began to play with the end of her braid.
"He's a nice lad, he makes you happy, but he gets in trouble frequently. Maybe he gets more sensible now that he's gonna be an older brother, but if he doesn't take care of you, I'll have a few words with him."
"Stop! It's not like that" She frowned. "And I can take of myself!"
His grandpa laughed. "Alright, alright." He paused. "Just promise me to be careful."
The girl just sighed. "I will grandpa, I will..."
The beach was already lively with half of the town there preparing everything for the jellies' arrival. The teenager made a quick scan of the neighbours gathered at the festival and soon found her group at the end of the dock, laughing and teasing each other. She was about to run up to them when she was stopped by her grandfather.
"I'll be near young Willy's shop with the mayor and Lewis, in case you need anything. After the jellies leave, I'll probably call it a night too, but you are free to stay with your friends a bit more, just don't come back too late, alright?"
"Thanks grandpa" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off to the dock. "Guys!" she greeted as she arrived near them.
"Sunny!" Abigail ran to meet her halfway and engulfed her in a hug. "You are so pretty!"
"You too Abby! Did you dye your hair?" she gasped.
"Yup. I wanted to dye it hole, but I was only able to convince my mother to get highlights." She rolls her eyes.
Sunny put her arm over her shoulders and squeezed her against herself. "One day Abby. They look really cool though."
Her friend smiled and the boys arrived strolling calmly to them. Sam had his guitar hanging on his back and a big smiled aimed at her; she blushed.
"What's up, sun storm? We were waiting for you." the blond greeted, causing Sebastian to roll his eyes at the nickname.
"C'mon, let's get to our spot" he said and the rest followed him.
Their spot was a cozy corner where the sand began to morph into the grass and trees surrounding the town. They could still see the sea and the upcoming jellies, but they were partially hidden by trunks and far enough from the adults to act freely. Sebastian placed the towels he had been carrying under his arm on the ground and they sat in a small circle. Sam took his guitar out of his case and stroked it gently.
"Man, I don't want summer to end." he whined.
"Me neither." Sunny whispered.
They stayed silently for a moment.
"Seb and you are on your last year of high school, do you know what you'll do after?" Abby asked.
Sunny sighed. "Absolutely no clue. My parents want me to inherit their law firm, so they are obviously expecting me to go to college, graduate with honors, keep up our family's good name and blablablabla..."
"Sounds deadly boring" Abby whistled and Sunny shrugged.
Sebastian took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and picked out one. "Mine are way too busy with Maru being a genius child to care about what I'm supposed to do next."
"Dude, you really must stop smoking. You shouldn't even be able to buy them." Sam pointed out.
"I have my ways." he shrugged. "Anyways, I think I'll start taking online courses about programming or computer science, then I can start working as soon as possible and get the hell out of here."
"Will you take me with you, please?" Abby asked, picking at the floor with some stick she had found nearby.
"Of course." he answered softly.
"Hey! What about me? If you all leave, I'll have no members left in my band! Am I supposed to rise alone?" Sam complained and the rest laughed.
"Alright, we'll all save money and live together in the city. We'll quit our dreadful jobs and start a worldwide tour which will make us famous and rich" Sunny proposed.
"Let's go!!" Sam cheered and they all laughed.
Distant lights started to appear at the horizont and the group could hear now how the chatter of the people got further away and concentrated at the shore. Abby got up and dragged Sebastian with her to the dock. Sunny was about to join them, when Sam grabbed her wrist to stop her.
They smiled shyly at each other. Sam got up, shook some sand off his trousers and took her hand. They strolled together until they reached the shore, then stood next to each other looking at the glowing creatures that came every year to their little town.
"And you? What are you planning to do?" Sunny whispered with her gaze still fixed on the sea.
The boy next to him sighed and started playing with her fingers. "I don't know... I still have a couple of years to figure it out. For now, I'll probably help mum with little Vinny; I believe dad is considering joining the army so she'll need me around. Then... I don't know, something related to music I guess."
She squeezed his hand with a sympathetic smile. "You could give guitar lessons or film your songs and upload them online... or both."
He laughed and kissed her hand. "You're a genius, you know?" She stuck her tongue out at him. After a moment, he continued. "You leave tomorrow, right?"
"I do..." She looked back at the sea; the jellies were already floating away and the festival was coming to an end.
Some neighbours were making their way up to the town; Kent and a very pregnant Jodi stood next to the old beach cottage looking at them.
Sam glanced at his parents and then whispered at her. "Give me 15 minutes and come to my bedrooms's window."
The girl nodded and he took off running.
Sunny stood at 1 Willow Lane, crouched next to Sam's window and hoping he would hurry up —it was getting cold, she hadn't brought a jacket and her dress was made for the warmth of earlier months. The window opened with a soft click and Sam helped her inside.
Once in his room, they both looked at each other and giggled quietly. She twirled around until she flopped on his bed and layed there, looking at the ceiling —he joined her, laying with their shoulders touching and their hands intertwined.
"I wished I could stay here forever." Sunny whispered after some minutes.
"In my bed?" Sam rolled to his side to look at her.
She laughed. "No, I mean, it's nice here, but I meant in Pelican Town."
"Don't you like your city?"
She rolled to her side too and looked at his hand. She took it and started playing with it. "It's alright... I have my friends and there's always something new to try... but it gets overwhelming and I'm lonely at home, I have grandpa here."
"Before you know it it'll be summer again and you'll come back here."
"To you?" She smirked.
"To me." He smiled.
Sam propped up to one elbow and got closer to her while looking swiftly at her lips. She threw her arms over his neck and pulled him into the kiss. It started as an innocent brush —something sweet and quick—, but she pulled him in again and it rapidly got more and more messy and desperate.
The boy pulled away reluctantly and breathed, his forehead resting against hers. "I have... no experience with this."
"Me neither, but I'll gladly have my first with you if you want it."
"Are you sure?" he asked and she nodded.
He got on top of her and kissed her again, this time letting his hands wander around her hips over the clothes. He trailed down her neck with his mouth and she sighed; he pulled away and looked down at her. "Are you really sure? We can go as far as you want, we really don't need to push it."
"Do you feel like you are pushing it?" she asked cautiously.
"I... I do want it, but I don't want you to feel pressured."
She caressed his face. "I don't. I want this."
Sam leaned into her touch and went down for a kiss as soon as he heard her permission.
They both got lost in each other that night; between kisses, muffled laughter and some experimentation, they explored the other's body and their own. When morning came, she was long gone and on her way back to her parent's house.
Little did they know, she would carry with her something to remember that night, and that would be the reason they don't see each other for a really long time.