6. A Day at the beach

Chapter 6: A day at the beach

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Kelsey. Kels wake up!" I heared someone saying while shaking me.

I let out a groan and instinctively threw a pillow at the person, a groan following the sound of my pillow hitting the person's body.

"Kelsey!" The person whined.

I woke up to see Noah besides my bed lying on the floor with his hair all messed up, probably because of the pillow I threw at him.

"Remind me never to wake you up again," he said grumpily, fixing his hair causing me to laugh loudly.

It would have been my pleasure.

"Copy that," I answered.

It had been five days since the barbecue, and I could tell that the kids were starting to become closer. Let's just say I did not have to stop another fight over the remote since then.

It wasn't just the siblings who had gotten closer. May and Noah had been spending almost all of their time together. They played video games, watched movies, swam in the pool and even went to the mall together.

It was starting to become really obvious that they liked each other.

I was also really glad about how things had turned out with Ethan. It was starting to become really fun to hang out with him. He was starting to help me with some chores, making me laugh while doing so too.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked peeking through the door, probably trying to see why I was laughing like a hyena.

I couldn't help but stare at him. His messy bed head made him look really attractive, especially because of the fact that he wasn't even wearing a shirt.

And let's not talk about his deep morning voice.

I could see why so many people were attracted to him, and if I didn't know how Ethan was like when it came to people who liked him, I would have certainly been too.

When I finally realised I was checking him out, I looked up to see a smirk plastered on his face, making my cheeks heat up.

"Noah here decided it would be fun to wake me up," I said, getting out of bed and picking up the pillow I had thrown at Noah.

"Yeah and Kelsey decided it would be fun to hit me with a pillow," Noah replied with a glare.

"I didn't hit you with it. I just threw it at you. Really hard," I argued.

Ethan looked between Noah and I for a couple of seconds and then letting out a loud laugh. He was really cute when he laughed. When he truly laughed, and his dimples stood out, highlighting his features even more.

"You threw a pillow at him?" He asked me with a look of amusement on his face, clearly not having expected something of the sort out of me.

I just nodded and started laughing with him, Noah glaring at us both.

"So why did you decide to wake me up?" I finally asked Noah after what felt like ages of laughing.

If he decided it was worth it to wake up a person who loved sleeping as much as I did, then it had to be important.

"I wanted to ask you if we can all go to the beach," Noah said smiling.

Or maybe not.

"You woke me up just to ask me if we can go to the beach? You guys literally have a pool in your house," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"The beach sounds like fun, I'm in," Ethan said, making me look at him with my lips parted in disbelief.

I looked at Noah who had a smile on his face at his brother's answer. I groaned as I realised that  those kids had me wrapped around their little finger, and there was no way that I could say no to any of them.

"Well we wouldn't want you to have woken me up for nothing now do we? I'll go wake up the girls and we can get ready for the beach," I replied, earning a cheer from Noah before he hugged me.

"Okay Noah, no need to kill me," I said messing up his hair slightly causing him to groan.

"You're the best babysitter ever," Noah said with a wink before walking out of my room happily, leaving me alone with Ethan.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked him as I noticed him staring at me with a smile on his face.

"Honestly, I don't know," he said laughing.

What a dork.

"You know, I can't wait to see you in a bikini," He said, sending me a wink before he walked out of the door leaving me frozen, my face as red as a tomato.

I couldn't believe he had just said that.

He didn't even give me the chance to tell him that I was not going to be wearing a bikini.

Guess he would find out the hard way.

****

Ellie and Lara were really excited about the idea of going to the beach, they thought it would be a change from swimming in their pool.

After preparing some snacks and got ready, we all went in to Ethan's car so he could drive us all to the beach.

"How long is it till we get there?" Ellie asked excitedly after five minutes.

"About twenty more minutes Els, don't worry, we'll get there," Ethan said smiling.

They were really excited to go swim at the beach, a place where they hadn't been to in a really long time. Their parents were always busy to take them, and in Lara's words, Ethan never took them anywhere out of his own free will.

Ethan had been acting a lot different since we had that talk. He had been acting a lot sweeter towards his siblings, and he went out with Jake a lot less just so he could spend time with Noah and help him with his music.

Noah also wanted Ethan to teach him how to play basketball, so they practically practiced together everyday.

The sudden change in Ethan's attitude had made Noah and the others very happy, and it had made me happy too. He had been helping me a lot, and he had become a lot more responsible. He rarely made my life miserable and I found myself slowly becoming attached to that attitude of his, and to his whole family.

"What are you thinking about?" Ethan asked, slightly looking at me.

"Nothing, just how I haven't been to the beach in a while that's all," I lied.

If I were to tell him that I was thinking about how much I liked his new attitude, I would have surely lead to his ego getting bigger than it already was, allowing his head to inflate. I also did not want him to know that I found myself randomly thinking about him.

Clearly oblivious to what was going on in my head, he sent me a small smile which I quickly returned.

"Are you two slowly falling in love with each other but you're afraid to tell each other your feelings because you're both afraid of being rejected yet you both make each other happy?" Lara asked me and Ethan, causing my face to become as red as a tomatoe.

I could feel Ethan stiffen beside me, as I uncomfortably shifted in my seat, turning my head to look out the window.

"Where did you get that idea from?" Ethan asked while chuckling slightly, trying to play it off cool.

"It happens in all the romantic movies," Lara replied.

"Well no romance here Lara, I'm just your babysitter and Ethan and I are just friends?" I said causing my words to come out more as a question rather than a statement.

Regretting my choice of words as I felt Ethan stiffen, his jaw clenching.

"We're here," Ethan finally said as he parked the car in an empty parking spot, not so far away from the beach.

We all got out of the car and grabbed the bags before trying to find a nice spot where we could place our towels and things.

"Can we go swim now?" Ellie excitedly asked.

"Ellie, you can't swim on your own. We just got here. You need to let your sunblock dry first," Ethan said, his paternal side coming out.

"Okay fine, but I'm asking again in fifteen minutes," she huffed, making me chuckle.

"Kelsey?" I suddenly heard someone call from behind me.

I turned around and found Meg and May walking towards us, making me look at Noah accusingly before he simply shrugged.

I smirked, finally apprehending why Noah wanted us to go to the beach so badly. I looked at Ethan, whose smirk mirrored mine as he looked at Noah, probably thinking the same thing I was.

"Wow No, you didn't tell me that Meg and May were going to be here," I told him knowingly, wanting to pull his leg a little bit.

"I didn't know," he said with a cheeky grin, his face getting very red all of a sudden.

"Sure you didn't buddy," Ethan said, patting his back and making him blush even more.

"Well it doesn't matter, since we're all here let's just hit the beach," Meg said as she started taking off her shirt.

I took mine off too, leaving me with my denim shorts and my swimsuit underneath.

"Has everyone put on sunblock?" I asked the kids, earning an excited nod from each of them.

That's how babysitting is done.

I helped Ellie out of her clothes and handed her her floatie, while Meg, May, Noah and Lara were already heading towards the sea.

"Aren't you going?" I asked Ethan who was just looking at me, helping Ellie and holding her hand.

"I'd rather enjoy the view," he said, his eyes widening as soon as he realised what he had just said. "There are some really hot girls behind you," he continued smugly, trying to play it off cool.

I looked behind me and found two little girls around the same age as Ellie playing ball, making me turn back to look at Ethan, only to find him looking at the ground, his cheeks redder than they normally were.

"Hate to tell you this but they're under age," I said, slightly laughing.

He bit his lip in order to try and hide the fact that he was laughing, making him look extremely cute.

I didn't know what was getting over me, I would have never dreamed of calling Ethan Walker cute before, and yet the more I knew him, the more I seemed to become attracted to him.

It was the thing that scared me the most. Ethan had a bunch of girls at his feet, all wishing to be the one that he would eventually choose. I didn't want to end up liking him more than I needed to.

I instantly shrugged the thought away and took off my shorts before grabbing Ellie's hand once again.

"So are you coming or are you just going to stay there checking me out?" I asked Ethan who was still looking at me 'secretly', not able to control what came out of my mouth.

Both of our eyes widened, our gazes quickly switching towards Ellie, who just stared at us with her mouth wide open.

"Erm..I..I didn't mean it like that," I said, feeling my face heat up. "Just join us when you're ready," I awkwardly continued, walking off with Ellie.

"What does checking you out mean? And why was Ethan doing it to you?" Ellie asked when we reached the guys.

Her purely innocent question was both adorable and humiliating for me, especially as soon as everyone started staring at me with wide eyes, my cheeks turning blood red.

All I wanted was the ocean to swallow me whole in that moment.

"I told you that you're both madly in love with each other," Lara said, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

"Are you now?" Meg said curiously, giving me a 'we need to talk' look.

I could understand her curiosity. The last time Meg and I spoke, I was barely even sure if he actually wanted to be friends with me, and then all of a sudden Ellie said that he was checking me out, and Lara blurted out that we were in love with each other.

We were clearly not in love with each other.

"No we're not, let's swim now!" I said in a rush, trying to change the subject.

That was all it to took to make the kids forget about everything that had just been said. They all instantly agreed and Noah and May even start having a swimming race. Lara and Ellie then went to play with their beach ball, leaving me alone with Meg, who unlike the rest did not forget about that conversation easily.

"Ethan was checking you out?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me, confirming my thoughts.

"No, he wasn't. Ellie made it up because he was looking at some cute girls behind me and she thought he was looking at me," I lied.

Well that was what he said, so it wasn't technically a lie, and those little girls were cute and adorable.

"You need to learn how to lie better honey. Ellie didn't even know what Ethan checking you out meant, but for the sake of having fun today, let's pretend I believe you," she said, furrowing her eyebrows and nodding mockingly, allowing me to let out a sigh of relief.

I nodded my head before we both went to play with Lara and Ellie. I was really glad that she wasn't pushing it any further, because when she did, she used to become worse than Sherlock Holmes, trying to investigate things, even if they weren't always there.

"What are you guys doing?" Ethan asked as he swam over to us, interrupting my thoughts.

"What does it look like we're doing?" I said, snapping at him.

I immediately regretted it when I saw Ethan's smile drop. I didn't mean to be so harsh. I didn't even know why I said it like that.

****

After half an hour in the water we all went back to our spots to eat some sandwiches Noah and I made before we left for the beach. Things were still tense between Ethan and I, and to say I felt bad was a huge understatement.

"Kelsey I want ice cream," Lara said, pointing at the ice cream truck on the other side of the beach.

"Yeah, me too," Ellie said, tugging at my arm.

"Ice cream sounds great right now," Noah agreed.

"How am I supposed to carry all the ice creams by myself?" I asked, knowing very well that I would not be able to carry ice cream for seven people all on my own.

"I'll come with you," Ethan said, standing up and offering me his hand. "You need someone to tell you what flavors they all like anyways," he continued.

I looked at Meg who was still looking at me with a suspicious look.

Why was it so hard to believe that two people could be just friends?

Despite all her stares, I took Ethan's hand and he helped me up whilst sending me a friendly smile, making me feel guiltier for the way I treated him earlier.

We slowly walked towards the baby blue ice cream truck, which had a bunch of pictures of different kinds of ice creams and slushies-which were enough to get anyone in the mood for ice cream-stuck on it.

I made sure to keep my distance from Ethan as we were walking. I didn't want to give Meg any more reasons to get suspicious.

I loved her, but sometimes she could get a bit too much with her assumptions.

Who wouldn't though? Ethan was really attractive, it wouldn't be that impossible for a girl to have feelings for him.

"Kels, are you avoiding me?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"You heard me. I asked you if you were avoiding me," he said with a serious look.

I could tell that my weird attitude was bugging him, and I felt really bad about it. I knew he didn't deserve any of it, and yet I found myself acting like that anyways.

"What makes you think that?" I asked as we approached the van.

"Well, you're keeping your distance from me like I have some killing disease and you acted coldly when I asked you what you guys were doing just so I could join. Seriously Kelsey, that made me feel bad," he said as we stopped in front of the ice cream truck and stood behind the queue.

"I'm not avoiding you Ethan, and I'm sorry I acted so coldly earlier," I said feeling genuinely bad.

I wanted him to know that none of it was his fault. It was all on me and my messed up feelings. I got all nervous and flustered after talking to Meg, and then ended up letting it all out on Ethan, who certainly did not deserve any of it.

"Then what's the problem?" He asked as the queue started to move.

I sighed, debating on whether I should tell him the truth or not. I didn't want things to get awkward between us, but I also didn't want him to think that I was acting like that because I didn't want him around.

It was so far from that.

"Ever since the barbecue, Meg has been thinking that there's something between us and she keeps interrogating me. I just want her to understand that there's nothing going on between us except for a friendship," I said.

As soon as the words left my mouth, Ethan simply sighed.

I was about to ask him what was wrong but the ice cream vendor quickly asked us for our order, cutting our conversation short.

After looking closely at the flavours for a couple of seconds, we decided to get caramel swirl for Lara and Noah, Caramel fudge for Ellie and cookie dough for Ethan and I.

"Honestly Kelsey, would it be that bad if something was going on between us?" He said looking at me before he walked away towards the others with three ice creams in his hand, leaving me behind, dumbfounded.

What did he mean by that?

Did Ethan like me, or was he simply offended that I made it seem as if it was a bad thing?

I walked towards the others and gave Lara and Ellie their ice cream, my mind still swirling with thoughts.

While we were all eating our ice cream, I could not stop noticing that Meg kept staring between Ethan and I.

She had to get off my case. She knew she was my best friend, and she also knew that if anything was happening she would have been the first to know.

After we ate the ice cream, the kids wanted to go back in the water so I put on some more sunblock on them and made them wait a couple of minutes for it to dry.

Waiting was always the most boring part for me when I was younger, and it wasn't any less so for the kids as they kept glancing at the water probably wondering when this crazy babysitter would let them go swim.

Before I could get the chance to tell them all that they were free to go swim, I heard someone calling me from behind.

"Kelsey, is that really you?"

Everyone turned around to see who was calling me and Meg and I just stared in surprise, my heart stopping as soon as I turned.

"Aaron?" Meg and I both said at the same time before he randomly engulfed me in a huge hug.

Aaron had moved away 2 years before and I couldn't understand how on earth he was back or why he didn't even call or text to tell me that he was back.

More importantly, I couldn't help asking myself why he was even back, and why he had to be right there on that beach at the same time as us.