Chapter 48: They're Just Bacon and Eggs

I wake up to the sound of waves crashing. I blink a couple of times and realize where I am. I look up at Alex. His head is resting against the wall and his hand is still on my cheek. I slowly move to get up, trying not to wake him. The lights are still on, even though its morning.

Alex opens his eyes and looks down at me. He cracks a handsome, sleepy smile and says huskily, "Good morning, Sunshine."

I smile and sit up, leaning my head against the wall like his. "Morning."

"You seem cheery," he says. I shrug. He smiles again.

"So do you," I say and he looks out at the balcony.

"Sounds like the ocean," he says.

"Maybe that's because it is," I say, rolling my eyes. He hits me with his pillow lightly and I return the favour. He laughs and gets up.

"Let's eat."

***

We've been on the island for a week now. Its been fun. I don't know why, but Alex and I keep taking videos and selfies with each other. Maybe we're bored, but maybe its because we just simply wanna remember.

We've been to the stations and walks inland as well as two of the lakes. We've seen a dozen dingos and a Goana. We heard a Kookaburra laugh and saw a flock of galahs.

I'm lathering on my sunscreen when Mum calls me downstairs. I race down, grabbing my water bottle and towel as I go.

"Ready?" she asks when I arrive. I nod.

"Mum, have you washed my one piece or my swim shirt yet?" I ask. She shakes her head. Damn, now I have to wear this dodgy bikini. It's disgusting and I was going to throw my swim shirt over the top, but now that isn't an option.

I sigh and dash outside before Mum. I hop in the ute and strap up my seat belt. Alex gears the engine and looks over at me.

"You look bummed, what's up?" he asks.

"I have to wear a bikini," I mumble.

"What?" Alex leans over, cupping his ear.

"I have to wear a bikini," I say, louder.

"Yes!" he says, pumping his fist in the air. "You know I love those."

"Hey!" I say, playfully shoving him. He laughs. The other two cars pull away. Alex shifts the gear.

"Sorry," he says. "I just meant you look beautiful in anything."

I look over at him and he pulls away from the driveway. He doesn't seem to notice my blush to I wind down the window and pop on my sunglasses.

***

The lake is the bluest thing I've ever seen. A hundred meters away, fish leap out of the water. Paul, Lucas and Felecia go swim in the shallows while Alex and I make a sandcastle with Liam. He eats the sand before Michelle pulls him away. Alex and I stand, brushing ourselves off.

"So..." Alex starts, not knowing what to say.

"Let's go swim?" I say, phrasing it as a question.  He nods and peels his shirt off. I stare at him for a few seconds before he grins and flips up his sunnies.

"Dude," he says and I look up. "If you want some of this you could just say so."

I roll my eyes, shoving him. "You wish."

"Damn yeah I do," he says. I roll my eyes and take off my shorts shirt. The cold air hits my stomach and I shiver. I feel as exposed as I usually do when I wear bikinis, especially since there's a group of twenty-year-old Australians playing soccer on the sand, watching me.

Alex looks over at the men and scowls, hooking an arm around my bare waist. "It's fine now."

I laugh and pull my pants off. He takes my hands and drags me into the water. I touch it and run back, pulling his hand with me. He laughs and pulls me into him, I try and push him away but he just pulls me over his shoulder, running into the ocean and throwing me a meter away. My ponytail falls out and I can't feel the hair tie so I stand back up, running my hands through my hair.

Alex drops his sunnies. I walk up to him. "What?" I ask.

"N-Nothing," he says. I furrow my brow and he scoops back his sunnies.

"Alex!" Michelle calls. He pulls me into him further and stuffs his sunglasses on top of my head.

"Don't lose them," he says. Michelle hands him Liam and he walks back in with his brother. I see a few pretty Australian girls sunbaking watching him and glare at them. Woah, I'm a crazy stalker with a weird obsession.

He hands Liam to me and I look back up at him.

"You have some admirers," I say, nodding to the girls and dipping Liam's feet into the water He giggles and kicks his feet. Alex turns.

"They're just ducklings," he says.

"What?" I ask.

"They're just ducklings. You can be the mother duck if you want," he hooks an arm around my shoulders and turns me around to face the girls, who immediately flick their long ponytails over their shoulders and look elsewhere. I laugh.

"Either I'm too beautiful for them to make eye contact or they know they can't compete with you," he says into my ear, kissing my cheek softly.

I blush. He chuckles and lets go of my shoulder, ducking underneath the water. I crouch down in the shallows and Liam shivers when he puts his tummy into the water, laughing.

He walks around and falls over when he's about 30 centimetres away. I pull him up and sit him on my lap. Alex resurfaces a meter away and walks up to us, taking Liam off me. I stand up, brushing off the water and wet sand to follow him. He walks into the water and doesn't stop until only his chest and head is visible. I swim under the water and come up beside him. He's holding Liam and moving him around in a circle. Liam's laughing. I smile.

Dayummm, I love him so much.

My face goes really red and he lets go of Liam for a moment to grab my hand and pull me into him. "You right?"

"Oh," I look at Liam, embarrassed about my thoughts. "Yeah."

"Alright," he says, looking at me suspiciously.

"Nat!" Liam claps his hands, stretching out his arms. Alex hands the small child to me. He puts one tiny, chubby arm around my shoulder and uses the other to play with my necklace. I dangle his feet in the water for a bit before he wraps them around me.

I look up and see Alex staring at Liam's hand. His eyes flick over to my questioning ones. He coughs. "So you, uhm, do wear that every day?"

"Twenty four seven," I say. He looks at me in the eyes. His have turned into a beautiful medium-blue, almost reflecting the lake's colour. His pupils are dilated and I only look away when Liam softly hits my chest, letting go of the necklace.

"Oh," Alex says.

He looks over at the twins and Felecia. Woah, how hell does someone look that good? His hair is lying perfectly on his head, curly and dark. His high cheekbones stand out behind the tiny, almost nonexistent freckles.

I look down at Liam then up at Alex. They do look alike. I sigh and walk over to Alex, handing him Liam. I start to walk away because I can't stand being with him without going weak or flinging myself into his arms.

"Woah," Alex says, almost dismissively. He grabs my hand and pulls me back. I turn and face him.  Pushing my lips into my mouth so I don't blurt out, "I love you more than McDonald's."

"What?" I ask sourly. He sends me a stern look.

"Don't walk away from me, brother," he says playfully.

"Sorry, babe," I say. He uses the hand not holding Liam to pull my chin up.

"What's wrong?" he asks. Damn, he knows me way too well. He pulls his hand off my chin and wraps it around my waist. "If it's those girls, don't worry, I've only got eyes for you."

"Stop it, Alex!" I whine, pushing him off me.

"Stop what?" he asks cocking an eyebrow and wrapping both arms around Liam.

"You don't have to be so goddamn sweet all the time!" I say, blurting it out. "Please stop it! Its messing with my head. What am I supposed to do? Should I just brush it off? Pretend you're not flirting with you? Flirt back? Or should I-"

He pulls me into him. "Give up?"

I suck in a breath when he says that. He's confusing me. He was with Amanda, why? Now he wants me to 'give up?' He liked her and now he likes me?

"Alex..." I start. Liam interrupts me.

"I bove you!" he says.

We both turn to look at him. "What?"

"I bove you!" he repeats, giggling.

Alex and I look back at each other. His eyes are becoming darker and his pupils dilating further. I look away first. I walk back to the shore, burying my face in a book and not looking up until we leave.

***

The drive back isn't as awkward as I expected. The music's turned up and I'm still reading, since my book is really, really, really good.

When we arrive, I hop out of the car, taking my stuff and quickly racing upstairs to have a shower. I see that the only thing not dirty in my bag is a skimpy outfit Mum packed for me to get me started. I had told myself to take it out but forgot. I groan and have a shower.

I dry myself off after having a shower and tie my hair in a messy bun, a few of the strands hanging loose and framing my face.

I tug on the tiny pants and zip them up. They're almost suffocating me. Then I tug on the crop top. It barely covers my ribs. I have to zip up the back. It's a halter neck top which is scratching me. I open the bathroom door and run down the corridor to Alex's room, which is the only other one on this floor.

I knock cautiously on his door. "Alex?" I ask. He opens the door wearing a black hoodie, a cap and some jeans, as though he's ready to go out.

He looks over my outfit and I run inside. "I need help, babe!" I squeak.

"What?" he asks, straightening his cap.

"Can you lend me a shirt?" I ask. He looks over my outfit one more time and nods, walking over to his suitcase to draw out a white shirt.

"Thank you," I sigh, taking it from him and walking into the ensuite. I take off the crop top, pulling on the shirt. It smells like him and I sigh in content when his smell surrounds me. I have to hang onto the pants since the shirt only reaches the tops of my thighs. I step out of the bathroom and collapse on his bed.

"Thank you," I say. He falls down next to me. I turn around, eyes half closed, even though it's only two o'clock.  He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. I must be delusional with sleep because I hold onto his hand before it retracts. He eyebrows narrow with confusion. I intertwine our fingers and drop our hands onto the pillow between us. He wraps his other arm around me and pulls me into him. I lay my head on the pillow and entangle my fingers in his hair. He buries his head in my neck and I close my eyes.

I slowly drift off to sleep. When I get cold I feel Alex's hands snaking underneath his shirt and wrapping around my cold skin. I don't feel uncomfortable since I'm so used to being in his arms. I pull him closer to me and sleep until tomorrow.

***

"Nat."

I stir a little but don't open my eyes. "Whaffimeisif?"

Alex laughs a little bit. "Wake up."

"I am awake," I say with my eyes still closed. "But let me sleep."

"Its already one o'clock," Alex says.

"Really?" I whisper, clenching my fists and pulling his shirt into them. "Why don't you just leave and let me sleep?"

"Uhm, dude, because I'm underneath you?" he says.

I open my eyes. He's looking at me with a gentle smile. I am lying on top of him. His hands are still around my waist, hidden by his shirt. My hands are wrapped around his neck, playing with the small hairs at the back of his head. His legs are entangled with mine and I quickly roll off him.

I close my eyes and pull the doona cover over my body. "You can leave now."

Alex laughs and gets up. I fall back into sleep once again.

I'm woken by someone softly shaking my shoulder. I open one eye and see Alex sitting on the edge of his bed. There are two plates of bacon and eggs I sit up.

He hands me a plate. Tasty. "Thanks."

"There weren't many eggs left, and the boys ate the pancakes," he says, rolling over to sit next to me. I scoop the food into my mouth and swallow.

"Damn, you're a good cook," I say.

He looks at me strangely. "They're just bacon and eggs, Nat, they aren't that hard. Are you ok?"

"I'm great!" I say. He looks at me suspiciously again and eats an egg.

"You sure?"

"Yup!" I pop the p. He continues looking at me sceptically until I finish my breakfast. He takes my plate and walks out of the room before I can even say thank you.

Woah, he'd make a good husband.

I am literally delusional.  Maybe I should just stay away from him and hook up with some random model that can almost beat his looks. Then maybe I wouldn't love him as much.

He reenters the room and starts getting changed.

I get up to walk out of the room and shiver. The ocean wind is cold. Alex looks over at me. He doesn't even have goosebumps!

"Are you cold?" he asks. I shrug and he chucks me his hoodie from yesterday and I pull it over his shirt.

"Next I'm gonna start wearing your pants," I say. He smiles a little but turns back around.

"Let's go out," he says. I look up at him.

"Out?" I question.

"Yeah, let's go," he grabs his phone and pulls me out the door. I look around when we get into the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" I ask.

"They went to the lake again," he says. He starts packing food in a bag and I sit, waiting for him. He doesn't ask for help, just does it quickly before grabbing my hand and pulling me off the chair and out the door.

We're about to get in the car when Alex stops.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Do you see that?" he asks. He's pointing to a small area behind the oval. There aren't any trees there.

"Yeah, let's go see what it is," I say.

We walk past the oval and look down into the bush behind it. There is a path. It's natural like it's only been walked once before.

"Let's go!" Alex says, starting to walk forwards. I grab his hand.

"What? There could be dingoes!" I say. He rolls his blue eyes.

"I'll protect you." He throws an arm around my shoulders and leads me down.

It takes a while, and I almost slip on the leaves once. We hear the sound of running water. We eventually step onto the sand.

"Woah," is all I say.

"Yeah, Woah," Alex repeats.

There's a tiny waterfall running into a small, blue creek. There are birds singing in the trees around us. I sit down on the smooth sand and fill my palms with it, letting it fall down in tiny grains.

"Let's go swim," he says, dropping the bag on the ground and stripping out of his shirt.

"What?" I say, pulling him back by the hand. "I can't swim!"

"I don't think your hoodie owner will mind," he says, picking me up and throwing me into the sea.

"Alex!" I say when I resurface, spluttering and shivering. "That could've been shallow!"

"But it wasn't," he states. I roll my eyes and he ducks under the water. I look around for him but get my answer when he pops up beside me.

"If I were a chicken, you'd be impeccable," he says. I laugh, pushing him away.

"Stawp!" I say. He smirks and walks back to me, shaking the water out of his hair.

"If you're not gonna give in to my charms...." he starts, searching for a word.

"You should just stop, you bumhole," I say.

"Nah, man, I know you love it," he says, hooking an arm around my shoulders. "If you don't like my emotional stuff, I could make sure you get the physical."

"Wha-" I start. He interrupts by pushing me into the water and landing on top of me. I wrap my arms around him. He resurfaces with me clinging to him. My pants are annoying me so, so much. I pull them down.

"Is that what you call physical?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugs. "I could try another kind of physical... if you like."

I roll my eyes. "I'm going to get changed. See you in ten."

"Bye."

"Bye."

***

I'm just about to walk out of the house with my towel when my locket slips off my neck and falls on the floor. Funny, I must've done something while getting changed. I lock the door and bend to pick it up.

I hold it in my hand and see the tiny crack down the middle in the bit that separates the smooth from the patterned metal. I'm about to try and close the crack when I see something inside. It's glittering. I prise the crack open further. The two sides spring apart, still attached at the top.

My jaw drops and my heart starts to pound when I see the three words etched on a tiny, small plate shaped like a heart.

I LOVE YOU