Work Text:
The shoreline stretched endlessly beneath a cloudless sky, waves rolling onto the sand in a steady rhythm while sunlight danced across the water in restless flashes. The ocean seemed almost alive beneath the morning sun, shifting and sparkling all the way to the horizon.
Chloe had been the first to spot their usual stretch of sand, the one they had long since claimed without ever needing to say it out loud. The ocean was already alive with movement, sunlight scattering across the surface in restless flashes. She felt it the moment they stepped out of the car: that familiar pull toward the water, like it was calling her name louder than anything else in the world.
Red and Hazel were still unloading their things when Chloe dropped her bag in the sand without much ceremony. The weight of it barely mattered. She was already halfway gone in her mind, already imagining the first cold rush of waves against her skin, already smiling at the thought of dragging her girlfriends into the ocean with her.
She didn’t bother waiting.
Chloe started toward the shoreline at an easy jog, her feet sinking slightly into the warm sand, when Hazel’s voice cut across the open air.
“Chloe!”
She stopped immediately, as if pulled back by an invisible thread, and turned around.
Hazel was near their setup, carefully applying sunscreen to Red’s back. Red held her hair off her shoulders with one hand, holding a water bottle in the other, completely unbothered. Hazel didn’t even look particularly surprised that Chloe had run off right away. She just lifted the bottle in her hand in, waving it at her.
“You forgot your sunscreen,” Hazel called out, tone flat with the kind of judgement that came with experiencing this many times before.
Chloe groaned under her breath, a quiet, almost offended sound. “Damn,” she muttered, dragging a hand through her hair as she made her way back toward them.
The ocean would have to wait.
By the time she returned, Hazel was finishing up with Red, smoothing sunscreen across her shoulders with practiced efficiency. Red stayed still beneath her touch, entirely relaxed, like she had all the time in the world.
Hazel handed the bottle to Chloe with her eyebrow raised playfully. “You know better.”
Chloe took it with a roll of her eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” she replied, though there was no real bite to it.
Red glanced over at her, a faint smudge of sunscreen still visible near her collarbone. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t have burnt to a crisp.”
Chloe scoffed. “I would’ve been fine.”
Hazel made a quiet noise that suggested she absolutely did not believe that.
Chloe ignored it and squeezed the sunscreen into her palm, beginning to work it into her arms and shoulders. The sun was already warm against her skin, and she could feel the anticipation of the water still lingering at the edges of her focus, refusing to disappear.
She barely got through her own arms before Red shifted nearby.
“Want me to get your back, boo?” Red asked.
Chloe dropped her mock annoyed expression and smiled softly at Red. “Yes, please.”
She turned without hesitation and handed the bottle back, dipping her head down a little and grabbing her hair so Red had better access.
Red’s hands were warm even through the sunscreen as she worked into Chloe’s back with steady, even pressure. There was something almost grounding about it. The way Red didn’t rush, the way she paid attention without needing to be told how. Chloe’s shoulders loosened before she even realized they had been tense.
Her head rolled lazily to one side and the sensation turned from simple application into something closer to massage. The world narrowed down to Red’s hands and the distant sound of the waves she still hadn’t reached yet.
When Red finished, she let her hands slide down Chloe’s back. She gently wrapped them around Chloe’s waist and pulled her back into her. Trapping her in a hug and placing a dramatic kiss to the side of Chloe’s head.
“All done,” Red told her, her lips just centimeters from Chloe’s ear.
Red stepped back and let her go, much to Chloe’s dismay. But the feeling didn’t last long. She took off running once more to the water in front of her.
The feeling hit her all at once again. Freedom, sunlight, salty air, the sheer joy of finally getting what she had been looking forward to all week. She could already see herself diving into the waves, letting the ocean embrace her like an old friend.
Chloe looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Hazel jogging beside her or Red’s reluctant but willing chase into the surf. She expected company.
Instead, she saw nothing but empty space where she thought they would be.
She slowed down to a stop and turned back to their claimed spot.
Hazel was still there, now filling their cooler with water bottles and soda cans, her attention entirely focused on organizing everything with calm precision. Red was a few feet away from her, kneeling in the sand, completely absorbed in leveling out a large section she had claimed for herself. Neither of them were moving toward the water. Neither of them were following her.
Chloe blinked once. Then again.
Then she marched back up to them.
She approached them with purpose, stopping just short of their setup. “Uh, hello?” she said, drawing the words out like they should be obvious enough to fix the situation immediately.
Hazel glanced up briefly, still bent over the cooler. “Hey, babe.”
Chloe’s eyes flicked between the two of them, disbelief growing sharper by the second. “Why aren’t the two of you running to the water with me?”
Red didn’t even look up at first, still focused on smoothing the sand in front of her. “Sorry, Chlo,” she said casually. “I wanted to make a sandcastle first. Dizzy was telling me how she keeps her builds from crumbling so fast and I wanted to give it a try.”
Chloe stared at her. “Sand,” she repeated slowly, like she was trying to comprehend a foreign concept. “You’re choosing sand over me.”
Hazel, still half inside the cooler, added without missing a beat, “No, she’s choosing sand art over you. And I’m choosing a tan.”
Chloe’s jaw dropping in exaggerated offense. “You guys suck. I should’ve invited Kailani and Celeste. They’d actually get in the water with me.”
“We can invite them next time if you want,” Red mumbled, already distracted again as she reached for another tool from her bag.
Chloe crossed her arms. “If I don’t die from heartbreak by then, I will.”
Hazel finally straightened, brushing her hands off and walking toward her. She stopped right in front of Chloe, looking down at her with clear amusement before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to her pouted lips.
“We’ll come join you in the water later,” Hazel tells her. “Okay? We promise.”
Chloe tilted her head slightly. “And you’ll go in the deep end with me?”
“And we’ll go in the deep end with you,” Red confirmed from behind them without even looking up.
That was enough. Chloe let out a long, dramatic sigh, as if the weight of the world had just been placed on her shoulders. “Fine. But I’m holding you both to that.”
She turned again, her run replaced with a slow walk, and made her way towards the water once more.
As she went, she muttered under her breath about betrayal, neglect, and the clear injustice of being the only one in the group with any sense of urgency about ocean-based recreation. But even so, there was a smile tugging at her mouth again as she counted down the minutes until “later” and the moment she could drag her girlfriends into the sea with her where they belonged.
Hazel clicked the last latch on the cooler shut with a firm press of her palm, then ran her fingers along the edge once more out of habit, making sure everything was sealed properly. Ice shifted faintly inside when she nudged it, a muted clink of bottles settling into place.
She had wanted all of this done earlier in the morning, before they even left, but that plan had fallen apart the moment Red decided she was not, under any circumstances, getting out of bed on time. Chloe had to ask Hazel for help getting their stubborn little menace up and ready to go, and Hazel had been pulled away from her morning tasks. Instead she stood at Red’s bedside helping Chloe with reasoning, bargaining, and eventually physically dragging Red into something resembling wakefulness. By the time they were all functional, the “early prep” window was long gone.
So the cooler didn’t get packed until now.
With that finally handled, Hazel stepped back into the sand and exhaled, scanning over their stuff. The beach was already warm, the wind coming in soft but persistent. She unfolded her beach blanket and spread it out, smoothing the corners down with her hands before anchoring them with whatever she could find—bags, shoes, anything that would stop it from lifting when the breeze picked up.
Only then did she allow herself to settle into the rhythm of the day.
Red was nearby, fully absorbed in whatever she was building in the sand. It wasn’t clear if it had a purpose or if it was just Red following whatever idea came into her head in real time, but she was committed either way. Her bandana held her hair back, leaving her face fully visible, and she kept leaning forward into her work like the rest of the world had narrowed down to the small structure under her hands.
Her tongue slipped out at the corner of her mouth every so often when she focused too hard, and her eyebrows stayed drawn together in that tight, concentrated line that only showed up when she was genuinely invested. Sand clung to her fingers and palms as she worked, brushing off and returning just as quickly.
Hazel watched her without meaning to at first.
Red looked like she belonged exactly there—sun on her skin, sand under her hands, completely unbothered by anything outside the little world she had made for herself. The lack of awareness made her even more noticeable, every small movement sharp against the brightness of the beach.
Red’s head tilted slightly as she adjusted something in the sand, and Hazel tracked the motion automatically. She didn’t need to think about it, it was instinct at that point.
Red was beautiful in a way that didn’t ask for attention but took it anyway. Hazel stayed with her for a moment too long, then shook her head once and forced herself to move before she got stuck there.
She tied her hair up, loose curls slipping free almost immediately, refusing to stay contained. She let them fall instead of fighting them, then reached for the suntan lotion in her bag.
She worked the product into her arms and shoulders slowly, taking her time, making sure she didn’t miss any spots. The sun was already warm enough that it stick to her skin as she moved. Halfway through, she felt Red’s attention on her.
She did her best to ignore it, refusing to feed into what she knows would be Red’s inevitable teasing. But the sound of a sharp whistle cut through the sound of the waves, forcing her to acknowledge it.
Hazel glanced at Red briefly, whose eyes were roaming over her. She swallowed carefully and acted as if nothing had even happened. Keeping her pace and continuing to rub the lotion into her skin, trying to look unbothered on the outside while her stomach started to heat up. Without looking she could still see the smirk she knew would be on Red’s face right now.
“Bite me,” she called to her, deadpan.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Red shot back at her immediately.
Hazel huffed a laugh under her breath, capping the bottle and reaching for her phone like nothing had happened. The exchange was automatic between them, fast and familiar and always running a little hotter than either of them bothered to admit out loud. Hazel grabbed her sunglasses from her bag and placed them on her face, then laid back on the blanket, phone playing soft music into the background as she stretched out into the sun.
For a moment, it was just warmth and wind and the low sound of the ocean.
Then something cool landed on Hazel’s stomach.
Small droplets of saltwater scattering against sun-warmed skin.
Hazel’s eyes opened and she lifted her sunglasses up onto her head in one motion, looking up.
Chloe stood directly above her.
She was dripping from head to toe, water still clinging to her skin in thin trails that caught the light as she moved. The sun framed her from behind, turning her outline sharp and bright, almost like she had stepped directly into a spotlight that the gods themselves created for her. Even with saltwater still running down her arms and the slightly uneven way she stood from walking out of the surf, she looked completely steady in it.
Hazel took her in quickly, her throat drying at the sight.
“Need something, babe?” Hazel asked.
Chloe blinked down at her, then gestured vaguely toward her own face. “Do you know what bag my goggles are in? The salt is already killing my eyes.”
Hazel turned her head slightly and pointed without hesitation. “You put them in the green bag. Right there next to the cooler.”
Chloe nodded once and muttered a quick thank you before moving past her and toward their things.
Hazel’s eyes followed before she could stop them.
Chloe crouched near their bags, shifting through them with efficient movements, focused entirely on what she was doing. The sun hit her shoulders as she leaned forward, catching on the water still in her curls, making them glint as she moved. Her skin still carried the damp sheen from the ocean, and every motion left small shift of light across her frame.
Hazel could not look away.
She watched the way Chloe’s fingers moved through the sand-dusted fabric, how she paused briefly when something wasn’t where she expected it, how her expression tightened for a second before she corrected her search. Even something as simple as that had Hazel’s attention locked in place, steady and unbroken.
She stayed there a moment too long.
Then she exhaled quietly and forced herself back down, lowering her sunglasses onto her face again and shifting her attention toward the music.
A few seconds passed.
More droplets of water landed on her stomach.
Hazel spoke up without moving again.
“Chloe, it is very hard to get a tan with you blocking the sun.”
“Will you get in the water now?” Chloe asked instead of responding.
Hazel pushed herself onto her elbows and raised her sunglasses again, squinting up at Chloe.
Chloe had something on her face now—an oversized snorkel mask and attached tube, clearly not meant for her proportions, sitting slightly askew like it had been grabbed and worn without much consideration.
Hazel stared at her for half a second.
Then she laughed. “Chloe, what the hell are you wearing?”
“Protection form the evils of saltwater,” Chloe said flatly.
Red laughed from behind Chloe. “We just got here. It cant be that bad already.”
Chloe turned toward her immediately. “Well maybe it would be more bearable if my girlfriends were there with me.”
Hazel snorted softly.
“We said we would join later,” she reminded Chloe.
“And technically it is later,” Chloe argued.
“Later later, boo,” Red called back.
Chloe let out an exaggerated sigh that made the snorkel mask shift slightly on her face. Hazel and Red both lost it at the sight, laughter breaking out before they could stop it.
Chloe’s brows pulled together. “What’s so funny?”
Hazel shook her head, still smiling. “You are simultaneously the most adorable and most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life, princess.
“Seriously, Chloe, where did you even get those?” Red added, squinting at the mask. “Why are they so much bigger than the normal ones?”
“Finn gave them to me,” Chloe said. Then she stomped one foot onto the sand. “Stop laughing at me!”
Hazel reached up and caught her hand before she could fully turn away, squeezing gently and pressing a quick kiss to her knuckles.
“We’re sorry,” Hazel said, still smiling. “You just have no idea how cute you look right now.”
“If I’m cute then kiss me, don’t make fun of me. Jerks,” Chloe muttered.
“We can do both!” Red called.
Chloe tried to mask the shift in her expression, but Hazel caught it. How Chloe’s posture loosened slightly, how the frustration wasn’t really holding.
Hazel redirected before it could tip further.
“Hey, remember when Red got Jabberwockey Fever?” she said, glancing toward Red. “And she had all of those heart shaped spots on her face?”
Red groaned instantly. “Oh my god, not this again.”
“She was miserable,” Hazel continued, “but also totally adorable. In a very pathetic way.
“Yeah,” Chloe said, smiling now as she looked at Red. “I remember that.”
Hazel kissed her hand again before finishing.
“That’s what this is like. You look silly, but in an endearing way. We aren’t teasing you to be mean.”
Chloe smiled at her in turn, mouthing a quick thank you to her girlfriend.
“I can’t believe you are still using that against me,” Red muttered after a moment. Though there was no real heat behind it.
Chloe turned away, already drifting back toward the water. “I still can’t believe you two aren’t getting in with me.”
“Oh my gods, we said later!” Red shouted after her, emphasizing the word by grabbing a small seashell to her side and throwing it after Chloe.
The shell cut through the air and landed short, dropping harmlessly onto the sand.
Chloe twisted mid-step, laughed over her shoulder at Red, and started jogging back to the shoreline.
Red smiled at their girlfriend from her spot in the sand and finally turned her focus back onto the project she had before her.
Hazel watched them fondly for a moment—Chloe already reaching the water again, still laughing to herself, and Red turning right back to her sand like she had never stopped what she was doing in the first place.
It felt like home, seeing them like that. Chloe out in the open, all movement and noise and sunlight, and Red grounded in her own little focus, steady and absorbed. Both of them completely different, but still right there beside her.
Her chest felt full as she looked at her girls, like there wasn’t anywhere else she needed to be, because everything she cared about was already right there in front of her.
Hazel smiled to herself then lowered her glasses onto her head for what would, hopefully, be the last time. Once they rested gently on her nose, she sank herself down onto her blanket, stretching out into the sun again. She adjusted briefly to get into a more comfortable position, let out a deep exhale, and drifted off to the sound of sand shifting to her left and joyous waves splashing around just a ways away.
Red’s back was starting to hurt.
Not enough to make her stop, but enough that she was becoming increasingly aware of every muscle protesting the position she had trapped it in. She had been kneeling in the sand for a few hours at that point, one knee pressed into the ground while she leaned forward over her work. Every so often she would shift her weight to give herself a moment of relief, only to end up hunched over again seconds later as she adjusted another wall or smoothed another section.
It was worth it though.
When Dizzy had shown her pictures of some of the sandcastles she and Tobi had built and explained the tricks they used to keep them from collapsing, Red had immediately known she wanted to try it herself. And if she was going to spend an entire day at the beach building something, there had really only been one option.
The castle rising from the sand in front of her was nearing completion now.
It wasn’t an exact replica of the Cinderellasburg Castle. Not because Red couldn’t make one—she absolutely could. If she wanted to spend the entire day obsessing over every tower, every window, every decorative flourish carved into the stonework, she knew enough about the castle to recreate it nearly brick for brick. But that wasn’t the goal for today.
She was afraid that the more detail she added, the more chances she gave the structure to fail. And if it failed, Chloe wouldn’t be able to see it. That simply wouldn’t do.
So she simplified where she needed to. Certain towers were broader than they should be. Decorative features had been omitted entirely. Some sections were thicker than their real-world counterparts simply because they needed the extra support. The result wasn’t perfect, but it was sturdy. More importantly, it was unmistakable. Anyone who saw it would know exactly which castle it was supposed to be.
Red sat back slightly and studied her work, a small smile tugging at her mouth.
It looked pretty damn good.
A loud splash of water carried across the beach and drew her attention toward the ocean. Chloe was waist-deep in the water, currently emerging from beneath the surface with another handful of shells. She held them up triumphantly despite nobody being close enough to properly appreciate whatever treasure she had apparently discovered. A moment later she lowered her arm and examined them carefully, immediately tossing two back into the surf before depositing the rest onto the growing pile she’d made near the shoreline. Then she disappeared into the water again.
Red laughed quietly to herself.
Only Chloe could somehow turn shell collecting into a competitive sport.
Her gaze shifted away from the water and settled on the beach blanket. Hazel was stretched out comfortably across it, sunglasses resting on her face while the afternoon sun warmed her skin. Her arms rested on either side of her body and loose curls escaped from her ponytail whenever the breeze rolled through, shifting gently against her shoulders.
The ocean had always suited Hazel.
Maybe it was the whole ‘being-a-pirate’ thing, but there was something about seeing her here that made her seem lighter somehow. Less guarded. Comfortable. Happy.
The sight settled something warm inside Red’s chest.
Her eyes wandered back to toward the water just in time to see Chloe attempting to balance on a particularly submerged sandbar. It lasted all of three seconds before she slipped and vanished beneath the waves again.
Red snorted.
Then she looked back at Hazel.
Then toward Chloe.
And she felt that familiar warmth grow again.
It settled deep inside her and stayed there for a moment.
A year ago, if someone had told her this would be her life, she probably would’ve laughed in their face. Or threatened to feed them to some strange Wonderland creature.
She’d spent so much of her life expecting things to fall apart eventually. Expecting people to leave. Expecting affection to come with conditions attached. Then somehow she ended up here. With them.
Two people who loved her so completely that she still occasionally caught herself waiting for the catch.
There never was one.
Hazel was steady in a way Red had never known before. The kind of person who remembered the little things. The kind of person who somehow always knew when Red was spiraling even before Red knew it herself. She was patient with her in ways Red wasn’t patient with herself, offering support without making Red feel weak for needing it. No matter how chaotic life became, Hazel always had a way of making everything feel manageable again.
And Chloe…
Gods.
Chloe made everything brighter, louder, more exciting.
She threw herself at life with both hands and somehow convinced everyone around her to do the same. She made ordinary days feel memorable and memorable days feel unforgettable. Even now, she was out there treating a handful of seashells like buried treasure and waging a one-woman campaign against being left alone in the water.
Red adored her.
She adored both of them.
Being loved by either of them would have felt impossible once. Being loved by both of them still felt unreal some days.
Yet here they were.
A beach day. An almost-finished sandcastle. Chloe collecting shells like her life depended on it. Hazel sunbathing just a few feet away.
And Red couldn’t imagine wanting anything else from this life.
Her thought were interrupted by a laugh.
She turned her head toward the sound to her girlfriend.
Hazel had lowered her sunglasses and was looking directly at the castle.
Then at Red.
Then back at the castle.
A slow smile spread across her face and there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye that Red could make out even from this distance.
Red knew that smile. More importantly, she knew what came with it.
“You’re whipped.”
There it was.
Red immediately rolled her eyes. “Oh, I know you aren’t talking. I saw you ogling her earlier while she was looking for her goggles.”
Hazel gave an unapologetic shrug as she pushed herself upright on the blanket. “Not my fault she looks damn good in that swimsuit.”
Red barked out a laugh.
“That’s your defense?”
“It’s a pretty good defense.”
Hazel stretched her arms over her head before sitting up fully. She had been laying on her back for most of the afternoon, and if she wanted any hope of an even tan, she needed to switch positions eventually.
“Plus,” Hazel continued, gathering her hair over one shoulder as she adjusted herself on the blanket, “that was not nearly as bad as that day she asked us to come watch her Swords and Shields practice.”
Red groaned immediately.
Hazel’s grin widened.
“You were practically drooling over her.”
“You were drooling too!” Red shot back.
“Oh please! You were being far more obvious than I was. You looked like you were seconds away from licking the sweat off her neck.”
Red opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
“That—”
Hazel raised an eyebrow.
Red sighed dramatically.
“Yeah, that’s fair actually. You got me there.”
Hazel laughed so hard she nearly dropped her sunglasses.
The sound made Red smile despite herself.
By the time Hazel had recovered, she had successfully turned herself onto her stomach, folding her arms beneath her head as she settled into a more comfortable position.
For a few moments neither of them spoke. The beach settled around them again, filled only by the rhythmic crash of waves against the shore and the occasional distant splash from Chloe somewhere out in the water.
Then Hazel glanced toward the, now finished, castle once more.
Toward Red. Then finally toward Chloe.
“She’s got us wrapped around her finger, huh?”
Red followed her gaze.
Chloe was currently crouched near the shoreline, examining another shell with the seriousness of someone conducting important scientific research.
“Oh, for sure.”
There wasn’t even a reason to pretend otherwise.
They both knew it.
Had known it for a long time.
Chloe could ask either of them for almost anything and she’d get it. Not being she was spoiled or manipulative, she wasnt—well, maybe a little spoiled, but because Hazel and Red loved seeing her happy far too much for their own good.
Red finally pushed herself upright, immediately regretting it as her back protested.
“Gods.”
Hazel chuckled.
“Feeling that position now?”
“A little.”
“A little,” Hazel repeatedly skeptically. “Yeah, okay.”
Red ignored her and brushed the sand from her legs. Taking a moment to stand and stretch properly for the first time in what felt like forever. Every joint in her body seemed to crack in protest.
Satisfied with her stretches, Red made her way across the short distance of beach toward the large blanket spread out before her.
Hazel was still laying on her stomach, her sunglasses discarded off to her left side now. Her head rested comfortable on her folded arms, eyes closed as she enjoyed the cool breeze.
A fine layer of sand had collected along one of her cheeks thanks to said steady ocean breeze.
Red smiled. She looked so peaceful. Like she always did when she was near the water.
Without really thinking about it, Red lowered herself onto the blanket beside her and mirrored her position.
“Why are you staring?” Hazel asked without even opening her eyes.
Red laughed.
“What makes you think I’m looking at you?”
“Because I can feel it.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Red shook her head and then softened, subconsciously moving even closer to Hazel.
“You know Chloe and I have it just as bad for you, right?” She whispers, as if saying it louder would disturb their peace.
One of Hazel’s eyes cracked open.
Red continued before she could interrupt.
“Maybe even more, honestly.”
That earned Red a laugh.
Hazel lifted her head from her folded arms and pushed herself up onto her elbows, holding Red’s gaze. For a brief second, she looked like she might actually say something sweet.
Then a familiar smirk spread across her face.
Red groaned.
“I know.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Hazel’s grin only widened.
Red stared at her for all of half a second before deciding that she had seen that expression one too many times today.
So she did the mature thing.
She leaned forward and blew a puff of air directly into Hazel’s face. Pulling away with a chuckle.
Hazel recoiled immediately.
“Red!” She cried out.
The smile dropped from her face as her hand flew toward her eye.
Red’s amusement vanished just as quickly.
She caught Hazel’s wrist before she could rub at it.
“Don’t,” she said quickly. “You could scratch it if you do that.”
Hazel squeezed her eye shut and winced.
“But it hurts.”
“I know,” Red replied, already shifting closer to her on the blanket. Concern settled heavily in her chest as she looks at her girlfriend. “I know, baby. I’m sorry.”
Hazel lowered her hand without argument, trusting Red enough to let her take over.
That somehow made Red feel worse.
Carefully, she reached up and brushed the loose curls away from Hazel’s face. Then she swiped away the rest of the excess sand on her cheek. She let her hand stay there, using it to tilt Hazel’s head slightly so she could get a better look.
“Can you open it for me, please?” she asked softly.
Hazel tried.
The attempt lasted less than a second before she squeezed it shut again.
Red winced.
“Okay. That’s okay.”
She shifted even closer.
Under different circumstance, Red would have been painfully aware of how close they were right now. Close enough to feel the warmth of Hazel’s skin beneath her hand. Close enough that she could count every eyelash if she wanted.
Right now, though, she only cared about fixing her mistake.
“Try one more time for me, baby.” She whispered.
Hazel nodded and this time she managed it.
Red gently lifted her eyelid with her thumb and softly blew across her eye before she could overthink it. Hazel pulled back a little and blinked rapidly several times, her left hand curling into the blanket underneath her.
For a moment, they each held their breath. Then Hazel’s shoulders relaxed. Red felt herself relax too.
“I get it?”
Hazel blinked a few more times, testing it.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Relief washed over Red like the waves Chloe was playing in.
“Oh, thank the gods.”
The words left her in a rush.
She let go of Hazel’s face, her thumb lingering briefly against her cheek before she pulled it away.
“I’m really sorry,” she said, sincerity written all over her face. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“I know,” Hazel replied, a small smile on her lips.
And she did.
There wasn’t a trace of irritation in her voice. Just trust.
“Does it feel any better?” Red asked, the concern still evident in her voice.
Hazel considered the question. Then the corner of her mouth started to curl upward.
Red recognized the look immediately, and her heart melted for it just as quickly. She’d seen that smirk more times than she could count, had rolled her eyes to it, argued with it, teased Hazel back for it. But none of that ever changed the fact that she loved it. That she loved her.
“No, not really.” Hazel admitted softly.
“But I think a kiss would make it better.”
Red’s laugh slipped out before she could stop it.
“Is that so?” she asked, reaching over to brush a loose curl away from Hazel’s face.
Hazel hummed and leaned into the touch.
“I think it’s the only cure, actually.”
“Wow,” Red replied, smiling as she drifted a little closer. “Sounds serious.”
“It’s very serious,” Hazel agreed, catching the chain of Red’s necklace between her fingers and tugging her even closer.
“You’re so annoying,” Red told her, the words losing all their bite as she looked at her.
“Maybe,” Hazel said with a grin. “But you still like me.”
“Love,” Red corrected.
As she said it, her hand slid from Hazel’s hair to her cheek.
Hazel’s smile softened. Her free hand found Red’s, her fingers slipping between them and idly playing with them as she held her gaze.
“I love you,” Red said softly.
Red’s words lingered for only a moment before she closed the remaining distance between them.
The kiss started slow and sweet. Red felt herself melt into it almost immediately. Hazel’s lips moved softly against hers, familiar enough to be comforting and dangerous enough to leave her wanting more every time they touched. The faint taste of her lip gloss lingered between kisses, and Red found herself chasing it whenever it disappeared. She couldn’t get enough. Every kiss only seemed to make her want the next one more.
Her hand remained cupped against Hazel’s cheek, thumb brushing softly across warm skin as she enjoyed the moment. A pleasant flutter settled in her chest when Hazel leaned a little deeper into the kiss, and Red followed without hesitation.
Hazel responded by softly catching Red’s bottom lip in her teeth, pulling lightly before she released it again. But Red felt the effect immediately, a warm little spark that shot through her and left her embarrassingly eager for the next press of Hazel’s mouth. The kiss kept going, still soft, still sweet, and Red stayed caught in it completely.
Eventually, Hazel started easing back, her lips lingering against Red’s for a moment before she slowly began creating distance between them.
Hazel didn’t make it very far.
She had barely started pulling away before Red was chasing after her again, already feeling the loss of her lips before they’d even properly separated. It was pathetic. Somewhere along the way, her mind had apparently surrendered control of the situation, leaving her lips to make the decisions on their own.
Red felt Hazel smiling into the kiss. She let her hand slip from Hazel’s face to the back of her neck, fingers brushing through soft dark curls before settling there. She pulled Hazel in even closer, deepening the kiss and earning a soft hum from her girlfriend in return. Red smiled at the sound.
Eventually, they eased apart just enough to breathe. The space between them barely lasted more than a moment before they found themselves drifting back toward each other.
“Oh! So you have the time to make out, without me mind you, but not the time to play in the water with me?”
Red blinked, then turned toward the familiar voice just in time to see Chloe toss her goggles toward their pile of beach bags. A few droplets of water scattered from her curls as she shook them back from her face, brown eyes fixed squarely on the two of them.
“You two are the worst.”
Hazel let out a quiet laugh from beside her.
“Sorry, babe,” she said, completely unapologetic.
“It’s not like that, boo.” Red added as she pushed herself upright and turned to face Chloe properly.
Chloe waved a hand dismissively.
“You don’t have to explain,” she said. “I get it.”
For a moment, Red actually thought she was going to leave it there.
Then Chloe looked between the two of them and nodded to herself.
“You hate me.”
A bewildered laugh escaped Red before she could stop it.
“What?”
“Excuse me?” Hazel asked at the same time.
Chloe nodded again as though she had stated the most obvious thing in the world.
“That’s what it is. You hate me and you want me to die.”
“Oh my gods, Chloe,” Hazel groaned. “We do not hate you.”
“Yeah,” Red agreed, still laughing. She reached out and caught Chloe’s hand, rubbing her thumb along Chloe’s knuckles. “Not even a little.”
“No, you do.” Chloe insisted, sounding entirely too confident in her conclusion. “And you want me gone so that you two can run off together and have your happily ever after without me.”
Hazel scoffed, turning onto her side so she could face her girls better. “As if that’s even possible.”
Red smiled and gave Chloe’s hand a tug, pulling her closer until she finally settled comfortably into Red’s lap.
“Is that really what you think?” She whispered.
“Mhm.” Chloe nodded without hesitation. Looking between the two girls behind her.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. Why else would I have been thrown off to the side and avoided all day?”
Red looked over at Hazel, only to find Hazel already looking back at her.
The expression on her face made it painfully obvious they were thinking the exact same thing.
There was absolutely no way that Chloe could be serious right now.
That look was all it took.
Red’s laugh slipped out first. Hazel’s following right after.
Chloe frowned and turned away from them with a huff.
“I don’t understand what’s so funny about th—”
Her eyes caught on something in the sand.
“Is that my castle?”
Red followed her gaze and smiled. “It is.”
She leaned forward and pressed a soft, quick kiss to Chloe shoulders.
Chloe stared at the sandcastle for another second before turning slightly in Red’s lap.
“You made my castle.” Chloe pouted at her.
Hazel snorted.
“She did. Hard to believe, huh? Since she hates you so much.” Hazel says, bringing her arm up to rest across Chloe’s thighs.
Chloe shot her a look.
“Okay, so Red doesn’t hate me,” she conceded. The words sounding like they physically pained her. “ But what’s your defense, Captain?”
Hazel barked out a laugh. “My defense?” she repeated.
She gestured broadly around them. To their bags and coolers and the sparkling blue ocean in front of them.
“I’m not sure, maybe the beach trip I organized myself in one afternoon because you said in passing that you needed ‘ocean enrichment, whatever that is?”
Chloe opened her mouth, closed it again, then narrowed her eyes.
A quiet snicker escaped Red.
“Don’t,” Chloe warned immediately.
Red lifted her hands in surrender, laughing harder before settling down and curling into Chloe’s back. Wrapping her arms back around Chloe’s waist.
“Okay,” Chloe relented with a dramatic sigh. “Maybe you do love me.”
Hazel looked entirely too pleased with herself as she brought her arm back up to its spot on Chloe’s legs.
Red’s laugh faded into a smile as she shifted on the blanket, letting the quiet that followed wrap around the three of them. The teasing had finally run its course, leaving only the steady rhythm of the waves and the faint music that still drifted from Hazel’s phone. None of the girls seemed particularly interested in breaking the silence that found them.
It felt nice. Comfortable enough that she found herself thinking back over the day without really meaning to.
The quiet drive out that morning felt strangely far away now. Red could still remember the sleepy atmosphere inside the car, the three of them easing into the day while the sun slowly climbed higher outside. Somewhere along the way they’d stopped at a little diner for breakfast, crowding together into a booth that was still cool from the morning air. The food ended up being far better than any of them expected, and the memory alone was enough to make Red smile to herself.
A light touch traced across the small of her back.
Hazel was staring out toward the water, completely unaware that her free hand had found its way to Red. Her fingers danced along soft skin.
Red chose to keep the realization to herself.
From her lap, Chloe had apparently found a way to entertain herself too. One finger moved carefully along Hazel’s arm, hopping between freckles with the kind of concentration Chloe usually reserved for fencing. Every now and then she’d backtrack and start over somewhere else, looking faintly dissatisfied with whatever conclusion she’d reach.
The sight was adorable and Red watched her for a moment before her attention wandered again.
The day had slipped by faster than she’d expected. One minute they’d been unloading the car and staking out a place on the beach, and the next the afternoon was already beginning to fade around them. She could still hear Hazel directing them as they got everything situated, and Chloe hovering nearby with all the patience of an excited puppy waiting to go outside.
The second they finished, she’d been gone.
Red could still picture Chloe fidgeting impatiently as Red applied the sunscreen to her back. Shifting her weight from foot to foot as though standing still for another thirty seconds might actually kill her. The moment Red was done, she’d taken off across the sand without a second thought, making a beeline for the water before turning around and—
Oh.
That’s right.
Red dropped her gaze.
Chloe was still curled up in her lap, busy tracing the invisible paths between the freckles on Hazel’s arm, completely absorbed in whatever constellation she was seeing there.
Leaning down, Red pressed a kiss against the side of her neck.
Chloe startled slightly before turning around and looking down at her, confusion quickly giving way to curiosity.
“Y’know,” Red said, brushing a second kiss against her shoulder, “I think it’s been later enough.”
Her arm tightened gently around Chloe’s waist.
“How about we go hit those waves now, Bluey?”
Chloe bounced immediately, turning her body in Red’s lap to face her fully. The hopeful look on her face from before broke out into something bright and excited.
“Really?”
Red nodded, unable to keep from smiling back when Chloe’s excitement spread across her face. That smile of hers was the kind that made Red’s whole day feel warmer, the kind that made every dramatic accusation and every ridiculous complaint worth dealing with just to see her finally get exactly what she wanted. Chloe’s fingers curled briefly against Red’s arm, like she was trying to hold onto the answer before anyone could take it back from her.
Beside them, Hazel made a soft sound of protest from down on the blanket. “But I just started working on my back.”
Red turned her head enough to give her a look, already amused before Hazel had even finished the complaint. Hazel was trying to sound annoyed, as she often does, but her mouth was already beginning to betray her, curving at the edges as she glanced between Red and Chloe. Red knew that look too. Hazel could complain all she wanted but she was already folding.
Red reached over and smacked Hazel’s thigh, light enough to be playful but sharp enough to make Hazel yelp at the contact. “You’ll live. Now get your cute butt up, we have a princess to entertain.”
Hazel rolled her eyes, but she was smiling properly now as she pushed herself up from the blanket. “You’re both lucky that I love you,” she muttered, though the softness in her voice ruined any attempt at sounding truly bothered.
Chloe did not wait for anything more than that. The second Hazel started moving, she was climbing out of Red’s lap with an excited burst of energy, nearly slipping in the sand as she reached for Red with one hand and Hazel with the other. Red barely had time to straighten out her legs before Chloe was tugging her upright, impatience written into every movement as she all but dragged them away from their spot and toward the shoreline.
Hazel stumbled into step on Chloe’s other side, laughing as she tried to keep up without fully surrendering the last of her dignity. Red caught her balance and let herself be pulled along, her hand warm in Chloe’s while the sand shifted beneath her feet. Chloe kept looking back at them as she broke out into a run, grinning like she still could not believe she had actually won, and every time she did, Red felt that same fond warmth rise in her chest all over again.
By the time they reached the wet sand, Hazel had stopped pretending to resist entirely. Chloe pulled them straight toward the shallows, the first rush of water breaking around their ankles and sending all three of them into uncontrollable smiles as the tide rolled in around them. Red tightened her hold on Chloe’s hand when she tried to pull them deeper, Hazel’s laughter bright beside her, as another wave crashed against their legs.
Together, the three of them wandered farther into the surf, their laughter carrying across the water long after the rest of the world faded away.