Chapter Text
For all of the complaining and worrying Cynthia did before they left, her attitude towards the beach seemed to improve as soon as they were on their way. Lydia was ready to be the cheerleader for the duration of their little day trip, but as soon as the bike roared past the Rydell city limits, all of her tension evaporated; the wind just sloughed it off and carried it away.
Cynthia was all bright laughter and fluffy hair, and she was content to be wrapped around her–shamelessly taking in the smell of summer against the back of her neck. The sweet nostalgia of sunscreen, the familiar acridness of the bike exhaust, and something she could only describe as uniquely Cynthia filled her lungs again and again and somehow got better each time.
Everyone always said they were half an hour from the beach, but really that was only true if there was no traffic, no construction, and you took main roads the whole way there. But it was California so there was always traffic, always construction, and Cynthia insisted on staying off of the interstate with Lydia on her bike (“It’s just more dangerous than riding in town,” she always said. “We can get everywhere we need to go by taking side roads.”) In the end, it took them about an hour before they saw the ocean in the distance.
They cruised along the main road, smiling politely at the teens pouring out of cars and families waddling towards the water with armfuls of towels. The first chance they got, they turned down a side street, then down one of its side streets, then down another. Eventually, they found themselves on a path that was too narrow for a car and too long for someone to walk. Over a sandy ridge sat a round cove; no footprints disturbed the smooth curves of sand, there was no trash tangled in the tall beach grass.
Lydia was offered a steady hand as gravity pulled their feet quickly down the smooth slope. As soon as they were on steady ground, Cynthia pulled her in for a sweltering kiss that left her dizzy. She blinked a few times when they parted, trying to steady herself. “What was that for?” Her only answer was a shrug and a smile.
As they set up their things, all of the empty spaces between tasks were filled with the kind of casual affection they couldn’t usually express. They’d pass by each other and Cynthia’s hand would float down her arm, or Lydia would be getting something out of her bag and arms would wrap around her sternum from behind. After pulling her out of her bag and into another kiss, she said, “You know, you’re being remarkably cheery for someone who supposedly hates the beach. I’m not complaining, but…”
“I told you,” she shrugged. “I don’t hate the beach. I hate wearing something I’m uncomfortable in and having people stare at me. This?” She gestured around their little oasis. “This is great.”
“Good.” She stepped out of the baggy pants that were covering her suit and tossed them into her bag. “As much as I joke, I do actually want you to have a good time.” In one swift motion, her baggy sleep shirt was off and being tossed in, too. “What time do you think we’ll head back?”
When she didn’t get a response, she turned back around. The other girl was frozen, pink blush high on her cheeks and her mouth gaping open slightly. “Cyn?” she tried. When that didn’t work either, she stepped forward and waved her hand in front of her unfocused eyes. “Hello?”
Finally, she gulped and nodded. Her eyes took their time traveling up and down her body, completely shameless–a far cry from the girl who ran away from all of this just eight months ago.
She followed the path of her eyes. “It’s just a swimsuit. No need to get all moony eyed about it.”
Like she was magnetized, she stepped forward and immediately wrapped her hands around her bare waist. Lydia sucked in a breath. “You know that I think you’re incredibly talented, right?”
It wasn’t at all what she was expecting, but “Yeah, I know that.”
“And you’re smart, and kind, and funny…”
“Mhm.” The closer Cynthia got the harder it was to follow what she was saying.
“And capable, and strong…”
“Cyn–”
She was cut off by lips on hers–she couldn’t help but lean forward for more when she pulled away. Gentle thumbs ran across her skin. “But you’re also so fucking beautiful. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough.” Her arms tightened around her further, pulling their bodies flush together. Lydia’s arms wrapped around her neck to take their next kiss deeper.
“Thank you,” she whispered against her lips. They stood there for a moment, taking in the sound of the waves and the sand under their feet and each other. After brushing the tip of her nose against the other girl’s, she pulled back and smacked her gently on the shoulder. “Okay, well that’s enough compliments for today. Race me to the water?” She was already backing up.
“Wait, not fair! I’m still dressed!” She quickly tore off her jeans and baggy shirt to reveal the suit they’d picked out with Edward. It was swim trunks that hung around her knees and a matching button up swim shirt that she could tell she was comfortable in.
She let herself gawk for a moment before turning and calling behind her, “Sounds like an easy win for me then!”
Just as the cool water reached out to her feet, two strong arms wrapped around her, lifted her up, and deposited her to the side. There wasn’t even time to kick or scream, she just plopped her down away from the water and began to bound, high-kneed into the water. “Sorry, sweetheart! Looks like you’re not quite–”
She was cut off by a shout as Lydia tackled her. Tangled together, they tumbled into the cool water, only barely managing to stop laughing before salt water filled their mouths. The water crashed over them, temporarily plunging them into a world of whooshing waves and endless expanse.
Her arms found their way around Cynthia’s neck and her legs circled around her waist before they even emerged. Hands gripped under her thighs, and Cynthia stood up in the waist-deep surf, taking Lydia with her. Her heart was hammering against her chest and she was breathing hard; a little from the running and a lot from how easily her girlfriend scooped her up.
Just before getting pulled into another kiss, she caught a glimpse of Cynthia, glittering in the summer sun like every dream she’d ever had. It was salty and smiles and the textbook definition of perfect.
“I win,” she said cheekily.
She tightened her arms to bring them even closer together. “That’s what you think.”
They stayed like that until a particularly large wave made Cynthia stumble. Instead of trying to stay upright, she just let them tumble into the water.
Absolutely refusing to let go for anything, Lydia let herself be carried around. Cynthia walked them deeper until she had to relinquish her hold on her thighs to keep them afloat. They kicked around in lazy circles, talking and laughing.
Eventually they came back in a little ways, and she didn’t waste any time at all getting her hands back under her thighs to keep her close. She walked them over to the rocks on either side, just to check it out she said, but both times Lydia ended up with her back pressed up against the slimy stone (not that she minded).
After what could have been 20 minutes or 2 hours, they reluctantly trudged out of the sea. Their suits were heavy with water and every step in the wet sand took more energy than the one before. Cynthia’s hands landed on her hips to steady her when a misstep corresponded with a strong wave to their backs. They giggled, a little tired and hungry and free.
She immediately flopped onto her belly as soon as they reached their things. The towel underneath her was warm from the sun, and the sigh of contentment it pulled from her was completely involuntary. She squished around a little so the sand molded perfectly to her body. As soon as her head settled down onto her folded arms, she was drifting off.
There was no chance of her falling asleep entirely, not with the sun pressing through her eyelids. Her sunglasses could only do so much, and getting her hat meant moving from the otherwise perfect spot she’d made for herself, and that just wasn’t an option. Cynthia shifted around beside her a little, and then a shadow fell over her. She cracked an eye open to see that she’d moved to block the sun for her.
But now that a nap was a legitimate option, she didn’t even want to take it. Not when she could watch Cynthia instead.
She had her back to her, rustling through the small cooler her bag with rivulets of saltwater running down her arms, glinting in the sun as they fell. One by one, she began pulling out little containers and settling them precariously onto her towel. First two little sandwiches, then some carrots, strawberries, and pretzels. The biggest container by far was full of watermelon. Lydia felt her heart swell in her chest when she brought out a small shaker of salt to go along with it.
A surge of thoughts hit her all at once. She thought of that day in the garden with her mom, when she’d mentioned that watermelon always tastes better at the beach and showed her the wonders of adding a sprinkle of salt. She thought of how safe she felt, not just now in their little hideaway, but always when she was with her–how valued, how heard, how seen. She thought about coming back to this place next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.
She hated Rydell sometimes–like truly, honestly wished she was born anywhere else. It was insular, and small, and lacked the opportunities she would have given almost anything for. But in that moment, she thought about how unbelievably grateful she was to be from that shitty little town. Nowhere else in the world had Cynthia.
She was lying there, staring up in wonder, when Cynthia turned to check on her. She did a double take when she saw that she was already looking at her. A heartstopping smile bloomed on her face; she just absolutely lit up. Under her gaze, Lydia felt so lucky, so precious, so sure.
“I love you.”
She said it because it was true, and because she deserved to hear it, and because honestly, it had been looking for a reason to tumble out for a long time.
Cynthia froze. She stared down at her with wide eyes, completely still apart from the rise and fall of her chest. Before she knew it, she was surging forward and cupping Lydia’s jaw on either side. She went more than willingly when she tilted her face towards her. Cynthia’s hands were cold from reaching into the cooler, but her lips were warm against hers.
The kiss was a little breathless, but neither of them pulled away. She covered Cynthia’s shaking hand with her own. They poured everything into it. It was an exchange of I’m scared, and I know, and me too that went both ways. It was the kind of kiss that came right before the credits of cheesy movies, only their story was only beginning.
Cynthia ran her thumbs across her cheekbones softly, like she was the most precious thing in the world. A chuckle fanned out against her skin. “I wanted to say it first…”
Lydia nipped playfully at her pouting lip, partly because she wanted to and partly to stop herself from giggling and kicking her feet, then shrugged. “So, say it second.”
She didn’t at first. Instead, she gently rolled her onto her back. She squinted against the sun until Cynthia’s body leaned over hers and cast her into shadow. The way her body reacted to her proximity would have been embarrassing if the other girl’s heart wasn’t also beating out of her chest. Her eyes fluttered shut as Cynthia’s lips covered hers–sweet, whole, and completely sincere.
“I love you.”
She couldn’t help the undignified giggle that burst out of her then. Her joy was too big for the rest of her. She pulled her down for another kiss that was mostly smiles.
They stayed that way, whispering those three words back and forth in incandescent happiness, until their stomachs started rumbling. By then, there was sand on their towels and flies buzzing around their food, but neither had room for irritation of any kind. They ate laying down and facing each other, their legs tangled up like seaweed because not touching each other was unthinkable. She pretended to hate it when Cynthia insisted on feeding her salt-sprinkled watermelon, but she saw right through her and loved what she saw. Lydia knew that she saw right through her and loved that, too.
When the pretzels were soggy and the fruit was warm, Cynthia rolled over and started digging out the moat of a sandcastle. Lydia was content to watch her work. She’d just started on the second tower when she sighed out, “You’re staring.”
“No I’m not.” Of course she was.
“You are, and it’s distracting.”
Lydia adjusted herself to make staring even easier for herself. “Well, stop giving me something to stare at.”
“I didn’t know I was.”
She hummed. “Mm, you always are.”
It wasn’t long before the sandcastle was completely forgotten–she couldn’t help it. Not when Cynthia smelled like summer, and they were alone, and she loved her.
When she was sick of Lydia’s sunglasses poking into her cheek, she smoothly pulled them off and set them to the side. Her hands went straight back to Lydia to pull her in again, but the sight of Cynthia’s pink nose made her gasp.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re a little pink,” she said with a wince. She carefully ran the pad of one finger along the bridge of her nose and across her cheek. “I couldn’t really tell with my glasses on, but you definitely burned a little. Sorry–we should’ve reapplied the sunscreen after we got out of the water…”
She took the hand stroking her face and brought it up to her swollen lips for a kiss. “Not your fault. I didn’t remember either.” Leaning over her, she rustled blindly through her bag. “I guess you’ll just have to rub me down again.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “Do I have to? Touching you is such a chore.”
By the time Lydia was done, the bottle of sunscreen was almost empty. She went over every inch of sun-exposed skin, massaging in the thick lotion until Cynthia was pliant under her hands. She complained the whole time. In direct contrast, she’d press a feather-light kiss to each area before moving on to the next.
They did work on the sandcastle together after that. It was going pretty well until a playful argument about the difference between a parapet and a battlement ended in the whole thing getting shoved over into the moat and Cynthia chasing Lydia around their things and threatening to throw her into the sea.
They walked up and down the beach while they talked about everything and nothing, holding hands and letting the waves lap at their ankles. The seashell-finding-contest was a total farce–Cynthia found the most, and the one that was by far the prettiest, but she let Lydia win and they both knew it.
Once the sun became too unbearable, they waded back into the water. Cynthia tried to explain the concept of body surfing, but wasn’t great at demonstrating it (this did nothing to convince Lydia it was real and not just her girlfriend messing with her). Still, they paddled out again and again and let the waves float them back to shore.
On their way out, the sound of Cynthia’s laugh suddenly disappeared. Lydia’s heart stopped for a fraction of a second. “Cyn!” she called out. She kicked to spin herself around, looking frantically. “Cyn?”
It all happened in an instant. Two arms wrapped around her knees, she gasped and flailed a little, then she was flying through the air and plunging messily back into the water.
“I hate you!” she yelled as she emerged. It was all very intimidating and serious until another wave caught the side of her face and her mouth filled with saltwater. She coughed and sputtered. Her limbs flung out to hurl water in Cynthia’s general direction.
She swam out of her line of fire, laughing up at the sky. “You don’t.”
“I do!”
“No,” she said, swimming up and wrapping her arms and legs around Lydia this time. She leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “You love me.” And, yeah. Of course she did.