Crush Culture {{Harry Lewis - W2S}}

✮ THIRTY FOUR ✮

Mila's pov

The first time Mila's head bobbed beneath the waves she wasn't too worried. Maybe it was the shock of the water hitting her skin or the surprise of Ethan's body hitting hers.

After another thirty seconds more she began to panic, her legs tired and struggling to bring her back toward the surface. She couldn't hear the music and chatter from the boat anymore and her hair raised around her eyes, blinding her which only pulled more panic into her mind.

When she couldn't hold her breath any longer and her head began to hurt from the pressure.

Suddenly an arm wrapped around her waist, legs kicking beside her to drag them both to the surface.

A heavy gasp came from the small girl as they broke the surface, the arm still wrapped around her waist only tightened as they began swimming back towards the boat.

She could hear the loud shouting now, people on the boat leaning over to grab their hands.

"Holy shit, Mila are you okay?" Talia pulled the girl into her arms, squeezing her tight as the group fussed about them.

"I'm-i'm fine" she stuttered, sitting down as she coughed, being slightly too embarrassed from the scene she'd caused to look anybody in the eyes.

"Ethan you donut" she heard Freezy shout, along with Ethan's profuse apologies before he dropped down to sit next to her.

"Mel lass I am so sorry, I didn't know and-"

"It's fine" she cut him off, finally looking up and into his eyes, smiling as sincerely as she could.

After another twenty minutes of them fussing, throwing a towel around her shoulder and pushing a glass into her hand, Ethan had made it his mission to make sure her hand wasn't empty at any point.

When they had finally calmed down enough for Mila to have a moment alone she felt a hand ghost her back, pushing her slightly towards the stairs onto the upper deck, guiding her into the small room with benches.

"Are you okay?" Harry's voice broke her trance, his eyes staring holes into hers.

"Yeah...I'm fine" she spoke softly, looking out to the window, not being able to see the group below them due to the shelter.

"No, you're not it's fine to be scared," he leaned closer to her, his arm raised to rest on her shoulder before she shifted further away, shrugging his arm away.

"It's fine" she deadpanned, still not looking towards him, "thank you for saving me" she mumbled afterwards, feeling like she owed it to him.

"Of course" he nodded, his eyes squinting, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing"

It was apparent to Mila herself that she was overreacting, compared to how she would have drowned if he hadn't jumped in after her, the small interaction he had with Lucy shouldn't matter.

But for some reason, the idea of Lucy being anywhere near Harry burnt a hole in her chest.

"Something's wrong, obviously" he sighed, leaning back, his hands intertwining and settling on his stomach "Just tell me"

His voice wasn't annoyed, but there was a slight edge to it, which only pushed Mila further.

"Thought you'd rather be with Lucy" she mumbled, not being able to hold it in any longer.

"What?" He sounded genuinely confused, "what are you on about?" He laughed towards the end, more out of awkwardness than humour.

She only shook her head, deciding that she had said too much.

Mila wasn't a jealous person, she never had been, but something about knowing her best friends had feelings for the man she was involved with and that Lucy was actively trying to get with him made it stir within her constantly.

"It's nothing" This time he rolled his eyes.

"So it's about Lucy? What about her, we hardly talk, to be honest, she gives me headaches" Mila hummed at this, furrowing her eyebrows as he insulted her best friend, choosing not to comment, "I mean she came up behind me earlier, all handsy and everything, just a bit odd if you ask me-"

"Wait what?" Mila's head finally turned to look at him, feeling guilt set over her chest.

"She offered to rub some suncream in, a bit weird but yeah..." he trailed off, confused at the look on Mila's face, "were you jealous?" He finally asked, a small smirk gracing his face.

"No" Mila lied, not being able to stop herself from laughing as he poked her sides.

"Yes, you were" he laughed louder, smirking at her scrunched-up nose.

"Very funny" she deadpanned.

"Come on, it's cute," he told her, his arm now resting over her shoulder without being interrupted as he pulled her in close, his lips touching hers lightly before he pulled back, the ghost of the kiss still on her lips. Mila pulled him back in, feeling his stupid smirk.

Somehow they were so caught up in their own little world; sat huddled up in the top deck with the sun shining through the front window, the alcohol making their heads feel light, that they didn't hear the small gasp from outside of the room.

A pair of eyes catching their unexpected secret moment.

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Written: 20th January 2021
Published: 24th January 2021
Edited: 5 July 2023
I'm so bad at angst lmao this was so dramatic