Kimi gazes towards you, and when you finally focus on him, his eyes are darker than usual. They have a strange heat inside of them. Theyâre unfocused, gazing at your mouth for a second too long.
Then stupid and the inevitable happened.
One second, thereâs a comfortable distance between the two of you, and the next, his mouth is on yours. Exploring, warm, curious. Champagne and adrenaline linger on his tongue. It wasnât soft, it wasnât demanding â it was messy. Messy in the way all first kisses somehow are.
Your back hits the mirrored wall with a thud, as his hand moves to block you in. His other hand cupping your jaw. Youâre expecting him to do something. Realise this was stupid, realise this was wrong, but he never went away. His lips remain on yours, incessant and eager to somehow get the secrets to spill out of them.
Your hand fists his shirt, grabbing the flimsy material and pulling him closer. He accidentally makes a low sound, one almost not audible. The heat rises between you, making your head spin and hurt from the mere alleviation of all this tension.
Ding.
You both break apart like two embarrassed teenagers. Youâre both panting for air as the doors open. When you look at his lips, your lipstick is smeared all over them, and his chest rises and falls violently. Nobody moves. You sit paralysed, staring at the empty floor in front of you.
âBad idea.â His voice is quiet and wrecked.
âTerrible.â You swallow, pulse still in your ears and throbbing in your throat. Nobody moves. Youâre both just sitting in this awful silence that stretches on for eternity. What had you just done?
The doors begin to close and you both decide to make your exit. You part ways, going down the hall to your respective rooms. You begin wiping off your smeared lipstick off your lips and experiencing the lingering taste of champagne and regret in your mouth.
ur posts so real lately like i started writing deleted it 2 times bcs i got bored of the ocs and now that i have one thay i like I DONT HAVE A FACE CLAIM AND IDEA đ only know there's gonna be no k*lly piq*et bcs i hate that bitch
highkey cause i've been writing like 200 words a day and deleting them and rewriting them the next day
Iâve been painting instead of writing cause Iâve got so much writerâs blockđ
a/n: never hiked in my life, i just thought the mountain was prettyđ„ + sorry this took me forever, my wifi's been out for daysđ
The clouds hung over the island today, almost mocking your sort of sore heart after Kimi had just decided to say goodnight to you instead of kissing you goodnight. It was a small thing to feel a little sentimental over, but you just kept thinking about it.
Today was the last of your excursions in Mauritius before you could just lie on the island and be a lazy person all day. Youâd be eating baguettes and pizza to your hearts content, and getting Aperol Spritzâs like no tomorrow.
The holiday was already going by quickly. It also seemed to change your perception of how it was going to be. Youâd expected Kimi to have already flirted with every girl possible, and to an extent on the first day he did, but then he quickly proved you wrong.
You werenât expecting him to be, well, kind. That was the first thing. He was usually a right arsehole in your mind, and it made you incredibly angry thinking about how he treated you as a kid. He thought he was the best simply because he knew he was destined to be a good racing driver, and that was better than what you were, whatever the hell you dreamed of becoming, and by that 12-year-old logic, he was better than you.
So thatâs why he treated you like an arse.
But you wouldnât let him treat you like shit, he deserved whatever he was giving you, so then by that logic, it was also okay to be an arse to Kimi.
You both needed to out-arsehole each other. And thatâs where your fighting began. Rumours first. Just rumours about each other. Then it was maybe a push in the hallway at school, or unzipping the bags of so all the things would fall out. Then it was a proper push with no remorse because âfuck youâ.
Then it was your big fight.
The one where you both argued like hell, screamed at each other across Kimiâs kitchen table. Howâd it even start? Youâre not sure. You usually stayed by his house in the afternoon, since your mothers were great friends.
You briefly remember doing homework, and Kimi drawing all over it or some childish bullshit like that. It was annoying because youâd spent a long time making all the answers, and then he just ruins the piece of paper without remorse.
You then got mad at him, and he was obviously looking for your outburst. As you matured, you realised that every time he did something infuriating, you responded. Thatâs why he kept going. Thatâs why he continued doing all that crap.
He liked your attention, whether positive or negative.
Then you started arguing. It was first over the paper.
âWhyâd you draw all over it, Kimi? I spent a long time on that!â You shout, turning towards him as he sat next to you by the kitchen table. He just shrugged and rolled his eyes. âI donât know, just wanted to, I guess.â
âWanted to? You wanted to?â You look at his eyes, theyâre full of this burning hunger for anger. He wanted this reaction from you. It was a quick way to get you infuriated, he knew. You cared a lot about school, so this was almost the perfect little trap.
Kimi would also realise as he grew up, he was kind of a jerk to you. You were always soft and kind, except for when he brought out your bad side, and you were always the reliable one. You always kept your head straight, but he knew exactly what buttons to push because you were a naive kid.
He knew that doing things like this would get a reaction he desperately craved. He valued your attention for some reason much more than anybody elseâs. Heâd realise when he got older that was because he actually cared more about your opinion and what you thought.
Then you brought up the rumours heâd made about you.
âAre you doing this because I found out it was you who told the entire school that I am just some loser that has no friends? That I am just a girl who doesnât deserve any attention? Is that what you said?â You stand up, using his exact words. You watch his demeanour falter, the way his smile dropped for a moment, before he stands up to and begins to speak back.
âYou made up a rumour about me that I was dating some older chick, whatâs her name?â
âI didnât!â You lie, you totally did. âIn anyway, Chiara is like 16, she doesnât want to date you.â You say in a snarky tone, reminding him that maybe he too was just as undesirable as heâd painted you to be.
However, Kimi was way more popular and desirable than you could ever be. Every girl in your grade had a crush on him, and you had to admit, he was kind of cute as a kid. Thatâs why he always got away with this behaviour, because everyone just wanted to be on his good side. Everyone wanted to date Kimi Antonelli.
In that moment though, you couldnât hate him with any more of your guts. Youâd believed hell was inside you from how much you despised him. The hot feeling of overwhelm and pure insecurity from how he had managed to jab you after an entire year was fuelling you.
You argued for several more minutes, before you just shouted, âLeave me alone!â
âLeave me alone too, forever!â He screamed back, before storming up the staircase and going to his room.
You sat down at the table in broken silence. It didnât feel any more satisfying that he was gone, and to him, it didnât feel any better that he argued like this with you. It didnât make him feel any happier. It didnât solve any problems he believed you were causing.
You know what you were? Innocent, pretty little you, with the perfect cute hair and the always perfect grades. Little you with the most perfect smile and kind personality. You were a nice person and what the hell had he become?
You didnât know this, but Kimi had cried the entire night over it. The next day, the both of you avoided one another. You never spoke again.
He only then realised that night why he would make rumours about you, and do anything for your attention, because you were the only girl who knew everything about him. You were the only girl who was really there for him. You were the only girl who showed up no matter what, and maybe through his selfish mind he never noticed that you were the girl who held his affections.
Is that why his cheeks got all hot every time you argued? Is that why he kept coming back like a little moth?
He brushed his feelings under the rug, and you brushed yours too. And he tried not to think about them again, and you hid yours too.
If you told 12-year-old you that youâd kissed him last night, sheâd probably flip out and tell you that it was the dumbest mistake of your whole entire life, but it couldnât actually be any better.
It slowly started fixing the little cracks he caused. Maybe a rumour you canât even remember doesnât hurt you much now, but you still were hurt by it back then, and it still remains in you now. In the person youâve become.
Kimi is actually first to wake up this morning. You know because you hear him messing with the AC again.
âKimi I swear to God if youâre turning up the AC-â You sit up in bed, with your hair sticking up in all odds and ends, and your eyes all sleepy and half open. He snorts when he sees you, before turning up the AC looking you dead in the eyes.
âAndrea Kimi Antonelli.â You say, trying to sound ominous and scary, he once again laughs in your face and walks off to his bed, before you get up and turn down the AC.
âGod, girl, itâs just like 2 degrees warmer. Youâll live.â He quips, as you fiddle with the control panel. âItâs hot as hell outside, and you want it to be the same temperature in here as out there?â You roll your eyes and return back to bed.
You briefly wonder what the time is, trying to see the clock but your eyes are too blurry and sleepy to make out from where the bed is. You grab your phone and see that itâs 07:34.
âWhen are we going up the mountain?â You ask Kimi, and he just groans. âToo early. I just wanna stay in bed.â His voice sounds all sleepy and tired too. It was actually quite sweet. Just a bit.
âMe too.â You drawl, snuggling your face into the pillows and closing your eyes. You thought of what it would look like once youâre up there. Itâs probably gorgeous, with the sea in the background and the lush, green island in the forefront.
You could practically smell the fresh air and the wind wafting softly against your warm skin. Maybe you could see the patterns on the ocean floor through the clear blue water. It just seems like this island really was heaven on Earth.
âWake up, wake up!â Kimiâs shaking you awake. Had you fallen asleep? You yawn and slap his arm away, too comfortably curled into the pillows and blankets.
âItâs 09:30!!â He shouts, and then you wake up. It was 30 minutes before you had to go.
You sit up quickly and look him in the eye. âWhat?? Why didnât you wake me up earlier?â You quickly throw the sheets off and brush past him. Heâs already ready in his gear, and you still have to brush your teeth.
âYou just looked so peaceful sleeping, you know. You also mumble while you sleep.â He giggles, as you rush to your suitcase to find some clothes to wear. âWhat?â You turn to him. âWhat do I say?â
He grins and looks at the ceiling in some sort of innocent, Pinocchio-looking face. âDonât give me that face.â Your voice carries through the room. âWell, I mean, why were you mumbling my name?â
âYour name??â You turn to him, horrified. You canât remember the dream you had last night. Was it about him and you didnât remember?
âYeah, you know, you still do that.â He mentions, and your jaw drops. âStill? What do you mean âstill?â Did I do it before?â You watch as Kimiâs smile only gets wider, and then you start doubting his words a little. Maybe heâs pulling your arm.
âUh-huh, a lot when we were kids.â He fixes his stance to seem more confident, and thatâs when you realise heâs been making it up the entire time.
âAre you sure?â You ask in a disproving tone, before he giggles. âUh-huh.â
You donât exactly have time to be chit-chatting about what you have and have not done as a kid, so you go into the bathroom and quickly freshen up.
As you apply lipstick, you remember about last night. The way your lips curled together. The way he looked like he wanted to do it again before walking off to bed. The way your hands wandered the plains of his body.
It was all coming back to you as you slowly push the lipstick against your own lips and watch as they push and fold under the pressure. You wish you wouldâve just pulled his face against your own in that moment of doubt between the two of you.
A sigh escapes you before you throw the lipstick back into your makeup bag and walk out of the bathroom.
Kimiâs waiting for you on a little sofa, already having packed your bag for you. âWe donât have time. Weâre leaving in 10 minutes.â Heâs brushing past you as you both exit the front door to your room.
âThanks for waking me up, dumbass.â You shove him playfully, before catching a hint of a smile as he acts annoyed at your behaviour.
Youâre both far past the point of being annoyed with one another anymore. Youâre far past having some sort of hatred for years past. It seems so fruitless and idiotic when you looked back. Was it worth not talking to him for 5 years? Not really, but then again, you never really got the chance to see him again after it.
The shuttle waits for the two of you outside the front door of the resort. As you climb in, you leave the luxury of the resort and settle for the much more scarce land of the island. It is just grass and grass, and then a house, and then more grass.
Youâre too busy looking out of your own window and thinking of kissing Kimi again that you didnât even notice the giant mountain scaling in front of you. When your shuttle turned and you saw this huge piece of rock you were going to attempt to climb up, you felt a little nervous.
It was giant. The rest of Maurtius was quite flat compared to this piece, but then thereâs this huge chunk of rocks sticking out from the ground, with some grass on the top as well, and you were then going to climb it with Kimi, whoâd probably have no issue with it because heâs so fit right now-
âWeâre here.â He says quietly, taking your hand to try and garner your attention. You look down to where you felt the warmth coming from first, before looking into his eyes and nodding.
The car is left in the parking lot as you begin on the trail with a couple other tourists up the mountain. Itâs very green, and fresh. It smells like leaves and dirt, and maybe for some people thatâs immersive and fun, but itâs just making your nose run and youâre sneezing a bunch.
âYou canât seriously be sneezing at everything still.â Kimi rolls his eyes. It was true, as a kid you used to sneeze for everything. Wind, dust, snow, pollen, you name it.
As youâre walking, you realise the silence from your parents conversation was slowly becoming further and further in the distance. Having learned your lesson from yesterday, you both decided to walk a little bit slower to let them catch up.
âI never realised how slow my parents walk.â He mentions as you both look back to see how far until they catch up. âSame.â
They take about 2 minutes to catch up to you practically walking at a snails pace. You were walking so slow that you had probably sneezed 10 times as well.
âYou two donât have to wait for us, weâll catch up.â Kimiâs mom says with a smile, itâs almost knowing and a little devious. Whyâd she smile at you like that?
âUh, okay.â Kimi replies a little uncertainly, seeing his momâs devious smile. Itâs almost like she had a plan. It unnerves you as you both share a curious look in silence. âAchoo!â
âGood lord can you please stop sneezing?â Kimi shouts a little annoyed.
âI donât want to sneeze like crazy, Kimi! Itâs the pollen.â You wipe your nose with a tissue again as you feel the skin slowly getting irritated at how many times youâve wiped it.
You separate from your parents anyway as you continue walking at a normal human pace. The mountain slowly starts becoming more of an incline as the people in front of you somehow disappear and youâre all alone in this rainforest again. Thereâs a well-worn trail youâre following, and signs, so hopefully this wouldnât become the second day you get lost.
At least itâs not the sea. You could eat plants if you really needed food.
âEating plants? What are you? A herbivore?â Kimi quips as you mention this passing thought to him.
âWell itâs better than drinking salt water, which, ironically, would make you even more thirsty, so youâd drink more salt water which-â
âI know how it works to drink water out of the sea, iâm not stupid just because I can drive a car.â Kimi crosses his arms as he athletically jumps over some rock.
âShowoff.â
âIâm just trying to enjoy my time going up the mountain, thatâs just how I jump.â He shrugs, and holds out his hand to you. Now, you had a choice to be independent and decline his help because he should probably feel how you felt when he didnât want to kiss you.
You climb up the rock without taking his hand and he looks almost offended as you walk past him.
âWhatâs that for?â He falls into step next to you as you donât look him in the eyes. âWell, I mean, how do you think I felt after you were about to kiss me but instead said âgoodnightâ and didnât speak to me for the rest of the evening?â
âMy mom was literally outside!â He says a little desperately, his voice all high pitched. âShe was outside? I thought that was the first time!â
âI am talking about the first time!â He exclaims.
âIâm talking about the second time you fool!â
âWait, what second time?â He asks, a little confused, slowing to a stop. âDid I try to kiss you again?â He turns his head.
âAre you dense? Of course you did! Why are you acting like you donât remember, you totally tried to kiss me again.â You cross your arms and roll your eyes.
Kimi walks next to you, looking conflicted and confused. âI had no idea.â He shakes his head. You walk in silence, almost waiting for him to say something again. It was slowly becoming pretty charged between the two of you again.
âYou know, I had a couple glasses of red wine at dinner yesterday.â He admits, and you just look at him in disbelief.
âSo you did want to kiss me, youâre just such a lightweight that you donât even remember it!â
You hear Kimi sigh behind you as you now start climing the extremely hilly part of the mountain. It was all rocky right by the top of Le Morne Brabant.
As you climb another rock, youâre in front of Kimi, and you just stop and stare at the view that was now coming into place. The trees were conveniently opening a hole to the view of the bright blue ocean. The sky still had some clouds, but the sun was coming out slowly.
It was a scene that was so simple and calming that you both stood in silence and admired the view, forgetting all about your silly argument about how drunk heâd actually been last night.
âItâs actually really gorgeous here.â Kimi mentions, and you just hum an agreeable sound before looking down at the rough rocks under your feet.
As you continue scaling this steep mountain, you both begin helping one another up. Youâd hold hands supporting up the mountain. Youâd use the other for balance, hold shoulders, brush against one another.
Eventually youâre both taking a break, sitting on a mostly flat piece of mountain, both drinking from a water bottle. Kimiâs out of sorts. Sweating from the heat and humidity, his hair is poking up at all odds and ends and his cheeks are all flushed.
You rummage through your backpack for a water bottle. You check the sides, the big pocket, the smaller ones. Obviously in your haste today to leave the room, you forgot to grab some water out the mini-fridge.
âTake it.â He says quietly, putting the bottle in your hands.
âArenât you going to be thirsty?â You ask, before taking a sip.
âIâll be okay.â He nods, gesturing for you to take a sip. You wrap your lips around the lid of the plastic bottle before hesitating.
âWait.â
âWhat?â He asks, looking at you, well kind of. The sun is shining directly into his eyes and half blinding his vision.
âYou already drank from it.â You shake your head, handing the water bottle back to him. He twitches a little before pushing it back to you.
âWe kissed.â His face has a deadpanned expression as you realise that maybe if you were going to get any of Kimiâs germs, you probably got them yesterday already.
âAh.â You hold the bottle in your hands, its weight suddenly feeling much heavier. You unscrew the cap and finally take a sip. The cold water was refreshing on this hot day.
âGood.â He comments, watching as you drink. âYou never drink anything and get dehydrated.â He scalds before taking the water and having a sip himself.
âSeriously? Is that what youâre worried about?â You roll your eyes. âYeah, dehydration is very serious, you know.â He says as you both stand up and begin walking to climb again.
âDid your trainer tell you this?â You as your hands wrap around the jagged rock.
âUh-huh.â He says, sounding out of breath again. You couldnât possibly climb anymore in the heat, but you were so close. âAre you tired?â He asks, as you pant and breathe underneath him.
You just nod as he grabs your hand to pull you up, the fatigue was setting in. There was absolutely no way youâd ever do this again. It was treacherous hiking up this damn mountain. And youâd hate to admit it but Kimi was kind of helping you right now.
âDo you want to take another break?â He asks softly, almost caring. âNo, we just took one.â You shake your head in determination.
âNo shame in taking another, you know that?â He shrugs, you shake your head again. âStop being a fool, just rest for 5 minutes.â He rolls his eyes as you both now sit behind a shady rock. Your shoulders are touching again, your skin is shining with sweat. Itâs so humid itâs suffocating.
As you sit next to him, you realise Kimi was no longer a mean boy you once knew. He was no longer a jerk who made rumours about you and caused you to have no friends. He was no longer your next door neighbour who was always invading your life.
Kimi was an F1 driver soon. He was actually a nice person when he wanted to be. He was caring and sweet, and maybe not your next door neighbour for much longer.
Maybe you needed to savour these last couple years you had knowing each other. His life will change next year. He will not be home for most of the year, heâll be moving out and beginning his life travelling the world doing what he loves.
These last couple months before he goes to F2 are arguably the most valuable, and you almost want to kick yourself at how the last 5 years have been in resentment. Theyâve been saturated with hate and anger for him because of petty bullshit.
Youâll never get to walk across the fence and sit next to Kimi doing homework. Youâll never push him in a pool again or be dared to eat cat food.
Kimi will not be apart of your life soon. But you still have time. Time to be everything and hopefully more. Time to enjoy what is left together before he hits the global stage.
Kimi was no longer the boy you remembered, with the braces and mop hair, he was now living his dream, the dream everyone knew he had since a kid.
You silently hoped in this moment youâd be able to tag along with him, youâd follow him around the world, seeing the stars in a million different cities.
And for him, maybe he was silently hoping you could. Maybe you could become apart of his life. Now, instead of being a fence hop away, heâd just be able to turn to his other side on the bed and see you there.
Because sure, heâs kissed many girls, but theyâve never compared to you. You know him inside and out. His biggest fears, his greatest strengths, his insecurities.
He never felt you were forgettable like the rest of them. He never felt that way about you. Maybe his heart burned bright when he was 12 because he never realised it then but you were actually someone he loved. He cared more about you than heâd like to admit.
âCome on, weâre nearly at the top.â He quickly stands up, holding out his hand to pull you up as well. You take it this time, not being petty about it.
The rest of the hike passes in some kind of uncomfortable silence. It is full of the things you never said, it is full of the things not done, it is full of the time lost between the two of you.
You trail behind him as you take a soft left turn before arriving at the summit.
The first thing you notice is the cross which stands in front of you. Itâs metal and stands in the foreground of the gorgeous view of the underwater waterfall. You see the water flowing underwater as if it were a normal waterfall.
The bright turquoise fades underwater into dark blue. It flows slowly, as if it had all the time in the world to do so. You stare at it silently. That water had eternity to flow up and out of the waterfall, just to do it all again.
That water could flow around wherever it wanted, it could go out to the Indian Ocean or stay here, in sunny, bright Mauritius. Maybe this is how people worked too. It was their choice to flow out into the open ocean on their own or float back to the people they were familiar with down the waterfall.
Youâd always somehow ended swimming back to Kimi.
âYou know,â he speaks quietly after the long silence. âI didnât hate this holiday even one bit.â
You turn to him. âReally?â
âI only just hated the idea that youâd be here too.â He admits, looking down at the now warm bottle of water hanging between his hands.
âHated, as in past tense?â
âDonât push your luck.â He scoffs, but you catch his unashamed grin.
When is the new series of MIEUX QUE TOUT comingguhhhđđđđ
hiii! i'm so sorry, i've left you all on a cliffhanger!!đ i've been having network issues and my dumbass started writing on notion so i couldn't access my ficsđ also i've been cooking a 10k word oneshot alongside this, i'll be feeding you guys soon!!
PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER | SERIES MASTERLIST
PARING: ChildhoodBestFriend!KA12 x Reader
SUMMARY: A day snorkelling changes everything, and acting like you hate one another is slowly becoming more difficult.
WORD COUNT: 5.1k
WARNINGS: Depictions of a panic attack + lil makeout session and inexperienced descriptions (guys iâve only kissed someone once cut me some slack)
a/n: i got ghosted by my situationship so enjoy the makeout & thank you to the person who told me my comments was off lol, i didnât know!đ
âWhy didnât you close the fucking curtains? Did you fall asleep looking out at the pebbles?â You pull the curtains on their rods. There is a little digital clock on the desk that reads 04:44, because, of course, the sun is up in full force at 4 am here.
Kimi came back late last night, from doing whatever. You heard some voices outside, but you were too tired to open your eyes to look. You just stared out into the void and eventually fell asleep when he got into bed.
You hear him groan before turning over in his bed, âThis holiday is so much more pleasant when youâre sleeping.â
âExcuse me?â You turn around, looking scandalised.
You hear a little giggle coming from him, and you roll your eyes and walk back into bed; now it is completely dark. You sleep another couple of hours before you drag yourselves to the breakfast room.
Itâs becoming a bit of a thing for Kimi to copy you. You get pancakes with Nutella on them; he does the same. You get some peaches? He gets some too.
âKimi. Why do you keep eating the same breakfast as me?â You ask him as heâs sitting across you from the table in a baggy Prema shirt and some shorts. Your parents arenât even awake yet; itâs just the two of you sitting awkwardly at the same table eating the same thing.
âWho said I canât eat, erâŠâ He looks down, looking like he is reminding himself what he chose. âPancakes and peaches with orange juice?â
âCause, you know, thereâs a whole breakfast room; you donât need to copy me.â You say, and you hear him tsk. âBut what if I wanted some pancakes? Theyâre not just yours.â He says defiantly; you stare down at your plate.
âUgh. Fine.â You roll your eyes. He used to do this all the time as a kid. Always somehow copying you. If you got 2 slices of birthday cake, he did too; if you got orange juice, he did too. Why was he always copying you?
âYou always do this, you know.â You speak quietly, now stabbing your pancake with a fork.
âWhat?â He asks, stopping mid-bite to say it.
âCopy me. If I want pancakes, you get pancakes too, and if I wanted pizza, you wanted pizza too.â You speak confidently, watching as his cheeks redden slightly. A wave of embarrassment seems to come between the two of you.
âI didnât.â He says. Itâs a silly argument, as he eats his pancakes.
âYou totally did.â His shoulders twitch, and he bites his lip, almost contemplating telling the truth. You look at him in this moment, bashful, nervous and embarrassed. Youâd never really seen these emotions on him before.
âMaybe I also just liked the things you did.â He says quietly. You donât protest, not even another word. His voice sounds a little soft, and you have your heart contracting meanly in your chest. It just seems to overtake your throat, the heavy feeling that had come from his admission.
-
At 11:00, you make it down with the rest of the family to the beach. There were plenty of things to do on the water: stand-up paddling, pedal boats, windsurfing, but you were going to go out west of the resort to go snorkelling.
Snorkelling in Mauritius was a popular activity, youâd soon come to find out, as a large group of people were already waiting in their gear.
All of you went out as a group to an area with a guide and then were taught how not to get water in your goggles and the pipe giving you oxygen.
The first time you went underwater was quite strange. Youâre able to breathe, but your entire body is underwater except for this little stick, which remains outside of the water so you can breathe.
Once you looked down, it was quite extraordinary. The water was so clear; it stretched forever. It looked like a pool, and this was the ocean. The floor had fish everywhere, and it felt like a whole new world was lying underneath your feet this entire time.
Some corals were all sorts of colours, some dead, some alive, but it was just fascinating under the sea.
You bump into a couple of people as youâre snorkelling around, and you see a bunch of people around the guide as well. Your head was plastered down, purely looking at the floor and feeling the cold-ish water on your skin.
Mauritius never had very cold sea water, as it is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, which is quite warm. It felt more like a lukewarm bath than a cold ocean, but with the temperature once again being scalding outside, it was quite a relief to be in the sea.
âAnd Iâd suggest not going too far out from the group; if you would like to explore, go in pairs or more.â The guide explains, as you and Kimi are swimming next to one another, you get singled out.
âYou, stay close to your boyfriend.â The guide says, pointing at the two of you, âYou are not a good swimmer.â
You and Kimi share a look, almost taken aback. Did you two seriously look like two dumb fools in love?
âOh, uh, weâre not together.â You both say almost too quickly. The guide raises an eyebrow before continuing. âOkay.â The guide says in a mocking tone; you can hear the doubt in his voice. Well, arenât you so good at convincing?
Kimi sighs and looks at you.
âWhy does everyone keep calling you my girlfriend?â He says, almost a little annoyed. Why do you feel a little heartsore that heâs saying it in such an annoyed tone? You canât possibly want this.
Everyone mustâve thought you were a couple, though. Sitting next to each other on the plane, drooling on his shoulder, eating breakfast alone together, playing beach volleyball and being trapped in a little hut for hours.
Was it obvious?
âWell, you have always been by my side, the entire holiday, copying everything I do.â You roll your eyes, annoyed.
âWhat? I do not!â
âYou literally ate the same breakfast as me this morning.â
âIt was once, oh my god!â Kimi puts on his snorkel and goes headfirst into the water, and you do the same. It seemed to be an endless supply of gorgeous things down here.
A turtle swims below your feet, swimming around without much knowledge that you were there. You see that Kimi has seen the turtle too, because you both follow it. You swim by it for a while, watching as its shell reflects the water; it swims through fish and coral and bright turquoise water. It was just so captivating to stare at.
The corals transformed underneath you, from vibrant pinks, browns, and oranges, with the fish reflecting the sunlight and the way it smelled like salt everywhere. You couldnât get enough down here.
You see Kimi getting all excited about something, pointing at something in the rocks. There were plenty of colourful things down here, what could he possibly be looking at?
A fish.
He was pointing at a fish. The ocean has fish? Groundbreaking. You roll your eyes, before coming to the surface.
âDid you see that fish?â He shouts in excitement.
âThe ocean has fish Kimi.â You roll your eyes, swimming in the water to a new location. âBut it was a colourful fish.â He tries to reason. âWe have colourful fish in the aquarium.â
âYou know, our aquarium isnât as cool as this one.â He pouts a little. You reluctantly hold back a smile before continuing to snorkel.
It had morphed from minutes to hours, as the two of you swam around distractedly. Luckily you werenât past the coral reef, so the water had very little movement, and it was mostly safe from any odd sea creatures.
Kimi has been snorkelling right behind you for some time, and when you turn back to tell him to stop bumping into your flipper, you realise everyone had slowly become minuscule dots in the distance. You see nothing but tiny dots, and when you look back to the island, which mustâve been about 50 metres away, you realise thereâs nobody.
âKimi.â You mumble, seeing as heâs still in the water, he doesnât hear you until you hit him on the back.
âWhat?â
âWhere is everyone?â You ask, there is a slight stutter to your voice as you look back at the tiny dots in your vision.
âOh, like, right behind us.â He shrugs, before cutting himself off. âWhy is everyone so far away?â He looks back at you.
âThatâs what Iâm asking.â You look back at him, and he looks at you. You share a look in silence before you bite your lip, starting to chew it.
You start looking a little panicked. Your eyes are wide, breath shallow and you are looking around, almost for an escape. Kimi had seen you like this before. During exams you were not doing well in, when you were in a space that made you uncomfortable, or when you had a big speech.
âOh my god, Kimi, everyone is gone, how did they not realise weâre gone?â Your voice goes up a couple of pitches, and now the water feels ice cold on your skin. You wanted nothing to do with the sea anymore. You just wanted to get back onto land inside your hotel room where there was a nice warm blanket.
âShh, okay, take a breath with me. Youâre hyperventilating.â He says calmly, holding your shoulders.
âIâm not hyperventilating!â You shout, and he just silently swims in front of you, waiting for you to follow his breath. You know him, heâs as stubborn as a rock when it comes to these things. He will not let you go forward with anything until you breathe with him.
You take a couple breaths, but it does nothing to calm your racing heart. You feel utterly trapped inside of this blue oasis.
âThereâs so much water Kimi-â You start, mumbling, looking around at everything but him. At the shore where there was nothing but palm trees, at the waves crashing against the coral reef.
âI know.â
âThere is nobody around!â You shout, looking behind you, at the trees about fifty metres from the shore and then, finally at Kimi, who was calm and quiet.
âI know.â
You stand still, looking at him. He stares back at you. You realised once again that you only had each other for company. Just like how it was back home in Italy. When your moms would sit together and tell you two to play.
It felt strangely safe having just Kimi here with you. You knew he always made a plan. Even in the times when you would panic, heâd keep his cool. He would be the calm and gentle one.
âItâs going to be okay.â He says, before turning around in the water and beginning to swim. âWe can go get lunch after this.â He says, trying to get you to follow him.
âI canât!â You say, feeling frozen in place. All you could do was flip your feet so you didnât sink in the water.
âYou can!â He shouts, swimming a little further away.â
âI swear, I canât!â You shout back,
âYou can!â He says, before smiling a little.
âYou pushed me into the pool when we were kids, Iâll let you do it again if you just swim to me.â He has that little mischievous tone in his voice.
âNow is not the time to be thinking about that, Kimi!â You say, as he swims back.
âCome on, I know you did it cause my crush was right there.â He giggles, takes your hand and drags you along.
âYeah. I thought you said you didnât like Laura.â You roll your eyes as he drags you by the hand. You donât let go, and eventually, youâre swimming on your own back to the group.
The water was perhaps not a prison anymore.
â
âYou okay?â He asks, walking past you as you sit on the sand. You are holding a towel, not using it, just staring at it. You never wanted to go into the sea again. Sure you didnât drown, but it just felt slightly traumatising being trapped with him, of all people.
âUh, yeah.â You say, still staring at the sand.
âYou sure? You not dizzy or anything?â He crouches down next to you, takes the towel out of your hands and wraps it around you.
âKimi!â You shout a little, seeing as your parents are all staring at you, well, at the moment.
âWhat?â He looks back, a little offended. âIâm just putting on your towel, youâll get cold.â He smiles a little before standing up and returning all the gear to the little shed.
Since when was he so maternal?
You sigh and stand up, walking back with him and the rest of the group to your rooms. On the way there, Kimi could still see you were a little shaken.
Your head felt all fuzzy and tired from panic, and your body was heavy with exhaustion from swimming so much. Without really thinking much about it, your hands were looking for something solid.
Kimi only looked down when your fingers slid between his, he didnât say or comment on anything. He closed his hand around yours as you walked towards your room.
-
Kimi caved in about the âfreezerâ he had to sleep in (you overheard him on the phone to a friend; those were his words), and you had to cave with his things being everywhere.
His clothes were always over a chair, his toiletries taking over the entire bathroom, and just weird miscellaneous things. A book which you knew he was never going to read sitting on the desk, a million cans from the mini-fridge and some snacks lying around too.
You were busy throwing some of the trash away and just overall cleaning up the space. You needed some time to yourself. The water seemed endless out there, and then, he was the only one helping you to shore.
It had you silently panicking, but once you had returned onto the shore, he was the one keeping you warm, getting you towels, and bringing you water. Since when had he become all maternal?
It was sweet, but youâd never admit that, though. You just felt all sorts of ways about it. Warm, safe, cared for. Kimi never made you feel like that before. Usually it was fighting and upset. You could only think of your argument every time you thought of him, not someone who had helped you much.
One nice, calming shower later, you were getting ready for dinner. You hadnât had a proper meal all day, and you were going to one of the nice restaurants in the resort, so you had to dress up a little. And who says you canât?
You were sitting on the bed when Kimi came in. âDid room service come?â He asked, looking around. You stared back at him, annoyed. âNo, I cleaned up. You leave everything lying around.â He stifled a laugh at your piercing glare.
He looked at your dress once before walking to his suitcase and looking for something to wear. âYou fancy someone looking all dressed up?â He teased, with a mischievous tone in his voice.
When he had looked back, he had to admit that you did look good in that dress, but then again, you were also the girl who pushed him into a pool.
âSeriously?â You stared at him, and he looked back at you, sitting on the bed in the low light. There was only light from a lamp on the side of your bed illuminating the room. Heâd slowly gone silent, just staring at you.
It looked really good, your dress.
âWhat, I got something on me?â You stared at him, and he just bit his bottom lip. When you looked into his eyes, they were staring at your lips. You almost felt a little taken aback. Suddenly, that stare felt charged; it was focused on you like how he focused on his opponents driving cars.
Before he could say anything, he walked to the bathroom and closed the door. You almost felt like you needed to catch your breath, and he hadnât even touched you yet. The room had shrunk, and your heart was beating in your ears. The temperature from the humid environment seemed to only get worse, and your body just felt hot.
You stared down at the floor for a moment before deciding to distract yourself by doing your makeup. Applying the layers of foundation, and some eyeshadow, mascara, the works.
You couldnât stop thinking about how those brown eyes were staring at you, though. They were asking you for something, looking at you with longing and want. You just sucked in a breath, cause heâd never looked at you like that, and you werenât expecting him to.
Kimi was never anything but reserved. He never looked at you like something just to be used. Even when you were at the height of how much you hated each other, he never really looked at you like that.
You were always, for some reason, off limits to him. Over the past 3 days though, youâd proven to be quite oblivious to just how many people liked you.
At the pool, while lounging and eating some pizza, some guy just walked past and made sure to check out your ass in a bikini. It pissed Kimi off. Who could look at you like that? The innocent girl he once knew? You, in some ways, still were. You played beach volleyball, you drooled on his shoulder on the plane, and you seemed to still be as smiley as he remembered. Also in some ways, you were a grown woman too.
You had a body now, that was to be admired. You probably also wanted love, and to be desired. You wanted to be the gorgeous chick on the block. It just seemed odd to Kimi that was also part of you now.
You hear the bathroom door click open, and you silently close your eyes before looking down at your makeup bag and curling your lashes in the mirror. You can see him staring at you in the mirror.
âYou know I can see you?â You smile a little as you watch his cheeks get a little red.
You throw the eyelash curler in your makeup bag and turn to look at him. He was wearing a nice white button-up top and some shorts. As you looked at him up and down, he was once again staring at you.
Kimi also, just like you, had grown up quickly. Well, the racing world kind of forced him. He needed to be mature, because when he crashed his kart, he couldnât curse the living shit out of the guy, he had to be mature and just walk away, no matter how much he thought he was right.
Kimi needed to be calm in high-pressure situations. If he wanted to be a world champion, he needed to be able to handle the worldâs pressure on his shoulders.
If he wanted to be a world champion, he had to work hard. It was his first holiday in forever. It was his first time looking at you too, probably in the way you desperately wanted someone to. He didnât know for sure if you wanted him to look at you like that, though.
What Kimi didnât know, was that, just as you, he grew up into a body that somehow, everybody wanted. He was lean, built and strong in the way all racing drivers had to be. He was now an athlete. It was odd. Your childhood friend, now an F2, soon an F1 driver, was staring at you, and you couldnât tear yourself away from how his lips looked right now. So soft and pillowy.
He walked up to you, the pink blotch all over his face and neck now. He didnât know he couldnât feel this way towards you. As you stood close to one another, you could feel his breath fanning your cheeks and your hands becoming clammy.
You decide to make the first move, putting your hand at the bottom of his hair and leaning against the table. You watch his eyes flick back for a moment before focusing on you.
âDid you like that?â You tease softly, almost whispering in his ear. He just shivers in your grip as he grasps your waist with his hands. You feel them playing with the fabric of your dress as you slowly get closer to his face.
He nods quietly. Youâd seen him get all shy when he was nervous, but not like this. He seemed to be still like a statue. You reach up your free hand to gently touch his cheek.
You watch as his eyelashes flutter closed from your soft touch; theyâre so long they make little shadows in the dark light.
You grasp his jaw as your lips connect. It was a little fleeting thing; just a brush of lips, before parting. He freezes up, staring at you in the low light. Was it wrong to want this? To kiss you? After all this time?
Was it wrong to want to fix everything between you with the kind of love he gives to girls for fun? That love that feels like a bird landing on a branch before it flies away?
Did you deserve something so temporary?
But were you ever temporary in his life? Youâd always been there, in the summer by the pool and in the winter cuddled up by heaters. When you used to cuddle for warmth before it became a sign of romantic attraction. When you used to feel safe together.
Those days felt so far away, but they came flooding back between you, and youâre looking up at him, asking a silent question with your eyes.
His lips were firm on yours, and you felt a soft whimper coming from him. You run your hand along his neck and collar, feeling around for his necklaces.
You wrap your hand around his neck as his hold intensifies. Heâs now grasping your hair and tilting your head. The hot feeling was deep inside your chest, where he was touching and on your mouth.
The moment your tongues collide, you donât know what youâve been doing all this time.
You felt so damn stupid. All the hate from years past feels petty. The feelings from when you were twelve are miles away. He was slowly mending those broken cracks between you.
The girl he made out with on the first day? She had nothing on you. Kissing you felt like relief; it felt safe. He had to admit it - it felt like coming home.
It felt more like a loving hug around his whole body rather than just a kiss. It felt like his head finally shut up after years of noise. It was loving in the way that it had his heart contracting painfully in his chest and his hands feeling all sweaty.
He tilts his head back as your mouth attaches onto his neck. He seems to have the breath sucked out of him as his eyes roll back into his head.
âh-hahâŠâ You can hear him huff out before his head lolls to the side, and he can see someone walking up to the sliding door.
âOh my god-â He quickly pushes you away, as the person he sees is his own mother. You didnât know what happened, seeing his wide eyes and nervous stare.
You thought he didnât like you like that.
Then you saw his mom and those feelings of heartbreak evaporated. Thank god she didnât see.
Did she see?
-
Dinner was awkward. You kept trying to see if Kimi had a hickey on his neck. It wouldnât have been a dark one if there was, but he wasnât like a girl; he didnât have hair to cover it up.
Kimi also kept touching that spot where you had kissed his neck. He seemed to blush every time he looked up; it mustâve been a reminder of the moment you shared.
You listened to your parents' conversation, hoping to maybe hear if they had seen or heard something. Nobody brought up anything, but his mom kept looking at you, almost scandalised.
You kept checking Kimi like you had OCD. You were worried there was lipstick all over his mouth; you kept thinking about the hickey, and the fact he kept kicking his leg into you under the table.
By the time your food came, you ate it merely to hide how nervous you had become. It almost now started feeling like everybody had noticed the mood shift. It was childish and playful before; now it just felt like a bunch of tension in the way you looked at each other, the way you tried to stifle a smile or a knowing glance.
You and Kimi said absolutely nothing the whole dinner. You didnât even bicker with one another. It was on repeat, the way he was wrapped around you, the way it made you feel. You felt like you were craving it again already.
You can imagine the taste of him on your tongue, the way he nervously grabbed you, the way he pulled you off of him when his eyes luckily caught his mom walking to your room.
You had to quickly turn around, acting like your lips werenât all puffy and tasted like him as you put on your lip liner again. He awkwardly stood by his suitcase as he spoke with his mom about dinner.
It felt charged, staring back at him from the other side of the table. You needed to relieve this somehow when you got back to your room again.
-
You seemed too cautious to kiss again after the lingering thought of Kimiâs mom walking in again. You couldnât risk your parents finding out; after all, you hated each other, right?
RightâŠ
You sat on your bed, and Kimi sat on his. You needed to speak. You needed to address what had just happened, but neither wanted to talk about it. You just stared at your feet as you wondered what to say.
Do you tell him it was the best kiss of your whole life? Do you tell him that you shouldnât do this again? Do you ask if he has a hickey on his neck?
You sigh, and you hear Kimi stand up, his feet quiet against the wooden floor as he sits next to you on the bed.
He was close, close enough that you felt like your body remembered him. You want to just get close, touch, smell, love him.
âDo you want to talk about it?â He asks softly, almost like a whisper. Yes, you wanted to ask him if he thinks his mom knows, you wanted to ask him if heâll do it again, you wanted to ask him if you were a good kisser.
âUhâŠâ you stutter, looking down. You felt like a nervous wreck right now; you couldnât even look into his eyes.
âWhatâs wrong?â He asks calmly, taking your hand in his. The touch was new; itâs not that you hadnât held hands before- you did all the time as kids, but that was different. It was childlike and innocent. This had a lot of connotations on it.
âIs it bad that I liked it?â You whisper; itâs a little dirty confession on your lips. You wanted to kiss him again, but then what about getting caught? Why did you feel so nervous about being caught? Isnât this something your parents would be happy about?
Theyâve known Kimi for his entire life; they know heâs not a random piece of shit you grabbed off the side of the road, but it all felt so new and different.
âNo, no. Not at all. I liked it too.â He admits, and you look into his eyes before squeezing his hand. âThatâs goodâŠI, uh, was nervous about it.â You look down; you canât tell him that while looking into his eyes. They were so pretty, so innocent.
He nods before going silent. Youâre still holding hands, and your heart seems to beat quicker, almost skipping beats to match in time with Kimiâs own racing heart.
The silence stretches for a moment; youâre both asking yourselves, âWhat now?â
âWe canât pretend it didnât happen.â He states, and you muster up the courage to look into his eyes again. The whole time, he hasnât looked away from you. Your dress was still gorgeous; it still had that rich red colour that suited you, and it still had that plunging neckline that made Kimi feel bad for staring at so much (even over dinner), but it now felt like something that had tempted him.
He was giving in to temptation, wasnât he?
âWe canât do this again.â He says too quickly as that thought entered his head.
âI know.â You sigh, looking at your joined hands. Neither attempted to pull away. They stayed knotted together, his fingers warm against yours, feeling like a little rebellion against the words he was uttering.
âDo you want to?â You ask, the question feeling like a dirty secret on your lips. You watch as he licks his own, looking down and blushing again. âJust, you know, something small.â You smile a little, watching as the pink rushes over his cheeks again.
âBut we canât, you know. It just feels like, with all our history-â He says, looking up at you, and you feel like just kissing him right then and there to shut him up, but you press your lips together to make sure he keeps talking.
âI-I kind of want to, as well.â He admits, and you smile at him before taking his hand again.
âWell, you know, whenever youâre comfortable.â
âYouâre making it kind of difficult.â He smiles before squeezing your hand. You just sit and hold hands for a little bit. You feel like a little kid again, who doesnât know what theyâre doing.
u have no idea how much i love ur fics and writing style holy đ i wanted to tell but ur comments are turned off and i didn't think abt saying in asks lol
PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER | SERIES MASTERLIST
PARING: ChildhoodBestFriend!KA12 x Reader
SUMMARY: While playing volleyball on the beach, a tropical storm forces some unsaid feelings to come to light...
WORD COUNT: 3k
WARNINGS: bad italianđ„ (i used google translate donât expect it to be accurate)
A/N: i hate this
At dinner, you unfortunately had Kimi in front of you, which meant that every time you looked up to join the conversation, you looked at him. Now, many would say this was not a bad thing, but it was annoying every time you wanted to say something and had to look into his eyes, which were clearly amused by you.
He was eating the same meal as you - some steak. It was delicious, with a wonderful basting on it, but you couldnât help but feel bitter at his clear unoriginality. Seriously? Ordering the same meal as you? He really couldâve done better.
Your parents are on fire by now, having drunk all afternoon and now into the evening. They spoke and laughed and caught up on years of news, stories and events in their lives.
Sure, they saw each other now and then, but they just couldnât stop finding things to talk about. Everyone was having a great time, it seemed, except for you. You were tired, jet-lagged, and you felt strange after seeing Kimi with that blonde girl.
She was looking at you like sheâd claimed him as hers already.
âAnd then, Andy is now going into Formula 1. Weâre so proud of him!â His mom speaks to yours, smiling and laughing. Kimi flushes a little red. He always did that when he was embarrassed, it was usually when his mom showered him with compliments.
âYeah, yeah, grazie mammaâŠâ He speaks softly.
Once dinner is over, you walk back in the dark, alone, to your room. Itâs Mauritius. Nothing will happen. Nothing has ever happened.
You can hear the waves softly patter against the sand. Due to the large coral reef around the island, the water is flat close to the shore, so it wasnât an aggressive slap to the shore like other places.
It was just right, the right temperature, the moon sparkling over the ocean, it was gorgeous. You were mesmerised by the scene. There were a couple of drunkards at the hut on the beach, it was a little bar. You could hear them talking and dancing. If only you could join the fun, actually have fun on this holiday.
So melancholic, on your own vacation. Arenât you being a right arse, just stop moping about already. Your parents probably paid an absolute fortune to be here and-
âBoo!â Some strong arms wrap around your waist and lift you up
You let out an embarrassingly loud screech before the familiar laughter fills your ears.
âIt still works!!â Kimi is almost bent over laughing. Youâre still trying to catch the breath that exited your breath, and Kimi is absolutely hosing himself.
âKimi! Put me down! Right now! Kimi- stop it!!â He reluctantly puts you down, laughing ominously in your ear.
âThat was not funny! People are sleeping!â Your complaints fall on deaf ears as you walk back to your room. He is walking around, all chuffed with himself. You can hear him sneak in a giggle, obviously rethinking your reaction.
âMaybe donât get scared next time.â He says smugly, you just give him a faux pout before opening the sliding door to your room and deliberately not turning on the lights. You donât even want to look at his face, but you can imagine the most obnoxious smile on it right now.
âWhere is the light switch I canât see anything-â You hear him shuffling around the room, before you can hear him stub his toe. âAh-â
You laugh at him, before walking to the light switch and turning it on.
Serves him right.
-
The next day, you wake up hearing Kimi muttering in his sleep. He still does that, clearly. As a kid, he used to be a really active sleeper. Kicking around, moving around, speaking. It was almost impossible as a kid to sleep close to him.
You hear him muttering things like âpaceâ and âtyres.â Obviously dreaming about that fastest lap. Itâs the only thing he seems to care about, after all.
You grab some clothes out of your suitcase and freshen up in the bathroom. A nice, relaxing shower. It was finally a respectable hour to wake up, you hadnât yet missed breakfast, and it was nice and warm outside.
When you get out of the shower, clearly you woke up Kimi, as heâs sitting up in his bed.
âIâm going for breakfast.â
âWithout me?â
âYeah, I mean, youâre 17, not a toddler, youâll figure it out.â
âWell- Well I could get lost! Youâd maybe never see me again!â He exclaims, now climbing out of the bed.
âThere are signs, Kimi. You read themâŠâ You drawl, trying to make it sound like you had to draw pictures.
âOr you can just follow your stomach! Itâs pretty good at finding food!â
You hear him groan as you walk out of the room and begin walking. Along the way you stare at the beach, the palm trees hang over you, and the water just looks like a welcome respite from the sun which was already up with full force.
You check behind you as you stand still, you wouldnât want Kimi sneaking up on you for a second time, right?
-
At the pool today, Kimi decides to be more like you, sit and tan on the sun loungers and read books. It was truly so easy to be lazy on this island. The temperature was a staggering 34 degrees and not a single cloud in the sky. The palm trees surrounding the pool gave you a little bit of shade, but it was no help.
Kimi was lying in the full sun on his stomach, âtanningâ his back. Was he tanning? No. He was sitting there waiting for something to do.
âYouâre going to get sunburnt.â You say, throwing the sunblock directly at him and having it land on his back.
âNo, Iâm Italian. We donât get sunburnt.â
âYouâre not immune to the sun because you have naturally olive skin.â You cross your arms, looking unimpressed.
âIâm fine.â
An hour later, he was in fact sunburnt, he hadnât noticed it yet because he was then with your parents, getting cruelly embarrassed.
âYou two remember when you played mini golf for his 10th birthday?â His mom brings it up. You can hear him groan already.
âMamma!â
You laugh a little, sensing his embarrassment.
âWerenât you the one who got upset that I won?â You tease back, and he flushes a little.
âI was just, you know, uhm, dedicated to winning!â
âOkay, whatever you like to tell yourself.â You nod, looking him up and down before turning your head away sarcastically.
âAs far as I am concerned, youâre the one who missed the hole not once, twice, or three times, but you had missed it 8 times.â You tease, and he turns to look at you.
â8 times! No, it was only 4!â
âI counted, it was 8.â You cross your arms.
âNo it wasnât. I was the one playing, it was 4.â
âSeriously? You want to deflect now?â You seem to let the snark into your voice by accident, to which your mom shoots you a little glare.
âAlright, alright. Letâs just move on.â Kimi sighs, sitting down. Youâd never seen him admit defeat before. Thatâs new.
You just sit on the sun lounger again, next to Kimi, and you lie there for ages, who knows how long. After a while you decide that your legs might both spontaneously not work if you donât take a walk soon, so you go down to the beach. You dig your toes into the Mauritian sand and have the soft waves crash onto your feet.
You wondered if maybe Kimi wasnât so bad anymore. Heâd learned how to press your buttons when he turned 10, and thatâs when he turned into a right arsehole. He just loved getting a reaction out of you.
Rumours he made because he didnât want you to be seen as better than him, competitions designed so youâd fail so everybody would see him as the winner, intentionally telling everybody your embarrassing stories and his best ones so you looked like an idiot.
The worst part is that it worked. Everybody believed him. After a while, maybe you did too.
You spot Kimi when youâre walking back. Heâs fiddling with the volleyball court.
âWhat are you doing?â
âI didnât know they had a volleyball court here!â
âBeach volleyball. I think every living soul on the planet has play-â He thrusts a ball into your hands and walks to the other side.
âCome on, canât we play it a bit?â He claps his hands impatiently.
âFine.â
âBest of 3!â He shouts.
You first serve the ball, throwing it up and throwing it down to Kimi. Heâs unfortunately super quick and gets it right back over the net to you with force and power. He was so obviously an athlete.
The first couple of points are scored normally, before they just begin becoming questionable.
âOUT!â Kimi shouts.
âAbsolutely not! The line is here!â You point at the line in the sand.
âNo! It was totally out!â
âYouâre just saying that cause you know that means I would get a point.â You smirk.
âIâm just enforcing the rules.â He says with too much faux care.
âYou just decided where the line was like 10 seconds ago.â You roll your eyes and throw the ball to him again.
About 5 minutes of playing later, the ball was about to hit the outer edge of your part of the volleyball court, and you absolutely dive to prevent the ball from hitting the sand. You explode into a bunch of sand, it goes everywhere.
In your eyes, in your swimsuit, in your mouth, you could feel its sticky particles all over you. Kimi is almost bent over laughing at the scene.
-
Somewhere between your arguments over rules and who was out and what was right and wrong, this game started becoming fun. It was no longer the best of 3, cause you were far past 3 games at this point.
You were determined to win once against Kimi.
Kimi was determined to win against you for the millionth time. Youâd assume heâd finally get bored of these shenanigans, but obviously not.
The wind started picking up, and a couple of people were packing up off the beach, but you never noticed, too focused on serving the ball as quickly as Kimi was.
It swooped past you. That was a good shot.
âPoint for me!â
âYeah yeah. What are we on?â
â6-12.â
âNo! Absolutely not, Iâm pretty sure I scored a couple more times than 6.â
âNo, what are you talking about?â
âYou know, I scored like 2 more times in the last couple of minutes, that makes it 8!â
âLiar!â He clicks his tongue, he throws the ball up into the air and throws it up again. As it flies past the net, you hear a rumble of thunder.
âKimiâŠâ
âYouâre getting distracted! Focus!â He shouts, looking at you. âKimi, look at the sky!â You point to the storm that was about to come past the two of you. It was about to rain. It looked like it was going to rain hard.
âOne more game, please?â
âOkay fine!â
The ball was on your side, so you threw it up and hit it across the net, Kimi hit back, and you entered the familiar rhythm of hitting it over and over.
Right before the end of your game, the wind blows the ball out of the court and into the sand on the beach.
âWe should probably go!â
Kimi couldnât really hear you over the howling of the wind, and then it started raining. You quickly run to the steps, as the rain pelts down all around you. Kimi is next, seeing as you have begun running to the nearest shelter.
You both find some shelter by a little hut by the steps, and you are both forced to sit inside of this little, confined space, touching shoulders and looking out at the sea.
âSo weâre stuck here now.â Kimi sighs, looking out at the ocean.
âYeah, unfortunately.â The sea is now covered in dark clouds, this storm was not ending anytime soon.
âYou were totally losing at volleyballâ Kimi announces, âI was winning.â And you just scoff.
âYou were only winning because you werenât counting my points! The last point was totally mine!â
âYou say that every time you lose.â Kimi laughs a little. A cold breeze sweeps in between the two of you. A small bikini is doing nothing to keep you warm.
âI was not losing!â
âYeah, you were.â
Thereâs a beat where you just sit with the cold wind circling in. You curl in on yourself for warmth. It was your idea to run inside the hut, now itâs cold.
âYou still argue the same,â Kimi speaks softly.
âDo I?â You look up.
âYeah, youâre always the first to defend instead of saying Iâm wrong.â He looks at you, and for the first time since you were twelve, you look properly into his eyes again.
âWell, you know me. Itâs just how I am.â
He hums and youâre back into silence, with rain hitting the roof and the cold wind circling in. After a couple of minutes, youâre left shivering a little. It was belting outside, you could see the waves of rain coming down. You were truly trapped.
âYou know, I thought youâd at least come to one race,â Kimi speaks out of the blue, his eyes are focused on the wooden floor. He bites the inside of his lip, exactly like he used to do as a kid.
You sigh, because yes, you never came to his karting races, but truth be told, you were always busy. You always had projects, friends who asked to hang out months before he did, you felt a little guilty.
âBut I was busy, genuinely.â You look down, feeling like the worst person in the whole world - cause maybe sometimes you were avoiding him.
âWere you?â He pulls his legs towards his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his head on his knees. You looked into those brown eyes and you felt your heart squeeze in your chest.
âWell, you wanted me to leave you alone, donât you remember?â You think back to the fight you had over the kitchen table. It was a bright, sunny day, and the sun was streaming down on Kimi as he shouted at you.
You were fresh off another rumour youâd made about him, and you had been dealing with the issues from the rumour he created about you, so you were both tearing the roof down with how much you were screaming at each other.
He muttered a soft, âJust leave me alone.â Before walking up the steps to his room and closing the door. Twelve-year-old you didnât know it yet, but that was the last time you had seen Kimi for five years.
âWell, I didnât mean forever,â Kimi said softly, still looking into your hesitant eyes.
âI know, I know.â You cut yourself off before letting the âIâm sorryâ roll off your tongue. Sorry wasnât going to fix this; not at all.
This was too big for a sorry.
It could never undo every race you never went to, it could never repair the years spent in dead silence from the two of you. It would never fix the fact that the Kimi you knew was no longer Kimi, with long limbs and a childlike face. Youâd imagined him like that for so long that seeing him as a man looked jarring and unfamiliar.
Sharp jawlines and toned arms, he was now tall but not bony like he had once been, and he didnât sound like a kid anymore. He wasnât a kid, and you werenât either, but this felt like someone you didnât know.
He was almost a stranger again. A total stranger. But normal strangers donât know that his favourite flavour of gelato was stracciatella, that he used to throw pool noodles at you in the pool, or that he cheated in Uno one too many times and you vowed to never play it again with him.
Normal strangers donât know any of that.
You both sit in silence, watching the waves crash onto the shore and the rain soak the boats still on the sea.
That feeling that you were off to a bad start on your holiday just kept persisting, despite good food and feeling relaxed, you couldnât help but feel all emotionally pent up, like it would never give you a reprieve.
Once the rain finally settled to a heavy drizzle, you both walked (it was kind of a run) to the main house, where both of your parents were sitting waiting for the two of you.
âE voi due dove siete stati?!â Kimiâs mom begins in her high-pitched voice. You stand awkwardly to the side as they begin arguing, fully in Italian. (And where were the two of you?!)
âMamma-â Kimi begins.
âNon ci posso credere! Hanno passato del tempo insieme!â Kimiâs dad chips in, and you see your parents giggle a little. (I canât believe this, they actually spent time together!)
âI was wondering if you two had been blown into the sea or something!â His mom now directs at you, and you stand awkwardly.
âWe were just in one of those huts, it started raining before we could get here.â You try to reason with her, but her high-pitched screaming at the two of you didnât go unnoticed by the other guests.
Some of them obviously found the situation humorous as you see a couple of tables watching and laughing to one another.
âAnd you were doing what?â She asks, almost incredulously.
âTalking.â You replied with a deadpanned tone in your voice. His mom almost bursts out into laughter on the spot. Was this really so unbelievable?
âTalking! Gli asini voleranno!â His mom and his dad laugh together. (The donkeys are going to fly!)
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