Epilogue 4.

The beach is virtually deserted. In the moonlight, the sand looks grey and the ocean, black. Ripples of light move across the surface of the sea, racing towards the shore and then shattering in the foamy shallows.

There are a few people, mostly couples, sitting up on the dry sand, kissing or deep in conversation. Bella, however, makes straight for the water's edge. I have to jog to keep up with her.

She pulls her dress up and tucks the hem into the sides of her undies, which sets my heart racing—for all the wrong reasons.

"Hey." I grab her hand and spin her to look at me. "You can't go swimming."

She's had too much to drink, and even for a swimmer as strong as Bella, mixing alcohol and the ocean is the height of stupidity.

"Silly, Edward." She spins herself under my arm, like we're dancing, then pulls away. "No drinking and diving." She giggles.

"Funny."

"Plus, there's a rip just out there."

I look where she's pointing. It takes me a moment to see the deceptively smooth swathe of water. I breathe out, relieved. Bella knows the ocean's treachery far better than I do, though it scares her less, having grown up on its shores. For me, it's still too unpredictable, too untrustworthy.

Bella walks into the whitewash but stops where it reaches her knees. She waves for me to join her. I wade in after her, slowly, because the sandy bottom here is notoriously not flat. And somehow, it's always me that falls into one of the random trenches gouged by the surf.

Tonight, I'm in luck.

Hand on her hip, Bella turns to me. "And, by the way, as if I'd go swimming in this." She tugs on the flower-print fabric that covers her belly.

I shake my head, but I'm smiling. She has a point. If she wanted to swim, she'd have taken her dress off, rather than tucking it up out of the way. She's not wearing her cosies, but that's never stopped her before.

I take her hand and we start walking towards the southern end of the beach. A stiffening breeze kicks up the spray, tossing it at our backs, dampening our skin, hair, and clothes.

We've almost reached the rock platform when Bella speaks. "So, I was thinking…"

"Uh-oh. Look out."

She flips me off with her free hand. "Bite me."

"Mmm, later."

She huffs. "Are you gonna let me finish?"

"Sorry."

"So, as I was saying, I was thinking… about us."

She looks over at me, her lip between her teeth. The joke I'm about to make evaporates and I wait for her to continue.

"The lease on your flat is up next month, right?"

I nod. "Yeah. Like the 15th, I think."

"Are you going to renew it again?"

"I guess… I haven't really spoken to Em about it." I stop walking. "Why?"

"Well, I was thinking of moving out of my parents' place, and I… Well, I was kind of wondering how you'd feel about us moving in together?"

"Are you still drunk?"

Bella's face falls and I feel like shit, realising how that must've sounded. She turns away, but I catch her around the waist and tug her back to me. Neither of us are paying attention to the surf and as I'm about to speak, a wave rolls in, catching me at hip height. We both stumble, but stay on our feet.

My hands on Bella's hips, I grip the soaking wet fabric of her dress. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant like… If I say 'fuck yes, I want to live with you'—because that's totally what I'm going to do—are you still going to want this in the morning?"

"It's already morning." She steps closer, wraps her arms around me.

"Jasmine…"

I feel her body tense and I know what she's going to do. Before she can pull me headlong into the surf, I sweep her up into my arms and stride out of the water.

When I set her on the dry sand, she looks up at me, all smiles and shining eyes. "Yes," she says. "I'll still want this in the morning."

Okay, I'm really done now.

Thanks again for all the support. I've really appreciated it. Shell x