Fairytale Green

My confidence might have gone down the drain along with the green hair dye.

Lana sighed as she pointed towards the no longer green head of mine ‘I still can’t believe you got rid of your green hair.’

I tried to smile at her as I claimed, ‘It was time for a change.’

‘You loved your wacko hair.’ She mentioned softly before she asked, ‘Are you sure everything is okay?’

We walked along the beachfront with our bikinis under our clothes. I was glad that we would not have to change in the small sweaty cubicles.

My father left the apartment before the sun rose. I was up most of the night, letting my imagination run wild with worry. I spent the late hours listening at my door to the sounds of my dad stumbling around the place until I heard the front door slam shut.

As well as brown hair, I had dark circles under my eyes. I had spent a good while making sure make-up covered everything.

‘So, how is it going with lover boy?’ I started a conversation to stop myself from thinking.

‘It is going fine.’ She replied, ‘Brennan is really sweet and he is handsome.’

I laughed ‘I want to be the maid of honour at your wedding.’

‘Only if I get to be yours.’

Shaking my head as we walked onto the sand, I told her ‘I will need to find someone that wants to marry me. Before that, I need to find a guy that wants to stick around.’

‘Ella, loads of guys have shown interest in you and you have always tried to scare them away.’ She laughed gently while pointing out ‘Which you always succeed at.’

‘They did not want to date me. They wanted to sleep with me. There is a massive difference. I have never had someone that wants to stick around.’ I explained while pulling at a thread on my jean shorts ‘Plus, I’m not good at picking up on social cues so I will probably end up an old cat lady.’

As we got nearer to the water, I did not even have enough time to register how much I hated this place because something else caught my eye.

Stone looked in his element. His muscles were visible as he gripped onto the board with one hand. He rode the waves effortlessly as he kept balance on the board. The deadly combination of the sun and the water made the tattoos on his chest glisten.

Lana sent me a smile. It felt secretive and it was full of hidden meaning.

The two men made their way towards us, surfboards underarm. They neared closer and closer until Stone was towering over me.

I looked anywhere else but his well-built body.

‘Lovely Lana.’ Brennan greeted her with a wink before he smiled at me ‘Little Ella.’

I rolled my eyes before I turned to my best friend and warned ‘You better take him away before I knock him on his ass.’

She giggled but then she stopped suddenly ‘Are you sure you are going to be okay here yourself?’

‘Of course, I am.’ I reassured her before I hit her arm ‘Go be with lover boy in the water but keep in mind that this is a family beach.’

Brennan chuckled before taking Lana’s hand ‘I can’t promise anything.’

They both headed towards the water which left me alone with the giant who was currently studying my face like he was looking for something. He looked intent on finding some kind of answer there as he continued to watch me.

I tried to ignore the heat rushing to my cheeks as I laid out a beach towel on the sand and sat down. I adjusted myself on the ground and sat crossed-legged before I looked up to see Stone still watching me.

‘You do know that you don’t have to keep me company.’ I said before suggesting ‘You should go back to surfing.’

He did not move.

He simply let his mouth rise in a small smirk as he asked, ‘Do you want me to go back to surfing so you can go back to watching me?’

Rolling my eyes, I sighed ‘Fine. Suit yourself. Stay.’

The corner of his lip twitched upwards as he sat down right next to me.

That is when I concluded that his plan had worked. He teased me right into letting him stay. It made me wonder how much he knew about me. He always seemed to know what to say or what to do to push my buttons.

Looking him up and down, I thought about his reason for watching me so closely. He had obviously taken time to study my actions and my mannerisms.

Perhaps it was his way of keeping his friends close but his acqenemies closer.

I did not know I was staring at his abs until he motioned to his torso and questioned ‘Do you want to rub sunscreen on them?’

‘I wasn’t staring at them!’ I tried to defend myself as I crossed my arms ‘Plus, your eight-pack is too wet to put the sunscreen on it.’

He lifted his head upward and looked at the sky as he laughed. I watched his Adam’s apple move as his deep chuckle made my skin cover with goosebumps.

‘Stop laughing!’ I exclaimed before sending him a glare ‘I was looking at your belly button.’

‘Of course, you were.’ He said, his tone taunting.

I huffed ‘I have never met someone so smug in my life.’

Stone chuckled again ‘Like you are not smug as well.’

‘I am not.’ I argued before tutting ‘How am I smug?’

His eyes met mine as he half-smirked ‘When you get one up on me or you think of a good insult, it is like you glow as you smile. You might as well jump up and down.’

‘We bicker every second we are around each other.’ I pointed out ‘Are you trying to say that I enjoy all the time I spend around you?’

‘Yes.’

I scoffed as I moved my hair behind my shoulders ‘That is so not true.’

‘You do know I can tell when you are lying, Medusa.’

Shaking my head, I looked away and hid my smile.

As soon as I turned away from him, the breeze from the ocean hit me and so did the memories. The night still played in my mind like a tragic film. The whole event was crystal clear and sometimes I wished I forgot.

A hand rested on my shoulder, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I became aware of where I was and who I was with so I faced him.

Stone sounded softer than his usual rough voice as he questioned ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Talk about what?’

‘Whatever has made your smile disappear.’ He replied with a grumble.

I took a deep unsteady breath and I decided to confide in him.

‘Last year, my dad I were at home, and we were waiting for my my mom to come home. She worked late nights at a store, so we did not suspect anything was wrong. It just felt like a normal day…’ I trailed off because of the pressure in my chest.

‘Ella, look at me.’ The owner of the gravelly voice said as he placed his hand gently under my chin and tilted my head so I would meet his eye ‘I want you to tell because you want to. Not because you feel you must. I will wait however long it takes.’

‘I want to tell you.’ I admitted quietly before I continued ‘My Dad got a phone call from the hospital saying my mother nearly drowned. A lifeguard forgot his phone, so he came back here and saw her in the water. He saved her in time and called the ambulance. We were relieved that she was alive, and he managed to save her. Then we got to the hospital, and we were told that something went wrong.’

Stone’s hand overlapped mine as my pinky finger curled around one of his large fingers.

‘She still had water in her lungs. She died with secondary drowning.’ I rushed out my words ‘That was not the worst part of it all. It was when the police officer had to break the news that it was not an accident and she had decided to take her own life.’

‘That is why you hate being here.’ He stated rather than asked.

‘This place is a horrible reminder that she wanted to leave, and she was unhappy.’

He responded by squeezing my hand. I could not see his face because I was too busy looking down at the sand.

‘We can go somewhere else.’ He suggested in one grumble of a breath ‘We can go anywhere you want.’

‘I live in Santa Monica. I could not avoid this place if I tried.’ I whispered and then I decided I was not going to be sad anymore ‘Can we talk about something different?’

Rather than letting go of my hand, he held on tighter as he nodded.

‘Your tattoos are passable to look at.’ I commented lamely, still not wanting to compliment them ‘When did you get your first one?’

‘Fifteen.’

I smiled ‘I bet your parents were really happy about that.’

He shook his head before grumbling something under his breath.

‘What is it?’ I asked gently.

‘My parents are dead.’

I felt my eyes widen.

‘I’m so sorry.’ I quickly apologised and fought the urge to bury myself in the sand ‘I never thought. I’m really—’

‘Medusa.’ He stopped my blabbering with a chuckle ‘It is okay. It happened a long time ago.’

The wind had moved my hair into my face, so I moved it back as I asked ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘I was ten when my mom got sick. Cancer. She died and my dad was devastated.’ Stone uttered quietly while not meeting my eye ‘He could not handle her death and had a heart-attack a few weeks later. Doctors said his heart strings broke apart and he died with a broken heart.’

My vision became unclear as I looked away from him and to the ocean. I did not blink because I did not want to cry.

It was hard to think about him in that situation. To think about him being hurt. I had always seen him as what he appeared to be.

He was big, strong and intimating as hell Stone.

I had the urge to hug him.

However, I restrained myself. I thought about the repercussions of wrapping my arms around his large form. I had the image of him throwing me away from him and into the sea like a javelin. 

Looking down towards our joined hands, I noticed how my hand dwarfed his. Everything of mine was so tiny compared to him.

I moved my hand from under his hold and put it on top of his huge one. It was my turn to squeeze his hand.

‘I’m really sorry.’ I said again before adding ‘Ten years old? That must have been so difficult.’

He shrugged and his deep voice filled the space between us again ‘It worked out fine. Brennan’s parents adopted me after they passed.’

‘That was nice of them.’ I mentioned with a smile ‘Do you still live with them?’

‘Yeah.’ He replied lowly, his gravelly voice a little less hoarse ‘Brennan is my brother in every way that counts.’

It was obvious that blood meant nothing to the two men, and they were family.

Evidence of that was the fact that he was spending time with me. He listened to everything I said like he cared, and he spent more time than necessary with me.

The though of him putting up with me for the sake of Brennan and Lana pondered around in my head.

I looked to the two others at the seashore before I peered back at the giant.

‘It is not like that.’ Stone growled, ‘Never think that.’

‘What?’ I questioned, confused.

His face was not teasing nor smug when he grumbled out scoldingly ‘What you were thinking, it is not true.’

I tilted my head at him ‘How do you know what I am thinking about?’

‘I’m an Ella-Expert.’ He replied, a small smirk making its way onto his face.

A noise from Lana and Brennan in the water made me jump and, in the process, I removed my hand from Stone’s.

Stone scowled at my hands that now rested on my knees and then he scowled at the pair in the ocean.

He eventually peered back down at me with a stern expression. He studied my face as he continued to be deep in thought.

His seriousness never cracked as I stuck my tongue out at him in a way to cut through the tension.

‘Right.’ I ordered, ‘Out with it, Lurch.’

Stone chuckled ‘What?’

‘I know you want to ask me something.’ I mentioned, ‘I can sense it and I’m not even a Stone-expert.’

He cocked his head.

‘Wait.’ I laughed out my question ‘Would that not just be called a Geologist?’

‘Where is your dad?’ Stone questioned gruffly.

This man was the most perceptive person I had ever met.

Perhaps he was an Ella-expert.

I was not ready to talk about my dad. I had no idea where I would start.

‘He is away on a business trip for a few weeks.’ I lied.

He watched as I crossed my arms. He studied me sceptically like he did not believe my lie.

‘Do you think you will ever go back in the ocean again?’ Stone asked.

‘I don’t know.’ I answered honestly ‘Maybe one day, I will try. Just not right now. I still need to conquer my fear of the Ferris wheel.’

‘You are scared of the Ferris wheel?’ He repeated.

‘Yeah.’ I confirmed before I let out a humourless laugh ‘Do you think the world is ending?’

Stone raised an eyebrow at my last sentence.

‘We just had a heart to heart. We went ten minutes without insulting each other.’ I pointed out ‘Now, I truly believe anything is possible.’

His husky laugh vibrated through me as his burly body moved closer.

‘I think you should insult me.’ I mentioned with a loath ‘Us being nice to each other is too weird.’

He laughed again but did not say anything. His face grew serious as he looked at my hair that was absent of the vibrant green colour.

‘Are you struggling to find an insult because my hair is gone?’ I teased as I nudged him with my elbow.

‘There is always your height to make fun of.’

I sent a glare his way ‘Can you not think of anything else?’

His black pupils met mine as he smirked ‘Your eyes.’

‘My eyes?’ I questioned, ‘What is wrong with my eyes?’

The answer he gives does not answer my question, instead, he described them as ‘Large brown doe eyes.’

‘Do you just sit and find all my flaws?’ I asked as I rolled the things he called large brown doe eyes ‘Anything wrong with my nose?’

‘Little button nose.’ He claimed.

The weird thing was that he described my attributes while staring out at the sea. He seemed to be reciting them from memory.

I shook my head at his comments ‘These are terrible insults.’

Stone chuckled again ‘Why don’t you start us off with an insult?’

Nothing came to mind as I let my gaze roam every part of his exposed body.

‘I can’t think of anything because you are not wearing your leather jacket.’ I said lamely ‘I can’t exactly make fun of your naked torso.’

His chuckle grew into a deep husky laugh as I realised that I pretty much complimented his god-like body. I covered my face with my hair to hide my visible sign of embarrassment.

There were no trees around so I could not exactly blame my blush on my allergies.

As the two lovebirds made their way out of the water and towards us, Stone spoke again ‘Let’s face one of your fears today.’

I frowned ‘I don’t think I’m ready to go in the water.’

He shook his head once before suggesting ‘Go on the Ferris wheel with me.’

‘No way!’ I blurted out ‘I am not going on that death trap!’

A few seconds passed before a smug half-smirk grew on his face. It was like he remembered something.

‘If you go on then I will get you a stuffed panda.’ His deep voice promised.

This man knew how to work me.

I wondered why I chose to open up to him and why I felt so at ease while doing it.

‘You have yourself a deal, Lurch.’ I said back to him with a smile.

Image

The pier was busy by the time we arrived. The place was filled with kids running around.

It did not have the same feeling during the day. The neon lights were nowhere to be seen and the sun annoyingly shone in my eyes.

Brennan and Lana were walking hand in hand to the wheel. He did look at all nervous for what was coming next. I just hoped she would say yes to his relationship proposal, and it would not turn out awkward.

Stone and I followed behind as we made our way nearer to the Ferris wheel.

For the past twenty minutes, he had been constantly sending taunting looks my way. He was acting like I was going to fall off the wheel and plummet to my death.

When we stopped in front of the big terrifying ride, I stopped and faced him before blurting out ‘Stop looking at me like that. If there is one person that is falling off that death trap, it is you. That will be due to the fact that I have pushed you.’

‘I’m just surprised you are allowed on the ride, Medusa.’ He teased, his eyes remaining on me ‘I thought you be under the height restriction.’

‘There isn’t even a minimum height!’ I exclaimed before glaring at him ‘You are so going to die by my hand in the next ten minutes.’

The two others were already in the queue so when Stone and I followed on behind them, Lana turned around to face me as she gasped ‘You are going on?’

‘Yes.’ I gritted out ‘Only because Lurch is forcing me.’

She still looked to be in disbelief as she asked Stone ‘How did you do it? I have been trying to get Ella on a ride for years.’

Brennan joined in with the teasing as he patted the giant’s back ‘He is the Ella-whisperer.’ 

‘No. He is not.’ I argued.

Lana smiled at me before delivering in awe ‘I have never seen you anywhere near the Ferris wheel. Stone is a miracle worker.’

‘He is a pain in my ass. That is what he is.’ I commented as I sent the person in question a side glare.

‘So how did he manage to convince you go on?’ She asked.

‘I’m only doing this for my stuffed panda as my first one was brutally murdered.’

Brennan laughed but then he realised his plan was in jeopardy ‘You two are getting your own carriage, right?’

Before I could answer, Lana quickly dismissed the idea ‘No way. We can go on as a four.’

I remembered that his grand plan was to ask her out where they first met.

‘You two should go on yourself.’ My inner romantic took over and I shook my head before rejecting her offer ‘Lurch and I will go ourselves.’

The blonde girl frowned ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah.’ I said for definite ‘We can get to know each other better.’

Lana finally agreed. She and Brennan were next in line, so they got into the next free carriage as Stone and I remained in the queue.

Once they were away, I turned to my smug acqenemy ‘Just so you know. What I said to her last physically hurt me to say.’

His lip quirked up an inch when roughly let out ‘Whatever you say, Medusa.’

When it was our turn to get on to the death wheel, I was still planning my escape. I thought about running but then remembered that the large man was faster and stronger than me.

I cursed his tallness.

I just needed to remind myself why I was doing this. It was solely for the panda.

Stone sat across from me in the small, confined carriage. It meant that there was no way of hiding my facial expression from him.

There was no way to hide at all.

In my head, I vowed not to cry in front of him.

We were halfway up in the air when I scowled at him ‘I can’t believe you are making me do this. This is not safe. There were no windows in this thing.’

He flicked his dark irises between my widened eyes and my mouth.

‘What if I fall out?’ I asked him.

‘You are not going to fall out.’ He assured me, his eyes shining with amusement ‘I would not let you.’

‘I’m pretty sure you would. This was your plan, wasn’t it?’ I shrieked in horror ‘You are going to kill me on this thing.’

He laughed at my theatrics before grumbling ‘Any last words, Medusa’

I tapped my chin before I grinned at him while revealing ‘You are not invited to my funeral, and I hope we don’t meet in the afterlife.’

The view was stunning. I could see the whole pier and the beachfront. I even saw some houses beyond that.

What was surprising was that I did not mind it up here. I liked being at the angle where I could see every wave and ripple in the water. I felt almost comfortable.

‘It’s beautiful.’ I said aloud but quietly to myself.

Stone nodded his head in agreement even though he was not looking outside of the little space we had between us.

He was staring right at me.

I closed my eyes and felt the wind on my hair as I voiced ‘I can’t believe I haven’t done this this before.’

A deep rumble of a laugh is what I heard in return.

When I opened my eyes, the two people a few carriages down were kissing. It just happened to be the two people I knew.

‘It looks like he has asked her to be his girlfriend.’ I mentioned to the giant while I pointed towards Brennan and Lana.

He followed my finger and glanced and them before turning back to face me.

I peered down at them again as I voiced ‘Do you think they will last?’

He mumbled something under his breath that I could not make out before he asked, ‘Do you?’

‘I hope so.’

‘He won’t hurt her, will he?’ I questioned.

The giant who was too big for the seat continued to study me before he stated ‘No. You do not have to worry.’

I nodded before changing the subject ‘How did you and Brennan meet?’

We were rising into the air again when he answered ‘I was an angry kid. I was walking along the beach kicking rocks into the water. I kicked one hard and it hit the back of Brennan’s head.’

A small laugh escaped me as I questioned ‘What did he do? Did he come and hit you back?’

‘No.’ He answered with a gruff sigh ‘Brennan kept trying to talk to me. I ignored him but he continued to talk anyway. He was persistent and he didn’t take the hint to fuck off.’

‘No doubt you gave him your signature death glare or your dismissing grunt. Some things never change.’ I mentioned as I smiled at the thought ‘Maybe you were not as scary at ten years old as you are now.’

He cocked his head at my words.

‘If I didn’t know you and you glared or growled at me then I would run home screaming.’ I remarked with a laugh.

‘I doubt that.’ Stone grumbled while chuckling to himself ‘You called me Lurch five minutes after meeting me.’

‘That is because you called my hair puke- coloured. Which I still have not forgiven you for.’ I replied as I twirled a strand of hair on my finger but then noticed its colour ‘I actually regret removing the green.’

He did not reply. He only continued to watch as I frowned at my brown pieces of hair.

Noticing below me, I motioned to Lana and Brennan ‘I hope they pull away before the end of the ride. Imagine the kid’s and parent’s faces if they were still heavily making out.’

‘Do you not want that?’

‘Brennan’s tongue down my throat?’ I asked amusedly ‘No, I don’t want that that.’

Stone’s eyes darkened when he growled ‘No. You are not having anybody else’s tongue down your throat.’

‘And what will you do if someone tries to?’ I challenged ‘Cut it off and store it in a jar?’

He leaned closer and gnarled ‘Damn right, I will.’

I tilted my head before referencing his question earlier ‘What did you mean then?’

‘Do you want romance?’ He asked, his gravelly voice growing slightly lower in volume.

I almost let out a laugh because I never imagined Stone wanting to speak about such a thing as romance. I never knew it was in his vocabulary.

My arms crossed over my chest when I rebutted ‘Why do you want to know that?’

‘Curiosity.’

‘I don’t see anyone willing to stick around.’ I answered him with a sigh ‘But it is okay. I am cool on my own.’

The grumbling under his breath started again as I stared out at the horizon. I tried to act non-perplexed and uninterested in what he was darkly mumbling about.

My plan backfired because in the next thirty seconds I surrendered to my curious side and asked, ‘What are you grumbling at?’

He challenged with a half-smirk ‘Why do you want to know that?’

I held eye contact with his obsidian pair of eyes and gave him the same vague response he did me ‘Curiosity.’

For the rest of the ride, I only broke from our staring contest if it was to glance at the smirk on his mouth.

I really should have looked away, but I could not. It was like a magnetic pull. Being trapped in a small pod on a Ferris wheel made us impossibly close.

There was nowhere to escape from his intense stare and I was entirely not sure if I wanted to escape or not.

The ride stopped and I took Stone’s hand as he helped me down onto the ground.

We were greeted by the new happy couple who told us all about their romantic venture.

Brennan lowered his head towards me and whispered ‘Ella, why is Stone glaring at me?’

Stone was glaring at him with a scowl worn on his mouth. His black eyes were narrowed while he started at the lack of space between me and Brennan.

I ignored him as I walked in front with Lana who was ready to tell me all about Brennan’s romantic speech.

After a few hours together on the pier and when the sun disappeared and drowned into the sea, we all said our goodbyes.

The two men mentioned that they had to meet some friends before they left us to walk home.

The only thing on my mind was my newest furry friend. The reminder that Stone kept his end of the deal.

I squeezed the large panda bear Pete the Second as I walked home with a large grin on my face.