Wandering back into the lounge, Miles and Morgan had gone into their own rooms to unpack. Or watch the fish out their window in Miles’ case.

Jane sprawled across the couch when I threw a towel over my shoulder halfway to the front door.

She tapped away on her phone and snapped selfies. The makeup she spent so long on looked a shade too dark and her layers gave the skin texture a grainy spread. All in the pursuit of beauty, Morgan and Jane would constantly let me know.

She cut a glare over to me when my feet slipped into a pair of thongs at the door. "Out to flirt some more?" She asked, tone sticky and cloying as honey.

"No, I actually enjoy not being a massive whore," I shot back, voice light. "I didn't want to hear about your plans."

Oh how I loved watching her break from that sickly sweet facade. "I'm not a whore!" She hissed back, rolling onto her feet to glare my way.

"Are you sure? Because those three marriages and two relationships you helped break up tell me different,” I gestured her way. She had a bit of a history but we’d known her since highschool. For all the buttons she could push on us, we knew many dirty secrets she used to boast about. “With the amount of grass stains on your back, it wouldn't help your case. Let me know when that bubble of denial pops," I snarled and she pursed her lips shut. Sourfaced and knowing this was tame for all we knew about her dirty past, she went back to tapping on her phone.

The soft creak of feet approaching got our attention.

Miles approached with a little frowny pout. Puppy Miles, the most lethal. "Niamh, you feeling alright?" Miles asked, offering a bar of precious sugary snacks. He knew me so well. I pinched his cheek and accepted the offering with a kiss to the abused cheek.

"Oh I'm great. I'll be outside. The water is calling to me," I beamed and nearly ran out of the bungalow. The wide boards stretching out over the water had a ladder down to the sandy floor. I dropped a towel by the nearest deck chair and went over to swing my legs out and onto the rungs. The wooden texture had been warmed by the sunny day, as had the boards of the deck. Who needed those fancy ceramic tiled bathrooms with inbuilt heaters when you could have these?

Miles and Morgan would love telling their fathers about this and tease the older men about how amazing it was here. 

I ignored the last few rungs and dropped into the water. Water rushed up past my waist and cradled my lower half, a tingling nip to the cooler waters. Like the reefs I had visited twice in my life, the atoll reef thrummed with life when I waded further away from the bungalow. It slanted deeper away from the beach, easy to slowly submerge my body as I waded and then paddled out.

Up above, the sky with its fluffy grey clouds and the endless blue almost blinded me. I sucked in one long breath and sunk into the dark water, watching the light get swallowed up almost immediately. The thrill that shot through my spine prickled my skin. Faint brushes against my skin told me fish darted here and there. A rogue manta ray floated close in from the grey film around us, then curved back around as I drifted to the bottom. The wonderful creature bumped and nudged until it floated off into the distance.

When the bubbles started drifting up, I pushed off the sand and shot up to the surface. Breaching, the air felt especially sharp and unkind when I took in breaths.

Not wanting the dream to end so soon, I let my body drift until my legs came level with my head. I floated there like a little weetie flake in the biggest bowl of milk. I could hear a few people strolling along the beach, others on the boardwalk. Their voices weren’t enough to ruin the tranquility of my extended soak. They all seemed content to either nap before tonight or look around. How could they not want to get in here?

More water for me, I suppose.

Too soon, I heard Miles calling my name.

I paddled back as slow as I possibly could. He met me at the top of the ladder, shaking his head but not lecturing me about pruny hands. It went in one ear, out the other most times. “Thought you’d want a little time to get ready for your precious lagoon dip,” He teased and handfed me a bit of tuna sandwich. “Have some snacks and get dressed, okay? Josh is icing out Jane and is sleeping on the couch now.”

“Reaping what he sowed,” I muttered and he grunted. “Okay. Lagoon time. If it’s half as amazing as the water out here, I’ll die a happy woman.”

“Let’s hold off on the death thing, yeah?” Miles half joked, giving me a side hug and scrunching his nose at the water soaking into his thin linen shirt. “You’re lucky I’ve got to change anyway. Morgan has been complaining that you didn’t go out with her taking photos. She’ll have fifteen whole albums by the end of our trip here.”

“And I’ll be a few shades near grey with all the time I plan to spend in the water,” I said, shaking my wet hair out and laughing when Miles spluttered. A little splash hit him in the face.

“Should’ve expected that,” He mumbled with a long suffering sigh when I curled around his arm like a limpet.

“How are you holding up?” I asked him when we stepped into the bungalow. Josh had tucked himself into the bigger armchair, board shorts and a simple v neck ready for the evening ahead. He snored softly, clearly exhausted. It made a traitorous part of my heart crack with pain at the sight. He had never had the best sleep patterns, much less been comfortable to fall asleep around anyone without a locked door.

No, bad heart. Shut up.

Miles went silent when I did, face creased in while he stared at our once good friend. If I looked closer, his hand twitched toward Josh.

“Ahem,” Someone interrupted and I hissed, glaring over Miles’ shoulder to Jane. She wore a thin draping fabric over a crimson red bikini set. I hated the little part of me that liked the silvery threads on the wrap.

“I’ll be quick,” I said to Miles instead of acknowledging the woman. A peck to his cheek, I power walked into my room and shut the door tight.

The largest suitcase had space for potential souvenirs after the month long trip along with some of my nicer clothes. I pulled out some dresses and long skirts, then tossed them onto the bed. No, no, no.

My fingers caught on a plain blue dress that would be breathable. It slipped over my swimming skorts and the crop top that doubled up as a swimming top easy enough and I pulled my hair up into a messy bun with strands falling here, there and everywhere.

“Done,” I nodded to my reflection once the dress sat low down on my legs and weighted with a few sneaky clips for that purpose.

Morgan waited beside Miles by the time I wandered out, her own peach pink knee length dress too nice to be thrown into sand later on. “You’re going to make so many good first impressions, and then a lot of regret.”

“Why?” She asked, tapping her pinky on her drying lipstick. Waterproof and a few shades lighter than her usual red lip colour.

Miles pocketed his phone and tucked his glasses into the slight dip of his neckline. He dressed as casual as Josh, in shades of green.

“You’ll have to take it off when you go swimming,” I pointed out, itching my neck where a few annoying tingles started up.

Miles and his red wrists along the veins made me think he might be itchy too. Once we got used to the salty air and bizarre beauty, this sort of allergic reaction would get easier. My nails dug into a particularly persistent itch behind my left ear.

“If you're getting some kind of Isle measles, I’m going to leave you to sleep outside,” Morgan warned (half a real threat). “And I won’t be tossing this piece onto sand. There’s changing rooms and racks in every major beach area. I don’t even know if I’ll be swimming for long anyway.”

“What?!” I choked, slapping my chest to hack out the bubbles in my throat. “Y–You can’t just not swim in the lagoon! And think of the water. They don’t ever tell you how deep it is because they say it’s like you’re in the night sky. They need those fancy industrial grade water torches to see even a metre in front of them!”

She rolled her eyes, flapping a hand. “We know. Between you and Miles, I’ve heard all sorts of weird trivia about this island. How ‘bout we go and experience it first hand now?”

I hopped back into my thongs and almost forgot to snag my phone and the lanyard with my room card attached. I bolted for the door and waited with my hand on the knob. Miles took his time padding over to Josh, chewing his bottom lip up with every step.

“Hey,” He murmured, nudging the broad shoulder. Josh turned into the touch, bumping his cheek against Miles’ cool hand. “We’re ready to leave.”

Josh jerked upright, face burning red as his fist came up to scrub at his eyes.

Jane scooched over, all but shoving Miles out of the way to cup Josh’s face in her hands. He shoved them off, stumbling up onto his wobbly feet. “Right, let’s go,” He rasped and marched to the show rack hidden by a well placed planter.

Miles’ pinched expression didn’t ease when we joined the steady trickle of guests headed toward the meeting point. From boards, to sand and then the hard packed trails of flat stone and dirt, I kept tucked between Miles and Morgan. Josh led, looking ready to head off to war. His mood swings didn’t make sense and I couldn’t feel anything but budding anticipation for watery heaven.

I told that quiet, worried voice in my head to shut up and go back to ignoring the man.

Miles and I stayed as quiet as Josh, taking everything in. Morgan, the social butterfly she was, got pulled into an animated chat with a group of three strangers about her trip here. A few years older than our early 20s, they weren’t horribly invasive or noisy about their questions.

One was a surfer with a massive shark bite scar that took up his entire thigh. He fondly recalled the wave he had been surfing when the oceanic predator caught him when Morgan asked about the marks. “You wouldn’t believe how much blood I lost too!” He chuckled, shaking his shaggy head of hair out of his dark eyes. “But what do you expect? We’re in their territory, y’know?”

I nodded.

“I was more hurt when they kept me on bedrest for months and wouldn’t let me go out onto the waves for two years,” The stranger said, laughing when the short woman with them elbowed his side. “Yeah, yeah. I know, big scary sharks, danger.”

“More like you’re a reckless idiot, Scott,” The woman snapped, rolling her eyes. “You watch your siblings, Morgan. Trust me, it’s hell to almost lose a baby brother just because they’re reckless idiots that have a death wish.”

“It all worked out,” The other man laughed. “You have two of us.”

“Yeah, one baby goes skinny dipping with water death machines, the other from planes with a little bag,” She snapped, already earning a fair bit of respect from me. She was a good sister, and an even smarter boss between the three of them. The Miles of her little family. “They’re not trying to give me heart attacks every other day. Not at all.”

Morgan laughed, right along with the two daredevil brothers. “You and Miles should make a club. ‘Long suffering responsible siblings’, or something,” She joked, waving our way. “How about it? I’m sure he’d love another ‘responsible adult’ to complain with.”

I turned to her, a faint burn in my chest. “Morgan,” I reminded, pulling her attention away from the potential set up victim. “No.”

“What?” She held a hand to her chest, fluttering her lashes. “I’m not doing anything! Just thought Miles and Robin here might have a lot in common.”

‘Robin’ glanced at Miles, flashing a smile. “I wouldn’t mind at all. We have a month here with plenty of time to kill,” She answered and I glared at the smile stretching across Morgan’s lips.

“I’m sure you’ll find a lot of things to do,” Miles muttered, not bothering to look at her. The woman pursed her lips, then nodded. “I’m attached.”

Morgan’s head whipped around, all but growling with the shock of that twist. “When were you going to tell me?” She demanded but her brother kept staring ahead, happy to keep silent. The opening in the trail up ahead saved him from more of Morgan’s demands.

“There’s some of those parrots in the branches,” Josh said from four steps in front, pointing to the watchful feathered sentries staring us down. “A fledgling too.”

Miles came to an unsteady stop to gaze at the many creatures watching us back. He loved all sorts of aquatic creatures but birds were a close second. “I’ll have to come back through here tomorrow,” He breathed, fingers twitching for a pen and paper.

Josh pulled out a little notepad and pencil, shoving it into his hand before spinning back round to face away from us.

Okay. Little Miss Oblivious Me needed to strap on my detective hat and look into this.

Miles barely recognised who gave him the book, standing off to the side to let others pass while he sketched a few rough drafts of the fledgling and the presumed parental figure tucking it under its wing. I waved Morgan ahead, sticking close to his side while Josh had to shake off Jane’s hand yet again. She sauntered off, hips swaying. It went unnoticed by her target because Josh tilted his head back to watch the birds too.

Existing in this quiet, near peaceful bubble went on for six minutes. Miles came out of his haze and pocketed the notepad, sparing the birds one last look. “Definitely coming back,” He promised himself. “I’ll ask about potential seeds and fruits I may be able to feed them.”

“You’ve got your watercolours in your luggage too. These colours will look gorgeous if you paint them,” I urged and he nodded. “C’mon, let’s go see the lagoon now. It may not be as pretty as these birds but think of the water!”

“That’s all you think about,” Miles tutted but let me drag him back onto the trail. Josh followed behind this time, arms crossed and heavy footed. “Wow.”

I almost imagined my feet leaving the ground, ready for the next step to be into the inky darkness that swallowed sand whole.