twenty-four

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In a way, her altercation with Mason the night at the party was a blessing

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In a way, her altercation with Mason the night at the party was a blessing. It was enough for Holland to convince her mom to let her skip school the Monday after her weekend so that she didn't have to see him.

In Holland's eyes, there was no better choice than to sit on the beach, staring out at the ocean before her. Her knees were tucked up into her chest, Luke's sweatshirt lying around her shoulders as she watched the waves as they crashed against the shore. The beach was mainly full of families with young kids or older couples right now. It brought a smile to her face to watch them, see the happiness on their faces as they danced around.

"It's a beautiful day on the beach. So why is it that a young lady like you looks so sad?"

Holland looked to her side, the man beside her seemingly just appearing out of nowhere because she had never heard him walk up. She smiled at the older man, old enough to be her grandfather, as she shrugged and turned back to watch the ocean.

"Just stuck in my thoughts, I guess. I have a lot going on right now,"

The older man hummed as he leaned back against the sand, looking at the ocean.

"I like to listen, so you can always talk. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone that doesn't know what you're going through,"

Holland was apprehensive for a moment. This was a man she didn't even know, albeit he was just a kind older gentleman trying to cheer her up. Maybe it would help to talk about it with someone that didn't know what was going on, unlike Julie and Flynn.

"I've been falling for someone that's impossible to be with," she finally spoke, her eyes never leaving the water before them. "There's a...particular set of circumstances surrounding him that just makes it hard to actually admit my feelings. If he even reciprocated them...it wouldn't be a normal relationship in the slightest. And it's hard, because the more I'm with him the more I fall for him, and the more I fall for him the more I feel like I'm going to get hurt in the end."

The older man hummed, turning to look at her with a curious gaze.

"They say it's easier to be with someone you don't love, then to admit you love someone you can't have," Holland looked over at the old man as he shrugged. "It might hurt, but maybe the best thing you can do for yourself is move on."

"If it was anyone else, I think I would. But...it feels like fate, as cheesy as that is to say," a frown crossed the older gentleman's face as Holland laughed, turning back to the ocean. "He showed up in my life, and he's made it nothing but better. And with him, comes my brother. He...he hadn't be in my life for most of it, but now that he's here I can't imagine him ever leaving me again. And with them, comes a boy that I've grown to see as my best friend, no matter how much his obsession with bad pop songs annoys me daily. I just...I can't picture doing anything else for the rest of my life without those three guys by my side. And I know my best friend feels the same way."

PERFECT HARMONY ◼LUKE PATTERSON◼Where stories live. Discover now