Daisy paused momentarily, her hand slipping loosely from Arvil’s. She crossed her arms tightly around her stomach, glancing away.
Of course. This wasn't real. None of it was. Why couldn't she seem to remember that? This was just going to end in pain for one of both of them…
“Oh… That’s a good question,” she murmured. “Um. Maybe a month? Or two? I don’t know, Arvil. How long is a fake relationship supposed to last?” Her final words were clipped, giving a bit more bite to them than she meant to. She didn’t apologize, though. She couldn’t. She wasn’t sorry for the words, just the way she said them.
Fake relationship. The bite in those words felt like a harsh slap to the face. Arvil winced slightly, though he didn’t show it much.
“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that, either,” he murmured under his breath. “Guess we’ll just have to see how long we last.”
“I guess we will,” she mumbled under her breath.
The rest of the walk went in silence before they finally reached the villa. Daisy slipped inside and made her way to her room before Arvil could stop her, not sure what she would even say, anyway. Plus, she needed to change into her swimsuit if they really were going to go swimming.
Arvil opened his mouth to call after Daisy, but sighed, stopping himself. What would he even say to her? He had no idea.
He took a seat on the couch, deciding to wait for her in case she still wanted to go swimming. If not… then he’d bid her goodnight through the door and retreat to his own room.
Once Daisy was in the confines of her bedroom, she fell back against the door with a groan. She buried her face in her hands as she slid down to the floor.
This was ridiculous. She shouldn’t be so worked up about this… There was no—
Oh no. Oh, no, had it been a month already? It didn’t feel like it had. But that would explain why she was so hungry and why her emotions were all over the place.
Another groan escaped past her lips as she pushed herself to her feet. A quick trip to the bathroom confirmed what she already knew: her period had come.
Awesome. Just fricking awesome…
When Daisy hadn’t come out of her room, Arvil sighed. That meant he had screwed up. That also meant a goodnight.
Slowly, he dragged his feet to her door and leaned against it on his side, knocking gently.
“Hey, Daisy,” he started softly, “I’m sorry if I said anything that offended you. Just… have a goodnight, yeah? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Daisy had just cleaned herself up a bit and gotten into her suit, making sure to put on a coverup also, when she heard Arvil knock. Her gaze drifted to the door, and she sighed softly, putting her face in her hands and shaking her head slowly. After a quick moment, she shook herself out and walked to the door.
“I was just getting ready to go swim,” she started softly as she opened the door, lifting her gaze to meet Arvil’s. “I wasn’t trying to avoid you. Did you want to come?”
Arvil leaned against the doorway, moving away in time before she opened the door. He looked her over, his eyes darkening slightly when he noticed her bare legs. She would go out like that? Then he scolded himself. It wasn't right to feel like this.
"I'd come with you, yeah," he answered quietly.
Daisy blinked, her arms wrapping around her stomach when she saw the look in his eyes. He got that way just from seeing her legs? It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen them before… She’d worn shorts when they went to lunch, even.
“All right, then,” she murmured, trying not to chew on her lip. “Let’s go find a beach.”
“Yes,” he managed out, trying not to look at her legs. It was a good thing they were out swimming in the evening. He really didn’t want anyone staring at her like that. “Let’s go.”
Daisy nodded, and they made their way or the door. As they walked, she kept her arms around herself, unsure of what to do now, after their… whatever it was.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured abruptly, not able to look at him as she spoke. “I didn’t mean to say what I said how I said it earlier…”
“No, it’s fine,” Arvil assured her, his hands in his pockets. “I asked that question at a bad time, too.”
“Well, I didn’t have to respond how I did,” Daisy argued, shaking her head. “It was rude of me.”
“Well, if you feel that way, then it’s all right,” Arvil told her, sighing. “Don’t worry about it, Daisy.”
“Okay…” Daisy sighed, her head hanging still. “Were there any good places to swim that you saw? Any beaches or pools?”
"There's actually a plunge pool on the second floor," Arvil said, suddenly remembering. "I'd forgotten about that."
“Oh. That’s right. Should we go back to that?” Daisy asked, finally looking up at him.
"It's up to you," Arvil said, though he wanted to say 'yes'. He didn't want anyone else admiring her. It took everything out of him to keep his eyes on her face and not on those long, smooth legs. "I mean, you want to swim."
“Well… I mean, we’re already out here. Why don’t we look for a nice stretch of beach?” Daisy suggested with a shrug. “We can use the plunge pool another time.”
This woman… did she have no idea what she looked like? She could’ve worn something bigger than that on her coverup. Something that went down till her knees so she wouldn’t be getting as much attention. So people could keep their eyes off of—
Arvil halted that thought abruptly. He was not her husband. Not really. He had no right to even think about telling her what she should and shouldn’t be wearing. And he definitely had no right to to keep her away from being admired like that. This relationship was not going to last. He needed to remember that.
“Sure, we can do that,” he said instead, giving a nonchalant shrug. “It would be less crowded, anyway. The beach, I mean.”
“I suppose it would,” Daisy hummed, glancing around. Spotting a fairly empty spot on the beach, she gestured toward it. “Should we go over there?”
Arvil had been looking around, hands in his pockets, his features set into a scowl. There weren’t many people, like he mentioned earlier, but those who were present… some of them turned their heads to look at the beautiful woman beside him. One scalding glare in their direction turned them away.
Then Daisy spoke and he wiped traces of anger out of his face, relieved to know she hadn’t been looking at him. Good. He didn’t want to be suspicious.
“Sure,” he answered casually. “We should have brought a blanket, too…”
“Oh, shoot, right… I mean, I guess I could just use my coverup as a towel, but you don’t have anything to sit on, do you?” Daisy realized, pursing her lips in thought. “Should we go back to get towels?”
Arvil’s eye twitched at the prospect of her having to remove her coverup, but he didn’t say anything regarding that.
“I’ll be fine,” he shrugged. “I’ll use my shirt. No worries. I was mostly concerned for you.”
“Oh. Well, all right, then. Let’s go swimming,” she said as she looked up at him with a smile. “The sooner we get over there, the sooner we’ll be in the water, you know. That means you’ll have to move your feet, Arvil.”
Arvil rolled his eyes and began to walk in long strides, his hands still in his pockets. He turned around a little without stopping, and quirked an eyebrow.
“You coming, wife?” he inquired, a small smirk tracing his lips. “You wanted fast. What’s gotten you so slow now?”
Wife…
The word, the lie, clanged through her. It warmed her from her head to her toes, just as it froze her insides. It would forever be a shock— No. It wouldn’t. Not forever. Because this would not last forever.
Quit thinking that way. This is your vacation, just enjoy it already.
With a small smile and a quiet chuckle, she shook her head and hurried her pace.
“That’s no fair! Your legs are longer than mine are,” she protested.
“How unfair,” Arvil mocked, keeping his pace. “Guess you’d better walk quickly, huh? We wouldn’t want you falling behind.”
“Arvil! Are you trying to leave me behind?” Daisy asked with a laugh.
Arvil smirked at her and without wasting a second, he whirled around and caught her in his arms. Though he was being playful, it was also to send a clear message to anyone who was looking at his—at Daisy wrong. She was off limits.
Though he was a mess on the inside, he had a cool look on his features.
“Well, now you won’t be left behind,” he told her cheekily, lifting her up with his arms around her. He didn’t pick her up bridal style, nor did he throw her over his shoulder. He started to walk, finding little difficulty in carrying her horizontally. “Oh, look. We both won.”
