I smile as each foot hits the pavement. I never expected my trip home to be so... amazing. I've reconnected with everyone in my life that matters and it's all thanks to a certain brunette.

As the cool morning air hits my skin it takes me back to yesterday, the whole 'Rose and Jiwon' thing. I still don't know what Jiwon meant when he told me to apologize to Jisoo for him. What'd he do to her? I shake the thoughts from my head as I turn down my street, finishing up my fifth mile. After Jisoo and I talked last night we headed for a late dinner and then a walk. I don't think I've ever felt so... complete.

My heart is so full of love, a feeling I thought I'd never feel again; a welcomed feeling though. I slow down as I approach my front door, jogging in place for a moment before going inside.

"Well good morning, Lisa." My mother greets me at the door with a bottle of water. Creepy much?

"Hey mom." I reply, taking the bottle of water from her hand and taking a big gulp. "How'd you know I was back?" I pop a brow as I twist the cap back on the bottle.

"I heard you coming." She shrugs and turns around to head back into the kitchen.

I scrunch my face. What the hell does that mean? "What am I, an elephant?"

My mother chuckles, throwing a hand up. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant a mother can always sense the presence of their child." I stare at her with raised brows. She rolls her eyes, "I was sitting at the table and saw you running up to the house."

I nod once. "Mhm." I grab a plum from the fruit bowl and turn to head upstairs. "Jisoo and I are gonna spend the day at the beach so we can't really make it to your full day of family fun." I tell her, trying to muster up as much fake regret as I can.

"Oooh the beach! Sounds good." She nods, turning around to grab something from the cabinet. What? No!

"I wasn't really inviting you guys mom. Didn't we have this discussion yesterday?" I ask in a tone that causes her to turn around and look at me.

"Yes." She nods then scoffs. "But I didn't think you were serious." She lightly chuckles. I keep my face as serious as possible to let her know I wasn't kidding. "Oh Lisa be serious." She waves me off. "We're not as bad as you make us out to be." She rolls her eyes and turns back to the cabinet.

"You're right mom." I sigh in defeat. I don't want to hurt my mom's feelings. "You guys aren't that bad, but I'd like to spend the day with Jisoo alone if that's okay?" I ask, like she really has a choice in the matter.

"Okay honey, whatever you say." She replies, not bothering to turn around.

"Okay." I mumble to myself before turning and leaving to head up and shower.

I don't think a shower has ever felt so good. I get dressed, text Jisoo to let her know I'm on the way before heading down stairs to grab something quick to eat from the kitchen because the plum I had did absolutely nothing for my hunger.

"Lisa." My little brother greets me with a hug. I smile down at him, taking in his outfit.

"What's up buddy? Where you headed?" I question.

"To the beach." He says cutely. Wait what?

"Mom!" I shout a bit angrily because I know what she's doing. She's using my little brother to get what she wants right now.

"Yes dear?" She appears in the kitchen with my dad close on her heels. Oh that innocent look is not gonna work on me mother!

"Mom I thought we discussed this."

"Morning sweetie." My dad kisses my cheek. I smile at him then turn back angrily to my mother.

"We did." She nods. "And we're not going to bother you guys. I just decided that it's a really nice day out and we shouldn't spend it inside." I roll my eyes. Yeah right mom!

"Honey what are you doing?" My dad asks her, looking back between the two of us.

"Nothing hon," She says sweetly to my dad, putting on her best innocent smile.

"She's hijacking my date dad!" I shout, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"Oh don't be so dramatic Lisa. I'm doing nothing of the sort. I'm simply trying to enjoy a day at the beach with my family." She shrugs.

"Oh yeah right mom." I shake my head at her.

"Lisa dear we don't have to go if you're uncomfortable with it." My dad says. I scan the faces of all my family members. Oh that sneaky sneaky woman. This was her plan all along! I sigh, dropping my shoulder in defeat.

"No, it's fine dad. I'll just meet you guys there."

"Yay!" Luke shouts, running over and hugging my waist.

"Kay, see you later sweetheart." He kisses me on the forehead. I give my mother an intense stare before I turn and leave.

–

"I'm really sorry about this Jisoo." I roll my eyes as I park the car. I explained to Jisoo on the way here that it would no longer be just us. She took it really well actually. She says that she loves my family and that she's honored to be able to spend the day with us; that when I leave she wants to visit and hang with them often anyways.

See! She's perfect right.

"It's really okay, Lis." She smiles, grabbing my hand. I turn to look at her. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. I'm happy to be anywhere with you, even if I have to share you with your family." I shake my head.

"More like I'm gonna have to share you." I scoff and roll my eyes.

"It's not gonna be that bad." She places a soft kiss on the back of my hand and I can't help but smile. "Come on." She instructs me and I comply quickly. We both get out of the car and move towards the trunk. She pulls out her board and then a spare that she lent me.

I'm not entirely sure why I agreed to this it's not like some kind of contact sport that will allow me to have her on me. Like basketball or cheer-leading or something along the lines of her hands being on my body, or her body being very close to mine. She's going to be on her own board floating away from me. To make things even better my family will be observing the goings-on between me and Jisoo.

We both carry our own boards, wetsuits hanging around our waits. Flip flops are hitting the bottom of our feet with every step we take and I'm brought back to the memory she told me about the morning we had coffee. That was only several days ago but it feels like so much time has passed. I see my family has already arrived and I try to distract Jisoo so she won't see them, but my little brother has shouted for our attention. Very rarely do I dislike my little brother but in this moment he's not my favorite little person.

We reach the three of them and Jisoo digs her surfboard in the sand and I'm looking kind of helpless. She does it with such ease and every time I try I have to have quick hands and grab it before it falls over. She giggles and comes to my aid.

"Here let me help." She slams it in the sand and my mother is the first to say something.

"I didn't know you could surf Jisoo?"

I'm not sure why my mother would know so many details about Jisoo but okay. I try not to have a sour face while she tells my mother the history behind her love of surfing. My dad and Lucas are just watching the exchange and absorbing the awesomeness that is Jisoo.

"So I'm teaching Lisa here to surf." She turns to me and my scowl easily turns into a smile. Oh she's good this one.

My mother snorts and I glare at her. Why is she snorting?

"My daughter is not a friend of the ocean."

I grit my teeth and force out the word "mother" begging her to stop embarrassing me. She's going tell the story I know she is.

"Ever since she was a little girl she didn't like that the ocean came up and touched you. Every time she went close to the water she'd scream that the water was chasing her and run away."

"For the love of...Ma!"

Lucas falls back laughing and I glare at him. He shrieks and urges my dad to go with him to dig a hole by the shore. He better run.

"That's so cute." Jisoo comments sincerely, rubbing my arm. I blush and look away from her for a moment. The gentle squeeze she gives me causes me to turn back to her.

"Thanks." I whisper not really fond of the memory. I'm not scared anymore...at least not much. The ocean is a dangerous place.

"See it's cute, which was what I was going for. Thank you Jisoo." My mother chimes in cheerfully. I grunt and point to the boards.

"So should we do this thing?"

"Yes but first we need to wax the boards." Jisoo grabs the bag she carried from the car along with our boards. She drops her board flat in the sand. I manage dropping the board without even trying so at least I've got that down packed. I mimic Jisoo's motions and look down as she kneels beside her board and starts showing me how to wax it. Her back flexes with every move she makes and I know I don't need to say it but I think it's necessary that I point it out; she's got a hot body.

She tosses her hair up to look at me and makes sure that I understand just how to do the task. I stop drooling for a moment to tell her. "I was too busy staring at you to follow what you were doing."

She smirks and I bite my lip as my eyes scan her body. I hear my mother clear as we try to imagine things you like to imagine if there wasn't a chaperone. I whip my head to look at my mother.

"No one invited you ma." I say plainly and she quirks a brow at me. I feel a gentle tap on my leg and look down at Jisoo.

"Be nice." She says playfully.

"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend and be nice to your mother."

My eyes shoot wide as I watch Jisoo stare at me for a minute and see what I say about the girlfriend comment. I just drop into the sand and kneel next to her.

"Only because Jisoo told me to, I'll be nice." I answer as I wax my board. We share a smile and finish off the work before the fun begins.

–

Okay I was wrong this is not fun.

"Jisoo I'm gonna die out here." She giggles as I struggle to get back on my board. It slips out of my hands and pops out of the water landing close to me. I want to cry. "Shouldn't I have started paddling in the sand or something?"

"That doesn't work." She answers as she paddles closer to me.

"It works in all the movies." I answer with a whimper and finally manage to get onto the board as Jisoo holds it place.

"Do you really believe everything you see in the movies?" She asks once I'm fully situated on the board.

"Yes." I answer in a faux serious tone. She snorts and points behind me.

"Shark."

I whip so fast I fall off my board. She throws her head back in laughter. I pop out of the water and splash her.

"Jisoo Kim that was not funny."

"I'm just reenacting Jaws." She says through her fit and I lift myself onto the surf board for what feels like the twenty millionth time. Jisoo pulls my board close to hers. "I'm sorry, you're just cute."

I grunt and lift my head in mock anger. She skillfully leans towards me and manages to steal a kiss. I don't fight her for much longer and kiss her back. She pulls back and smiles.

"I'm glad you're not the kind of girlfriend to stay mad over little things." She winks at me and this is the first time she's mentioned the 'g' word since my mother said it. She nods her head in the direction behind me. "That's all you babe, get it."

She turns her board around and lays on it. I follow every movement as if my life depended on it. We've been out here for at least an hour and I've managed to drink more salt water than to surf it. We are both looking behind us timing the water and Jisoo tells me to start paddling and I start. I dig my hands in the water like I'm trying to separate every particle from each other. I hear my girlfriend shout for me to stand and I grip the sides of the board, pop myself and slowly stand up. I keep my legs in the stance she's shown me and I feel that my level is a bit higher than the flat surface of water. I smile widely as I stay up for the duration of the wave. The wave breaks and I'm still standing. Jisoo cheers for me in the distance and I feel a rush of pride surge through me. I turn the board around and paddle my way back to her.

"You were awesome!"

I giggle as I pull up next to her. "I have a great teacher." I tell honestly. She shrugs and her face turns serious for a moment. "You okay? Did I say something that upset you?"

She just shakes her head and sniffles a bit.

"It's just been a while since I've been out here with someone, and I'm just glad it's you."

I realize the last person she must've surfed with was her brother. This time I pull her to me and kiss her softly.

"Thank you for sharing this with me." She just nods and I lean forward again. I'm a little too sure of myself at this point, thinking I'm this debonair on the board, then reality hits me as I slip off and land in the water. I resurface and she's laughing. I seek refuge as I hold onto her board for support and she leans down and kisses me. I bury my hand in her hair and we stay like that for a while. We drift amongst the waves, getting lost in each other as we get lost out to sea.

We all gather around the small campfire my dad built in the sand making s'mores; after watching the sun set. Jisoo is in between my legs with a blanket over us. I watch as my little brother burns another marshmallow. He likes it to a crisps, he says it gives the s'more a smoky flavor. Jisoo is munching away happily on her treat and I look around at my family. They weren't as bad as I expected, though my mother did have a few stories I wish Jisoo never but if those didn't scare her off I guess it's safe to assume that she's not going anywhere. I pull her closer into my body and she snuggles into me. I can't help the smile that shoots across my face. I look at my mother and she's staring at us. She doesn't notice that I notice her but it's sweet to see her happy. It'll give her some peace when I leave again. She won't have to worry about me not coming back; especially since there's so much more to come back to this time than when I left the first time.

As the night comes to a close, my family and Jisoo gathered around the fire, I close my eyes soaking it all in. Lucas falling asleep on dads lap, my mom's head leaning on his shoulder as Jisoo snuggles closer to me. The breeze coming off the ocean feels nice. I look up and catch my moms eyes, hoping she can read between the lines. A small smile appears at her lips, she nods subtly before whispering something in my dads ear.

He stands, lifting Lucas up with him. "Well, we're gonna head out. This little guy has school in the morning."

"Aw, okay." Jisoo stands, hugging both my mother and father as best as she can with Lucas making the task a bit difficult. "It was really fun hanging out with you guys today." Jisoo smiles brightly at my family.

"It was our pleasure." My mom leans and hugs Jisoo again, this time kissing her on the cheek. "We hope to see you again really soon." My mom says looking around Jisoo to me. I playfully roll my eyes.

"Of course you will." Jisoo answers quickly

"Good." My mother walks over and hugs me, "She really is a lovely girl Lisa." She whispers in my ear before her and my father head towards the car with a sleeping Lucas.

"I officially love your family." Jisoo walks over to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I snake my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me.

"I think it's safe to say the feeling is mutual." I smile before closing the distance between us. I've missed having her lips on mine. It's been sort of difficult with my mom, dad and little brother watching us all day.

"I'm sorry you were at the beach and didn't get to go to your spot today and watch the sunset, we were here and you didn't even-"

"I watched it." She shrugs, smiling. "I watched it with people I really care about and that's all that matters." I can't help but return the smile. Jisoo does have a way with words.

"You really are amazing you know that don't you?" I ask as lean my forehead against hers. She just smiles, giving me an Eskimo kiss. "Do you want to go?" I ask softly and she doesn't hesitate to delay our departure.

"No can we just sit here a few minutes longer?" She drops down into the sand as she asks, like I would ever say no to this girl.

I position myself behind her again. She naturally leans back against my chest. Usually my mind is reeling with thoughts, memories, and scenarios. But right now, in this moment I choose not to get lost in my head. I want to get lost in this moment so that when I need to revert back to my memories this will be one I can't forget. This will be one where I relish in my happiness with my girlfriend who I never expected to enter into my life. She's everything I never thought to ask for and she's all mine.