Long Beach

"Sandy," he called toward the bar, "Can you please help Eve clean this mess up."

"Watch where you're going next time" Ripley said sulkily.

Wade shot her a glare, "Ripley you should apologise, you've soaked Eve's shirt."

Ripley narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Nuh-uh. You can't make me do anything."

And before he could persist, she sauntered for the door, managing a must straighter line than Eve thought her capable.

Wade sighed, "I'm sorry Eve, she's not usually like that. And I'm sorry she spilled all your drinks and ruined your clothes."

He gave her a weak apologetic smile. Part of her felt bad for him that he had to clean up after his friend -- she didn't entirely understand why they were friends -- but mostly she was just glad he was nice.

"It's okay, thanks though. Sandy and I will get this cleaned up." she assured him; her anger gone with the other girl.

Wade grinned, "Great, well I'll definitely be seeing you around then, I hope the rest of your night goes better," he gave her one last apologetic look before taking off after Ripley.

"Hey, at least you have to admit I can hold my liquor better than you now!" she heard him call out to his friend, even though Ripley just closed the door in his face.

Eve just shook her head and set about cleaning up the monumental mess in front of her.

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Ripley sat in the sand, letting it run slowly through her fingers as she just stared out at the waves. The water reflecting off them hurt her head. She'd been drunk enough to act like an asshole last night, but not so drunk that she couldn't remember it.

She felt like a jerk. She knew she could apologise, but honestly, she just wanted to avoid Eve.

She groaned, letting herself fall back into the sand. Marlin was definitely going to scold her next time he caught her at home. He came home late last night and she'd gone out early intending to catch some waves.

She watched Wade carve up a neat right-hand wave. She sighed, if he could fight the hangover, so could she.

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After Eve finished up work, Diego had convinced her to come to the beach with him the next day and he'd teach her to surf. She wasn't too sure about the ocean in general, having never spent much time at the beach, but he managed to convince her and she agreed to at least give it a try.

Now, she was sitting on the beach, Diego going over the basics of how to surf, the sun beating down on her pale skin.

All she could focus on was the two surfers out the back doing tricks and spins on their boards, having the times of their lives.

Diego eventually realised she'd lost focus and followed her gaze.

He grinned, "Oh yeah, that's Wade and Ripley, they've been surfing almost as long as I have -- they're pretty good huh?"

Eve quickly looked away. "Yeah, I guess they are."

Diego noticed the change of tone and his face softened.

"I saw your little... debacle with Ripley last night. She's strong headed, but don't worry, she's not always like that. She'll come to her senses."

Eve shrugged, "It's okay, I don't need to deal with her. I think I'll just stay out of her way."

Diego met her eyes but obviously decided not to say anything, instead he said, "Want to get in the water then?"

Eve bit her lip, nerves filling her stomach, "Sure, why not?"

Two hours later, all she'd managed to do was fall off her board over and over, getting sea water up her nose, emerging like a half-drowned rat.

She hated the ocean and she was exhausted.

Diego followed her up to the beach, "Hey, don't worry, you're definitely getting better already. It'll take some practice but I think you'll be good at it!" he encouraged her.

Eve rolled her eyes, "Sure, I just don't know that it's really my thing."

Diego shrugged, "Well at least you tried. If you ever want to give it another go, let me know, okay? I've got to head into work, but I'll catch you later."

He smiled warmly at her, then waved and headed off the beach with the two surfboards.

Eve collapsed onto the sand, at least she could get a bit of a tan.

She put her sunglasses on, set herself down on her towel and closed her eyes.

A while later, she felt a shadow come over her. She opened her eyes slowly, confused, to find a particular blonde looking down at her.

She quickly sat up.

"You know, you're going to get burnt like that."

Eve glanced down at her slightly red skin. Shit, she must have dozed off.

"I guess I dozed off, she said, quickly standing and wrapping her towel around her body. She didn't like the way Ripley's eyes trailed causally over her body before settling on her eyes again.

"What do you want? Other than to point out that I'm going to look like a beetroot tomorrow," Eve scowled, remembering how the girl acted the previous night.

To her surprise Ripley seemed to shrink slightly, looking at her feet before sighing.

"No, I um, wanted to apologise. About last night. I was drunk, and that's no excuse for being an asshole to you, so I'm sorry," Ripley paused.

Eve opened her mouth but no words came out so she closed it again.

"For uh, the way I acted and spilling drinks on you." Ripley clarified.

Eve suddenly found her voice again, "Oh, well thanks I guess."

Unsure of what to say, she just started gathering her things, feeling suddenly awkward around the pretty and somewhat intimidating taller girl.

"Well, I better head home before I get anymore burnt than I already am," she said lamely, to excuse herself.

She felt flustered under the easy smile of the other girl who was watching her awkward collect her belongings.

"Need a lift?" Ripley asked.

"Oh, uh no thank-you. I think I'll just walk, it's not too far."

Ripley shrugged, smirk on her face, clearly seeing Eve was just avoiding her "Suit yourself."

Eve knew she'd regret declining the offer, the sun burnt skin already stinging under the heat of the sun. But the thought of sitting alone in a car, with Ripley, the girl with the attitude.... the hot girl with the attitude, was even worse. She pushed down the flustered feeling in her chest and high-tailed it out of there, resolving not to return to the beach for a while.