baby you're the right kind of wrong.

Ebony ran up to her room when she got back to the kappa house and changed into her swimsuit real fast before she threw some extra clothes and things in her beach tote ready to head out. And really she couldn't remember when she'd felt this excited about something. Even if was just her and Jake going to the beach for a day it was kind of exciting. And before no time she was meeting Jake at the front door ready to head out for a day of fun in the sun.

---

"I don't think so." Liam said glad she thought he was comfortable, "I have to admit I'm pretty comfortable just laying here and I can't really say that's ever happened before." He told her before he let out a soft sigh and looked over at his door when there was knock at it. "Well I guess spending the whole day in bed's already over." He joked before he climbed out of his bed. He could've just let them knock and pretend that he was still asleep or something but well he figured he might as well see who it was and what they wanted. So he opened the door and saw Zayn, who he'd figured it probably was. "What's up?"

Zayn only had to wait for a moment before Liam was answering the door, apparently still in his sleep pants from the night before. He didn't know Liam to be a late riser, but he had never really kept tabs on him before. "Some of us are going out to the lake to hang out and drink. You wanna come?" Zayn really hoped Liam would come, because there were a couple of girls that Zayn thought could use a little occupying and he hadn't invited nearly enough guys yet.

---

Maisie was happy to here that Liam felt the same way, but she barely had time to react before Liam was answering the door. She still wasn't sure if anyone was supposed to know if she was there or not. Even though Zayn hadn't told her to hide in the closet or anything, she thought better safe than sorry and hid her head under the blankets so the knocker couldn't see her.

Ebony smiled at Jake again when he wrapped his arm over her shoulder again as they walked to his car to head to the lake for a day. "So I'm really glad that you invited me out today." She told him once they were on their way. And she was. "I don't actually remember the last time I went out with a guy even if it was just as friends. Since I was supposed to have breakfast with Chase the other day but it never really happened so I don't count that." She said knowing she hung out with him at the party and all two days ago but well they weren't really alone then. This was different though because it was just her and Jake and she liked that.

"Well I'm glad you're glad. And I'll make sure you have fun then so you don't go running off bored." He joked with her.

---

"Uh I'd actually planned on spending the day with Maisie." Liam said glancing over to his bed trying to laugh at how adorable it was that she was hiding under the blanket, probably because she thought he didn't want anyone to know she was there or something but he didn't really mind either way. "She might wanna go though so I could ask her, if that's okay of course." He said not wanting to just invite Maisie along with them without at least asking to make sure it was okay if she went along.

Zayn tried not to quirk his brow at Liam's words, but he did it before he had a chance to stop himself. It wasn't that Maisie was a horrid person or anything (Zayn hardly knew her) but he was surprised that Liam had a girl he was seeing, and a freshman girl at that. "Yeah, bring along. We're leaving in about 15 if you guys decide to meet us down there," Zayn said, wiping the confused look on his face to smile at his friend. It wouldn't really help the girl to guy ratio, but Zayn would enjoy having Liam along. "I'll go tell some of the other guys." Zayn finally gave up on only inviting coherent people and decided he'd have to invite some of the alcoholics too. He left Liam's room to go invite some others, and quickly had a decent sized group of guys.

---

Maisie was still hiding under the blanket as Liam and Zayn talked. She was doing her best to hear what they were saying, especially since she was sure she'd heard her name a few times, but it was hard to tell what it was about. There was a very real possibility that he was talking to Zayn about finding a way to get her out of there, but she couldn't be sure from where she was laying, so she just had to wait for them to finish so she could either get kicked out of Liam's room or get back to cuddling with him.

Jake and Ebony drove to the lake talking over the softly playing music, and it was nice. The conversation wasn't forced which was nice and she kind of wondered why she hadn't done this earlier. They finally arrived and found a parking place before they were getting out of the car and walking towards the shack.

"So I figured we could grab some food then head down to the beach and have a like a picnic." Jake said walking her towards the shack earning a nod from her. That actually sounded like a great idea, she hadn't really eaten that much for breakfast and was getting kind of hungry so a picnic on the beach actually sounded great.

---

"Awesome, uh 15 minutes sounds good." Liam said before Zayn was walking away to find more people to invite. Once he was gone though Liam shut his door again and then turned to Maisie who was still hiding under the blanket. "So Zayn invited me to go to the lake with him and some friends and you're more than welcome to come along if you want. I'm sure there'll be some of the kappa girls there too so you wouldn't be like the only girl or anything." Liam said going to move the blanket so he could see her and smile at her. "But they're leaving in like 15 minutes so we'll have to move fast if we wanted to go." He told her not really caring if they went or not, but they had been invited, and the lake was pretty fun.

After rounding up some of the Alphas, Zayn met Lindsey out on the front lawn, where she had a few of her friends and a small cooler that someone had bejeweled. He hoped they had decorated it before, because it would be insane for them to just do it for this event.

"It'll just be a few more minutes," Lindsey said, smiling as she walked over to Zayn. "A few of the girls are still getting ready." Zayn had pretty much expected that, so he didn't mind waiting for a few more minutes.

---

Maisie was ecstatic when Liam invited her to hang out with his friends instead of kicking her out of his room, which she had been fearful of since she woke up. She smiled at him as he pulled the blanket away from her face. "Yeah, that sounds great," she said, giving him a soft nod. "I'll go get changed." Seeing as Liam had already seen her in a bikini at the luau, this wouldn't be too nerve wrecking, though being around the other Kappa girls in swimsuits was always rough because everyone of them looked incredible. She hopped out of Liam's bed and made her way back to the Kappa house, where she quickly put on her swimsuit and threw a sundress on over it. She wasn't sure if Lindsey knew she was invited, so she hoped Liam would already be waiting on the lawn by the time she got down there.

Ebony and Jake got their food then headed to the beach to find somewhere to sit and eat their lunch. It was such a pretty day out that it made everything better. Ebony felt amazing actually sitting here with Jake eating lunch on a blanket. Even though she wasn't entitled sure if this was considered a date or just two friends hanging out. It gave her an amazing feeling either way.

"So just out of curiosity here, but Zayn's not gonna get pissed off that we're together will he? Because I mean I think we all saw how he flipped out on Harry, and if you guys are getting back together or something I'd totally not stand in the way."

Ebony shook her head. "No. He has nothing to be pissed off about if he does find out were together. We aren't together. And it's become pretty clear that he doesn't want another romantic relationship with me. And that blow up was more because Harry was being a douche and what happened with us is just a touchy subject that we both want to move past. Besides he's trying to date Lindsey and I can't stand her but I'm not getting in his way so I think you're good."

---

"Awesome." Liam told her, and once she was out his door to head back to the kappa house to change he changed and grabbed whatever else he'd need and headed over to the kappa lawn to wait for Maisie and whoever else was still getting ready. "Thanks for inviting me and for letting Maisie tag along." He said to Zayn though once he spotted his friend on the lawn.

"Not a problem, man," Zayn said to Liam, giving him a quick smile as the rest of the girls finally came out of the Kappa house. They all looked about the same as Lindsey with a beach bag and a bikini with some small piece of clothing over the top.

He turned to Lindsey and gave her a quick kiss to the top of her head. "I guess we should pile into some cars then," he said to her before picking up her cooler and beach bag and throwing them in his trunk before turning back to Liam. "You guys can ride with us if you want."

---

When Maisie finally made it to the front lawn with the rest of the girls, Liam was already standing there next to Zayn and Lindsey. She still didn't know how Lindsey felt about her so she was a little wary of standing by her, but she didn't really have a choice. She walked up to Liam and gave him a bright smile. "I brought sunscreen in case you need some," she said, pointing to her bag. "I know the other girls use tanning lotion but I'd be a lobster if I did that." She'd never really been able to tan, which had always gotten her picked on during high school, especially around prom season, but she dealt with it. Maisie took a quick look around and realized that everyone was packing up to leave, with Zayn calling to them and waving them over.

"Well that's good," Jake said smiling over at her before he was leaning closer to her. "It's his loss then." He told her before he pressed his lips against hers. And she took a minute before deciding to kiss him back. And it was kind of strange kissing him. Not because he was a bad kisser, but because well the only person she'd kissed since Zayn was Harry and she'd only kissed him because she'd wanted to piss Zayn off. But having Jake be the one to kiss her first was different. They weren't kissing to get back at anyone or because of some stupid party game. And it was nice.

---

"Awesome. I might end up needing some, tanning is weird when it comes to me so I'll probably just play it safe and use the sunblock." Liam told her not really sure he was in the mood to be dealing with a burn that may or may not turn into a tan in a few days. "And that sucks. I knew someone like that in school. She could not tan at all and she always went on about how awful it was." He said not really sure if Maisie thought it was nearly as awful as his friends from school or not though. "I guess we should be going though. We're just gonna ride with Zayn and Lindsey by the way. Hope that's okay."

Zayn hopped into the driver's side while Lindsey went to the passenger's side. He turned the car on as he waited for Liam and Maisie to jump in. His hand reached over for Lindsey's and held onto it, his thumb rubbing over the top of her hand. It was weird to have someone to be publicly affectionate with again, and he wondered vaguely if Liam would give him a hard time about it, which would have been awkward with both Lindsey and Maisie there.

---

"I'm pretty much used to it by now," Maisie said with a shrug. She had tried so hard to get tan for so long that she might actually be at risk for skin cancer, but she'd finally accepted it about a year ago and stopped trying, which her skin definitely thanked her for. "That sounds great to me." Maisie said, nodding her head as she smiled at him. She'd never been in Zayn's car before, but it was quite nice and had a fairly spacious back seat.

Ebony wasn't sure how long her and Jake sat on the blanket kissing before they had to pull away for breath, and his hand rested on her cheek holding her face while she bit her lip before she smiled at him. "Maybe we should go for a swim." He said before she nodded her head remembering that she was at the beach. Clearly that kiss had done more than taken her breath away. "Yea that sounds like a good idea." She said before he was pulling away and helping her up and then pulling his shirt off and Ebony was trying her best not to stare. Lord she hadn't been this jittery and all over the place with her thoughts in forever. She finally stepped out of her shorts and pulled off her tank top and then took off running towards the water hoping she could just get over this feeling of starting a new relationship quickly. It wasn't a big deal, and it had to happen eventually.

---

Liam nodded his head then climbed into the backseat of Zayn's car with Maisie letting Lindsey of course take the front with Zayn. And he noticed them holding hands and he wasn't really sure why seeing it was so weird but he didn't sat anything. Maybe it was because over the last few years it'd always either been Ebony held hands with and then after her there hadn't really been anyone. Anyone Zayn'd had over was usually gone by morning. So it was weird seeing his best friend moving on from her, and with Lindsey who kind of annoyed like everyone. But it was his life and he'd tried to attempt to get them back together and apparently failed so that was that. It Zayn wanted to get all cuddly with Lindsey and be done loving Ebony or whatever the hell he felt for her, then so be it. "So you're going to love the beach," he said turning to smile at Maisie. "It's loads of fun. And the lake is actually really pretty and clean thank heavens so it's not nasty to swim in or anything like some are."

Zayn kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other wrapped around Lindsey's as he led the group towards the lake. He looked away from the road for just a moment to look at Lindsey and smile. "You look absolutely gorgeous," he said, causing her to smile at him. He looked back at the road, taking a second to look in the rearview mirror to see Liam and Maisie talking. He still didn't know what was going on with those two. Luckily, it wasn't too long of a drive before they were on the dirt road that led to the lake, nearly to the parking lot.

---

"I hope you're right," Maisie said, looking over at Liam and smiling. She was sure it was going to be a good day just because she was going to get to hang out with Liam, as long as no one else did anything crazy to mess it up. "I've never been before. At least not to this one. But I'm sure it's great." As long as the water wasn't disgusting, the lake would probably be just fine. Maisie didn't realize the lake was so close to campus, and it looked like they were coming up to it much more quickly than she expected.

Ebony and Jake played around in the water some splashing one another and acting like little kids, which Ebony loved. Feeling like a kid again was just amazing. Especially with how stressful being an adult could get sometimes. But before she knew what was happening Jake was pulling her close and looking down at her. "I really like you Ebony." He whispered, before he pecked her lips. Though Ebony wasn't sure how she felt about Jake right now, she just knew she liked being around him so far and that kissing him was nice. Feeling just weren't something Ebony knew how to convey sometimes. "I like being here with you." She told him not really sure if she liked him back, and maybe it wasn't that complicated, or shouldn't be. But the only feelings she was sure of was that that she loved Zayn and regretted messing everything up with him. And those were the two feelings she was trying to move on from. Because she didn't want to spend forever loving someone who'd moved on, and end up not only regretting messing everything up with him but not moving on herself.

---

"We don't come out here a lot really anymore." Liam told her knowing she was just a freshman so he hadn't really figured that she'd been here before and it was so close to campus half the time Liam was positive it was part of campus. Plus half the time it was only uni students there anyways. Actually he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen someone not from uni there. Maybe the family who ran the food shack a little ways away from the beach, but really thinking about that he was pretty sure their son usually worked it and he went to school with them. And he wouldn't say that they came every weekend, or every other day or anything crazy like that all the time but one month his sophomore year Zayn, himself, Ebony, and Laura the girl he'd been dating then had come at least once a week. But he hadn't really been much since then. Maybe once or twice every summer they were in school.

Zayn pulled into the closest parking spot he could find, the rest of the group parking in various spots next to him, before he got out of the car and stepped around to Lindsey's side to open the door for her. After that, he grabbed her bag and cooler and carried them both towards the beach with Lindsey following right behind him. She picked a spot by the water and pulled two towels out of her bag, laying them next to each other so they could lay by each other.

He watched her take off her clothes, admiring how perfect her body was. She could probably stand to eat a bit more, but she still looked absolutely gorgeous, and he smiled at her before pulling off his own shirt. "It's time for you to get in the water," he said to her, walking over to her and throwing her over his shoulder, walking towards the water as she laughed and kicked her feet.

"Zayn! I wasn't ready!" She shouted, slapping his back lightly and laughing before he was nearly waist deep in the water and had to set her down so she wouldn't drown. When he dropped her, she had a fake pout on her face and he quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, pressing a light kiss to her forehead, which made her giggle. He was happy that he was finally starting to feel happy with someone after what had happened with his last relationship that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to get over.

---

"Hmm, maybe it'll be nice and everyone will make a habit of coming back more often," Maisie said to Liam with a shrug of her shoulders just as Zayn pulled into a parking spot. There weren't too many people on the beach, no more than fifteen, which meant there was plenty of room for their group to set up. Maisie stepped out of the car and then stepped around to Liam's side, waiting for his cue on what to do next. Everyone else was heading down to the beach, but she had no idea where exactly to go and would rather stay closer to Liam, since it seemed like she was the only freshman that was invited, though her invitation had only been through Liam.

Ebony and Jake finally left the water to walk along the beach some and just enjoy each other's company and the beautiful day. She was hoping that she could just stay this comfortable around him, and really even if she didn't ever fall in love with him she was hoping to herself that she would, or could fall in love again. Because she wouldn't screw it up then, or at least she'd try not to. But she'd told herself she wasn't going to think about, or talk about anymore than she absolutely had to today so she tried to go back to ignoring he existed or how she felt about him. Which might be hard seeing as apparently he was at the beach with Lindsey. But after seeing him carry Lindsey out to the water she was more determined to move on, because she couldn't keep doing this to herself.

"It'll stop hurting eventually." She heard Jake say before he put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into him and kissed her head. "Besides his loss anyways."

---

"Maybe." Liam said shrugging his shoulders, he wasn't even really sure why they'd stopped coming as much as they had. He'd always really liked being here actually. The lake was pretty, the sand was nice, it was fun but oh well. And at least right now it wasn't over flowing with college kids or anything either so it wasn't like it'd be hard to find somewhere to lay on the sand if they wanted and they wouldn't have to push and shove to get to the water. Coming early was always the nicest because it was before it was crowded. "So would you rather walk on the beach or get in the water?" He asked her finally not caring which they did but since it was her first time here he'd figured he'd ask her.

"So, all the girls were asking what was going on with us," Lindsey said, twisting her hair in her fingers as she looked at Zayn. Zayn wasn't surprised to hear that, since girls usually did an awful lot of talking and gossiping, and he knew that sorority girls were particularly bad.

"And what did you tell them?" He asked as he lifted his finger up to push a piece of hair out of her forehead. She didn't have a chance to answer before one of the guys was calling Zayn's name, asking where the beer was. He shouted back at him, his eyes falling shortly to the beach, where he saw Ebony. He was surprised to see her out and about after what had happened with her grandma, but he didn't really know anything about her healing process. It was none of his business anyway. He turned back to Lindsey and smiled, repeating to her. "What'd you say?'

---

"I'm good with anything." She wasn't too picky, and anyway Liam was the one that had been there before, so he'd probably know what was better for them to do. She wasn't hungry yet, so the picnic was out of the question, but both the beach and the water sounded nice. "What do you usually do?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him with a smile.

Ebony took another glance at Lindsey and Zayn before looking up to Jake. She knew that he meant well with the whole it being Zayn's loss and all. Clearly he thought she was a total catch and Zayn was an idiot for letting her go. Or maybe he thought Zayn was stupid for not giving her another chance and going to Lindsey or something. She didn't know. But it just felt like it was her loss. Every damn time she saw him that's what she felt. Every time. "My dad said the same thing. Well about how it'd stop hurting eventually. But personally I think you're both full of shit." She said shaking her head some.

"I don't think it'll ever stop hurting. It might not hurt as bad one day, but I think it'll always hurt. Because losing someone isn't something easy, you're just stuck with the constant reminder of them. And then when you don't think about them they find a way to sneak back into your mind. And you always have those memories and you lay awake at night wondering if they're thinking about you the same you're thinking about them. And it doesn't go away. People say it does, but it doesn't. After a while you just learn to live with the pain. And that might sound stupid but it's just how I feel about it. And I'm kind of sick of hearing that it'll get better. Or stop hurting. Because it hasn't yet, and I don't think it ever will. Can we just leave? I'm not really in the mood to be here anymore." She said figuring she should go back to the hospital to see her nana, and work on her some of her homework or something.

---

"That's so hard to answer." Liam said laughing a little. It shouldn't be this hard to answer, honestly how hard was it to say if he was usually in the water on the sand. "I say we walk along the part of the beach where the water washes over our feet some and just talk." He said biting his lip. That sounded like a pretty good idea. Better than swimming around or laying around not talking or anything. And they were still in that phase of their progressing relationship where they didn't really know that much about one another and could totally learn more. Even if that was kind of what the date was for. This could just be like a predate thing and then they could use the actually date to do date things like cuddle during a movie, or laugh at how awful the other was at bowling.

"I told them I wasn't sure," Lindsey said, shrugging her shoulders with a smile. She looked back to where Zayn's gaze had fallen just moments ago. "What are you looking at?" She asked before she spotted Ebony on the beach. "Oh, I didn't know you invited her."

"I didn't," Zayn said, looking from the beach back to Lindsey as she turned to him again. "I guess she just came on her own." Zayn and Ebony had been to the beach together before, but he didn't know she liked it enough to come enough on her own. He didn't think she ever really had a good time when they would go there on double dates with Liam, but he guessed he was wrong.

---

"That sounds perfect," Maisie said, smiling at Liam as they began to head to the beach. She couldn't really imagine a more perfect day in her mind, and she was excited to get to spend more time with Liam, even if it was while they were surrounded by gorgeous girls in their bikinis that Liam could easily sleep with. "What would you like to talk about?" She asked, tossing her bag and towel on a spot on the beach next to the others where she knew it would be safe. She really needed to put on sunscreen at some point, but it could wait.

"Uh yea we can totally leave if you want." Jake said finally leading her back to his car. And he drove her to the hospital like she ended up asking him too deciding on her own that if she wanted to change clothes or something she'd just go back to the kappa house in her car.

"I'm sorry about earlier. If I seemed kind of harsh." She told him biting her lip she knew she probably did sound harsh, but really she was tried of hearing the same thing from everyone. She was tired of everyone telling her it'd get better, or stop hurting, or one day she'd be over Zayn or that one day she'd forgive herself for messing things up with him. She was tired of seeing him everywhere and either being really upset that he was with someone else or super happy that they were trying to be friends. She was just tired. "I think I just need to take a break from relationships for a while."

---

Liam smiled at her glad she thought it was a good idea. "Well lets see," he said rubbing his chin trying to think. The possibilities were endless really. They were still just getting to know one another so really they could talk about anything and everything and it wasn't like it would be new information or anything. "Anything. Oh so how are you enjoying university so far? And of course the sorority. Even though it's only been like what? A month?" He asked her knowing it was bad if he was already starting to forget how long they'd been in school. This was what happened though.

"Well, it looks like she's leaving anyway." Lindsey pressed her lips together before shrugging her shoulders as she took a step closer to Zayn. He looked back towards the beach once to see Ebony leaving with Jake, then looked at Lindsey again. It looked like Ebony was moving on too, or maybe looking for someone to help take her mind off of her grandma. He couldn't be sure, but maybe it would help their friendship either way.

---

"It's been two, actually," Maisie said with a chuckle as she and Liam walked beside each other, their feet dipping into the water with each step. She imagined that the time all started to run together once you'd been in school for so long, like Liam had been. "And I love it so far. It's strange being away from home, but being a Kappa made it easy to make friends, so that really helped. How's your year been so far?"