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Charlie slipped her sunglasses onto the top of her head, above her bangs, and put her hand over her eyes so she could see without the sun blinding her. She looked from side to side, scanning the beach for one person.

'Maybe he's not here yet,' Mae said, looking the opposite way Charlie looked. 'He's waited for us on more than one occasion.'

'Exactly, it's not like him to be late,' Charlie replied. 'Or maybe it's not like us to be early.' She walked closer to the water, laying her towel down. 'I guess I'm just nervous, being the first date and all.'

She had come in her bikini, wanting to impress Rowan the best she could. Her hair was back, as usual, and she wore her usual line of eyeliner, which was barely noticeable. She sat down on the towel, hoping Rowan wasn't there already, or she'd look really stupid sitting alone.

'Hurry up, Rowan!' Nym exclaimed, running through the beach, Rowan following as close behind as possible. 'We're laaaaate!'

'You don't have to tell me that!' Rowan replied, sprinting as fast as possible, lest Nym get too far ahead of him. He didn't actually have a swimsuit, so he just wore dark green shorts that reached just above his knees. 'And we don't have to run the entire way there. Slow down!'

"There they are!" Nym announced aloud once Charlie and Mae came into view, coming to a halt. Rowan stopped seconds later, completely out of breath from running such a long distance.

"S...sorry we're...late," he managed.

'There they are,' Mae said, looking over Charlie's shoulder.

'Really?' Charlie asked, looking over and seeing Rowan and Nym run towards them. She started laughing at them, not to be mean, but it was a really funny sight. She put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.

"Don't worry about it," Charlie said to them. "It's okay, really. You didn't have to run," she said, standing up to greet them properly. She wanted to hug him, but she wasn't sure it was right to do that in a public place. She didn't want to shake his hand, since they'd gotten past that part. So she kind of just nodded, slipping her hands behind her back. He looked cute in his shorts.

"Hey, glad you showed up," Charlie heard a voice say. She looked behind Rowan, seeing Wesley with two drinks in his hands. "Hey you go, Char," he said, handing Charlie something fruity. He turned to Rowan. "Can I get you guys something? I'm going back over there anyways." He smiled at Rowan, his daemon seemingly happy as well.

Charlie smiled at the two guys, glad that Wesley was so nice to Rowan. She hadn't told him anything about their relationship, but he had assumed they had become friends. And Charlie's friends were Wesley's friends...he didn't really have a choice.

Rowan was a little embarrassed by how amused Charlie looked when he showed up. Oh well, she also looked really happy, and Rowan loved seeing Charlie happy, even if it was somewhat at his expense.

"I kind of did have to run actually, Nym just took off ahead of me," he replied, shooting a somewhat accusing look at his daemon.

"It was more fun than walking," Nym said defensively.

Rowan looked back up at Charlie and was about to give her a hug or some kind of affectionate greeting, but was forced not to by the arrival of her bodyguard. Just great, Rowan thought with a pang of annoyance.

"Can I get you guys something? I'm going back over there anyways."

"No thank you," Rowan replied, his voice a little bit colder than he'd intended.

Wesley nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "I'll catch you guys later, then. Have fun." He shot a wink at the two of them and walked off.

Charlie turned to Rowan and smiled. "I'm glad we're going for it," she said quietly, but she knew he'd understand. "I really am. And this is a great place to do that. We can swim, making sandcastles, get food at the snack bar, there's tons of stuff. I know we'll have fun." She stopped talking when she realized how much she was talking. She was always hyper, but it seemed to come out more around Rowan. Hopefully he wasn't bothered by it. She suddenly realized how rude she had been, not asking him how he'd been or anything. It was a little late, she didn't want to scare him with all her words, so she let him respond for once.

This time it was Rowan's turn to be amused. It was so cute how Charlie would just go on and on and then look embarrassed about it. He almost laughed. "I know I told you I don't usually like the beach, but you don't have to try so hard to assure me that we can have a good time," he told her. He'd have a good time no matter what he was doing with her.

'Tell her that,' Nym said suddenly.

'What?' Rowan asked.

'Tell her what you just thought,' Nym advised. 'She'll like it. It's sweet.'

'Um...okay,' Rowan said, a little unsure, but what did he have to lose? "Um...I'll have a good time with you no matter what we do."

Charlie blushed a bit when he said that, looking to the ground in...flatterment? "Thanks," she said with a smile. "Same with you." When she built up enough courage to look him in the eye again, she licked her lips and started talking again.

"So how've you been?" She was glad she got the chance to ask, since she'd felt so rude for not asking.

'I'm sure he didn't even notice,' Mae said, trying to be reassuring. It barely helped, since Charlie had seen how polite Rowan was.

How had he been? Rowan thought about it for a second. Unhappy, stressed out, anxious. The usual.

"Fine," he replied conversationally. "How about you?"

Actually, his life had felt a lot happier now that Charlie was in it. He wished he could take her to Dian. Or that she could take him to Adhbhar. Both seemed more or less impossible though.

Charlie nodded, happy he'd been happy. "I've been pretty good," she said, putting her hand up to her mouth and whispering to him. "Though I've missed you a bit." She giggled and winked at him, putting her hand around his and making a run for the water, trying to drag him along. "I hope you wanna go swimming, 'cause I sure do!"

She turned to see his reaction, a huge smile on her face.

Rowan subconsciously resisted as Charlie started to drag him to the water to go swimming. He really didn't like swimming very much...mostly because he wasn't very good at it at all.

However, Charlie just looked so excited. Rowan couldn't say no to that grinning face. "Alright..." he said, trying not to sound reluctant, allowing her to lead him to the water. "It's pretty shallow, right?"

Charlie nodded, turning back towards the water as they started walking into it. It was surprisingly warm, which was always a plus. "Sure, it's not too deep. Well, until it gets deeper...duh," she said, smacking herself in the forehead with her free hand. "It gets to a point where I can't reach the bottom, but that's the best part!" She let go of his hand, since they were no longer moving foreward, and bent down to touch the water a little with her fingers, giggling a bit. She was so giggly with Rowan, she loved it.

"Why, you scared?" she asked jokingly, assuming he liked water...she had never really asked him before, she had just assumed. She really hoped he liked water. That would really suck if he didn't...

"Of course not," Rowan replied, looking away. It was true, he wasn't scared; he just...didn't want to drown. Pretty reasonable, if you asked him. "I just...well..."

'Just tell her you can't swim,' Nym advised, amused.

'I can swim, just...not very well,' Rowan replied in his defense. Though even he realized that his 'defense' was pathetic.

"I'm not very good at swimming," he finally admitted.

Charlie blinked, a bit surprised at what he said. "Really? I would've never guessed, I'm sorry I just dragged you in here, do you wanna go back out to the beach -- OH MY GOD." The smile that had disappeared came back, as always, and she stood up straight, grabbing Rowan's shoulder.

"I could teach you!" she said, already imagining it in her head. Rowan having to rely on Charlie for help, she could totally make it fun and romantic somehow. They'd be so happy once he learned how to swim well, and he'd owe it all to his wonderful girlfriend, Charlie Monroe Preston!

Whatta good idea!

What a horrible idea.

Not that Rowan was going to totally shoot Charlie's suggestion down. She looked way too excited and even a little proud of herself. But still...the idea of his girlfriend teaching him how to swim was a little humiliating. Oh, who was he kidding? It was a LOT humiliating.

"Um...that's alright," he said, trying to make it clear that he did not want to do it, but at the same time not seem rude or anything. "I'd really rather not..."

Charlie shrugged. "Well, alright, but you're the one who'll be embarrassed when you come across a situation where you have to swim. You won't be able to avoid it forever. I mean, you might as well have someone who likes you already teach you how to swim, especially if that person already knows that you can't do it too well."

She wasn't very good at convincing people to do things, but she was really trying. She almost felt bad for Rowan, and thought it was a little cute that he couldn't swim. She really just wanted to help him out, but kind of expected him to not like the idea anymore than he had before.

"I know I can't avoid it forever!" Rowan exclaimed, feeling a little frustrated. Then he immediately felt bad for snapping at Charlie. It's not like it was her fault or anything. He just tended to get frustrated very easily. "Oh...I'm sorry, it's just...Well, you know. Embarrassing. Sorry." He looked away, hoping he hadn't made Charlie feel bad or anything.

Charlie frowned at first, but mostly because she had brought this side of him out. She hadn't meant to make him angry, but she let it go and smiled, holding his shoulder. "It's okay, Rowan. I don't want to make you do anything," she said reassuringly. "It's really not that bad." She rubbed his back a little, still smiling. "We can do something else if you want," she said, cocking her head to the side a little, since he had turned away from her. "We can go hang out by the bar, walk along the beach, or...whatever you want." She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable anymore, she didn't really like pestering people to do this anyways.

Rowan was pretty sure that Charlie wasn't using reverse psychology to make him feel extremely guilty, but even so, it sure did seem to be working. She was trying to enjoy the most in the short amount of time that they had and he was shooting down her ideas and being negative. Not to mention the fact that he'd told her earlier that he'd be happy doing anything with her, no matter what.

"No...you know what, whatever we do is up to you," he said, putting his arm around her waist.

Charlie smiled, "Well, I'm glad," she replied, wrapping her arms around him into a hug, but not for too long, considering they were in a public place. "Well, I'm okay with talking a walk down the beach if you want. I don't want to put you into any embarassing situations."

'But you do,' Mae said telepathically. Charlie shot a quick glare towards Mae.

'Shuddap,' she said back. 'I'm trying to be a good girlfriend.'