#jh44

“j, you’re getting water on me,” she complained and shrieked when all he did was shake his hair out. even more water flew everywhere. “sorry, babe. kind of inevitable when you’re sitting by the pool though,” he smirked. 

hannah rolled her eyes, moving her legs so he could sit down. his lap became the new perch and he happily let her rest there. “how’s your book?” his gaze swept across the cover. we were liars. 

“it’s good. i’m almost to the part about figuring out what really happened to cady,” hannah explained. she didn’t protest when james took the book from her hands to read the back summary. “hm. seems interesting.” 

“how was your swim?” she poked his thigh with her foot and he flushed, eyes drifting back up to hers. “it was good. refreshing. i’m so glad it’s finally summer.” 

“me too. no school work or practice to worry about for three whole months,” the brunette grinned, stretching back against the chair again. james shifted so he could lay on the chair too even though it definitely wasn’t big enough for both of them. 

“you’re gonna mess up my tanning,” hannah mumbled but made no move to push her boyfriend away as he laid his hand against her chest, basically covering her body from the sun. he was cool though from the pool which helped make her skin feel less hot. “you’ll just have a boyfriend shaped tan later,” james chuckled. 

the gymnast smiled, pulling her hand through his hair that was already drying off. for a moment, the couple let the silence take over as they just enjoyed each other’s presence and the nice weather. it was still early so everyone else was inside still asleep or just waking up. hannah and james tended to be early risers though and decided to take advantage of the empty pool before everyone else came jumping in. 

“your heart’s beating fast. what are you thinking about?” the hockey player mumbled, shifting his glance up to his girlfriend’s. hannah flushed, not realizing he noticed. she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head while a tiny sigh escaped her lips. “i don’t know. like everything?” 

“wanna talk about it?” 

james perched his chin up patiently waiting for hannah to talk. 

“well..first i guess i’m kind of scared i’m gonna like..completely flunk my internship,” hannah admitted and her boyfriend frowned. “why? you’re gonna be perfect at it. marketing and pr is like your favorite.” 

“i i know. i know. i guess i’m nervous to like be by myself for 6 weeks in a city i’m not that familiar with. new york is so fucking huge,” the brunette chuckled. 

“i get it. the city can be really intimidating. i’ll be there a few times though and i can help you figure out the train the first weekend. once you get the hang of it, it gets really easy to navigate to other places,” james assured and hannah appreciated the reassurance. she ran her hand down his bicep, squeezing lightly. “i guess i’m also nervous because i usually spend every summer here or at home, so being somewhere my friends won’t be kind of makes me sad because we don’t get to see much of one another to begin with.” 

“yeah, it is really becoming far and few between that we see each other. i think that’s what makes the summer and being here so special though because we get to see each other and catch up with everything we’ve missed. distance makes the heart grow fonder,” james poked her side making her squirm. when he saw her little smile, he smiled too. 

“you know how change makes me feel.” 

“i know, baby. it’s hard at first.” 

hannah breathed out another sigh. the bruins rookie rubbed soft circles into her skin and placed gentle kisses along her collarbone. “and if anything, you can always take the train to hang out with my parents and michael. you know they love you.” 

“have we reached that stage where i can hang out with your parents without you?” the younger duke sister giggled. james shrugged, “i don’t see why not. my mom asks about you everyday.” 

“how are you feeling about officially being a rookie next season?” hannah changed the subject knowing she didn’t like talking about herself for too long. now it was james’ turn to grow with hesitancy. “like good i think, but i’m just worried they’re gonna drill me into the ground. i’m only 19 still and these vets have been around.” 

“just play how you know and you’ll be perfect. people are probably gonna push you around, but don’t let them get to you. plus, mack is 19 still and look how he’s doing.”

“yeah that’s because he was 1st overall and he’s mack. he’s technical. he knows exactly what he’s doing.” 

“and that means you don’t? you went 7th. you know your shit too,” hannah said a matter of factly. james blushed, ducking his head down so it wasn’t so obvious that she made him blush so easily like that. 

“okay, let’s make a summer resolution to not be so hard on ourselves and just live in the moment,” the boy proposed. 

“a summer resolution?” 

“i think it will help us ease off ourselves and be less critical. if we’re critical of ourselves for no reason then we have to buy the other ice cream.” 

a little laugh escaped the gymnast’s lips. “okay, deal. i have so much cash saved from serving this semester.” 

“i’m getting hot again,” james complained when he felt the sun burning down his back. he probably should’ve reapplied his sunscreen. “it’s called tanning, babe,” hannah hummed. 

“you know what would help me cool off? another jump in the pool,” james smirked. 

“that’s all you. i’ll stay here.” 

james had other plans. he got to his feet and in one quick motion, he lifted hannah into his arms. she shrieked, trying to get away from his hold but her boyfriend was obviously way stronger than her. “j, don’t,” she warned. 

“you promised you’d swim with me anyway,” the boy grinned before jumping in. 

the two were submerged in seconds. hannah swam up, shaking the water from her eyes and immediately kicked james when he came back up. he laughed. “i hate you.” 

“you love me. you secretly wanted me to do that.”

“whatever,” hannah rolled her eyes and when james grabbed her by the waist to pull her closer she didn’t protest. she also didn’t protest when he leaned in and connected their lips into a sweet kiss. 

“i love you,”  james hummed. 

“i love you,” hannah splashed water in his face as revenge for throwing her into the pool. 

he pretended to look offended as he splashed water back. “hey!”