Just the water and the sky and the sand warm under her and Damien sitting beside her with his elbows on his knees looking at the horizon.
"I used to think about what this would feel like," she said.
"What."
"Having nothing to worry about." She looked at the water. "When things were bad. When mum was sick and I was running out of options. I used to think....what would it feel like to just sit somewhere and not be afraid of anything."
He was quiet.
"What does it feel like," he said.
She thought about it honestly.
"Like this," she said. "Exactly like this."
He reached over and took her hand.
Didn't say anything.
Didn't need to.
They sat on the sandbank in the middle of the Indian Ocean and let the afternoon do what it did and she thought about nothing and it was the best thing she'd felt in a long time.
"Can I ask you something," she said.
"Yes."
"The water thing." She looked at him sideways. "How long."
He looked at the horizon.
"Since I was nine," he said.
