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It was a hot day. Very hot.
Zach had slathered himself in sunscreen and could barely keep up with cool drinks. All because he was sitting on a beach.
Chris had convinced him, relaxing he said. But now it's been two hours and they still haven't stopped playing stupid beach volleyball.
Two meters next to him laid Jimmy Z, fast asleep for nearly two hours now. Zach was jealous of the guy, he could fall asleep anywhere in a minute at most. He sighed and opened a new bottle of ice cold water.
As he looked up at his four friends, laughing as they chased after the ball, he caught himself smiling at their unbridled joy. Maybe he could just relax for a little while. This was the summer before college, he had been accepted by a few different universities and there were virtually no expectations hovering over his head for the moment. Finally.
For a while there he felt quite peaceful.
The road trip part of their vacation had him thoroughly stressed nonetheless. These five people just meant too many variables for his liking.
Jimmy's dad had left them the old transporter that comfortably fit the six of them, well, except for their luggage. Four surfboards had been strapped on the roof. Even with that and one less bench, it was a tight, anxiety inducing fit.
At least Zach had got to spend six hours somewhat close to Chris which, to be fair, had only made him more nervous.
Martin and Jimmy had sat in the front, taking turns driving, Koki in the middle front seat took on the role of the Dj. Aviva sat on the other side of Chris, leaned against the window fast asleep for most of the time.
Meanwhile Chris and Zach had played cards together, shared their headphones and at one point Chris had made up a story about that ridiculous turquoise car they had seen before falling asleep on Zach's shoulder.
He in turn made a point to ignore the knowing look Martin gave him and tried to stay as still as possible.
They had arrived yesterday, late in the afternoon, just in time to go for a quick swim and a room tour of the summer house. Zach's parents were kind enough to let them stay here. More accurately they just didn't care and enjoyed the time Zach wasn't home.
And today they were all on the beach again. Zach had already spent an hour on planning possible activities for the next few days and another hour reading but now he was getting bored. How long could a game with a ball and a net occupy someone?
He looked over to find Chris and Aviva celebrating.
Were they finally done?
Nope, they started all over again, Martin stood on the edge of the field, ball in hand. Zach sighed deeply, that meant the start of a new game. Maybe they would never stop.
The ball hit the sand and as Martin and Koki celebrated, Chris hit the air in frustration. But more importantly he took off his shirt in almost the same motion. Now this was getting interesting. As Chris leapt for the ball, Zach really noticed his physique. He was leaner than Martin but everytime he hit the ball he proved to be just as strong.
When he held his hands over his head, stretching to meet the ball, the muscles on the side of his chest were clearly visible. He looked like a greek god. Beads of sweat adorned his tan skin and he smiled so freely. The salt water, the sweat and his thoughtless hands turned his hair into a mess that-
"I didn't know you were so into volleyball.", Jimmy remarked and Zach almost jumped.
"I'm not.", when did he wake up and why was he smiling so smugly?
"I was just wondering when they're gonna stop playing.", Zach lied.
"Sure.", Jimmy didn't hide that he wasn't believing him
"I get it, which one are you watching?" Zach's ears were burning.
"Neither.", he said through gritted teeth. Wait… Did Jimmy even know that he was gay?
"In high school I memorized the whole rulebook so I could watch and count the points instead of playing.", admittedly that was a great idea. Zach always just played rather badly and still watched the others most of the time.
"See, that round goes to Chris and Aviva because Martin hit the ball twice in a row."
"Oh yeah, you can't do that." Jimmy nodded.
"And that one rolled over the net, usually that doesn't count but on the beach no one really cares." Zach was impressed, Jimmy might be lazy but he's really smart about it.
"It's lunchtime already, aren't you hungry?", he moved the conversation along, hoping Jimmy wouldn't bring up his little private staring session.
"Yeah, I could go for some pizza.", it worked, at least a little.
"Hey guys, how long ‘til we get lunch?", Martin looked back, surprised that Jimmy was awake and the ball promptly hit him in the chest and he ungracefully caught it in his arms.
"Nooo!"
"Martin! What was that!?", Koki immediately shouted.
"That doesn't count, Jimmy distracted me!", Chris laughed, high and clear.
"Technically it does though.", he said with a wide grin.
"That's cheating!", Zach could spend hours just listening to the brothers bicker, especially when Chris was shirtless.
"Cheating? We don't need to cheat against you! Aviva, touch ball! Koki, you have the ball!"
“In and of itself I think Martin is the hotter brother, but Chris’ competitiveness is really cute.”, Zach choked on his water.
“What?”, he coughed dramatically. That definitely answered his question.
“Oh, were you watching the girls?”
“Uh, no.”, his eyes were stinging. “I just didn’t expect this, to be honest.”, Jimmy leaned back, smiling peacefully.
“
”
Zach followed the game, or more precisely Chris, as he put in his everything and won, fair and square. He looked over at Zach so proudly.
When they came over, Chris seemed to move in slow motion. Every motion was so precise.
The four absolutely demolished his last cold water bottles but Zach didn't mind. It was a small price to pay when he got to catch a glimpse of Chris teasing his brother and the sparkle in his eyes and how he emptied the bottle in one go.
They decided on pizza for lunch and Jimmy searched up a local pizza place.
Back inside of the summer house, they raced for the shower, because what else would you do after playing volleyball for two hours. Chris won and Zach started setting the table.
Ten minutes later Zach heard a commotion at the bathroom and shortly after Chris joined him on the veranda. He looked so good with wet, still so messy hair and somehow he seemed to already have run out of clean shirts.
"What do you guys wanna drink?", Zach asked. "I can offer cool water or ice water.", Chris thought really hard about his two drastically different choices.
"I think I'll take the ice water.", he decided.
"Coming right up.", with a jug of water and ice cubs Zach returned to the table.
"I think I'll go out for some groceries later so we can cook tonight and drink something besides water.", he thought out loud.
"Sounds like a good plan, think you could use some help?" Chris offered.
"Yeah, I think I could, let's make a plan. What do you like for breakfast?"
They wrote a few things down and Jimmy joined them and threw in a few ideas on what to cook. When the pizzas came they all gathered under the sun shade.
Later, Chris and Zach drove to the store, windows down and singing along to some cheesy 80s songs and Zach felt so breathtakingly alive.
-
The sun had set, Zach and Chris were the only ones left outside. On a couch under the stars; just talking to each other.
"This is probably the best summer I've ever spent in this house.", Zach said.
It was the evening of day three and Zach couldn't help but notice how much calmer the house was without his parents here. There was life and joy between these walls.
"Me too.", Zach rolled his eyes as he chuckled.
When he looked over again, Chris was just looking at him with a strange expression.
"Are you okay?", Zach asked, contemplating if he had something stuck between his teeth.
"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, I was just spacing out."
"It's okay, maybe we should just go to sleep.", Chris' hand, just reaching out for his drink, stumbled.
"I'm not really tired yet, but if you want to…"
"No, it's fine, I just thought…", the two looked at each other, their unfinished sentences hanging in the air.
"Let's just stay here for a little longer, don't you think?", Chris looked almost relieved.
"Yeah, let's do that.", he smiled.
"Great.", Zach smiled back.
Chris took a sip of his colourful cocktail and they remained silent. Zach looked up into the sky and at the familiar constellation of late July. He thought back on Chris' birthday party where he had sat under the night sky the last time. And back on how adorable Chris had looked when everyone sang happy birthday.
"What are you smiling about?", Chris asked, his eyes observant.
"I was just thinking about your birthday."
"Yeah, that was really fun, except for when I threw up in the toilet at 3 in the morning because Martin kept beating me in flip cup.", Zach half laughed at that memory.
"Well, at least you didn't have to clean that mess up."
"Yeah, thanks for that, bro.", Zach's laugh stuck to his throat. Bro? "I owe you one for that."
"Yes you do, but for you, I'd do it again anytime.", Chris laughed out loud.
"Zach, did I ever tell you how bad you are at playing that edgy boy."
"Hey, I'm not playing, I really am that edgy!", Zach shook his head so that his black hair would fall in front of his eyes and Chris laughed a little louder.
"I don't get what's so funny.", Zach said as seriously as he could. Chris looked at him for a moment before they both burst into laughter.
Zach noticed how Chris causally put his hand on his knee.
"Shh, we're gonna wake the others!", Zach whispered, putting his hand on top. Chris looked down at their joint hands, his laughter vanished.
Zach's heart beat hard in his chest, did he take it too far? But Chris just looked at him with that sparkle in his eyes.
"We wouldn't do that, can't disturb their beauty sleep.", Zach nodded, his lungs fell flat under that eye contact.
"You still wanna stay out here?", Chris asked and it felt like he actually wanted to ask, 'with me?'.
Zach nodded, his mouth dry.
"Why would I want to leave now. The air is still so warm.", he couldn't look away and almost missed it when Chris put his second hand onto the bunch. Was this really happening? Chris smiled at him and he was so close.
Zach couldn't contain his impatience and leaned forwards. With his heartbeat in his ears, he felt those soft, warm lips. He looked into stunning brown eyes, before Chris leaned back in for another kiss.
Zach buried his hand in Chris' hair, air dried and fluffy and he tasted salt water and the fruity drink he had and something sweet that just felt like Chris.
They sunk into the back rest and stayed there, limbs tangled, holding each other.
-
The first thing Martin asked at breakfast was: "Where'd you sleep last night, brother?".
And the first thing Koki asked was: "Isn't that Zach's shirt?", and everything they'd talked about last night regarding things like, they'd take it slow, they would tell the gang in a few days, once everything settled a bit, all of that was out of the window. Chris was blushing and Zach shrugged. He was kind of glad that they wouldn't have to hide.
"I think someone here will be able to add one and one.", he wasn't really a morning person after all.
"Did you guys sleep together last night?", Jimmy barged in and Chris choked on his orange juice.
"Ding ding ding.", Zach made and Chris made a face at him.
"We were gonna tell you, just not like, right off the bat.", Chris explained. The rest of the table ranged from baffled to proud and very much not surprised.
"I'm proud of you, little bro, I always kinda knew.", Martin joked.
"I think I'm bi, tho.", Chris thought out loud.
"That's great, man, I'm happy either way.", and that was kind of it. Everyone just got to eating their breakfast and Zach sat down a little too close to Chris.
"Doesn't matter, what hit the sand hit the sand."
"Fina
Just when he had decided to read for a bit, a ball came flying towards him.