I made a playlist for Mason! Check it out with the link here⤵ Finally managed to write a longer chapter again, yay! Don't forget to leave a vote for me weeee :3

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6g5uPzT2icz59UUtmHU1kw?si=a2ff9fa987254ba1

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"Do you think we could have a snowball fight but with like, sand.. Instead of snow?" Mason stared up at me through squinted eyes, hands covered in watery sand as he threw another slop onto our growing sandcastle. 

Swallowing down the last bit of water in my bottle, I shrugged. "I think that'd be incredibly uncomfortable, but who knows." Shards of seashells scraped against my knees as I crouched down too, my hands already digging a canal around the so-called main entrance. We still had to find a door, but the thought was there.

A little further in the distance, I could hear Seth and Reagan's laughter, drowned out by the lapping waves that crashed into them every few seconds. Despite the very tourist-like location of Palm Coast's beach, it wasn't super busy. I mean yeah, my eardrums would probably suffer mild damage from the amount of children screaming for no fucking reason, and the seagulls functioned as default background music, but at least it wasn't so overcrowded you wouldn't be able to differentiate this place from an ants nest. According to Seth, that was only during the peak of summer. 

Not too far behind me laid one of those ginormous beach towels that could fit all of us at the same time, underneath a massive blue-and-white-striped parasol, and a cooling box with a good supply of Fanta and iced tea. 

With my hands buried in a sludge of water and sand, I took in a sharp breath of salted air and glanced at Mason. "So, Nyx really didn't want to come?"

Mason shook his head, his hands carefully shaping one of the castle's towers. "Nyx and sand don't go together. Or Nyx and Sun. Or Nyx and wate— uh, yeah. You get it," he chuckled, strands of jet-black hair sticking to his forehead as he stuck his tongue out in concentration. 

I chuckled too, swiping away a lock of the sweaty bird's nest that was my hair with my upper arm. It was already after five, so the hottest hours of the day were thankfully over, but that didn't make it any cooler. 

After a few seconds of mutual silence, Mason huffed. "My mural isn't working. I need more shells." He ran an in-sand-covered hand through his hair, sending sand flying into his eyes. Ew.

Raising a brow, I peeked over the castle's many walls to see what he was doing. "Mural? What do we need a mural for?"

"We don't need a mural, but it's pretty! And it'll stabilize the structure of this wall too," he explained, poking the squishy wall for emphasis. It almost collapsed and he scrambled to stabilize it with some water, sending me an oddly unintimidating glare. Like a kitten trying to be scary. "See, we need shells. All our plans are falling apart. Think of the children!"

I snorted, offering my hands to keep the wall together as Mason hastily made a new batch of sludge. "The children?"

"Think of the children, Robbie! The children!" he exclaimed once again, fighting off a grin behind the faux anger he attempted to display. It wasn't very effective and it didn't take long for both of us to burst out laughing, which then caused me to almost crash into our castle. 

Mason grabbed me by my shirt and pulled back so hard that we both fell on our backs, sand flying everywhere. His laughter quickly turned into crying and coughing, staring at me so intensely I couldn't stop wheezing either. And god, it must've looked pathetic, two pretty-much-adults rolling on their backs with laughter next to a particularly detailed sandcastle. But I couldn't bring myself to give a fuck.

"You leave 'em alone for half an hour, and this is what you come back to," a voice suddenly spoke, followed by the soft laughter of someone else. "How's that sandcastle going, then?"

I blinked my eyes open, purposely looking anywhere but at Mason, because I knew I wouldn't last a damn second without laughing again if I did. Reagan and Seth had come back from swimming, now seated underneath the parasol. "We uhm, we had some minor complications with the uh— with the architecture."

Mason shot up at that, nodding excessively. "Uhuh! Yeah, minor complications. And now we need sea shells."

Seth chuckled at that, water droplets trickling from his hair onto his black t-shirt, and down his arms. I had to swallow a few times before managing to look at him properly. He grabbed a can of iced tea and tossed it between his hands a few times before opening it with a satisfying click. "Sea shells huh? We got enough of those," he said after taking a few sips from the can, adam's apple bopping up and down after every sip. God save me.

Reagan nodded, her usually sunset orange hair now a dull brown as it hung over her shoulders in thin, soaked strands. She had a white towel wrapped around her shoulders, freckled skin showing from underneath a dark green bathing suit. "And they're all so pretty, I'm going to make necklaces out of them! Robbie, you'd look so good with a seashell necklace, it's almost unfair," she gushed, nudging Seth in his side who then almost choked on his iced tea. "Dontcha agree?"

Rubbing the various shades of beaded brown and worn-out leathery teal bracelets as he coughed, Seth averted his eyes. "Uhm, y-yeah." He cleared his throat again, hazy eyes shifting from the slowly darkening sun back to me. "But blue eyes looks good in anything," he said with a flashy smile that sent my heart into overdrive, running a loose hand through his wet hair. 

I'm gonna pass out. Desperately begging my face to stop turning redder than the sunburned barbecue dads who thought they ruled this place, I let out a pathetic, sheepish laugh, refusing to make eye contact with Seth ever again. 

"Anywho," Mason began with an exasperated sigh and a look pointed only at me, crawling over to grab a drink for himself. "I wanna go for a swim. So, goodbye." He tossed a small bottle of Fanta —which he'd taken one sip from— in the mere direction of my face and got up, took off his t-shirt, and made a run for it. 

We all watched him crash into an elderly man and then apologize profusely before continuing his run to the sea. 

Reagan picked up her phone when it buzzed and offered Seth and me a small smile. "It's Nyx," she said, typing out a quick reply. After a few more seconds of oddly awkward silence, she lifted her hazel eyes to us. "Why don't you two go collect some sea shells? Mace'll be forever grateful." A teasing grin made up her features, one that quickly softened again when she returned her attention to Nyx. 

Seth glanced at me as if looking for approval so I offered him a meek nod. Not very cool, but decently helpful at least. "Sure, I know a few good spots," he eventually said, getting up from the big towel. With a small groan, he stretched his arms above his head, stressing the black fabric of his t-shirt until it flitted up from his swimming shorts. Within the split-second that the sight lasted, I got a display of his sun-kissed skin and a barely visible, thin, silvery line tracing amidst the various stretch marks crawling up his lower stomach. God, did that make me feel things I shouldn't. Holding out a hand, Seth smiled down at me. "You comin'?"

My mouth ran dry as I looked up at him, signals of pure panic soaring through every nerve in my system. I couldn't even form a proper sentence with the throbbing pulse in my throat, so all I managed to get out was a pathetically high-pitched hum and the extension of my subtly trembling hand. And fuck, when he encaged my hand in his with a firm grip to pull me up, everlasting golden smile still on his face, I had to do everything in my weak power to prevent my knees from collapsing. I am absolutely, royally, fucked.

- 

The sun hugged the ocean, vibrant orange melting into a mellow blue as gentle clouds of foam brought us rainbows worth of seashells, lapping in and out of sight through an infinite rhythm. That harsh, salty breeze tugged at my hair as a constant reminder of its presence, something I'd learned to appreciate since I moved here. 

One thing I didn't appreciate, however, was this fucking awkward silence dangling between me and Seth. Well, more like a one-sided awkwardness, taken from the calm expression on Seth's face. He seemed so unfazed it was almost painful. 

My hands were filled with tiny towers of seashells, as were my pockets that shook with every step. I mean, at this point we could structure an entire city if we wanted to. I glanced over at Seth, who was a few feet ahead of me, with pursed lips. And of fucking course, he decided to turn around right then, eyebrows furrowing at my expression. So despite him already being aware of my current.. state, I plastered on a ridiculously sheepish smile anyway. You fucking idiot.

Smiling back at me like it was nothing, Seth took a few steps backward until we were walking next to each other. His hand gently brushed past mine. "What's on your mind, blue eyes?" The bronze sunlight spilled onto his smile, its soft wings casting a glow of warm fire on the Earth in his eyes.

I swallowed hard, forcing my eyes away from his face. I like you and it's driving me insane. But no fucking way could I tell him that. Especially because it was still very likely that he was straight. So instead, I just shrugged with a small smile. "I'm just thinking about..." You. "About what kind of pizza I'm gonna get."

Seth chuckled at that, blond strands shaking up and down until they got in his face. I had to fight the urge to brush them away. "That's a good thought," he said with a hum, eyes trained on the striped parasol that kept getting bigger as we got closer to it.

Right as that god-awful silence began to drag at me again, the universe said 'fuck you' and 'you're welcome' when PUNK TACTICS started blasting from my phone, and I right about face-planted into the sand. Great. I scrambled to unlock my phone and picked up the call as I slipped behind a big rock that conveniently served as a backrest and shadow provider. "Hey, dad," I mumbled, sinking down to sit on the cool sand with my back against the smooth surface.

"Robbie!" I heard him exclaim, followed by some crackled shuffling. "I hope I'm not calling at an inconvenient time," he laughed, "but how are you doing? Everything okay at home?"

I had to hold back a snort as I glanced around the beach, watching a group of seagulls fight over some bread. "Not a bad time, don't worry. Things are good, dad. I'm good." A smile crept up my face because this time, it was true. Everything was good. 

"I'm so glad to hear that," he said, a smile audible through his words. "Now don't tell me you've been rotting in bed all weekend, right?"

Wow. Why did everyone assume that?! I chuckled despite myself. "I haven't! Actually, I'm at the beach with my friends right now. We're gonna get pizza later."

Some more crackling and shuffling. "That's great, Robbie. Send me a photo later, I'll try to remember their faces so you can tell me about them. Now please, hang up and go have fun, okay?"

I chuckled again, free hand drawing patterns in the cold sand until my nails were filled with little grains. It took some effort to ignore the sensory discomfort it brought me, but I managed. "I'll send you the best photo ever, promise. Call you again soon!"

My dad laughed, a sound muffled and crackly through my phone. "Can't wait to see it. Have fun, Robbie. Love you."

"Love you, too." The line clicked dead and I smiled off into the salty distance like the main character I'd never be. It was only then that my stupid ass realized Seth had been standing there, barely hidden behind the rock's side, the entire fucking time. My eyes flitted towards him, an awkward smile involuntarily creeping up my face. "Sorry, that was my dad. Y-you didn't have to wait.. You know— for me."

Seth smiled with a small wink, reaching out his hand to me for the second time that day. "It's no problem. Everything okay with your dad?"

Nodding, I placed my hand in his and he effortlessly pulled me up again, firm grip lingering when our faces were only inches apart and neither of us made a move to change that. The blue in his eyes resembled that of the roaring waves behind him, shielded by infinite strands of blond. Those same eyes didn't leave mine as he moisturized his lips, sending shockwaves of gay panic through my body. I could smell a faint hint of cologne, a minor detail that made my heart go from backflips to fucking palpitations I couldn't handle. It almost hurt. Almost.

He smiled again, hot breath fanning over my skin. And just when I thought I'd either get hard or pass out (or both), he let go of my hand and pulled away, putting a painful amount of distance between us. 

The rest of the walk to our spot was filled with an airy silence neither of us dared to break. And all I could think about was how those ten seconds were both the best and worst ten seconds of that day. 

-

"So many seashells!" Mason's eyes widened like a kid in a toy store as he dumped a mountain of shells next to our castle, hands rubbing together in evilness. "I'm gonna make the best mural you've ever seen, bet." He glanced up at me. "I do need your help, though."

I laughed, pulling out my phone right as Seth tossed me a can of iced tea with that smile of his. Even though I knew damn well it would scar my confidence for the rest of eternity, I decided to be bold, just for once, and smiled back while opening the can. A look of surprise overtook his face and he quickly looked away, replying to something Reagan said. 

"I'll help you in a second," I said, now opening the camera app of my phone. Angling the thing to somewhat accurately capture my face, Reagan glanced up from her journal and noticed her reflection on the phone screen. 

"Are you taking a selfie?" she asked, closing the journal and carefully inching closer. 

With a nod, I heightened the camera so it could fit all of us. "Say cheese!" 2016 who?

Seth crashed into Reagan's shoulder with a picture-perfect grin right when Mason yelled out "Wait for me!" and jumped up from the sand to all but launch himself toward me, laughing loudly as his shoulder collided with my chest. We all toppled backward a bit, laughing at the tangled mess our limbs had made. The camera snapped a few times before everyone gave up and fell to the ground, still laughing at the stupidity of it all.

Sobering up a bit, I crawled up from the big towel and began looking through the selfies. "My dad's gonna love these," I said with a grin, blowing messed-up curls out of my face. 

"That was for your dad-?"

Everyone fell quiet, three pairs —including mine— of eyes gazing at Seth. He looked slightly panicked now, pupils darting around the seagulls that surrounded us. What's happening?  Shaking my head out of whatever this weird silence was, I smiled. "Yeah, he wanted to know what my friends look like."

Reagan smiled too, soft eyes allowing Seth to let out a barely noticeable sigh as he relaxed again. Strange. "You were talking about a pizza place, right? Why don't we go there while Robbie and Mace finish their castle," she offered, motioning to a completely zoned-out Mason, sitting in front of the sandcastle with dilated pupils. 

Seth glanced at me with a small smile before getting up to stretch, again. This time I took some extra measures and turned to look the other way as subtly as I could. "Yeah, sounds good. Does anyone have any preferences?"

I glanced over at Mason, still completely out of it. "Mason." Careful not to startle the shit out of him, I nudged his side with my hand.

"Huh?" He shook back to normal, blinking a few times before seeming to remember what life was. "What're we talking about?"

Reagan shook her head with a smile. "Seth and I are gonna get some pizza, anything you prefer?"

Mason's eyes widened as he retracted his hands from the pile of shells they'd disappeared in. "Ohhh. Pizza. Right. I like the ones with mushrooms," he said, losing focus already. "Oh, and mozzarella sticks. Nyx's favorite. I'll take 'em home for them." 

"Got it," Seth said with a chuckle before his eyes fell on me. "And you?"

C'mon. This is a normal fucking question. I swallowed, heart ramming into my chest at the simple interaction. "Uh—" I'm literally gonna die "—I'll just h-have your favorite, I think."

Worst fucking thing I could've said, 'cause it caused him to grin. He grinned and nodded, running a hand through his salt-water tousled hair. "Gotcha. You won't be disappointed— I hope. Be back in twenty!" 

Seth and Reagan waved and took off towards the promenade, silhouettes of their figures slowly drowning in a pool of liquid vermillion, only shielded by the aflame palm trees.

-

"Okay, why is this so good— what the fuck." Only half of Mason's pizza was left, several pieces of mushroom strayed across the box.

I had to agree there, these pizzas were really good. Easy to say it was because of their ingredients or some shit but, admittedly, it probably had more to do with the entire scene. In the time Seth and Reagan had been gone, the sun had disappeared almost entirely, wrapping the world in a dark blue blanket. Tiny stars freckled the abyss above us in specks of light, guiding your eyes toward the small flame that still lingered above the blackened ocean's horizon. 

After their return with steaming boxes of fresh pizza, Seth had plopped down next to me with one of the boxes and an excited smile. 

"Harvey misses you," he suddenly said, just loud enough for me to hear. Reagan and Mason were busy with their own conversation, something about Roblox and glitter, I don't know.   

Still chewing on my last bite of pizza, I propped my elbows up to lean on them and glanced at Seth. "Does he?" A usually welcomed nightly breeze ran through me, infiltrating the hot summer air with a fresh dose of sharp oxygen I hadn't experienced in a while. 

He nodded, strands of hair bouncing up and down, highlighted gold in the newfound moonlight. "Mhm." Then, his eyes widened as he looked at me, concern pulling his brows together. "You're shivering. Are you cold?"

Shit. I hummed, involuntarily rubbing my hands along my exposed arms. "Just a little, don't worry," I waved him off, mentally begging myself to not be cold. 

But Seth just shook his head, reaching over to grab something from his bag. He pulled out a thick, white, fluffy blanket and then scooched closer to me. "I came prepared," he mumbled with a teasing smile, warmth radiating off his presence. Too close too close too— His arms draped the blanket over my shoulders, fingers gently brushing against the nape of my neck. Fucking hell.

I had to bite my lip to try and retain my sanity whereas Seth seemed absolutely fine, easy smile still on his lips as he backed away a bit. Not close enough. "O-oh. Thanks. Th— thank you." Yeah, this wasn't going well. 

Dropping down to lie on his back, Seth offered me a grin. "No problem." He put both his hands under his head for support, eyes focused on the stars. "Come lie down with me," he said, raspy voice slightly suppressed by the fake pout he threw at me. 

Snapping my head away to hide the blatant fire bursting through my skin, I accidentally caught Reagan's gaze, who'd apparently been staring at me the entire time. She giggled, nudging Mason in his side who then wiggled his brows at me so I just gave them both the finger. Turning back around, a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth the moment I laid eyes on Seth. "Okay."

I lay down right next to him, shoulders brushing together. It reminded me of that day in Seth's room, few luminescent stars stuck to his ceiling by pure chance now expanded by the entire damn universe sparkling down at us. With the fluffy blanket wrapped around me to muffle the erratic beating of my heart, Mason and Reagan's soft chatter in the background, and the calm lapping of waves, everything felt peaceful. 

"Hey guys? It's getting late.. I think we should all head home soon."

Seth let out a soft hum, half-shut eyes not leaving the sky above us. He gently looped his pinky around mine, inevitably pulling our hands closer, and smiled. "Just a few more minutes."

Holy fuck. Just a few more minutes.

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Pft. Gay. Anyways school's starting next week help (ಥ _ ಥ) imma need to become superman to keep the weekly updates up jsjsjjjjjsjs

Okay no but do we think Seth's just a smooth mf or maybe he genuinely an oblivious heterosexual 😔✋ (hint hint.. it's most likely not the second option.. just sayin')

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if so, please press that little star button for me 👉👈 Stay hydrated and cya next week<3