I had only been to the beach very rarely in my life. Two times actually, one of those times being when I went with Maya, the other being when I was still a toddler and my grandma took me and my dad on a vacation. Ever since I did go with Maya, however, I wanted to go again. There was just one problem, I didn’t know who to go with. I remembered Maya telling me she actually hated everything about it but only went because I was so excited, so she was ruled out. Of course, I also remembered her constantly teasing me about Vic having to take me next time. So, when he suggested that we go to the beach together, I naturally said yes.

It was a bit busier than when I went with Maya. The whole beach season was coming to an end, so everybody was trying to get their last weekends in before the water would be too cold. Of course, Vic would have gone during a less busy time of the week, but my work schedule only allowed us to actually go on full-day dates during the weekend and holidays. It meant that no matter what, it was always going to be busy and full of families.

Despite it being practically packed with people, we still managed to find a relaxing spot to put our towels. It did mean that we were quite far away from where the car was parked--it was already a miracle that we actually found a parking spot--but that only meant it wasn’t jam-packed. Plus, everybody loves long walks on the beach, amiright?

While Vic carefully laid out the towels and put down the beach bag I had brought along with some essentials (you know, drinkable water so we wouldn’t dehydrate), I took off my shirt and shorts. As long as I was able to try and fail to get a tan, I was going to do so. Something told me that by the end of the day, Vic was going to have tanned a few shades darker and I was going to either be as pasty as I already was or look like a lobster. You’d really think that those Native American genes my dad had would help me out a little.

“Looking good.” Vic smirked as he stared at my body. I wasn’t sure if he liked the fact that me wearing a bikini meant that I was practically naked or because he actually liked the swimsuit I was wearing.

I was pretty excited to finally get to wear the floral bikini I owned. I had bought it before I moved to San Diego to motivate myself to go out to the beach. But I never had the chance to wear it. I had on a different one when I came here last time with Maya, one that had only been used a few times before because I had no clue what the beach was like. This time, however, I was fully prepared both for the beach and to be confident.

“I could literally be here in sweats and you’d still say it looks good.” I rolled my eyes and nudged Vic with my foot since I was still standing and he was already sitting down. Before I forgot, I also tied my hair up in a ponytail, a few pieces hanging out at the front since my hair was just a little too short.

“I’m serious though!” He argued and raised his hands in defence as I sat down next to him. “I’m near sure that I’m going to have to fend off everybody here.”

“Even the guys with rock hard abs?” I teased, referring back to the run-in with my neighbors as I was moving in. I already quickly started laughing and shaking my head. “Although I am a sucker for back muscles… your arms make up for everything.”

“Don’t go running to the nearest guy with amazing back muscles now,” he warned, playing along with my joke.

“There’s more to love than muscles,” I pointed out before fully noticing my word choice. Luckily, I managed to smoothly play it off without it seeming like an afterthought. “Like, my dad’s muscles are hidden pretty well, but I still love him.”

“And I still manage to love Mike!” Vic added with a laugh. “It’s easily done.”

“Hey, I don’t get to be mean to him, so you don’t get to be mean either!” I gasped and slapped his knee. “I now know why that whole thing between us had happened in the first place! You make mean jokes!”

“It’s all brotherly love.” He winked.

“Hmm, you see, I wouldn’t know what that is like, but I don’t imagine it being like that. If I had a sibling, I would definitely only be nice about them and to them.”

“I can definitely tell you don’t have any siblings. Your opinion would be so different if you did,” he laughed and shook his head at me.

It was a tale I knew all too well. Everybody who didn’t have siblings would love to have one and swore to themselves that they would be like best friends who never did anything remotely mean to each other. Everybody who did, however, could prove that it was not always that way. Although I did hear that siblings often got along better if their age gap was bigger since there wasn’t as much competition… If my dad had had any more kids, I was pretty sure that it would have happened in his late twenties or early thirties, not in his early twenties. So I would have had a great relationship… theoretically. I never came close to having any siblings, not even step-siblings! Of course, I would never be opposed to the idea if it still happened.

“Don’t rain on my parade.” I pouted and crossed my arms. I could still remember not understanding why I couldn’t have any siblings as a kid. Honestly, I would often ask my dad but he always told me it wasn’t that easy. By now I fully understood the whole process needed, though.

“Awe, I’m sorry,” Vic apologized and kissed my cheek, making my frown melt away and be replaced with a smile. “But speaking of family… there’s something we need to talk about.”

“Talk about…?” I asked with furrowed brows. Nobody ever liked that sentence.

“Well, it’s more like a surprise, but I first want to know if you would like it.”

“Oh my god, you aren’t pregnant, are you?” I gasped, trying my best to keep a serious expression.

“How did you figure it out!” He exclaimed with an exasperated sigh. “Seriously, though. I did some planning and thought it would be nice to go on a road trip.”

“I’m always up for traveling except if it requires me to walk for days on end.”

“I wasn’t done yet,” he winked with a small smirk hinting at his mouth, “I still need to relate it back to the whole family subject.”

“Okay…” I urged him to continue.

“What better place to have as our final destination than your hometown? I’d love to see where you grew up and you’d get to spend more time with your dad since his last visit was relatively short.”

“Really?!” Everything inside me was tensing up with excitement. Even the super long drive seemed exciting to me. Despite Ashville not being the most ‘fun’ town, I was totally prepared to show Vic everything that was worth seeing.

“And if you’d like it, Mike and Maya are up for coming along.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” I clapped my hands together in glee as my bright smile continued to get bigger and bigger. I got on my knees so I could hug him and kissed him deeply. With my reaction, there were probably bystanders that believed we had just gotten engaged.

“So, I’m guessing you’re happy with this surprise?” He chuckled as I broke away from him again.

“More than happy!”

“I’ll finalize all the details with your dad then.” He smiled, keeping his arm around my waist. “I was thinking of going during your week off, that is if you don’t have any other plans.”

“Oh, shoot,” I sucked in a breath and gestured into one direction, “I actually had plans with Mr. Rock-Hard-Abs over there. We were going to get married. I’m sorry.”

“I thought I told you not to go running off with the next muscled guy!” Vic scolded.

“Hmm, you said not to go off with the next guy with great back muscles. You should have been less specific.”

“Well, that’s the first time I’ve ever gotten in trouble for being too specific. Don’t you dare go running off with any guy with any muscles.”

“Never.” I shook my head and kissed him again. “Although, I don’t think it could even be a possibility since it would be a problem if somebody had no muscles… They wouldn’t even be capable of being alive…”

Vic rolled his eyes at me. Of course I was the one to ruin the small moment we were having by trying to be ‘correct’. I was just too literal, but he didn’t mind it. I was pretty sure he sometimes enjoyed me not being able to understand his sarcasm all the time.

It was probably then that I realized that I did love Vic. More than I loved Maya or my dad. I was in love with him. But it was still my little secret for another while.

Notes

I got a confession to make. This was written before Halloween. I completely forgot about it. My bad. Luckily, Nicky rediscovered that we were writing this story and actually made me think of it again. So, here you go