“I wonder if she looks like those supermodels when she gets out of the water.”

“Dude, that’s my girlfriend’s little sister and she’s sixteen. Chill out.” Tony blushed and went back to packing up his backpack. We were on our way to the beach to hang out with our guests. Tony was excited to see Gabi. He didn’t talk about his crush on her much but from what I could gather he thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“Dudes, Jaime’s here! Get your shit ready so we can go!” I rolled my eyes at Vic’s call but packed my stuff up regardless. To be honest I was only going because Kay said she loved the water and Tony needed a wingman to get to her sister.

Within a few minutes Tone and I were downstairs and greeted by Jaime rummaging through our fridge.

“Jaime?” I questioned. He looked up at me with a stupid grin and a soda in his hand.

“Be glad I didn’t take those leftover fajitas.” I punched him in the arm playfully before heading outside to the car. It was a beautiful day to spend at the beach. Hell, I might even talk one of those sappy, cliché, romantic walks with Kay.

“Hey Mike,” a voice called, taking me out of my thoughts. I shut the car door and looked onto the sidewalk. I waved at the little redhead as she walked up to me. “Is Vic inside?”

“Yeah, go on in.” She smiled and did just that. I made a face as she stepped through our doorway. See, I knew she and Vic had something going on. I may be quiet but I’m not stupid; plus I know my brother better than anyone. I knew when he had a thing going on with someone. My problem with it was that it was with Danielle. There wasn’t anything wrong with her; it was just that I knew Vic was using her to feel something.

My brother missed his ex like a little bitch. He tried to hide it as best he could, which explained Danielle, but it was obvious that he wasn’t even close to being over Kellin, especially after last night. I saw him take glances at Kell all throughout dinner. He may be “dating” Dani but his heart wasn’t with her.

I pushed those thoughts aside once everyone got out of the house. Vic’s love life, no matter how messed up it was, wasn’t my problem until it got too bad. He would eventually fall onto the right track; it would just take a while. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long.

***

“Mike no!”

“I’m trying!”

Kay and I were in an intense game of chicken with Tony and Gabi. We were so close to winning since Tony couldn’t concentrate. Having his crush’s crotch on his shoulders was bugging him out. I walked closer to them so Kay could push her sister. Gabi and Tony went flailing into the ocean shortly after.

“Fuck yeah!” I yelled and tossed Kay off my shoulders. I laughed at the look she gave me once she popped up for air. We were gonna be fighting later but that romantic walk would take care of everything.

“We were on the same side you know,” Kaylee said once she resurfaced. I chuckled and reached for her hand.

“Yeah but where’s the fun in that?” After receiving a playful shove the four of us went back to the sand. Kellin was drawing little designs on the ground; Brandon and Ariel were at a nearby ice cream truck. I had no idea where my brother and his “girlfriend” were. Or Jaime for that matter.

“Where did the boys go?” I asked Kellin. He looked up from his picture and shrugged.

“Jaime said he was gonna go out on the boardwalk to talk to girls or something. Vic and Danielle are on the other side of the beach. They ‘needed privacy’.” I could hear the bitterness in his voice. I just sighed and picked up a towel to dry myself off.

It’s not your problem yet.

I lightly chewed on my lip. It wasn’t my problem but it would be soon enough. I said a silent prayer that neither Kellin nor Vic would break down before then. As if on a very bad cue, Vic and Dani came strolling up hand in hand. They were laughing and looked happy, although I knew different. Kellin glanced up at them for a quick second before going back to his doodle.

“Vic just had the cutest encounter with a baby sea turtle,” Dani exclaimed. “It was so adorable!” Kellin rolled his eyes and stood up, wiping the sand off his shorts.

“I’m gonna go get a hot dog,” he mumbled. Without waiting for any kind of response he left. I caught Vic glance in his direction before returning his gaze to Dani. I rolled my eyes.

“Hey bro,” I said, “I think I would like a hot dog.”

“Then get it yourself,” he spat back. That short shit.

“Actually, I’d like one too.” Vic looked at Dani and sighed.

“What do you guys want on them?” Dani gave him her order and I gave him mine. “Cool, I’ll be back in a minute.” He walked off in the same direction as Kellin. I smiled to myself.

“I know what you did,” Kaylee whispered to me. I looked down at her.

“What’d I do?” I asked innocently. She smiled and shoved me lightly.

“Nice plan by the way.”

Let’s hope so.

***



I stood behind the small crowd that had formed in front of the hot dog cart. I wasn’t really hungry, I just wanted to get away from all of the happy couples: Brandon and Ariel, Kaylee and Mike, Gabi and Tony.

Vic and Danielle.

The thought of them made me sick. She was always around him, like he was a baby and if she wasn’t near him he’d tumble down the stairs or stick a fork in a socket. I chuckled at the thought of Vic with his hair fried and sticking up. it was a cute picture.

I frowned. You shouldn’t be thinking about him. I knew that and yet…

I gazed off in the distance at the water that shimmered past the trees. It was a beautiful day out and yet I was miserable. Why couldn’t I just be happy that I was in California with my best friends?

Because your very best friend doesn’t love you anymore.

I knew that. I knew that better than anyone. Fucking sucked. I exhaled heavily as I moved up in the faint line.

“Shit,” I heard someone mumble. I looked behind me to see the subject of my most recent thoughts standing there. He looked up from his phone and into my eyes. I wanted to turn away but my body wouldn’t let me. Instead I choked out a faint “hey” and mentally kicked myself for being such a little bitch.

“Hey,” he said back. We stared at each other, ignoring the people who tried to push past me to get their food. I eventually stepped out of line and next to Vic.

There was an awkward silence. Like, hella awkward. It was kinda embarrassing. “So, what’s up?” I asked stupidly. I just wanted to break through the white noise but I could’ve come up with something better to say. Go fuck yourself Kellin.

“Mike and Dani wanted hot dogs.” I nodded. Figures.

“Well, I guess I should let you do that.” He didn’t say anything so I took it as my cue to leave. A hand met my shoulder as I turned to walk away.

“You wanna go exploring or something?” he asked. I met his face and stared questioningly. “You’ve never been to Cali so I thought I could show you around. You know, so you won’t be lost if you wanna go get something to eat or something.” I tried to hide the smile that was forming on my lips. He was so nervous and it was cute. It reminded me of myself when I was trying to figure out how to tell him I liked him.

I quickly frowned. He didn’t like me anymore.

Vic made a face at me. “I know that you’re thinking about something.” I just shook my head. “Liar.”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled as I tried to get pictures of Danielle and him out of my head.

“Then how about it?”

I thought about it. Should I really go with him? What would we even talk about? Maybe he just wanted to tell me to leave him the fuck alone. That was probably it. I didn’t wanna be a part of that at all. Tell him no. Tell him to fuck off. Tell him…

“Yeah, sure.”

Fuck you Quinn.

We took off in the opposite direction to which we had come. It was a pretty quiet walk aside from Vic pointing out his favorite places to eat and hang out along the beach. I just smiled and nodded. Pretty soon Vic pulled me into a little Mexican place that had “the best tacos in the whole world.” We sat at a table and looked over the menu. After ordering drinks Vic broke the silence.

“So,” he started, “I know we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together this week so let’s clear things up.” I gulped.

“Clear what things up?”

“This tension.” I pursed my lips.

“That’s not my fault,” I retorted.

“I didn’t say it was,” he said defensively. “I’m just saying that it’s there and if we’re gonna all be hanging out together I’d rather it not be.” I stared at his face. He was serious, and a little….what? Scared? Worried? Confused? I couldn’t read that expression on his face.

“Fine,” I sighed.

“Cool,” he replied much more calmly. Our drinks arrived then. I took a sip of mine before speaking.

“Where do we start though?”

“Well, how about with my relationship.” I rolled my eyes. “See, right there! You can’t keep doing that shit Kellin.”

Was he serious?

“Well I’m not sorry.” He looked taken back. Good. “You can wipe that look off your face because I’m not gonna change my answer.”

“It’s fine, I don’t expect you to. I just want you to be civil around my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend.

He used the word. Shit.

“Whatever Vic,” I mumbled in defeat. Our food came but I wasn’t in the mood to eat it. He called her his girlfriend. He’d never done that before. Fuck my life. I pushed some rice around the plate with my fork, scraping the plate along the way. Vic looked up at me.

“Everything okay?” I looked at him with the angriest look I could muster.

“No Victor, everything’s not okay but it doesn’t matter. Let’s just finish up here so I can go back to the hotel.” But he didn’t finish. He watched me so closely, as if I was going to run out of the building as soon as he took his eyes off me. To be honest, I probably would have but I didn’t know where I was going. Vic’s tour wasn’t very helpful.

After some time during our staring contest, we eventually got up and left. We walked back to the beach without saying a word to each other. We didn’t even look at each other. So much for relieving the tension.

“Vic!” He looked in the direction of the voice. The bouncy redhead that was his girlfriend ran up to us. “Where’s my hot dog?”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. The line was really long so I thought I could get you another from somewhere else. No luck though.” Damn, this man was quick on his feet.

Danielle just shrugged and kissed his cheek which caused him to smile. I looked down at the ground to avoid what I was feeling.

I hadn’t seen Vic smile all day, but when Danielle kissed him he finally let go. He was so tense with me. With her though…..

I walked back to the sand as quickly as I could to get away. I didn’t want to be near that; to be reminded of the fact that I couldn’t make Vic happy anymore. I sat back down on my towel and thought about things.

I thought this trip would be more fun; I thought I wouldn’t let Vic get to me. I thought I would have my support system behind me. I thought that I would get over this.

Fuck me, right?

Maybe this is what I get for trying to get over this on my own. Maybe I wasn’t meant to. Maybe I was meant to be hung up on the short brown man with wavy hair and beautiful eyes for the rest of my life. Maybe I did need time to heal.

But how much time was enough? It’d been months and everything around me still reminded me of our failed relationship and shattered friendship. I put my head in my hands and breathed deeply to keep the panic attack at bay. I felt eyes on me and knew immediately that they were Vic’s. He wouldn’t help me though; he couldn’t.

“Kellin?” I didn’t look up but I knew who was in front of me. Soon their arms were around me and a hand was rubbing my back in small circles. “It’s okay Kells.”

“Don’t lie to me,” I mumbled.

“I’m not. I know it doesn’t seem like it now but these things take time. You’ve just gotta let it happen.” I removed my head from my hold and looked into her eyes.

“Bullshit.”

“I’m serious,” Kaylee said. “One morning you’ll wake up and Vic and Danielle won’t bother you anymore. Then you can start looking for cute guys who work out and shit.” I smiled. That would be nice. Still, I wondered when that would happen.

I stared off into the distance and saw Danielle pulling Vic into the ocean. They were both laughing at something. Vic looked so carefree it hurt.

I would get over this huh? It would take time?

Shit, that was my last hope in the world. I prayed to God that Kaylee was right.

Notes

Hey guys. I'm sorry for the wait but honestly, I had no idea where I was going with this chapter. I had to use so many different songs before I finally settled on one that worked. Also, I'm about to start school so chapters will be out at about the same frequency as this one was. Please leave me comments or messages if you're just dying for an update or you have suggestions or anything. As always, please leave rates and comments on this story. Thanks loves