No Better Version of Me Than When I'm With You

Chapter 6

Newt looked up at him a moment later, stepping up beside him with a taunting grin. "You ready?"

"I was born ready." Thomas replied, chuckling. He held up his hand, "On three?"

"On three."

Thomas counted to three and then they were off, racing across the hot sand, their only goal to beat the other to the water. Thomas only slowed slightly to make it an even race, and he was splashing his way into the ocean within seconds, Newt so close on his heels he could feel the splash from his own feet before hands were planted firmly onto his back and he was being pushed under. A yell rose from him unbidden as he fell forward, barely able to close his mouth in time. The water was shockingly cold, as the Pacific tended to be, and goosebumps erupted all over as he struggled to his feet again, laughing.

"I win!" Thomas spluttered, wiping the water from his eyes and shaking his head.

"Only by a smidge!" Newt laughed in reply, face alight with mirth and the sun. The last vestiges of the discomfort before were gone and only joy remained. Thomas slapped at the water, splashing his husband, who's response was to splash him in return before turning and wading deeper into the water. The waves pushed at Thomas but he followed Newt until they were far enough in to body surf and swim in the water.

Thomas relished the way things felt normal, then, as he and Newt played in the water. His best friend, laughing as he stood in the water dripping sunlight. Any trace of tension was gone from him, and he could see in the slope of Newt's shoulders and the width of his grin that he was feeling the same. This - this was what he'd set out to do. Make Newt forget, just for a moment, that there was anything to worry about.

By the time they stepped out of the water, he could feel his stomach rumbling with hunger and his shoulders beginning to heat with a mild sunburn. He flopped onto his towel, chest heaving. He heard Newt lay beside him with a huff. Thomas lay there for a moment to catch his breath, then rolled over onto his stomach to reach for the ice chest which held their lunch.

"Oh good, I'm bloody starving." Newt groaned as he too, rolled over.

"What, that shaved ice we had forty-five minutes ago wasn't filling enough?" Thomas teased as he pulled out the sandwiches. He handed Newt a can of soda before cracking one open himself and sitting up to eat.

The afternoon passed in a sunny haze until suddenly the beach was half as empty as before and the sun was rapidly heading for the horizon. He and Newt had found an abandoned campfire site out of the way along the beach and sat on the driftwood log beside it after they had taken most of their gear back to the car. Thomas leaned against his palm that lay flat against the smooth wood and looked over at Newt. His hair was curling at the tips from the wind and water, and his normally pale cheeks were tinged pink from the sun. He was squinting into the setting sun with a hand up to shade his eyes, watching the horizon. For what, he didn't know.

The easy silence of now reminded him of the stiff silence of earlier, after Newt had walked off and he'd found him at that bench with a similar expression on his face. He watched his profile cutting a perfect silhouette, and they sat like that for several minutes, Newt watching the sunset and Thomas watching him. It wasn't long after the sun had slipped below the horizon that he heard a cry of greeting from behind them, and turned to see Minho and Brenda walking towards them, case of beer in his hands, and a bag of s'mores fixings in hers.

"There you are! We've been looking all over hell and back. You guys really know how to pick off the beaten path spots, huh?" Minho greeted with a chuckle.

"Excuse us for wanting to find the one unoccupied campfire on the beach." Newt replied dryly.

Brenda rolled her eyes, but smiled as she sat on the log on the opposite side of the unlit fire. She leaned forward, forearms resting on her knees with her palms together, pointing them decidedly at Thomas. "So, spill the beans dude. Why the hell did you drag your asses out of work on a Thursday morning to spend the day at the beach?"

"Because work has been a disaster all week." Thomas admitted, glancing at Newt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Minho set the case of beer down and begin cracking them open. "We had Newt's green card interview on Sunday and we're both going a little stir-crazy about the results."

Brenda's brow arched, "They haven't come in yet? It's almost been a week."

"That's what's got me so worried," Newt spoke up, leaning forward as well. "Usually people get their results straight away. What if they've found something that doesn't add up, some thread that shows we're not married for love, but just for me to get my green card?"

"Relax a little, Newt. I've never seen two fake lovers more in love than you and Thomas. I'm sure you guys passed with flying colors." Minho reassured, laying a hand on Newt's shoulder and squeezing as he sat down beside him. "And on that note, let's cheers to getting to actually spend some time together. Feels like we haven't done that enough lately, so I'm glad we're all here."

"Cheers." Thomas said, reaching to grab a bottle from the case that had been set down.

The others echoed him and they all took a drink before gathering to get the fire started. Minho wandered off to get sticks to toast marshmallows on while Thomas watched Brenda set up the most precise teepee of kindling he had ever seen atop some crumpled newspapers to light with a lighter. Soon the fire was comfortably large and hot, the drink in his stomach warming him from the inside out, and they all got to talking about one thing or another. Somehow, the topic of sleeping arrangements came up and Brenda was eying them with a grin.

"Okay, I know what you're gonna say, but you guys really share a bed?"

Beside him, Newt paused with his drink halfway to his mouth before shooting him a quick glance. Brenda made some noise of mirth at the back of her throat. "Yes, we do." Newt said. "We wanted to lie as little as possible, so we figured sharing a bed was the least of our problems in the lie department."

"What did they even ask you at that interview, anyway?" Minho asked.

"Oh, you know - how we met, what we did on our first date, who proposed to whom, stuff like that." Thomas replied with a shrug.

"Not to mention the mountains of documentation we gave them," Newt added, "they asked us weirdly personal questions too."

"Oh?" Brenda asked, grinning. "Do tell."

Thomas shook his head, looking down at the bottle clutched in his hands. The last thing he wanted to do was give either of his friends more ammunition to taunt them with. Newt, it seemed, had a different idea.

"The interviewer asked us when we'd last had sex. It was the last question she asked us." Newt answered, unable to keep a straight face. "Guess our answer to that told her everything she needed to know."

"Shut the fuck up, she did not!" Minho exclaimed, doubling over with laughter. Brenda was right beside him, his mirror image.

"Now you did it, Newt," Thomas said, slapping his arm with the back of his hand, "we're never living this down."

"They asked, I answered!" Newt feigned innocence, giving him a wicked grin before joining their best friends in laughter.

"How - how did you even come up with an answer for that one?" Brenda gasped out.

Newt just shook his head, shoulders shaking with now silent laughter as tears formed in his eyes. "She phrased it so oddly, too. . ." He went on describe the rest of the interview, going into far more detail than Thomas would've liked, but by the time the fire was down to red-hot coals, and marshmallows had been roasted and eaten, the beer had been drunk, Thomas came to the realization that this had been exactly what he and Newt had needed.

They had needed to talk about the things going on in their lives with their best friends, with the family that they had formed, and realize that they would be okay no matter the outcome. By the end of the night he felt more carefree than he had in a long time; with his arm slung over Minho's shoulder, Brenda and Newt walking behind them as they picked their way across the sand to the parking lot before saying goodnight. The miscommunication between him and Newt felt distant as they drove home in comfortable silence.