The guy that outed Sydney comes closer, and I take the time to assess him. He's a bit taller than me, but he's also more lanky, whereas I'm a bit stockier. I can probably take him if I have to.
I feel Sydney shift behind me slightly as the guy— Luke— looks at him.
Finally, he stops about three feet away.
"I haven't seen you since middle-school," He says, ignoring me. "What happened to you?"
"Why do you care?" Sydney spits with a surprising amount of malice in his voice.
Luke raises his hands in surrender. "Woah, calm down, would you? I just came to talk."
I glance back at Sydney, wondering who I should be more concerned about— Luke, who's being condescending... or Sydney, who looks like he either wants to attack Luke or disappear.
I opt to puff out my chest and raise my chin slightly, making eye contact with Luke, who raises one brow.
"Can I help you?" He asks, looking me up and down briefly. "Who are you, anyways?"
I open my mouth to speak, but Sydney cuts me off, stepping in front of me.
"He's not a fucking jerk, that's what."
Luke snorts. "I wouldn't have thought I'd see the day! Sydney Summers standing up for someone other than himself! How shocking."
"As if you could talk," Sydney's hands clench. "All you do is betray people and tell all their secrets."
"That was one time," Luke rolls his eyes. "And it's been two years. Have you seriously not gotten over it yet?"
"Not gotten over it?" Sydney echoes disbelievingly. "You ruined my life. Did you expect me to just move on?"
Luke shrugs.
"Why are you here, anyways?" I jump in, frowning.
"Scumbag," Sydney adds under his breath.
"I live here," Luke glares at me, a hint of emotion other than entitlement sparking in his voice. "I actually just moved to this beach last summer. Am I not allowed to go outside on the off-chance that I'll see my e—"
"Don't finish that sentence," Sydney stops him, raising one hand and looking away. "We were never anything."
Now I'm confused. They dated? But Sydney says they weren't anything?
"Why would you go out of your way to talk to him though?" I ask.
This time, Luke pauses before speaking.
"I just felt like it," He brushes me off, but I feel like he's hiding something.
There's a tense silence between us for much too long for my liking. So I turn slightly and whistle for Kiki to come over.
Immediately she spins around and dashes towards us, tail wagging wildly. She skids to a stop before she can get too close to us though, eyeing Luke warily.
She glances at me, and when I beckon for her to come again, she curls her lip at Luke and trots over to my side.
"Cute dog," Luke says. "He looked at me funny though."
"She doesn't like you," I notice, watching how she makes sure to keep him in her sights as I crouch down to pet her.
Sydney scoffs. "See? Even his dog thinks you suck."
Luke frowns, studying himself briefly as though to try to find what made Kiki dislike him.
"Sydney," I say, not looking up from Kiki. I feel him shift closer. "I think my mom is here."
She's not. Of course she isn't— we haven't even been here for an hour.
"Oh yeah," Sydney says slowly, catching on to my plan to get us out of this situation. "I saw her text you."
I look up and see him shoot a quick glance at Luke before taking a few steps back to grab my phone and hat from the ground.
I take my phone when he gives it to me, checking my notifications quickly. Nothing important.
Sydney puts on my hat. "Bye, Luke."
I stand up, brushing sand off my knees and hands.
"Wait—" Luke extends a hand to grab Sydney, but he flinches back and out of reach.
"Don't touch me," Sydney hisses, glaring. Luke steps back, a strange expression on his face.
"I want to talk to you," He says, sounding almost desperate. "Please don't go."
Sydney and I exchange a look.
Luke glances at me. "And I'd prefer it be in private."
I roll my eyes. "Look around you. This is an open beach. There is no 'private'. And anyways, I'm not leaving Sydney alone with you."
I look at him, and Sydney grinds his teeth for a moment, studying Luke.
"Tim," Sydney says finally, sighing. "Just give us enough space to be out of earshot."
My eyebrows shoot up. "Really?" Didn't he just want to kill this dude? Now he wants to be alone with him?
Luke stays silent under my judging gaze.
I pause, then lean down and whisper into Sydney's ear as quietly as I can. "Give me a shout if you need me to get you out of here. Don't let him push you around." I take a second to overthink my next words. "I love you."
I see him swallow.
"I love you too," He nods, flashing me a quick smile. "Kiss me later."
"Will do," I grin.
But my mood drops again as I walk away from Sydney and Luke. Kiki follows me, but I point her towards a flock of seagulls, and she quickly leaves me to disperse them.
I find myself missing my hat as I stand under the sun, arms crossed, while I watch Sydney and Luke talk.
It feels like hours have passed, but I know that's just my mind playing tricks on me.
I drag my toe through the sand, drawing nothing in particular, as I pat the back of my neck. I can feel a sunburn setting in even with the protection of the sunscreen. Gotta love being pale.
I look up at a noise, but it's just Kiki. She seems to have found a piece of driftwood, and now is entertaining herself by dragging it through a pile of rocks.
I return my gaze to my sandy feet.
Then my head snaps back up when a shout pierces the sounds of waves. My eyes find where Sydney and Luke were standing, but they have to slide down in order to find what I'm looking for.
Dropping my phone on the ground, I sprint towards them.
I skid to a stop in front of them, the action throwing up sand.
I grab Luke's arm with both hands, then twist it behind his back at an odd angle.
He lets out a shocked cry of pain, letting go of Sydney to face me.
I pull him away from Sydney, rage making my actions feel almost mechanical.
"Timothy!" Sydney gasps, scrambling away from where he had been pinned into the hot sand.
I drag Luke back, then shove him into the ground with a knee to his rib. He swings a fist at me, managing to hit my mouth and bust open my lip. That action makes me angrier, and I clench my own fist and strike him right back— square in the face.
"Tim!" Sydney grabs my shoulder urgently. "Let him go! Don't hurt him."
It takes a second for Sydney's words to register in my brain. But then I let go. I stand and take a step back.
Luke staggers to his feet, blood dripping from his nose and tears streaming down his face.
He glares fiercely at me and Sydney, then takes off running back in the direction he came, clutching his side with one hand.
I turn to face Sydney, who seems ruffled and sandy but not particularly hurt.
He chews on the inside of his cheek.
I rub the back of my neck.
"Are you okay?" I ask quietly. I can taste iron on my tongue from where Luke busted my lip. "What happened?"
He looks up at me with his pretty eyes, glassy with tears that threaten to spill at any second.
"Can you just kiss me?"
---
"Damn, he really got me," I mumble, pressing the napkin to my bloody lip.
"I didn't really help," Sydney licks his own lips, probably remembering our kiss. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize," I shake my head. "It's okay."
We ended up going to a nearby restaurant, where we could sit in the shade and wait for Sydney's shirt to dry and for my lip to stop bleeding.
A waiter comes by our table, carrying two glasses of ice water.
We take them gratefully, Sydney taking careful sips of his while I press an ice cube to my lip.
We sit in silence, letting the people around us talk instead, until Sydney sighs.
"I didn't think he'd actually do anything."
I raise one brow at him to go on.
He takes another sip of water. "He was never a very violent person. But then again, that was in middle-school. We used to be super close— like people used to ask if we were brothers or something, cuz we were always together.
"But then our relationship changed. Sometimes we'd hold hands. We'd call every night. I told him things no one else knew, and he'd do the same. Then one day I made the mistake of telling him I was gay.
"I didn't think it'd be a big deal— he never came off as homophobic, and we were practically dating anyways..."
Sydney pauses to take a deep, steadying breath. I listen with wide eyes, leaned forward in my chair.
"But then I came to school late the next day and somehow all our friends knew. And they all....hated me for it."
I reach forward so I can grab his hand with my free one and give it a reassuring squeeze.
He smiles at me for a moment, then continues talking.
"I mean, Tai helped me through a lot back then. He and Lina were my main support systems, and kept me stable even when I was moments away from giving up completely. I don't know if I can ever repay them for what they did.
"But yeah. Long story short, middle-school sucked and Luke made it suckier."
I smile sympathetically at him. "It's really impressive that you went through all that and are still here. You've gotta be hella strong to do that."
He laughs. "It's hardly anything to do with strength. I just kinda lived. And that seemed to work."
"I mean..." I start to say, then I pause and lean closer, whispering conspiratorially. "I'm gonna tell you a secret."
Sydney tilts his head curiously, responding in a similar whisper. "What is it?"
"You're not ready for this..." I grin. His eyes are wide with anticipation. "But I'm really glad you're still here. Alive. I'm so happy that I'm able to be having this conversation with you right now. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't in my life."
He blinks, surprised, and I decide to throw one more thing out there.
"And I love you. A lot."