Days have passed since Tyler and Ethan's moment in the kitchen, it seemed as if neither one of them wanted to bring it up. It was a warm Saturday afternoon and the members of Teamiplier were on their way to the beach. Even Pam decided to join causing them to split into 2 cars the girls in one and the boys in the other.
In the boy's car Tyler was driving while Ethan sat in the passenger with the AUX cord and Mark sat in the back scrolling through his phone giggling occasionally.
"What are you so giddy about back there?" Tyler asked looking up at Mark's reflection in the rearview mirror. Mark was biting his lip slightly and glanced up from his phone.
"Oh just some silly things Sean is sending me." Mark responded causing Tyler to throw a sideways glance at Ethan who had a slight smirk.
"Oh reeeaaaally," Ethan said dramatically and turned to Mark in his seat, "You should just tell him how you feel you know."
Uncertainty flashed through Mark's face, "I'm not sure about that. Maybe one day." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "So uh how are doing? With you know the whole Danny thing?" Mark asked hoping to change the subject.
Ethan shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure really, I'm finding it hard to move on you know." The blue boy's hands unconsciously fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "It's really hard."
"I understand," Mark responded gingerly, "How about your anxiety?"
"It's becoming a bit more controllable but sometimes I get flashbacks and remember things I don't want to and it just throws me into a full uncontrollable panic attack." Ethan said lowly receiving sad looks from both Mark and Tyler.
"I'm sorry," Mark's voice was filled with nothing but love and support, "It must be tough for you."
Ethan remained silent and so Tyler jumped in, "It is an everyday battle but he'll be okay. I'll make sure of it." Ethan casted Tyler a thankful look which he returned with a warm smile. Not too soon after Tyler was pulling into a parking spot next to the girls car. Almost as soon as Ethan exited the car he was engulfed in a surprise hug from none other than Pam causing Ethan to tense slightly but he forced himself to relax. He still wasn't too fond of sudden contact from anyone other than Tyler.
"Oh my gosh Ethan I haven't seen you in forever!" Pam exclaimed when she pulled away.
Ethan smiled, "I think it's been since A Date With Markiplier, right?" Ethan responded as everyone gathered their belongings and walk towards the beach.
"Mhmm, It's good to see you." Pam smiled warmly and soon left to catch up with the girls.
Ethan grabbed his bag and turned around to see Tyler still waiting for him, "Hey you sure you're okay with this?" Tyler looked concerned, he didn't want the younger male to feel uncomfortable being at the beach.
"Yeah I should be," Ethan bit his lip a bit out of habit, "It's a small beach right? Like not many people there?" The blue haired boy looked up at the taller male hopefully.
Tyler smiled down at him, "Yes it is. Not many people come to this beach." Relief visibly washed from Ethan's face.
"Ok then I should be fine taking my shirt off," Ethan sighed, "The scarring on my back isn't so bad but it's still very noticeable." his voice dropped sadly for a second.
"Don't worry okay? Everyone here loves you and no one is going to judge." Tyler reassured him but Ethan only responded with a nod. The two of them continued to walk until they made it to the area where everyone else is. Mark of course was alreading shirtless and Amy soon followed in suit taking off her cover clothes. She grabbed Mark's arm and practically dragged him to the water. As they went off many faint yells of protests could be heard from the Mark causing everyone to giggle. Kathryn had already set up her beach chair and pulled out a magazine to read. Pam was right next to her laying out a towel while putting on sunscreen.
Ethan looked over at Tyler who was pulling his shirt over his head. His teeth began to nibble at his bottom lip as Ethan hesitantly grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled off the fabric. As soon as the shirt was off a small gasp was heard from Pam but she was quickly quieted down by Kathryn. She leaned over and whispered something to her and Pam nodded in response.
The blue haired boy was beginning to feel a bit self conscious but with one look from Tyler it quickly melted away. "Gosh you look amazing." Tyler commented has he offered his hand.
"Shut up." Ethan blushed grabbing at the outstretched hand. The both of them made their way towards the water and stopped when they got near. Mark was still yelling at Amy who was trying to pull him in more.
"Amy I sweAR TO GOD SOMETHING TOUCHED MY FOOT." Mark screamed not so manly, pulling a giggle from them all.
"Stop being such a baby!" Amy yelled back tugging harder. The two of them weren't even at hip level but Mark was still freaking out. Both Tyler and Ethan moved into the cold water and passed Amy and Mark. Amy pointed at the two of them dramatically, "See look at them and how far they're out. Cooooome ooooon." Mark grumbled something under his breath but took a few steps so he was above hip level.
"I am not going any farther, you gotta deal with it." Mark proclaimed crossing his arms over his chest childishly. Amy smirked at him and splashed water at his face, "Hey not cool!" Mark exclaimed firing back with more water.
The two of them continued their splashing fight until Ethan somehow managed to get into the crossfire which causes him to splash the two of them. Soon enough Tyler even joined in, creating a 4 way splash war. This went on for awhile until they decided to just jump swim around and jump a few waves.
Soon after they became tired and swam back to shore where Pam and Kathryn were wading in shallow water. "Oh look who decided to come back just in time for lunch." Kathryn pointed out teasingly, "Come on I laid out the food for us."
Everyone began to walk towards their area and Ethan followed until a gentle hand grabbed his wrist. "Hey Eth can I talk to you for a second?" Pam asked pulling the blue haired boy aside.
Ethan glanced over unsurely towards Tyler who in return gave him a reassuring smile. "Yeah sure what's up?" His hands started to fidget with the wet strings of his swim trunks.
Pam took a small deep breath, "Kathryn explained some things to me." Ethan nodded for her to continue, "Like about your ex boyfriend and the things he's done."
The blue haired boy's eyes casted down for a second as he let out a soft 'oh'.
Pam looked panicked because the last thing she wanted to do was upset Ethan, "I don't know how exactly to put this, but you should know you're not alone. I understand completely what you went through."
"You mean you.." Ethan trailed off but continued once Pam nodded in confirmation, "When?" The blue haired boy's eyes softened when he realized what Pam was telling him.
"It was my first year of college, I was a stupid naive freshman and he seemed like a flawless senior." Pam bit her lip, "Long story short everything was perfect until it wasn't. I got out 2 years later but the damage was done."
Ethan started at her in some sort of daze, "Pam I had no idea, I'm sorry."
Pam shook her head, "No it was years ago and I'm better now. And just like me, you will be too one day." without thinking Pam through her arms around Ethan. She did not miss the way he flinched and stiffened at the sudden contact but he soon eased himself to hug her back. "Everything is going to be okay. The pain won't last forever. I'm living proof of it."
Ethan tightened the hug slightly but soon they both pulled away. "Let's go back to them before they eat all the food." Ethan suggested sending Pam a smile.
Once they returned to their area they were met with the team pulling them down and passing around the food. Ethan of course sat next to Tyler who placed his arm around the smaller boy. The blue haired boy smiled towards the giant and started to pick at the food on his plate. While he ate, Ethan stayed comfortably silent but still listened to jumbled up mess of jokes and laughter from all his friends. Once and awhile he joined in laughing with everyone else. The atmosphere around them all was nothing but joy and familiarity which comforted the blue haired boy to no end. Nothing else mattered in the world because Ethan was with his friends and the guy he was in love with. He wanted to be there and they wanted him there. For once he was somewhere where he was wanted. He was with his with his friends, his second family.
Hey thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Feed back is much appreciated ^-^ And I'll see you in the next chapter, buh bye!