"Do you have the sunscreen?" Connor asked from the driver's seat.
"Yeah!" Zoe called as she packed the trunk.
"What about the-" Connor began, but was cut off by Zoe.
"Yes! I have the towels, the umbrella, the cooler, the pails, and the flip flops." Zoe rolled her eyes, shutting the trunk of the car. "So, everything."
Suddenly, Jared came tearing out of the house, dressed in his dark red swim trunks and a t-shirt, "Shotgun!" He shrieked, opening the passenger door and sliding in before anyone else could.
"Jared! I just packed the trunk, I totally get the right to the front seat!" Zoe argued, banging on the passenger side window. Jared simply stuck his tongue out, locking his door so Zoe couldn't get in.
"Who's ready for the beach!" Alana said excited as she and Evan came from the house. Evan was nervously fiddling with his blue bathing suit, he wore no shirt. The poor boy was so pale he looked like he was already beginning to sun burn and he'd only been outside a couple of minutes.
"Hop in the car, but can whoever sits behind Jared kick his seat for me?" Zoe grumbled, sitting in the middle seat while Evan and Alana sat around her.
"Nobody's kicking Jared's seat." Connor sighed, turning the car on.
"Ha! See, my boyfriend wouldn't let that happen-" Jared turned to mock Zoe but was cut off as Connor flicked his ear. "Ow! What the hell?" He grabbed his ear.
"Nobody's kicking your seat because only I can punish my boyfriend." Connor teased, leaning over the middle console to give Jared a light kiss on the lips.
"Oh goody, we're watching this." Zoe coughed as everyone in the backseat averted their gaze.
"Fuck off, Zoe. I just flicked my boyfriend for you." Connor grumbled as he pulled away from Jared and put the car into drive.
"Is that supposed to impress me? Jared's a little wimp." Zoe laughed.
"What! I am not!" Jared gasped, turning around in his seat once more. "If anyone's the wuss, it's Evan."
"We already knew that, Jare." Connor snickered. "It's almost cruel to make fun of Evan's pushover nature at this point."
"Thanks." Evan said dryly.
"I'm not a wuss!" Jared whined, sinking down in his seat.
"Fine, then prove it." Zoe said smugly. "We're going to the beach, we can have some sort of contest?"
"Oh! What kind of contest?" Alana beamed. "We can do a swimming contest, a sandcastle building contest-"
"Ah yes, because sand castle building is exactly what determines who's a wuss and who isn't." Jared said sarcastically from the front seat. Connor pulled into the parking lot to the beach, found a spot, and parked. The whole group hopped out and began gathering their items from the back.
"We could see who can hold their breath the longest?" Alana suggested, carrying the towels.
"Nah, what about a race?" Connor lugged both the cooler and the umbrella while Jared merely carried the plastic pails and spades for their sandcastles.
"Yeah, a race!" Zoe's eyes lit up. "Let's do that!" Everyone seemed to agree, except Jared, who insisted that it wasn't fair as he was the shortest of the bunch.
They found a spot at the beach, which wasn't too crowded anyway as they had gone on a weekday, and began to set up their items. Connor drove the umbrella into the ground and set up shade while Alana carefully laid out the towels.
"Evan'll be the judge for the race." Zoe decided, and Evan seemed relieved to not have to participate in such a competitive event. He flopped down on one of the towels in the shade.
"Alright, then." Evan smiled.
"Wait! The winner should get something!" Alana suggested.
"No way, the loser should have to do something." Connor eyes Jared mischievously.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm not going to be the loser!" Jared seethed.
"Loser has to..." Zoe thought for a second. "Not talk for the rest of the trip."
"No, I refuse! Why are you guys all targeting me?" Jared pouted, grabbing his boyfriend's arm and looking up at him, hoping he'd defend him in some way.
Connor sighed and ruffled Jared's hair, Jared shut his eyes and leaned into Connor's touch. He hoped he was cute enough to the point where Connor would cave and tell everyone to back off of him.
"How about this, loser has to show their search history." Connor suggested.
Everyone advert their eyes from each other.
"Sound good?" Connor asked, everyone nodded, seemingly agreeing that this was the best option. After all, now they all had reason to win.
"Go line up down by that rock there, the finish line will be the umbrella." Evan said, everyone did as they were told, lining up. "On your mark,"
"You're past the line." Jared told Zoe.
"Get set,"
"No I'm not!" Zoe huffed, moving back a bit. "You just want a head start."
"Go!"
Everyone took off running through the sand. Jared and Connor seemed to take the lead for a second before Connor stuck his leg out and tripped Jared, sending the boy head-first into the sand. However, sticking his foot out had drastically slowed him down, as now Zoe and Alana were pulling ahead.
Alana passed the umbrella first, then Zoe, and then Connor.
"Alana wins!" Evan shrieked excitedly.
Jared, meanwhile, was plucking himself off the ground, reaching with hand to find where his glasses were and with the other rubbing the sand from his hair. He couldn't tell if the tears in his eyes were from humiliation or sand, but either way it was earning him pity points.
"You okay, Jare?" Connor ran back to the boy, crouching down and scooping up his glasses and wiping them off for him.
"No." Jared sniffed as Connor slid his glasses back into his face. "That wasn't fair!" Zoe, Evan, and Alana trotted up to them.
"I can't believe I won! I've evening doing track an extracurricular activity since many colleges give scholarships to people who play sports, but I never thought I was that good-" Alana started.
"Come on, Jared." Zoe reached out at Jared. "Your phone, please."
Connor curled his arms around Jared protectively, bringing the boy into his lap. "No, we're not doing that anymore." He said firmly, stroking Jared's hair. Jared nuzzled against Connor's neck, smirking slightly.
"But you're the one who wanted that?" Zoe frowned, crossing her arms.
"I said no." Connor glared, pressing kisses to the top of Jared's head. Jared looked over at Zoe and, so Connor couldn't see, stuck his tongue out at her.
"Fine, let's go swimming then." She squinted at Jared, who instantly knew he would regret crossing her.
With that, they all took off into the water, Jared and Connor going particularly slow, however, because Connor felt the need to be gentle with Jared after making him upset.
"You're sure you're okay?" Connor asked lightly, his hand ghosting over Jared's back as they waded into the water.
"God, Con, I'm not made of porcelain, I'm fine." Jared reassured him before leaning down and giving Connor a small splash.
"Jared!" Connor squeaked, shielding himself. Jared laughed, splashing harder this time. A smirk crept upon Connor's face, "Alright, you asked for it!"
Jared squeaked and took off running through the water, Connor close behind. Jared ran towards Evan and Zoe, hoping Evan would be a good human shield. When he got to them, however, before he could duck behind Evan, Zoe grabbed his arm, yanking him towards her.
"Come and get him!" She smirked, holding Jared still as Connor arrived.
"No!" Jared laughed, squirming as Connor grabbed him and flung him over his shoulder, carrying him fireman style.
"You're gonna get it, Kleinman." Connor teased, turning away from Zoe and Evan. Zoe stuck her tongue out at Jared as he was carried away.
Connor didn't carry him too far, they were only a little ways from the others.
"Hm, what shall I do with you?" Connor smiled, the hand that wasn't making sure Jared didn't fall off of him was playing with the bottom of his swim trunks. "Shall I dunk you head first into the water?"
"No!" Jared kicked his legs slightly.
"No?" Connor considered this. "Hm, I think I'm gonna do it anyway." He pulled Jared from his shoulder and flipped the boy upside down so his head was dangling just inches above the water.
"Please!" Jared shrieked.
"Oh, you're gonna beg me now?" Connor chuckled, he was holding Jared by his ankles.
"Please, Con!" Jared pouted, desperately trying to get out of another situation with his cuteness. Connor thought for a second and Jared tried to wait patiently, but all of his blood was rushing to his head. "Please."
"Hm, nah." Connor smirked. Jared barely had enough time to take in a breath before his head was dunked into the cool water. He was pulled up a second later, gasping for breath as Connor turned him right side up again.
"You're such a dick." Jared hugged him, his wet hair clinging to Connor's chest.
"Better watch what you say, I could dunk you again." Connor teased, wiping the hair from Jared's forehead before taking the boy's hand.
"Whatever." Jared rolled his eyes. "Let's go back to the umbrella." They two boys headed to land, where the sand stuck awkwardly to them as they walked. Alana was stretched out on one towel, reading a book in the shade. Jared flopped down on another, Connor laying down beside him and spooning him from behind.
"How's the book?" Jared asked her.
"It's wonderful, how's the boyfriend?" Alana hummed, eyes not leaving the page.
"He's wonderful."