#uniquelyabnormal

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  Jack absolutely could not believe his luck as he stared up at the beautiful house before him, hardly believing that it was now his. Beside him, dropping a heavy box onto the slightly overgrown grass of their front lawn, Geoff stretched and shot him a lopsided grin, clapping him on the back as he did so.

  “Why are you so happy?” He asked, digging his hand into the pocket of Jack’s jeans. “Not that I’ve got a problem with that stupid grin.”

  Jack rolled his eyes. “This stupid grin is showing appreciation for the house we’ve just bought,” he replied smugly, his eyes scanning the wooden panels, clearly in need of a good paint job if the chipped flecks of green were anything to go by, the dirty bay windows and the clogged drains. “Even if it does need a bit of work.”

  Behind them Ryan promptly tripped over a loose flagstone and flung a box marked ‘fragile’ across the pathway in his haste to protect himself from the fall. The sound of breaking china was barely heard over Geoff’s infectious laughter, and Jack could not help but watch his boys in amusement.

  The house they had bought was old, built in a faux-Victorian style and had clearly been unloved over the years. All the rooms were decked out in wallpaper that looked to be from the early 70s, the carpeting was orange and shag with the odd burn mark in places and areas had greyed to show paths where the previous occupants had often walked; the floorboards beneath them creaking horribly with every step. The three bathrooms were tiled in a hideous puce shade, the kitchen still had an old AGA cooker - complete with decades worth of grime - sat in the corner and Jack was almost certain that they had a family of birds living in the attic; their scratching filling the silence of the night.

  But it was theirs. Theirs to renovate, to love and to, hopefully some day, raise a family in.

  Immediately they rose to the challenge of making the place more habitable for them and their two cats. Egg and Uday, Geoff and Jack’s cats respectively, seemed to enjoy the large open spaces and took full advantage of them to hunt, often disappearing into the tall grass of the backyard only to return hours later with a mouse or a frog.

  Jack suspected that, underneath all of the foliage, they had a pond and he could not help but slip into daydreams of hearing childish laughter on warm summer days and teaching curious minds about tadpoles.

  “Have you seen the scissors?”

  One day, as autumn made itself known, Ryan’s deep voice brought him back to the present, the paint from his paintbrush having dripped down the handle to settle on his skin. With a frown, Jack wiped his hand on his overalls and turned to him.

  “I thought you had them?”

  “Hmmm,” Ryan’s clear blue eyes narrowed and he began to carefully look through the small mound of brushes and paint pots that Jack had grouped into the middle of their kitchen in contemplation, shifting through the piles of old wallpaper to see if anything lurked beneath. “I thought I did too, maybe Geoff has them?”

  Ryan shook his head as he thought to himself, abandoning his search through the items on the kitchen floor, and folded his arms. Jack could see the flecks of green paint adorning the sleeves of his shirt and smirked, Ryan’s claim over breakfast at being able to remain paint-free having been foiled. “He’s outside.”

  The cheery sound of the lawnmower accompanied his words and Jack frowned. “Are you sure you didn’t leave them upstairs?”

  “Maybe,” Ryan sounded doubtful, but he shrugged and headed towards the stairs regardless. “I’ll manage.”

  Jack returned to his painting, thinking nothing more of the missing scissors as he neatly drew fresh white paint across the kitchen’s window frames.

  But as the weeks went by the scissors were not the only things that went missing.

  A freshly opened packet of dusting clothes ended up half empty less than a day after they were opened. All of the thimbles in Jack’s sewing kit mysteriously vanished. Socks that went into the airing cupboard disappeared. Even food was not safe, and Jack vividly remembered one afternoon where Geoff had accused him and Ryan of eating his tomatoes when neither had been anywhere near them.

  Each time Geoff, Jack and Ryan denied all responsibility for the missing items. But Jack was left with the constant feeling that something was happening.

  But what, exactly?

  At first he was fairly certain that the cats were the culprits. Even though, logically speaking, cats were not proficient in opening sewing kits and cupboards. But he was sure that there was no other explanation for it, even as Geoff joked about ghosts and Ryan joked about burglars hiding under their floorboards. He never dreamt that maybe one of them was perhaps closer to the truth than they had thought.

  It was the middle of November when that truth became startlingly clear. It was early, well before sunrise, and Jack was asleep beside Ryan on the edge of the bed he shared with his boyfriends when he woke to the sound of Uday yowling furiously downstairs. For a moment he lay there, hoping that he could prolong his time under the combined warmth of bodies and blankets before he realised that waiting was futile and slipped out towards the cat’s cries.

  “C’mon Uday,” he groaned, pulling his dressing gown on as he entered the living room and flipped the lightswitch.The room was immediately bathed in a dim yellow light and Jack’s eyes scanned the room for the source of the noise. “What’s wrong?”

  His cat was crouched by the bookshelf, hissing and clawing at something that Jack could not see. Uday ignored his entrance, transfixed on his prize, and Jack frowned; unused to seeing this behaviour in his usually docile pet.

  He crouched down and gently pushed the cat away from the bookshelf, bending down further to remove the arch of fallen books that seemed to be hiding the source of the animal’s ire. Something small rushed out before he had finished, and in his astonishment he was not fast enough to stop Uday from lunging after it as it rushed towards the sofa.

  If he was not mistaken, he was absolutely sure that the small something he had seen was a little person.

  The same little person who was now trapped between the paws of an angry cat.

  “Uday, no!” Jack cried, pulling the cat towards him. Shocked at the sudden movement, Uday yowled and dropped his prey in a flurry of terrified cries, which spurned Jack into scooping up the animal and moving it into the hallway, shutting the living room door tightly behind him.

  He turned his attention back to the problem at hand. The problem that was stood in the middle of the living room floor, shaking in fear.

  Jack stared in fascination. The person was about the size of his hand although Jack wagered that he was - in fact - smaller; wearing what looked like a sock that had been altered and now had holes for arms and legs. He was male and was looking at Jack with impossibly wide, hazel eyes underneath a mop of messy brown hair.

  Jack had never considered himself to be a heartless person. In fact, he knew that Ryan and Geoff loved him for, among other things, his kind and generous nature, and how accepting he was even when faced with the unknown. The little person’s trembling did not sit right with him - how something could be so terrified by his very presence? - and he vowed to do the right thing.

  “I’m sorry,” he began kindly, lowering himself to the ground where he sat cross legged. He carefully schooled his expression into one of politeness. “I think Uday got a bit excited, he doesn’t usually do something like this. He didn’t mean any harm.” The little person did not reply, although his trembles lessened even if his eyes stayed wide. Jack smiled encouragingly. “My name is Jack, what’s yours?”

  “I know,” the little voice squeaked, the person shifting on his tiny feet. “Well, I know your name is Jack… you’re the one who likes to build things and keeps things clean.”

  Jack shook his head with a fond smile. “Somebody in this house has to,” he chuckled to himself. “One day I’ll train Geoff into picking up his wet towels, but for now… you didn’t answer my question.”

  The little person pouted, his trembles ceasing, before he replied in an accent that Jack could only describe as being British. “My name’s Gavin.”

  “Nice to meet you Gavin,” Jack greeted, holding out his hand. Gavin giggled and tentatively stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Jack’s index finger to shake. “So, do you live here too?”

  Gavin paused, releasing his grip on Jack’s finger, and shrugged. “Yeah…” he began reluctantly. “We’ve always lived here, but we keep out of the way.”

  “We? There are more of you?” Gavin’s eyes widened and, sensing the reappearance of panic, Jack continued. “You don’t need to worry, we’re not going to hurt you.”

  “Big People have a funny reaction to us sometimes,” Gavin told him sadly. “We’ve lost brothers and sisters to vacuums, mops… and even cats.” Gavin shot a worried glance at the closed living room door and shivered. “It’s better if we hide away.”

  “How do you live? Don’t you need to eat and...” Jack began curiously, then something clicked. “That’s why things have been disappearing, you guys have been taking them!”

  “We’re really sorry!” Gavin squeaked. “It’s been ages since we’ve been able to make clothes, and it’s been really cold this winter so we’ve needed blankets. We’re only borrowing them, really!”

  Jack did not reply straight away, information and ideas whirring around his mind faster than he could collect them. Gavin was looking at him in trepidation, no doubt preparing himself for what Jack’s reaction could be, before the bespeckled man spoke. “Why don’t you come out and meet Ryan and Geoff? I don’t have a problem with you living here, and I’m sure they won’t. You wouldn’t have to hide anymore.

  “My brothers aren’t very trusting of Big People,” Gavin replied quietly with a shrug. With a start, Jack recognised the sock he was wearing as being one of Geoff’s, and was glad that Gavin had had the sense to plunder clean laundry from the airing cupboard. “But, you’re the first one who has ever spoken to us nicely, and you saved me. I’ll ask my brothers and see what they think.”

  “Will we see you tomorrow?”

  Gavin shook his head slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I think it will take longer to convince them. But we’ll come to you when we’re ready.”

  Explaining to Ryan and Geoff, in the dim light of morning around steaming mugs of coffee, about their little housemates was surprisingly easy. Both men accepted their existence without too many questions, and they were both equally curious about meeting them.

  In an effort to show Gavin and his brothers that they could be trusted, the three tried their best to be more accommodating than they had been before. Every dinner included an extra, smaller portion that was left out on the counter when the three boyfriends went to bed and was, to Jack’s relief, reduced to an empty plate by morning. Geoff went to Walmart after work one evening and returned with a few boxes of dolls’ clothes and, when the temperature dropped, Ryan left Gavin-sized washcloths on the radiator in the hallway that slowly disappeared as the nights went by.

  On the first day of knowing about their new housemates Jack made sure to drive Uday and Egg to Geoff’s sister’s house. At least until he could properly introduce them he figured it was safer than having one of them hunt their defenceless prey during the night.

  Their meeting finally came one Saturday afternoon about two weeks after he had first met Gavin. Geoff and Ryan were eagerly trying to murder each other in Halo 4 whilst Jack watched them from his place on the sofa. Out of the corner of his eye, during a particularly vicious match that had reduced Geoff and Ryan to indignantly yelling at each other, Jack saw something climb up onto the armrest beside him.

  “Hello Gavin,” he greeted quietly, his words almost inaudible amongst Geoff and Ryan’s yells. Gavin smiled at him. “I wondered when I would see you next.”

  Behind Gavin, pulling themselves up after their brother, came two new little people.

  Both of them were around the same height as Gavin; one of them, sporting a mass of auburn curls, looked slightly taller and wore a dissatisfied scowl on his face, his arms tightly crossed around a miniature leather jacket, whilst the other one seemed smaller and was staring at Jack in barely disguised excitement.

  “Hello Jack,” The smallest one began, waving to him. “I’m Ray, thank you for giving us clothes.” Ray’s red and white jumper had obviously been pulled from a holiday bear and was slightly too big for him, but he looked happy nonetheless.

  “You should thank Geoff for them,” Jack replied, nodding his head in Geoff’s direction. “He got them.”

  Ray nodded enthusiastically. “We will, won’t we Michael?”

  The auburn-haired one narrowed his eyes, the scowl still on his lips. Gavin rolled his eyes. “Sorry about Michael, he’s not very trusting of Big People.”

  “That’s alright, we’ll just have to show Michael that he can trust us then.”

  “Jack?”

  It took Jack a second to realise that Geoff and Ryan’s yells had died down, and he turned to face his boyfriends’ curious stares. Ryan smiled warmly, placing his controller onto the floor next to him and spoke.

  “One of you must be Gavin?” He started, his full attention on the newcomers; a sparkle in his eyes. Gavin raised a hand, suddenly looking very shy, and Jack chuckled.

  “Yep, this is Gavin and his brothers Ray and Michael.”

  “Thanks for the clothes Geoff,” Ray chimed with a wave, pulling the sleeves of his jumper up. Geoff laughed, a light sound with the edge of a squeak to it, and shook his head. “They’re a lot better than socks.”

  “No problem buddy,” he replied with a grin, raising the glass of beer in his hand. “Next time I’ll try to get something more your size.”

  “Jack told me that we wouldn’t have to hide anymore,” Gavin edged carefully, shifting on the balls of his feet as he shared a fleeting look with his brothers. “Is that true?”

  Jack looked over to his boyfriends and, in unison, they nodded. Gavin replied with a toothy grin, one that showed his happiness even as Ray bounced slightly beside him, and turned towards Michael.

  “Did y’hear that Michael?”

  “Yeah,” Michael huffed unhappily. “How do we know it’s true? Big People lie.”

  “Well, I’m a Big Person and I try my best not to lie,” Jack replied with a shrug. “I promise you, we won’t change our minds.”

  Geoff took a swig of his beer and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. “Jack’s stubborn, he wouldn’t let anything happen to you guys.”

  “Scout’s honour,” Ryan added as he pulled himself up into the armchair. “We’d have to introduce you properly to the cats though and teach them that you’re friends and not food.”

  All three little people shivered at the mention of the cats and, not wanting to see any form of fear in them, Jack gestured towards the television. “Do you want to play a game with us?” He asked, ignoring the incredulous looks sent his way by his boyfriends.

  “How?” Geoff asked, eyebrow raised and a confused look in his steel blue eyes.

  “We’ll give them a controller to use and they can share the buttons?” Ryan suggested, already getting to his feet and moving towards the shelf that held all of their games. He pulled two controllers down and handed them both to Jack before returning to the shelf. “We should probably play something easier than Halo though…”

  “Mario Kart?” Geoff suggested, taking another sip of his beer. “We can work up from there.”

  And so, late one night in the dead of winter, Jack found himself playing Mario Kart with his boyfriends and their little housemates; their little Borrowers. After a bit of practice Gavin, Michael and Ray worked like a well-oiled machine as they changed buttons and controls, even managing to win a few races by themselves. Although, Ray and Michael did end up screaming at Gavin quite a few times.

  As the weeks went by Michael eventually lightened up to them, coming out of his angry shell to show somebody who was quite caring and compassionate, Geoff bought Ray some better fitting clothes and it wasn’t uncommon to see a little shadow dart across the floor as Gavin played with Uday and Egg - the former now far less hostile towards him.

  Christmas came quickly, and Jack watched with pride as the Borrowers unwrapped the large dollhouse he had made for them; a miniature version of their current house complete with little lights and smelling of fresh paint. The dusting clothes had been neatly folded onto each bed and Jack’s thimbles were sat on the tiny kitchen table.

  He smiled to himself as he sat between Ryan and Geoff, watching their little friends explore their new home within a home. Gavin, Michael and Ray may have lived together before Jack, Ryan and Geoff bought their house, but it was a place that belonged to them all now.

A/N: Two things, one, as much as I tried to go away from my normal writing style, this ended up somewhat a Ryan-centric fic. I’m sorry about that., Oh, and secondly, I don’t know how other countries have a good day on the beach, so this story has a certain Kiwi (New Zealand) spin on a typical day at the beach (Beach soccer was more American than beach cricket which happens most of the time) so I apologise for any inaccuracies there, I just had no other experience to base it off, particularly American experience so….yeah. Enjoy!

  “Come on, please let me play for a while…” Gavin whined as Ray held the Nintendo out of his reach.  “You should have brought your own.” Ray replied, “You knew it was going to be a long journey.”

“2 hours isn’t a long journey Ray. Not really.” Jack reminded him from the front seat.

“Whatever.” Ray replied, going back to his game, “If he wanted to play, he should have brought his own Nintendo. Hey!” His sentence was ended with Gavin snatching the Nintendo and trying to hold it out of Ray’s reach while playing.

“Geoff….” Ray called out, “Make him give it back to me.”

Geoff glanced up from the road and saw the scene behind him and sighed.  “Will you assholes cut it out?” He called, going back to driving. There was a click from the front seat and the lads and Ryan looked up from what they were doing to see Jack had taken a photo of the argument and was smiling to himself.

“Jack, fuck off.” Michael said, his mouth full of sandwich, already tucking into the picnic basket they had brought with them.

“Michael. Leave the food alone.” We aren’t even at the beach yet. Gavin, give Ray the Nintendo back and Ray, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll put it away.”

Michael gave Geoff a dirty look, but closed the lid of the basked and Gavin grumbled but handed the console back to Ryan, who put it in the seat pocket. Ryan went back to his book, stretched out as he was on the back row of seats on his own. Not for the first time on the journey he was glad he had chosen to be on his own at the back of the car, rather than anywhere else.

“I’m bored.” Gavin whined, to Michael.

“If you honestly don’t shut the fuck up Gavin, I will punch you in the face.” Michael replied, staring out the window grumpily. It was bad enough being stuck in a car for a long journey, let alone being stuck next to a whining Gavin.

“Are we almost there Geoff?” he asked, bouncing his seat like a little kid, “Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?” “Gavin…” Michael warned, looking grumpy.

“Gavin, we’ve still got an hour of travelling left, okay? Find something to entertain yourself.” Geoff replied, his eyes fixed firmly on the road.

“Shall I put some music on?” Jack asked, reaching out to the stereo.

“No.” Ray and Michael said in unison.

“If you do, we’ll have arguments over whose music gets to play, and whether there will be a change soon.” Ryan remarked in a disinterested tone from the back seat. Gavin turned around to face him. “Ryan, you aren’t bored, you can entertain me.” Gavin said, excitedly.

“Gavin, I’m reading. Entertain yourself.”

“I swear it’s like dealing with bunch of immature children.” Geoff remarked idly, bringing a smile to both Jack and Ryan’s faces as they both thought how right that statement was.

Gavin sat back in his seat and sulked for a while. The silence lasted all of about 5 minutes before Gavin turned looked up.

“Everybody’s playing now. I start. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘M’.”

“Moron.” Michael muttered from his seat.

Gavin looked hurt but continued, “No it’s outside the car….”

Ryan sighed and went back to his book, knowing the hour would be longest hour he had ever encountered.

  As they came over the hill and started down the other side, Gavin caught a glimpse of the ocean.

“I can see the sea.” He chanted, “I can see the se-ea…” He drew out the word sea to have two syllables, something that was distracted Ryan from his book.

“Gavin, shut the fuck up.” Michael yelled from his seat, “I swear I’ll fucking punch you if you say one more word….”

Gavin looked at Michael with puppy dog eyes, “But Micoo…” It was all he got out before Michael started attacking the younger man furiously, causing Gavin to push into Ray, who pushed him right back at Michael.

“Oi. You lot.” Geoff tried sorting it out from the front seat, but it didn’t work, and Geoff was frustrated with Gavin’s antics by now too. Ryan sighed and put his bookmark in, before putting it gently on the seat beside him, taking his sweet time. He reached over the seat in front of him and smacked both Michael and Gavin around the back of the head. Not hard, but hard enough. “Enough. Both of you. You’re driving me and Jack up the wall and driving Geoff to distraction.” Ryan said in his ‘responsible adult’ voice.

“I thought he was driving us to the beach.” Gavin replied cheekily, which earned him another smack around his ears.

“Any more noise from the pair of you, and you won’t be going to the beach. You’ll be stuck in the car, handcuffed to the steering wheel all day.” “Handcuffed…...” Michael said and frowned, “You can’t have possibly brought handcuffs.” “You never know what I’ve got Michael….the question is: do you want to risk it?” Ryan followed that statement up with a wink and then the silence that followed with a smile. “I thought not.”

“You’re one creepy motherfucker sometimes.” Geoff muttered from the front seat, “We didn’t all need to know you had handcuffs in your bag.”

“It’s added silence to the car thought hasn’t it?” Ryan countered, and Geoff had to concede that point.

  Soon enough, Geoff was driving around and finding a park in the car park. He finally pulled up and immediately locked the doors from the driver’s seat and refused to open them, despite the whining from Gavin.

“One thing before we all pile out. Everybody takes their fair share of the gear for today okay? Any electronics you don’t want covered in sand, leave them in the car. That goes for games consoles, and cellphones. That includes you too Ray. Leave it here.” Geoff said, noticing Ray trying to slip his Nintendo into his pocket.

“Aw, Geoff, come on. It’s the outdoors.” Ray said, reverting to his usual joke.

“Leave it. This is a date, of sorts. The aim is to spend time together, okay?”

Ray nodded glumly and Geoff unlocked the doors, leaving to a scramble as Gavin tried to climb over Michael in his haste to get out, arms and legs flailing everywhere and got shoved back into his seat. Gavin then tried climbing over Ray, who promptly pushed Gavin away and got out of the car himself. Ryan sighed as Jack opened the rear door, allowing Ryan to climb over the beach gear and out of the car. The car was less of a people move, and more of an oversized 4 wheel drive, with two seats that could be folded down in the boot for when all 6 of them went of journeys. “Thanks Jack.” Ryan said, stretching, “We really need to get a better car.”

“We decided on getting the new bed if you remember. We could only afford one or the other.” Jack reminded him, grabbing the bag of towels out of the boot. “Michael!” He called out, “Hand it over.”

“Hand what over?” he asked innocently, putting his hands behind his back.

“The food you just snuck out of the picnic basket. Put it back and hand the basket to Ryan.” Michael sighed and did as he was told, instead grabbing a bag out of the boot.

They all grabbed a bag and went to go, before they realised Gavin was missing.

“Hey Ry-?” Geoff called out, “Do you see Gavin anywhere?” Ryan looked around, worried for a moment and then caught a glimpse of the man on the beach.

“He’s already on the beach.” Ryan said, rolling his eyes and picking up the bag that the younger man had left. “Let’s just go after him.”

Jack just shook his head as both Geoff and Michael chased after the younger man, finally bringing him down up the beach.

“I guess that’s where we need to put the picnic down?” Ryan joked, but was backed up by Geoff putting up the umbrella and sticking it into the sand.

Jack just laughed and grabbed Ray by the hand, dragging him onto the beach.

“Stop being such a sourpuss Ray. Enjoy the beach.” Ray opened his mouth to make his running joke and Ryan shook his head.

“Don’t say it. You will enjoy yourself.” Ryan took Ray’s other hand and the three of them calmly walked up the beach to where Geoff and Gavin were wrestling in the sand.

Michael had flopped down under the umbrella, panting slightly. Jack threw the beach blanket to Ray, who unfolded it and laid it out, weighting down each of the corner with one of the bags of. As a final touch, he took the umbrella and shifted over the mat, annoying Michael, who yelled at him for doing so, but couldn’t be bothered moving under it again. Ryan grinned and put the basket in the middle of the blanket. He grabbed sunscreen out of one of the bags and yelled at Geoff.

“Geoff, come get sunscreen on.”

Geoff waved him off, saying he was fine.

“Remember what happened last time?” Ryan countered, squirting sun cream into his hand from the bottle. Geoff grumbled and pushed Gavin into the sand, proclaiming himself as the winner.

“Are you seriously going to take pictures all day?” He asked Jack as he flopped down on his back beneath the umbrella.

“Show me your back.” Ryan told him, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course I am. What’s the point of doing a day like this if we don’t have memories of it?” Jack replied, taking another picture.

“But we do have memories you dope.” Gavin chimed in from his spot on the sand, “They’re in our heads.”

“You know what he means Gavin. Stop being pedantic.” Ryan replied as Geoff rolled over onto his stomach.

“Ooooh.” Michael said, “Ryan the big words guy.”

Ryan shook his head and dabbed some of the cream on Geoff’s back, who tensed at the sudden coldness.

“That’s fucking cold.” Geoff said, tensing every time Ryan dabbed some over the rest of his back.

“Big baby.” Ryan replied, throwing a leg over Geoff and straddling the man so he had better access to Geoff’s back, “Do you want me to warm it up for you?” The last sentence was half spoken, half purred and the innuendo was clear. Geoff pulled himself up onto his elbows and twisted to see Ryan, who waggled his eyebrows once.

“You know I always do.” Geoff replied, lying back down, a grin forming on his face.

Ryan smiled as well, and went to work rubbing the sun cream into Geoff’s back, slowly at first, his fingers working the cream into every corner of Geoff’s back, making sure that the cream was nice and warm. A few times Ryan’s hands drifted down to Geoff’s lower back, and slightly around his sides, inconspicuous enough for a public place, but enough to let Geoff know that Ryan was more than happy to do more than just rub sun cream in.

  When all 6 of them were sufficiently creamed up, Gavin grabbed a soccer ball out of one of the bags and proposed a game of beach soccer.

“Are you serious?” Michael said, groaning, “I thought this was a day to relax?”

“It’s an activity people do on the beach. Makeshift goal posts and a drawn field. Lads vs gents, it’ll be fun.”

Surprising them all was Ray, who got up with a cry of “YOLO” and went to help Gavin sort out the pitch. Sticks were found for marking the edge of the goals and a basic rectangle was drawn into the wet sand in front of the guys’ things.

“So I guess we’re actually going to do it then.” Michael said stretching and standing slowly. “Okay then.”

When they were all out on the pitch Ryan cleared his throat and spoke to Gavin.

“Just to clarify, its kick the ball to the goal right. No special rules or anything?”

“Ryan the loophole guy.” Ray replied, grinning. Ryan waved him off, thinking it he would get his revenge on the pitch.

“No, no special rules or anything. No handball obviously but apart from that it’s simple. Score goals. Don’t go outside the marked rectangle. Stuff like that.”

The teams broke up after that, and took their positions. Jack and Michael were the two goalies, so it was Ryan and Geoff vs Gavin and Ray in terms of moving the ball up and down the pitch.

A simple game of paper scissors rock between Geoff and Gavin decided who got possession first, and it went to the lads.

“What’s the prize?” Geoff called out just before the game started.

“A week of submission from the losers.” Michael called out from his position, grinning.

“Deal.” Geoff agreed, also grinning. “I’m gonna enjoy getting that fulfilled. I can feel it already.” With that the game started, but within the first 5 minutes it became clear that the game was not going to be played cleanly. It all started when Gavin climbed onto Geoff’s back to slow him down so that Ryan was trying to score a goal against both Ray and Michael. Ryan succeeded and Gavin was thrown off with a huff.

“No dirty tactics” Geoff said, as the ball was collected and reset.

“Said who?” came the reply from Michael in goal, grinning. There was a brief team talk on both sides, the Gents planning and grinning to themselves, the Lads whispering and giggling. When they went back to their positions, Ray was in the Lads goal, and Michael was out on the field

“Trying to get some action there Michael?” Geoff catcalled from his position opposite the lad.

“You’ll see.” Came the reply. The game restarted and Michael took off with the ball, running down the field with Geoff right behind. Michael almost made it to the goal. Almost. But almost doesn’t score the goal. Geoff, who was running right behind Michael, caught up and he reached out, wrapping both arms around the younger man, and hoisting him bodily off the ground. Michael kicked out, but Geoff dragged him backwards into the corner of the pitch, allowing Jack to grab the ball and run forward with it.

“Let me go you dirty cheat.” Michael yelled, kicking out and struggling to get free. At the other end of the pitch, Gavin was having to take on Ryan and Jack alone, because Ray needed to defend the goal.

“Looks like we’re about to score another goal.” Geoff said, in a low voice next to Michael’s ear, “The prize is within reach….”

“You dirty cheat!” Michael yelled again, but the struggling ceased when Geoff’s hands went from being around his chest, to round his waist and hips. “Geoff.” Michael said, warningly, “This is a public place.”

“There’s nobody around.” Geoff replied, keeping his eyes firmly on the game, as Jack lined up a kick to score, Ryan having taken Gavin out the same way Michael was restrained at the opposite end. Geoff’s hand drifted south some more, lightly brushing over the front of Michael’s shorts and finding evidence that Michael was having just as much fun as Geoff himself was.

“Are you enjoying this?” Geoff growled slightly in the younger’s ear, “Being pinned like this and unable to do anything..” Geoff smiled, pressing his own crotch into the younger man’s rear, “Cause I know I am Michael.” There were cheers from the lads as the goal was scored by Jack, and Geoff let Michael go. Michael turned around, breathing heavily.

“I fucking hate you.” Michael said, “Getting me all worked up and you’re just gonna leave me?”

“But Michael, we’re in a public place…” Geoff replied, reiterating Michael’s words from a few moments ago and grinning.

“Screw you.” Michael said, grabbing Geoff’s wrists and dragging him away off the beach and towards the forest.

“No Michael, that is exactly what I will do to you.” He grinned, thinking that he was going to enjoy this as they disappeared from sight of the beach.

  “Hey, guys? Where did Michael go?” Gavin asked, as they sat down under the umbrella.

“I saw Michael dragging Geoff off that way into the forest.” Ray replied, flopping down, “Although how they’ve got the energy to do anything right now is beyond me.” Gavin pouted for a moment, the exact moment that Jack took a picture.

“Jack, delete that picture right away!” Gavin yelled, pointing a finger at the camera.

“It’s cute Gavin. You’ve got this little childish pout and…”

Gavin leapt at Jack, who held the camera out of reach.

“Get off me Gavin! You’ll destroy the camera like this!” Jack yelled, trying to push Gavin off.

Ryan grabbed Gavin and threw him back down on the sand.

“Stop being an idiot. The photo’s fine.” Ryan told him, “Or I will be forced to do something about it.”

“Like what?” Gavin replied, licking his lips nervously. He was seriously aroused, after the antics of Ryan stopping him playing the game and where his hands went, and this dominating figure standing over him right now.

Ryan smiled evilly, “Oh, a little like…..this.” Ryan replied, grabbing Gavin’s flailing arms and pinning them down with one hand and straddling the younger man to stop Gavin’s legs kicking.

“And what does that achieve?” Gavin said, breathing heavily.

“Well, it obviously has some effect on you, and when I do this….” Ryan shifted his hips from side to side, rocking against Gavin’s crotch. “Ry-“ Gavin groaned. Ryan raised an eyebrow. He was shocked that so little elicited such a response from Gavin.

“Oh, Gav, are you all wound up?” Ryan teased, shifting his hips repetitively, still pinning Gavin’s arms to the ground. Gavin managed to bring his knees up and tip Ryan off balance. Ryan’s saving grace was his free hand, and he brought it down next to Gavin’s head just before their heads collided.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Ryan growled at him. Gavin felt tense, and wound up and ready to explode, so he leant up and kissed Ryan, full on the lips. Ryan sank into the kiss, parting his lips slightly, feeling happy and content, until he heard the tell-tale click of a camera shutter behind him. He broke apart from the kiss, whipping around to find Jack grinning at picture he had just taken.

“Get rid of that picture right now.” He demanded, getting off Gavin’s middle and walking towards Jack.

“No.” Jack replied, “I’m not deleting Gavin’s, neither am I deleting this one.” Ryan huffed, but knew that Jack was in the right. He sat down back on the blanket, and smiled his half smile at Gavin, who was lying on the sand looking highly frustrated.

“Later Gavin.” Ryan promised, winking at him.

Michael and Geoff arrived back at that point, looking satisfied with themselves, and dropping their shirts on the blankets.

“Anybody want a swim?” Michael proposed with a grin.

“Yes!” Gavin cried out, jumping up and throwing off his shirt, revealing the hairy carpet he hid under it. Ryan nodded, and took off his shirt as well, followed somewhat reluctantly by Ray. Jack took a few snaps to the annoyance of Gavin, and then he too took off his shirt, and the 6 of them all headed down to the water.

Ray tried his toes in the water and backed away a little bit.

“It’s cold.” Ray said, as an excuse.

“No excuse,” Ryan replied, wading out to his hips and going under the water, before turning to face Ray who was standing on the beach. Gavin and Michael were slowly making their way out to where Ryan was, pushing and fighting with each other, taking great delight when they finally managed to dunk the other person. So far Michael was winning by a considerable amount. Geoff and Jack were closer to Ray, smiling with each other, and trading the occasional splash. Ryan frowned, everybody else was happy but Ray was standing on the edge of the water, looking lost. He swam in, ignoring the questioning look he got from Jack on the way past.

“What’s up Ray?” He asked, shaking out his hair as he stood next to the younger man.

“Water’s not always my thing.” Ray explained, “I mean, I like swimming in the pool, but the ocean hasn’t really been my thing.”

“Come here.” Ryan said, grabbing Ray in a wet hug. “What is it about the ocean you don’t like?”

“Mostly the waves.” Ray said, “Not really that used to them.”

Ryan considered things for a moment, and then an idea came to him.

“You do want to go swimming right though?” Ryan asked, “If you don’t, I’m just as happy to sit out here with you as I am swimming.”

“I do want to swim, I’m just unsure.”

Ryan knelt down and gestured to his shoulders.

“Hop on.” He said.

“Honestly, what do you think you’re doing?” Ray asked, warily.

“Either you climb on, and you ride my shoulders, or I carry you out there.” Ryan warned. “Your choice.”

Ray finally climbed onto Ryan’s shoulders, and Ryan stood up, a little unsteadily at the beginning but as they started to get into the water, he became more stable.

“Ryan…” Ray warned, suddenly unsure. “No backing out now.” Ryan said, and they made it out to the others without too many issues.

“What are you doing up there?” Michael asked, amused. Ray suddenly looked really unsure.

“We thought about a wrestle fight.” Ryan said, suddenly coming up with the excuse.

“Dibs.” Gavin called out, as he clambered up Geoff’s frame, coming to rest on top of his shoulders, almost unbalancing Geoff as he went.

“I guess it’s you and me then.” Michael said, with a grin to Jack. As Michael got on top of Jack’s shoulders, Ryan glanced upwards.

“Are you okay up there?”

Ray looked down, and appeared more confident.

“I’m doing good.”

“You know we have to win right? Or you end up in the water?” Ryan grinned and Ray nodded.

“Bring it on.” He said.

Geoff looked questioningly at Ryan, as did Jack.

“All sorted.” Ryan said, nodding. “Everybody ready?”

There were cheers all around as Ryan spoke again.

“Hang on to your fighters, and go in 3….2….1 Go.” They all charged forwards, the riders balancing dangerously on top of their mounts.

It started with Gavin reaching for Michael at first, all because he was closest. Ryan had made his way a little more carefully into the fray than Jack and Geoff, leading to Ray having a choice of targets. As Gavin was trying to grapple Michael into the water, Ray decided to also attack Michael, and that meant Michael was fending off two attacks at once. As for the ‘mounts’, the three of them were trying to keep the balance between them and their rider, but also fighting each other. Jack let go of one of Michael’s legs in order to reach out and try and get Geoff distracted, but the unfortunate timing of Gavin pushing Michael, coupled with the fact that Jack was only holding onto one leg put Michael off balance and at an angle he couldn’t correct.

Jack realised this just as it was too late, and made a grab for Michael’s other leg but missed, and Michael splashed down, followed by Jack in a matter of seconds.

Michael surfaced, spitting salt water and curses, glowering at Gavin, both frustrated and amused at the same time.

Ryan smiled, thinking that Ray would have an easy time taking down the clumsy Gavin, and that it was the battle between him and Geoff that would be the difficult one.

As the riders and mounts split apart for a moment to size each other up, Jack grinned and leaned back in the water, getting comfortable to watch the show.

“CHARGE!” Gavin cried out and Geoff walked forward, pushing through the water and causing Ryan to jump forwards into action as well.

“R&R connection!” Ray called in response as they collided.

“Get him Ray!” Michael called out from the sideline, causing Gavin to try harder at knocking Ray off Ryan’s shoulders. Both Ray and Gavin were trying their best to push the other off, and Ryan and Geoff were having trouble staying balanced.

However it was Geoff’s move that decided the fate of the entire competition. “Hold on!” Geoff called out to Gavin, and stepped smartly backwards a few steps.

Ray had just gotten a good grip on Gavin’s arm when Geoff stepped backwards pulling Gavin backwards as well. Ray, suddenly dragged forward, let go of Gavin’s arm, but it was too late. He was off balance too much and fell off Ryan’s shoulders, landing with a massive splash in the water.

Gavin and Geoff started cheering, but Ryan’s immediate thought was for Ray, who didn’t like the ocean. He took a couple of steps forward, frowning, and held his arms out as Ray surfaced, grabbing the younger man tightly.

“Are you okay?” Ryan asked, murmuring into Ray’s ear, keeping up the guise of a hug.

“I’m…okay.” Ray said, pulling back, “I’ll be fine.” Ryan noticed Geoff looking questioningly at him as Gavin leapt on Ray, dragging him under the water. Jack sidled up to Ryan and grabbed his arm.

“Ray will be okay on his own.” Jack said, “I have plans.”

Ryan frowned, but noticed Geoff’s understanding nod, and relaxed.

“You guys already knew.” He said, relieved.

“We suspected.” Geoff said, “I mean in preparation for this sort of thing, it’s been obvious something has been up, but he’ll be fine. Trust him.”

Geoff put his arm around Ryan’s shoulders and pointed to the lads splashing and joking, both Michael and Ray not quite as agile as Gavin as neither had their glasses on. Ryan relaxed, and realised that was a bad idea when both Geoff and Jack attacked him, dunking him. He came up spluttering, his eyes narrowed on the culprits.

“You guys are so dead.” Ryan said, staring Geoff down as he started to charge.

  All six men staggered out of the water, laughing and tired, Geoff and Ray collapsing straight down onto the beach rug. Ryan laughed merrily, grabbing his town and drying himself off.

Jack immediately picked up the camera after drying himself off and started taking pictures. Geoff and Ray protested half-heartedly from their position on the rug, Gavin squawked when a picture was taken of him lying on his towel in the sun, Michael grinned at the camera catching him leaping on Gavin. Ryan didn’t even notice the picture being taken of him drying himself off until Jack grinned and beckoned the others over.

The others crowded around the camera and gawked at the picture, Jack himself caught Ryan’s eye and winked. Ryan was suddenly curious and walked over to the camera, where he took a look at the picture for himself. Ryan took one look at the picture and suddenly felt quite self-conscious, taking a few steps back from the camera and suddenly looking for something in his bag.

“Ry, I can definitely see why you were a model in your younger days.” Gavin murmured in Ryan’s ear, leaning over the older man.

Ryan shrugged Gavin off, the younger man looking frustrated as Ryan walked over to Jack.

“Before you ask, no I won’t delete it.” Jack said, without looking away from the peephole of the camera as he took another photo.

“Jack, please.” Ryan said gently, placing his hand on the younger’s arm.

“No. The rule was that no photo gets deleted unless we all agree, and I know for a fact that Gavin at least, won’t agree. I suspect none of the lads will. I like it.”

Ryan huffed, but knew what Jack said was true. “Fine.” Ryan said, sitting down, suddenly ending up with a lapful of Gavin. Jack chuckled but put the camera back in the camera bag and lay down on the rug next to Geoff.

“Did I do something wrong?” Gavin asked, unsure of why Ryan had shrugged him off.

“No, you didn’t.” Ryan said, avoiding looking at Gavin, “That picture just made me very flustered all of a sudden.”

“It shouldn’t have.” Ray piped up from his spot on the sand, “It was a hot photo Ry.”

Ryan laughed slightly at that, but turned his face away.

“Ry, I know how to make you feel better….” Gavin murmured, shifting in Ryan’s lap and subtly started grinding himself against Ryan. Ryan felt blood rush south all of a sudden, and the feeling intensified as Gavin started nibbling at his neck.

“Gav…” Ryan said, slightly breathless. Gavin made no sign that he had heard or was listening as he shifted and his hands started running the length of Ryan’s body, drifting down to the older man’s waistband and untying the cord that was holding his swimming shorts up.

“Gavin.” Ryan said, grabbing Gavin’s hands. “Stop.”

Gavin whined, and started wriggling in Ryan’s lap, both of them acutely aware of a growing problem. Two growing problems actually. Ryan pushed Gavin off his lap and onto the sand.

“I don’t do exhibitionism.” Ryan growled, leaning over the younger man.

“But Ry…” Gavin panted, hot with desire. “No.” Ryan said firmly, sitting back down. “Later…I promise.”

“Gavin, none of us are really exhibitionists.” Ray reminded him, “Michael and Ryan least of all.”

Gavin huffed, muttering something about “being a hot tease” but lay there for a minute, before Michael took pity on the younger man and challenged him to a sandcastle building competition. Ray was grumpily dragged from his warm spot in the sun out to the competition field, but participated nonetheless. Ryan grabbed Jack’s camera from the bag and took a few snaps of the lads building sandcastles together. Gavin was trying to build a massive sandcastle, Michael was trying to do some fiddly bits and Ray was just happy with a plain mound that he was decorating. Ryan grinned to himself as Gavin got too close to Michael’s castle yet again and was pushed away. He was about to mention this fact to the other two gents when he glanced down and found they were fast asleep.

Ryan grinned at that as well, and took a few snaps of the two men cuddled up to each other, fast asleep, knowing he could always use it as part of a bribery deal, or blackmail, depending on how you looked at it. Before long, Gavin’s castle, was predictably, looking rather wobbly and the man himself stepped forward to try and make it more stable near the top, in doing so he leant forward to grab a bucket, overbalanced and landed on both his and Michael’s sandcastles, leading to a strangled cry from Michael, as he got ready to leap on Gavin. Ryan took a few more quick snaps, capturing the action, before hurriedly putting the camera back in the bag and grabbing his wallet out of his bag and almost running out to the field to stop Michael killing Gavin.

“You three,” He said, as he arrived just in time to stop the fight form happening, “Before you all kill each other, Geoff and Jack are asleep, so let’s go off and get ice-cream, without them.”

Ray looked happy at the prospect of free food, Michael was glowering at Gavin, but nodded and Gavin ran over and grabbed Ryan’s arm, putting Ryan between himself and Michael. Ryan sighed but grinned as well, knowing that he was going to be the adult in this situation. Gavin clung to one side of Ryan, Michael grabbed the other, and Ray was happy just holding onto Michael’s free hand.

Ryan looked at the other three and shook his head, smiling. “I swear I’m the adult most of the time and you guys are just the unruly kids.”

Michael stuck his tongue out at Ryan, causing Ray to laugh. Gavin just moved closer to Ryan, almost tripping the older man. Ryan stopped, and glared at him.

“Gavin, there is a limit as to how far this ‘acting as children’ thing can go. You don’t need to almost trip me to have my attention.” Gavin pouted at this fact, but took a step further away.

“Good.” Ryan said, leaning down and kissing Gavin on the cheek.

“What about me?” Michael protested loudly.

“What about you?” Gavin teased, grinning. Ryan mock cuffed Gavin around the ear and then leant down and kissed Michael as well, before pulling Ray in and giving him a kiss as well.

  They ended up without too much fuss at the dairy next to the campground by the beach which, when entered, appeared to have almost every living thing ever created by man. Not only was it a small supermarket, it also doubled as a fruit and vegetable shop, and a book store. It sold camping equipment, stationary, fuel from a small pump outside and most importantly, icecream.

“Now, you have a choice, you can either get a scooped icecream, or an icecream or ice block from the freezers. Once you’ve decided, bring it back here.” Ryan told them, knowing he needed to remind them or they would forget about the possibility of a scooped icecream in a cone. Gavin rushed off towards the freezers, followed by Michael, but Ray stood next to Ryan. Ryan looked at Ray questioningly.

“I’d like a scooped one, but I’m not gonna get it until those idiots have made up their mind. I don’t want it to melt.” Ray said simply, shrugging his shoulders. Ryan nodded at that statement and wrapped his arm around Ray.

From the back of the shop came the usual sounds of Nice Dynamite messing around, before Michael appeared from around a shelf, with Gavin trailing behind. Michael put his chosen icecream on the counter, a sundae like pot and Ryan raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Gavin hid put his down on the counter after Michael and it was a basic lemonade iceblock. Ryan shook his head, he had been expecting something more complex from Gavin but smiled and got out his wallet to pay for the icecreams. Ray chose his flavours, and Ryan followed him as the other two grabbed their icecreams and ran outside to sit on the stone wall overlooking the beach. Ryan made his own way out slowly, enjoying the flavours of his chocolate and mint icecream. Michael was tucking into his icecream with great gusto, as was Ray but as Ryan sat down, he glanced across at Gavin, who was unwrapping his iceblock slowly. Gavin smiled wickedly at Ryan as he slowly slid the iceblock into his mouth, keeping eye contact the entire time. As Ryan watched, Gavin slid the iceblock out of his mouth, licking his lips as he looked down at the iceblock. His tongue darted out and licked the end of the iceblock a few times, swirling around the top of the cylindrical iceblock before it disappeared slowly back into Gavin’s mouth. Ryan’s cheeks heated up when he realised what Gavin was doing and looked at the other two, who seemed oblivious to what Gavin was doing. Ryan’s eyes were drawn back to the irresistible sight, knowing that blowjobs from Gavin were few and far between, but knowing that just the image presented was getting him hot under the collar. Ryan looked away and started eating his own icecream, but was aware of Gavin smirking beside him.

“Getting a little hot and bothered there love?” Gavin murmured quietly, smirking. “I can fix that you know.”

Ryan shuddered as he felt Gavin’s breath on his neck and felt Gavin’s hand running up his thigh.

“Gavin.” Michael’s voice cut into the moment and for that Ryan was grateful.

“Seriously dude, you’re iceblock is melting, and you were the most excited for icecreams.”

Gavin pouted but sat back down, and Ryan flashed him a grateful smile.

Michael just smirked as he leant across and murmured, “You owe me one.” Ryan just hummed in agreement, despite not being able to keep his eyes off Gavin.

  Ice-creams were finished in silence and Ryan quickly ducked inside to grab two ice blocks for the Geoff and Jack who hadn’t come along before they set back along the beach. It wasn’t long before they came across their camp, and a panting Jack and Geoff. Ryan noticed Michael smiling and winking, and it was obvious what had just occurred.

“Here.” Ryan said, handing the two their ice blocks, “Looks like you need something to cool down.”

The other two gents accepted gratefully, looking at each other with relieved glances that the other four were not going to say anything.

Ryan sat down next to the other two, ready to relax himself and Ray curled up against him, ready to do the same thing.

“Hey Ray.” Ryan murmured, putting an arm around the younger man. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Mmmh.” Ray muttered, but it was obviously a ‘yes’.

There was silence as the other two gents cooled off with iceblocks and then Gavin sat up suddenly, a crafty smirk on his face. Or what passed as an attempted crafty smirk anyway.

“What?” Geoff asked, warily, “What now?”

“Micoo…” Gavin said, sidling up to the other man.

“What?” Michael snapped back, unsure of what was being asked.

“I bet you won’t go skinny dipping.” Gavin said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Why would I?” Michael said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“Because I dare you to.” Gavin completed, and leant back on his hands.

“Gavin…” Jack called out warningly, but Michael waved the concern away.

“I will. I will take your dare, but what’s in it for me?”

“Anything you want.”

“You mean you’ll be my little subservient lad for a night?”

“If that’s what you want Michael.” Gavin replied, “But only if you do the dare.”

Michael grinned and stood up, dropping everything below his waist straight onto the sand and walking down the beach and into the waves as if he had no cares in the world.

“What….” Gavin spluttered.

“You dared him to.” Geoff laughed, “And you presented such a pretty prize as well. There was no way he could refuse, despite it being an illegal thing.”

Jack took a picture of Gavin’s face and everybody laughed as Gavin huffed in the sand, right next to Michael’s board shorts. Jack took a few more pictures, Michael in the surf, and Ray curled up against Ryan who was looking slightly amused at the entire situation. Michael seemed to be having a right old time in the surf, paying no heed to the fact that he was completely naked.

It wasn’t long before a group of twenty-somethings came and set up their beach mats and umbrellas for an evening picnic nearby, just as Michael was starting to head back towards shore. Gavin grinned at this, thinking that Michael would refuse to come out of the surf until somebody came down with his board shorts to put on. Probably Ryan.

Ryan was thinking the same thing, grabbing the board shorts before Gavin could, and disturbing Ray in the process. Gavin squawked as the shorts were pulled out from underneath his hand and he fell over, but he couldn’t fault Ryan for his quick thinking.

Gavin smirked as he walked a bit closer to the waves and faced off against Michael who was standing waist deep in the ocean.

“What are you gonna do now?” Gavin asked, smirking.

Michael looked at the group nearby and at the bemused faces of the gents sitting under their umbrella and he smiled at Gavin.

“Get out.” He said simply, and walked straight out of the ocean and up towards their umbrella, ignoring the gaping mouth of Gavin’s surprised face, and also ignoring the noises from the other camp, including a few gasps, a scream and quite a few admiring looks from both men and women alike.

He grabbed the shorts from Ryan, who was holding them out with a bemused smile and put them on, before flopping down on his towel and lounging back.

“Close that mouth before something flies into it.” He called out to Gavin, who had turned to watch him pass, but not yet managed to get the expression of surprise off his face. He laughed when Gavin stormed up the beach and stood over him, demanding to know what had gotten into him.

“What can I say Gavin, I was dared to.” He replied, before sighing.

Gavin huffed and flopped down onto his towel and Ryan came over, and sat down behind Michael.

“You didn’t have to.” Ryan said, massaging Michael’s shoulders. “You didn’t have to come out like that. I would have happily brought your shorts down to you.”

“I know.” Michael replied, “But the prise was worth it. Besides, I think I got a thrill from it, like Gavin does. It was daring knowing that everybody could see me, but I realised I didn’t care anymore.”

“And so goes my last line of defense against Gavin’s exhibitionism.” Ryan sighed, his hands moving lower down Michael’s back, and Michael grumbled in pleasure as Ryan worked the knots out of Michael’s back.

“Just try it Ry. Trust me.”

“Ryan shook his head, “Call me old fashioned, but I don’t think it’s quite for me.”

“You never know…” Michael replied craftily and stretched, “I needed that.”

“No worries.”

“Anybody up for one last swim?” Geoff proposed, “Before we leave? It’s starting to get colder and we should start heading home soon.”

“I will.” Gavin said, jumping up and following Jack, who was already half way to the ocean.

“Michael?” Geoff queried, “Ray? Ryan?”

“I’m good thanks, just having had a swim and all.” Michael said with a lazy grin.

Ray waved Geoff’s question away without opening his eyes and rolled onto his side, curling into a ball.

Ryan nodded, “I’ll be there in a second.” Geoff took off towards the surf and Ryan extricated himself from behind Michael and disengaged his leg from under Ray’s before taking off for the surf as well, looking forward to the exercise.

  Ryan swum back and forth, almost doing laps;, Gavin took great delight in a splash fight with Jack, and Geoff was just happy to float on his back and toss the occasional splash Gavin’s way when the splash fight ended up on him. Before long though, they left the surf and packed up their area, taking every scrap of rubbish home with them. Ryan piggybacked a very tired Ray back to the car, and even the always energetic Gavin Free was acting tired by the time they got back to the car. Geoff grabbed the driver’s seat again, and Jack got in the passenger’s seat. Between the three gents, they managed to get the lads piled into the middle seat, and like usual, Ryan took the back seat along with all the gear.

It wasn’t long before they were on their way and well before half way home, Ryan noticed that the three lads had drifted off to sleep in the middle, curled against each other, but had no energy to point out that fact and instead put his book down, after reading the same line four times, and before long he felt himself drifting off as well.

It was about an hour into the journey when Geoff glanced in the rear vision mirror and saw a sight that warmed his heart.