Happy Endings

45. beach II

Warning:  very VERY long chapter so buckle up, there will be another explicit content warning later on if you want to skip!

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"Where you going, sunshine? We got time. Sit back and I'll drive you to all the pretty places."

☼

Kellin Quinn never minded much driving. He wasn't exactly the biggest fan, not really, but it wasn't like he could get away from it. It was just another thing he did, another habit, another necessity.

He learned when he was 16, one of the last things his dad tried teaching him before getting the divorce, but he didn't quite succeed at it. Kellin ended up in driving classes at school either way, but it worked out in the end. After that, he just never stopped.

The first time he drove to the beach—the time months ago—he thought it had been a drag. Two hours of nothing but the road, endless distance, time passing in slow motion... Penny had fallen asleep instantly, and Tay was too busy reading a book to keep him entertained for too long. He supposed the music helped a little, but it wasn't to his taste either. Plus, the GPS had interrupted it constantly.

This time around though... Kellin couldn't care less about any of that. Not when he had the company of Vic Fuentes sitting shotgun on the front seat of his car. Not when he knew they would have an entire weekend all to themselves, nothing to worry about, nothing to bother them. Just Kellin, Vic, and the ocean and the sand and the sky. And Jaime's house.

If it had been up to Kellin, they would've left for the road earlier, see-the-sunrise kind of early. He'd never done that before, and it sounded like a great idea, especially with how much Vic loved to see the sky. Unluckily, he had to see Ellie's mother at 7 am, see his baby go with her instead of taking her to the beach she loved so much, and pretend that he had nothing going on for the weekend as he used to.

Ciara Rowsell noticed a change in him quite instantly. She gave him a once over and Kellin just smiled like he usually did and tried not to run away after she put her hand on his cheek. Smiling an unexpected kind smile.

"I see you fixed it."

Well... Kellin believed he did. At last. He was looking a lot better nowadays, he was aware of that. Apparently, it was evident to everyone around him. He supposed that was Vic's effect on people, not that the thought of Vic making someone else this happy sounded right to him. But he was grateful to be the one on that end for now.

And after Penny and her grandmother were gone, Kellin headed to his room and changed into his beach outfit. He'd bought a pair of navy shorts during the week and picked a simple white shirt with a patterned overshirt that was way more colorful than what he was used to wearing from a store near work. The outfit somehow worked.

Then, he finished packing the rest of his stuff for the weekend, deciding to take it lightly this time, and not overflow his bag like he's so used to. In the end, it still looked a little heavy, but he tried his best.

Kellin headed for the kitchen once that was all done and started packing the snacks he had spent all night making as well. He might've gone a bit overboard with getting food for the weekend, but he could only loosen up so much.

He'd spent the better part of the night slicing an entire watermelon into triangles, making three different kinds of sandwiches, baking premade cookies and brownies... He didn't know how he got away without Penny smelling anything, but he wouldn't question it much. He saved a bunch for her anyway.

He also got a cooler full of blue and red popsicles, soda, and juice, bought all the bags of chips he could find in the aisle—even the chips that made them talk for the first time that night months ago—and got groceries to make meals at the house. And he got a bottle of really nice wine. Just because.