kiss it all better | c.h au

four.

the rest of the ride down to the beach was spent figuring out calum's taste in music, which varied. a lot. to think i had a vast music taste was nothing compared to calum's. he did have good taste, though.

"you have to listen to the lyrics. that's the key." calum pointed out as hanna complained he was playing boring songs.

"okay, yeah, but i'm not trying to be sad right now bud. this is a day where you listen to upbeat songs that make you want to dance and scream the lyrics! not cry over emotional songs." hanna retorted, turning in her seat to look at calum.

before they could continue this argument, i spoke up as the pier came into view. "well, would you look at that! we're here!" i said loudly, now scanning for a parking spot as hanna readjusted herself in her seat.

"i love it here. ugh i've missed this place so much." hanna sighed softly, and i watched as she rolled down her window and stared out at the ocean. it was one of her favorite places to come when she would visit me, and i couldn't deny how happy i am to live so close to this place myself.

silence, finally, settled among us as only the sound of the music coming from calum's phone played softly in the background. finding a parking lot, i paid the amount to get in, $10 exactly, and was lead into a parking spot by a youngish looking guy on a bike.

"i don't think, uh, dogs are allowed on the pier." calum piped up from the back as we were unbuckling. dammit, he was right. you could walk around the area with them, but you weren't allowed to bring them on the pier or the beach. there was a dog beach, but that was way out of the way.

"well, i guess we could just walk around and not go on the pier. there's nothing wrong with that." i replied, looking from calum to hanna who both nodded in agreement. we got out of the car and i locked it, then we started to walk. it wasn't too hot of a day, but it wasn't too cold either. really, it was perfect.

it was also clearly a good day for everyone else in the state of rhode island to walk their dogs here. the ones we'd walked by so far were quite friendly, which is a good thing. and of course grandpa is as friendly as you can get.

all of a sudden, grandpa tugged on his leash with his tail wagging wildly as another dog came into view. and it was huge. the larger dog also tugged on it's leash, and i was surprised the guy holding the leash was actually able to maintain control.

"ashton! i haven't seen you in a minute!" calum walked past us towards the dirty blonde haired boy, and it quickly made sense to me as to why grandpa and the larger dog recognized each other.

the boy, ashton, smiled as he looked up. "hey! and a minute? more like three weeks." ashton scoffed. hanna and i exchanged glances, then walked up beside calum.

"and that was because you decided to go to california for three weeks," calum pointed out, then seemed to notice hanna and i beside him. "oh, hanna, addy, this is ashton. ashton, this is hanna and addy." ashton turned his gaze to us and smiled, holding out his hand to which we both shook. what a gentleman.

"nice to meet you! and, considering calum rudely didn't introduce you to him, this is teddy." ashton gestured down to the long, white furred dog who was currently licking grandpa. i chuckled at the sight, then bent down to teddy's level and lightly started to pet him. his gaze immediately focused on me and he moved quickly to my face which he came close to licking before i backed up, laughing.

"god he's huge! the difference between grandpa and teddy is almost hysterical." i nodded my head in agreement with hanna's words, calum and ashton both chuckling at the statement.

"ashton always said he would get a dog that could eat mine, and here we are. i mean, luckily teddy hasn't actually eaten grandpa. that would suck." calum proclaimed, crouching down and rubbing the top of grandpa's head. his tail continued to wag as he did this, and it made me wonder if dog's tail ever get tired. like, if they wag them too much, can their tail be considered a sore muscle?