Love on Love~Love Paradise- A Zane X Reader

Chapter Two- Beach~Beach Paradise

The five of you all run to the beach together (Well, four of you run. Zane shuffles angrily along behind you), laughing and carrying on as you dance along the sidewalks. It still seems surprising to you that these people have accepted you so quickly, and you really feel included as you joke and dash around.

When you get to the beach, the rest of the group is already waiting for you. Aphmau greets you cheerfully, and then Lucinda and Katelyn invite you to a two-on-two volleyball match. You and Aph against Katelyn and Lucinda.

Bring it on.

You miss the ball the first few times, not really wanting to try and hit it in case you mess up, but after a few rounds, you start to get more into the game. When about fifteen minutes pass, it's a tie, 7-7. You take a quick break to get a drink of water, and so you make your way to where the umbrella is set up. There's a cooler there filled with water and soda bottles, so you grab one and gulp down half the bottle. Now that the sun is higher, it sure is hot.

Before you can put the water down and continue your game, you notice Zane sitting in the shade on the other side of the umbrella. He's dragging his hand through the sand and sighing, looking at the ground.

"Hey, um, Kawaii~Chan? Can you take my place?" You ask. She nods, a determined look in her eyes, and joins Aphmau in front of the volleyball net.

"Are you okay?" Zane jumps at the sudden noise from beside him.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm okay!" He replies defensively.

"You look sort of sad." You sit down next to him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm—" Zane begins, but he stops. Looking you in the eye, he suddenly sighs, then returns his gaze to the sand in front of him. "No, I'm not really okay."

"Well, what's wrong?"

"I don't even know you! Why do you care?" He snaps. Your eyes widen a little.

"Well, maybe I care because I don't like seeing people sad. And plus, your whole friend group pretty much just accepted me into it! I care because you're one of my only semi-friends on this dumb island, and even though you don't seem to like me, I still want you to be happy!" You exclaim. Zane looks surprised.

"Well..." He starts. "That's a good reason, I guess."

"So are you going to tell me?"

Zane protests in small grumbles, but after a moment he says, "Fine."

He stays quiet for a moment before beginning. "I'm not sure. All of these people hated me before Aphmau started being nice to me. I think they still do hate me a little bit. I'm not at all like them. While they're having fun fooling around and playing sports, I'm usually just left on the side." Zane shakes his head. "I honestly hate all this beach stuff anyway."

You don't reply at first. Even though he's always grumpy and annoyed, this guy does have a heart. You feel a pang of sympathy for him.

"Well, how about I stay here with you?"

"W-What? You don't have to do that."

"I want to." You smile, laying back and staring up at the umbrella. Zane joins you, his whole body only an inch or so away from yours.

"So, um, how did you meet Vylad?" Asks Zane suddenly, probably looking for conversation topics so it doesn't get too awkward. "I mean, he didn't really say."

"Oh, we just, um, bumped into each other since we both won the contest," you lie. You don't know how Zane would feel about you accidentally kissing his younger brother.