Comfort

Paradise

(1204 words)

  I quickly grabbed a pair of swim trunks from my belongings and ran to change in the bathroom. This whole trip thing, may have been a mistake. Okay, so maybe I can be impulsive, but at least I own up to the consequences, right? I got myself in this situation, I can get out of it. I took as long as possible to get changed. Even though it was just a pair of trunks, it took me 10 minutes.

I finally left the bathroom, I didn't have a shirt on, because who would in the Bahamas? Apparently, Grian would, he was waiting for me by the entrance, I turned to face him.  His eyes struggled to look at me directly, but my eyes also wandered. He was wearing aqua trunks and a gray tank top.

Did he wear it because he was embarrassed? Why was he self-conscious? He was slim, and that was perfect to me. Or did he wear it purely because of me? If was between those two options, I'd hope it was the first option, as selfish as that is.  However, I can't blame him, considering our situation.

  Regardless, he still looked good, at least in my opinion.  It left something to still be desired.

"You ready?" I said, finally stopping the silence between us.

"W-What?" He stumbled on his words, and finally looked at me directly.

"Are you ready?" I repeated.

"Yeah, I got a bag for our sunscreen and everything.  Could you get our towels?" He asked, avoiding my gaze again.

  He sounded so normal, almost too nonchalant.  It kind of sickened me, how easy it was to fake an emotion.  God, it was like nothing happened at all.  At first, that's what I wanted, but this is killing me.  I don't know how long I can do this...

"Mumbo?" He asked lightly, noticing my frown.

"Our towels—Yeah." I mumbled, reluctantly turning to grab them from the living room.

I found some and threw them both over my shoulders, "Alright, let's go." I said heading back to Grian.

"Wait—Aren't you going to record?" He questioned.

Oh shit, I totally forgot. It's not that it was a burden or I didn't want too, but I just wanted to relax right now.

"Fuck it for now. This is still our vacation." I said blatantly, not thinking about the last sentence.

Grian exhaled to hide his giggle, and he hid his face in his hands. God, he is too adorable, it's almost criminal.

"Alright, but our viewers aren't going to be happy." He shrugged, finally opening the door to the hallway.

I followed him to wait for the lift, I thought about his words. He was right, the fans are going to get worried. We obviously weren't in the best condition to record, yeah—that's a good excuse. The lift finally arrived with a satisfying ding. It was empty, we both walked in and I pressed the button to the lobby.

After a moment of awkward silence, he spoke, "You know, I've thought about what you said."

"Hmm?" I turned my head.

"Umm, about me being selfish." He avoided my gaze.

"Oh." I said lightly, now looking at the lift's doors.

"Thank you, for carrying me back here last night. Thank you for more than that..." he chuckled and sighed.

I stared at him again, I understood the carrying him part.  But what did he exactly mean with, 'Thank you for more than that.'  We finally made eye contact again when his gaze met mine.  My cheeks must have been too tired to turn red again, or at least I was tired of it.  My heart still fluttered by this small incident, but I've learned to like that feeling.  Our moment was stopped when the lift made it to the lobby.  Grian looked away, distracted by this, but I kept my eyes on him.

I bumped into the people trying to get in the lift after us. They obviously were annoyed by me, it didn't bother me, not averting my gaze. Grian turned to look at me but quickly turned away once he noticed my stare.  Why couldn't I take my eyes off him?  My head was racing with thoughts.

  We walked through the lobby until we finally reached the huge glass doors leading to the pool and beach.  The view of the ocean caught my eyes, and I finally was able to look away from Grian. The doors were heavy, and Grian struggled to open them. I got behind him and helped him open the door, almost wrapping my arms around him. 

  He was surprised by my actions, but I was more struck by the heat from the outside to pay him any mind.  He turned to face me, my arm still holding the door open, and him leaning on the door.  He face grew red, even though this was his fault.  I wasn't the one making the situation awkward, he was the one who decided to turn and face me. Don't blame me for this one.

He finally moved backwards, still facing me, "Pool or beach?" He asked like nothing just happened.

"Pool." I said, as much as I wanted to get in the ocean, I wanted to see how extra our pool area is.

"Good choice. We get to occupy some chairs and put on sunscreen without having to worry about sand. I'm an expert." He said confidently, ignoring his awkwardness from before.

He had a smirk again, holy shit did I miss it. There's the cocky Grian I know. I followed behind as he enter the gate leading to the pool. I suddenly felt a painful sensation on my feet. The concrete was scalding hot, it was roasting my feet. I was strong and let out a very manly cry and ran to the grass nearby.

Grian laughed at me, "Here, I knew you'd need these." He said throwing my flip-flops he brought on the ground.

He wore his and brought down mine because he knew I'd need them; he really was an expert.

"So, I understand the shoes now, but why the shirt then?" I asked putting my flip-flops on.

"Hmm?" He hummed wide eyed, "Oh, um, I burn easily." He said.

I don't know if I believed that, but I was too distracted by our pool area to question him. The whole area was secluded by a gate and greenery, and the pool wasn't an ordinary pool. The pool was basically a huge lazy river, wrapping around an island in the middle.  The island was rocky, it was hollow at the bottom forming a cave with a pool bar; and it had water fall going into the pool.  There was also a bridge to walk on leading to the island, and there was the hot tub at the top; it was all so—surreal...

  Even though the timing was weird, it was still lively with people and children.  However, it wasn't crowded, it was—perfect. This was a truly paradise.

"You coming?" Grian asked as he went to grab a few loungers with an umbrella.

"Right." I said, now following behind, still in awe of the beauty of this place.