fly | madderton

NINE

The sun was still blazing, beating down on the golden sand at the bustling Welsh seaside. Much to everyone's shock, Taron had forgiven Richard pretty quickly for throwing him in the sea, and once he'd gotten over his potential hypothermia he enjoyed having a swim. Now, they were wandering together towards an ice-cream van parked on the prom. It wouldn't be a beach day without a Mr Whippy.

"Four ninety-nines, please. With sauce, bits and a flake. Please," Richard asked, smiling politely at the man making their treats. He placed the money on the side so that he could take the cones one by one and pass them back to Taron. They took two each, thanking the vendor and wandering back over to their chairs. Charlie and Jamie were taking their turn in the water, with much less drama than Taron and Richard's attempt. It was actually nice once you'd gotten in, Taron found. And, as much as he'd like to claim his ridiculous heart rate as he was looking up at Richard's toned chest and damp hair was just due to the shock, he knew otherwise. He had a lot of contradicting emotions on the matter, even after seeing such an image.

Richard had become a lot more muscular whilst he was in Scotland, Taron noticed. He was on the tubbier side as a child, but had gone away and matured like a fine wine, and Taron was struggling to avert his gaze as he followed Richard back to their bags. It was surprising the ice creams in Richard's hands hadn't melted instantly, with the heat he was radiating.

The other two came charging up the sand at the sight of them returning, so Taron was quick to jump on a chair and claim it as his own.

"Thanks, mate," Jamie said, taking the cone from Taron's outstretched hand.

"He bought them, should be thanking him." Taron nodded at Richard, who had taken the seat beside him. Jamie thanked Richard instead, deciding to sit on the towel on the sand rather than fight Charlie for the third chair. The beach was starting to empty, with most of the families having gotten trains or day trip bus rides down to the seaside. It meant they had more room to spread out, but also that it was probably time for them to start heading home soon. The day had been so much fun for everyone that it was almost a shame to think about leaving. Richard and Charlie were talking about going back into the water for one last swim, but Taron wasn't bothered.

"I'm not long dry," He said, "I'll stay here, I don't mind. You lot go."

"I'll give it a miss, too," Jamie said, shooing the two boys towards the water. They didn't put much of a fight up about leaving their two friends, instead just hurried back over to the sea, pratting about on the way down. "So."

"So?" Taron turned his head to look at Jamie, finishing off the last of his cone. By the look on Jamie's face, he could already tell where the conversation was headed. He released a heavy sigh, turning back to look towards Richard. "He doesn't know. I can't do it. All today has done is confirm my suspicions, and it's making everything a million times worse. He's gorgeous."

Jamie laughed, following Taron's lead and looking over at the pair in the water. "I can't disagree with that. Still, though. You really have to tell him. Soon. He's not here much longer."

Taron nodded, lifting his bag into his lap and starting to dig through. "I know. I know, and knowing that he's leaving makes it worse. I think I need to tell him, just to get the weight off of me, but it'll make him leaving a million times harder." He pulled his sunglasses off and rested them on the top of his bag so that he could rub his face.

"I get that, but you need to know that I will beat you up if you don't tell him before he goes." Jamie grinned as he stood back up to grab his rucksack. "I'm gonna find somewhere to get dry and changed. Coming with?"

Taron shook his head. "I'll stay in my shorts and just have a shower when I get home, I'm not bothered about getting changed right now. Try not to get lost." Taron grinned, knowing Jamie's sense of direction, whilst oftentimes being pretty sharp, could be thrown off in a split second.

"I'll try. Try not to enjoy the view too much." Jamie winked, throwing his bag over his shoulder before wandering back up the sand and taking the stairs onto the prom. As much as he wanted to heed the advice, Taron was finding it pretty difficult to avert his gaze. It was creepy, sure, but he rationalised it by deciding he was simply watching his two friends playing in the sea. Truthfully, he could have been. They had raced out to the buoys and back, and had then started splashing one another and pushing each other around. It was an amusing sight, to say the least.

Still, Taron didn't want to feel too creepy. He decided getting dressed would be a good distraction, and he was more than glad for the extra covering as he pulled his shirt on. It had been warm earlier, but sitting in silence by himself had made him notice how much it had chilled off as the day was drawing to a close. So much so, that he decided to pull his black denim jacket on, too. It had been a little too big for him before, but he'd grown into the it over the three years since it had been gifted to him.

Jamie was back before he knew it, and the other two took that as their cue to leave the water and hurry off to get changed, definitely feeling the cold now that they'd stepped, dripping wet, into the late afternoon air. As he rushed past, Richard flicked his fingers in Taron's face, sending droplets of seawater over him. He paused for a second, that signature grin reappearing as he glanced over Taron, his gaze flitting down before meeting Taron's.

"Nice jacket," He said, winking before jogging off to catch up with Charlie.

Taron could have sworn his heart jumped out of his chest.