Summer Love

I sigh. “Do I really have to go? I’d only weigh you down. Go and have fun without me.”

“No, Aiden. I’ve told you a thousand times, this is a family holiday, so we do things as a family. I don’t even understand why you don’t want to go.”

I launch into autopilot, listing all of my frequently-used arguments for being anti-beach. “Because its hot and sandy and loud and boring and busy and oh yeah did I mention sandy?”

“What if we let you bring a book?” My mother pleads, still busy packing up the bags.

“Then I might, just maybe, consider it.”

“And food?”

“…we’re getting there…”

“And I won’t make you talk to strangers.”

“Bingo.”

“But you have to spend at least an hour playing with Zoe.”

“Ok, deal.”

Most teenage boys would probably hate the thought of being told to play with their little sister but Zoe and I get on well so this is almost a bonus.

The beach is only a few minute’s walk away from our holiday house but it takes about half an hour to actually get out the door, so 45 minutes later we are spread out on the beach, not too far from the sea in a surprisingly un-crowded area. The cool air and hot sun is actually quite nice and I have a good book so I’m actually not regretting coming down too much. And then, maybe an hour into our trip, a golden Adonis comes running across my line of view. His toned abs and artfully carved muscles flex with each stride and I can’t seem to tear my eyes away. I don’t even notice that he is staring right back at me until he begins to slow down, jogging as he passes me. He turns his gaze bashfully away and I think I might pass out from pure shock of having an immortal god land on the beach in front of me. 

Then, when he has almost passed out of my range and I think I might breathe again, he turns back. Our eyes lock and, with an easy smile, he winks at me before turning and running off again. My insides have turned to jelly and I lie flat on my back just staring at the sky for a little while to recover.

Not ten minutes later, when I have only just managed to pull myself back into the world of reality, someone comes splashing out of the waves right in front of us, flicking his hair dramatically. I’m so struck numb that my book falls out of my hands and its all I can do to stop my jaw from falling open. He stares at me, looking mildly horrified for a moment, before his sly grin returns and he runs off down the beach again. Bastard. Just as I thought I might survive the first encounter, he turns up again. I can hardly contain myself and feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust. Before I know it I’m up and running and diving into the water to try to distract myself. It doesn’t work. I submerge myself for as long as possible but when I come up gasping for air, my eyes still travel down the beach to where I can vaguely see a blonde head still bobbing along.

The next day I don’t protest our beach visit and hope against all odds that he might be there again. I can barely read a single line because my eyes keep getting drawn back over the top of my book, waiting for him. Just when I think he isn’t going to show and I’m about to suggest we head back, I see a figure moving swiftly down the beach towards us. My heat rate picks up as he approaches and although my eyes are locked on him the entire time, he doesn’t slow down or turn to look at me. My heart drops through my stomach and all the way to Australia as he runs off into the distance and I begin to convince myself that yesterday was just a fluke and he only acted like that because he was embarrassed for me and how I was staring at him. I mean, how would you expect him to react to some weird kid who can’t keep his eyes off him.

On his way back past I try to keep my eyes locked on my book but at the last minute I look up again and he slows to meet my gaze like yesterday. Perhaps it wasn’t a fluke. He winks at me again and continues on his way and I feel like I am flying 10,000 feet up amongst the clouds.

“Who was that?” Zoe’s voice pulls me out of my state of complete bliss. 

“No-one,” I tell her as she plops down beside me, “But I wish it was someone.”

She stares at me blankly but I just shake my head and she begins chattering about something else that I can only pay half-attention to. 

"COME ON!" I shout down the hall. "Is it impossible for you to move ANY FASTER???"

"Aiden, I don't appreciate you raising your voice at us. We will leave when we are ready." My mother replies in her frustratingly calm tone as she bustles down the corridor picking up shoes and hats. 

"Jesus fucking Christ,' I mutter under my breath, hoping she doesn't hear. 

"What's made you so excited to go all of a sudden, anyway? I thought you didn't like the beach."

I blush, trying not to think of the reason I really need to go back. Those two days in a row can't have just been coincidence. I don't want to miss him today. 

Not that I let myself think about that for too long, though. My reasonings are that I just want to get as long in the sun as possible before my parents decide to return home. Maybe for once I'll actually tan. Yes, that's entirely it. 

"Maybe I had a change of heart. You've convinced me, is that so hard to believe?"

"Well I'm glad for your enthusiasm but if you could stop being so bossy and actually help, that'd be even better!"

I sigh and crouch down to catch Zoe as she goes barrelling down the corridor.

"Zo, I need you to do something for me." 

She looks at me warily and I continue, "I need you to actually, for once in your life, go and get your shoes on and stand outside the door. If mum tries to tell you we're not ready you tell her that in two minutes you're going to leave, with or without her." 

Five minutes and a bribe later she is strutting down the street and my parents are hurrying out the door after her. I sigh with relief and try to subtly pick up the pace, afraid that I have already missed the time he ran past the previous days. By the time we reach the beach I'm already convinced that we are late and that we should just turn around and go home but I make myself continue, just in case. 

Approaching our spot on the beach, I glance up and down for a running figure and my heart sinks when I see none. But then, as we begin to set up, I catch sight of the sun glinting off of a golden head and there, shining brighter than a thousand stars, he is sat in the shallow water looking like a work of art. My heart skips when I realise he must have been waiting for me and when he looks up and catches my eye I feel as if the whole world might cave in around us. His face lights up when he notices me and a grin spreads across his unlawfully handsome features as he gestures towards me. 

It takes a moment for my brain to kick back into gear and only as he starts to walk away do I realise he wants me to follow him. I stumble clumsily to my feet and begin to jog to catch up to him. My brain goes into overload from being so close to his golden skin that is still damp with shining droplets of water. 

Just as I realise that I should think of something to say, he jumps and shouts, "Shit!" and sits back down the sand, inspecting his foot. "Sorry, not the best way to introduce myself." He says, wincing as he tugs a piece of shell from his foot. I want to do something to help him but end up standing there like a moron with nothing to say. So instead I awkwardly crouch down to his height. 

"So, you like books?” He asks and once again my mind goes blank and I can't think of anything other than the fact that he has actually noticed me enough to know something about me already. 

"It’s just that you’ve had a different book both days and that…” As he keeps talking I realise how idiotic I'm being. You need to reply to someone in order to hold a conversation, Aiden! But he keeps talking before I get a chance to say anything. "Sorry. I’ll keep talking if you’ve got nothing to say. I’m a bit of a rambler and, god, make me shut up.” 

He looks shyly down at the ground and I'm so completely captivated by the adorable look of indecision on his face that I forget to reply again. 

“Okay I’m just going to say it before I start hitting on you. You do er… ‘bat for the other team’, don’t you?” He says, still staring at the ground.

“Erm yeh.” I finally manage to get words out. Now that I've begun talking my mind switches back into gear and I'm able to continue. “I’m Aiden by the way…" but then I actually process what he just said and feel like I might just die. "Wait did you say you were going to start hitting on me?” 

He turns to look at me and I get lost in the colours of his eyes and the lines of his face and shape of his lips as they open into a small O of surprise. His answer, uttered in a beautiful breathy voice, brings a new and unbelievable sense of hope in relation to a potential love life. "God yes," he murmurs. "Who wouldn't?" 

Everyone at home just sees me as the creepy nerdy gay kid and to think that I might actually be seen as attractive is a thrilling and paralysing thought, particularly when it's by someone like him. 

Suddenly he stands up, offering his hand down to me and for a moment I'm frozen, my eyes caught by the taught muscles in his arms and I wonder, just for a fraction of a breath, if this could all be a joke with me as the punchline as usual. But I dismiss it with the simple thought of 'what if it isn't' and I decide the answer to that far outweighs the risks of if it is. So I reach up to take his hand, indulging in the warmth and roughness of his skin and locking the moment away with the first time I saw him running down the beach and drowned in his eyes. 

As he pulls me to my feet he says, "So, how long're you here for, Aiden?" 

“Um, about two weeks," I answer, praying my words won't betray me just this once. “Well, we had two weeks left two days ago. If that makes any sense." I cringe inwardly at myself, certain that I was put on this earth only to be an awkward mess. I attempt a recovery by asking him how long he is staying for. 

“As long as my parents decide. We do this thing where we go on holiday and my parents just decide now is a good time to go home.” Dear lord, just the sound of his voice is enough to drive me insane. 

And then I realise that it's that part of the conversation where I have to think up an interesting reply to what he has said and fumble around for words. "Ah, that's..." I try to think of a word to sum up how incredibly amazing and fascinating and gorgeous I think he and everything about him is but my numb brain just lands on, "interesting." 

“Yeah," he replies absentmindedly, glancing nervously behind us back down the beach. “Hey look, um… my parents aren’t really fond of the whole being gay thing, so its probably best they don’t see us together, and I should probably start heading back now…” 

My heart implodes at the the thought of us as ‘together’ and the adorable little crease between his eyebrows as he frowns slightly. 

He wanders down the beach a little and I watch after him, eyes tracing all the curves of his muscles as he moves and thinking of how much I would love to sketch those perfect lines. Some things in this world were designed to be a work of art framed on a wall and he is one of those spectacular and rare beings. I never thought I would meet one in person but now that I have I certainly do intend to frame him on a thousand walls. 

When he returns he takes my hand and I feel the sparks of heat dance across my skin from the contact. I feel him writing something on my hand and look down to see a number scrawled there as he tells me to text him. 

I run my hand through my hair in shock. I thought these things only happened in movies. 

"Yes." I reply semi-consciously, "Yes I will. Nice." I tear my eyes away from my hand and see him watching me with a smile and I don't even pay a second thought to what I just said because I honestly don't care. I could've just declared my love for him and it wouldn't've changed the perfection of this moment. Nobody has ever given me their number before. Especially not someone like him, not that there's anyone else like him in the whole universe. 

As he starts to walk away a thought jumps into my head and I call after him, suddenly unafraid of drawing attention to myself. "Wait! What's your name?" 

He turns to look back at me and I drink in the imagine of him silhouetted against the bright sun shining off the water, a god descended from Olympus to walk amongst the mortals. 

"Charlie." He replies before turning to run off into the sun. I repeat his name to myself quietly, revelling in the joy that lingers from his presence. I decide that if he is a god, he is Apollo, because it’s like someone has bottled the sun inside a person, and it shines out from every pore of him.