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“Bertholdt, don’t worry about it, come on,” Reiner pesters him, slathering his skin with sun screen, standing shirtless in the kitchen in just his yellow swimming trunks, while Bertholdt moved around him, sweeping the floor.
“I have to clean the house Reiner,” he tells him, sighing in annoyance when a drop of sunscreen hits the ground.
“You can do that tomorrow,” Reiner argues, “this is our last day here, we gotta make the most out of it!”
Bertholdt leans down to scoop up the drop of white lotion, then absentmindedly wipes it on Reiner’s chest, before getting back to sweeping.
“If I don’t clean the house my parents wont let me use it again,” Bertholdt explains, but Reiner’s already heard it. Bertholdt had been talking about it all weekend. He couldn’t even relax he was so focused on making sure the house didn’t get messy. This was the first time his parents had let him go down to their house at the shore without their super vision. It took a lot of convincing but Bertholdt finally got them to agree, telling them that he promised it would only be him, Reiner, and Annie, his childhood friends that his parents trusted, and that they wouldn’t throw any crazy parties.
“It’ll be fine,” Reiner tells him again, slapping him on his shoulder as he shuffles by the with broom, “Annie and I will get up early tomorrow to help you clean.”
“Will you really?” Bertholdt straightens his back and gives Reiner a glare, “we have to leave here by ten which means we’ll have to get up early to clean, that’s why I want to get some done today.”
“Is Bertholdt still talking about this?” Both the boys turn to look as Annie walks down the steps, wearing a light blue bikini top, with jean shorts, pink flip-flops, and a bag slung over her shoulder, her hair tied up like usual. She sits down at the bar in the kitchen, throwing her bag on the counter and digging out her sunglasses, putting them on the table, then reaching for the sunscreen.
Reiner leans on the bar, smiling at her, jerking his head in Bertholdt’s direction, “You know Bertl, always sweating over everything.”
“The house is spotless Bertholdt, you’re parents wont get mad at you,” she says flatly as she begins to put some sunscreen on her arms.
“But the sand is really hard to clean,” Bertholdt weakly replies. Both of the blondes look at him. Annie rolls her eyes and Reiner gives him a little wink.
“It’ll be fine Bertl,” he says, “trust us. Now, put your sunscreen on so we can get to the beach and enjoy our last day!”
“You’re one to talk,” Bertholdt mumbles, referencing the fact that Reiner’s face was already pink from the two days before, his shoulders a little bit as well, along with his feet.
“Not my fault I burn easily,” Reiner grumbles, rubbing at his face.
Bertholdt smiles at him, takes the sunscreen from the counter, and putting a glob onto his finger he reaches out to rub it on Reiner’s cheek. Reiner flinches, but then lets him, and Bertholdt makes sure to get his whole face.
“Pink isn’t a good look for you,” he hums under his breath, smiling down at him.
Reiner laughs, “very funny,” and tugs at Bertholdt’s brown t-shirt. Bertholdt practically giggles, letting Reiner pull it over his head, and then Reiner takes the sunscreen and pours a bunch into his palm.
“You two are gross,” Annie pipes up from her seat.
“Come on Annie,” Reiner says as he turns Bertholdt around to start putting sunscreen on his back, “we have to do you too.”
She sighs but gets up, standing in front of Bertholdt, and Bertholdt takes the sunscreen and starts to put it on her back. They spend the next couple of minutes in a chain of applying sunscreen on one another, probably spending longer than they needed to.
Eventually, once they are all sun protected and have all their beach gear packed up they walk the 10-minute walk to the beach. Bertholdt was carrying a beach bag and two beach chairs, while Reiner carried the umbrella and the cooler, filled with food and beer (don’t tell Bertholdt’s parents,) and Annie carried her own chair and towels.
When they get to the beach they argue over a spot. Reiner always was quick to pick the first spot they could find, while Bertholdt was always hesitant, and Annie didn’t care, so she usually choose for them, otherwise the two would argue forever.
Reiner struggles to put up the umbrella, like he does every time, but after a good fifteen minutes it’s up, and Annie plops her chair right under the shadow and sits, her large sunglasses resting on her head as she pulls out the sunscreen to put on another coat.
“You coming in the water with me Bertl?” Reiner yells, taking off his shirt and already heading towards the water.
Bertholdt gives Annie a look, she just waves her hand, indicating she wasn’t interested in going in the water, and he takes off his shirt, so he’s just in his green swimming trunks, to follow Reiner.
The water is cold, but it feels good under the hot sun, and Reiner dives right in once he’s far enough out. He burst out the water with a loud gasp for air, shaking his hair and letting droplets of water fall off the short strains.
He looks back at Bertholdt, who is hesitant to dive in completely.
“Come on Bertl, you know it’ll be better once you just dive in!”
Bertholdt shivers, slowly wading out towards Reiner, rising slightly as every wave passed him.
“This one,” Reiner points at a wave forming ahead, and Reiner grabs him by the waist and dives under the wave with him.
Bertholdt gasps for breath when the wave passes, “Reiner!”
Reiner is laughing at him, and playfully splashes some water on him, “see? Better right!”
They spend a little while longer in the water. Bertholdt liked to float around on his back, lazily drifting over waves, while Reiner liked to wait for the waves to crash and dive under them. Every so often Reiner would sneak up under the water and poke at Bertholdt, making the other boy yelp. Once they get tired of that they make their way back to their spot, where Annie is sitting under the shade, reading a book.
“You’re missing out Annie,” Reiner says as they approach, “the water’s great!”
Annie tosses them their towels, and both of them lay out in the sun, laying so their heads are by Annie’s feet, which are the only part of her body exposed to sunlight.
Both the boys lay on their towels on their stomachs, letting the sun dry them off, and Bertholdt absentmindedly starts pilling sand on Annie’s feet, burying them, and she lets him, ignoring him as she continues to read. Reiner grabs a couple beers for them, and he drinks three before he’s starting to add to Bertholdt’s sand pile on Annie’s feet, and it’s making its way half way up her shins.
“You were the one complaining about getting sand in the house Bertl,” she mumbles, finally getting annoyed, but her voice has a teasing edge to it.
Bertholdt blushes and Reiner laughs, draping an arm around him, “Annie don’t freak him out! He was finally relaxing!”
She chuckles as Bertholdt buries his face in his arms, now crossed in front of him to keep him from playing with the sand. Reiner jostles him a little bit before turning over on his back, resting a hand on his stomach and closing his eyes.
It doesn’t take long for him to start snoring, and Bertholdt and Annie both decide it’s time to go back to the house.
Reiner is sluggish walking home, having slept after drinking and still feeling the effects. When they get home they all pile into the outside shower outback, since Bertholdt insisted they couldn’t get sand in the house so no showers inside were allowed.
It’s cramped but they manage to stay under the spray with Annie in between the two large hulking boys. They wash each other, making sure to get any sand that could be hiding. Bertholdt washes Annie’s hair, while Reiner pulls them all close together, reaching his arms around to wipe at Bertholdt’s sides, waist, and stomach, with a washcloth. Annie is washing Reiner’s chest and stomach, reaching behind his back and getting there too. She’s squished even more when Reiner leans in further, pulling Bertholdt into a kiss over her head. Bertholdt returns the kiss, and they’re making out under the hot spray of the water, the wet sounds of their mouths sounding even more obscene under it. Bertholdt’s hands move from Annie’s hair to wrap around her waist, pulling her even closer, and she melts against his back, tugging Reiner closer in turn herself, and peppering his chest with kisses.
After they’re done showering they go back inside, where Bertholdt and Annie prepare dinner while Reiner sets the table. Once they finish eating Bertholdt does the dishes while Reiner and Annie argue over what movie to watch that night.
“You picked last night,” she complains.
“Nuh uh! Bertl did! I get to choose tonight!”
“You have bad taste in movies.”
“What? I do not!”
They’re too busy arguing to realize that Bertholdt has finished the dishes and has moved on to cleaning the rest of the kitchen and dinning room, paranoid about not having enough time to clean in the morning.
“Bertholdt,” it’s Annie voice that finally calls out to him as he’s scrubbing at the counter.
“Bertl,” Reiner echoes, “come ‘ere, I told you me and Annie would clean tomorrow.”
Bertholdt sighs, “I just want to get some more done tonight…”
Reiner and Annie exchange a glance before both of them stand up. They walk over to Bertholdt and each grab a hand, tugging him up the steps and into the master bedroom, which despite the house having four bedrooms, they all had shared.
They lead Bertholdt into lying on the bed, each of them lying on one side next to him. Reiner has an arm under his shoulders, pulling him close so Bertholdt is resting his head on his chest, and Annie is curled into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist, and their legs are all intertwined together. Reiner hooks his arm up so he can stroke Bertholdt’s hair.
“We have to wake up early,” Bertholdt mumbles, trying to resist falling asleep, but he’s suddenly feeling impossibly tired.
“Shh,” Reiner shushes him and Annie hugs him tighter.
“Go to sleep,” she grumbles into his side and he does.
When he wakes up he’s alone. He slowly get’s up, get’s changed, and walks downstairs to see that Annie and Reiner had already cleaned and packed everything up, and there is a styrofoam cup with coffee on the counter. He goes over to drink it and Annie and Reiner come in from outside.
“Car’s all packed up,” Reiner says.
“What time is it?” Bertholdt asks, yawning.
“9:30,” Annie answers.
Bertholdt stares at them in shock, “what? We have to go!”
“Yeah, we figured we’d let you sleep,” Reiner says, ignoring his shock, “everything’s already done, so we’re ready when you are.”
Bertholdt continues to stares at them, feeling a little surprised and overwhelmed. He looks around, just to make sure everything was as clean as it was when he first glanced, and it was. It was perfect. He smiles at them and walks over.
“Thanks you guys,” he whispers, giving each of them a peck on the lips, “this really means a lot”
Reiner playfully ruffles his hair, “told you we’d be able to do it.”
“Yeah, enough sappy shit,” Annie mutters, but she’s smiling, “let’s go so we can beat the traffic.”