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Harry had a case of what he liked to call ‘poor communication’ with his son, at least, when it came to more personal matters. They did have a strong bond and trust between them, but he supposed he shouldn’t have been so surprised to find that his son didn’t tell him everything.
You see, for the past ten or so years, Exer had been close friends with David. Harry viewed David as practically another son. The two hung out together all the time, so Harry wasn’t really sure when the change happened. What he does know is that the incident happened early summer. Exer had his friends over the weekend. On Saturday, they decided they were going to the beach.
“You boys make sure to put on sunscreen before you go.”
The teenagers seemed mildly annoyed but accepted nonetheless. Harry had stepped inside to grab his keys, and when he returned, he was pleased to find them all doing just that. The big one with the blue hair, Ron, he thought his name was. Ron was helping Jackson with his back. It was a little comedic, with Jackson’s reaction to the cold of the sunscreen.
It was when Harry turned to his own son that things were… Different. For some reason David was applying sunscreen to Exer’s face for him. And Exer’s cheeks were, well, he looked like a tomato. After deeming his face covered enough, David started rubbing sunscreen into Exer’s back. The blonde started praising Exer for how much muscle he’d gained. It was starting to get a little-Ah, but David has always been that way! And Exer’s embarrassed look was natural, he was a humble kid.
Yes, that was it.
The car ride was an hour or two, so they went ahead and packed snacks and whatever would entertain a bunch of teens. Jackson sat shot-gun and was very well mannered, mostly talking about the scenery and the books he liked. But Mr. Harry did notice something weird in the mirror. David had fallen asleep practically on Exer, and Exer had his arms wrapped around him with a small smile. Normally he didn’t think that was weird, they did that kind of stuff all the time. But for some reason, earlier that day kept flashing in his mind. He decided here wasn’t really the place to be thinking about it, he should just focus on the road. Besides, Ron’s eyes met his in the mirror and the poor boy looked like a deer caught in headlights.
It was an almost perfect day for the beach. They had to be careful about the higher areas of sand, since it was too hot to really walk on. But the boys were mostly distracted by the ocean anyway. Harry tried to drown out the excited screaming and laughter from the four kids near him, and just enjoy the feel of the waves washing over his ankles.
Eventually they got a little tired of the water. Ron and Jackson decided to make a sandcastle, although no one could find the buckets so it wasn’t the most shapely. While David and Exer relaxed in the shade, Harry decided the sandcastle was too sad not to help them. At some point, while they were working on the mote(why they needed it, he didn’t understand, they didn’t have a way to pour the water in), he noticed Exer looking around. Exer must have figured the coast was clear(badum tiss) because he looked a little relieved. Then he started patting David on the head, causing the other boy to grin.
Then, he heard David say “My hands are cold, could you warm them up?”
Exer grabbed David’s hands, which made no sense considering they were at the beach. Harry felt like it was starting to become a bit clear what was happening, but he hoped he was reading too much into it. He really didn’t know how to handle it. He sighed and went back to the mote.
After a couple more rounds in the waves and a game of frisbee, they packed up to leave. It was getting late, and everyone was getting hungry. Ron looked like if he had to wait much longer, he might try to eat Harry’s car.
When they got home, Harry fired up the grill while the boys got the sand out of their hair. Now, he was alone and could ponder about his son. He could. But now is a bad time, obviously. And there’s nothing to ponder, really. The times change, every generation is a little different. Yup.
He didn’t want to be too overbearing, so in the evening while they were watching movies, he just went to bed.
The next morning held untold truths though. Mr. Harry stepped past the sleeping teenagers, who were all wrapped in blankets on the livingroom floor. He was more surprised to find there wasn’t an ounce of shock when he saw that Exer and David were wrapped up in one blanket together. It had kind of seemed like they were slowly morphing into one person the last day or two.
Harry went to put a pot of coffee on, and was waiting for that delightful first cup, when he heard whispers coming from the livingroom. He went in to see who all had woken up, and just as he stepped in the doorframe, he saw Exer give David a kiss on his nose.
He was going to have to have a conversation about having the bedroom door open when David is over.