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It's been a while since ONE has been over and taken care of, the effects of the event still linger with all the former contestants; though two of them have decided to try and take a break from it all. After some thinking and deciding, they planned a trip to one of Connecticut's beaches; it wasn't too far away and it was the perfect weather for a beach day. Liam and Bryce have been planning the trip for a week or two now, they've packed up everything they could need; from a few towels to a light blanket for the nighttime. Liam made a few different pastries and desserts, while Bryce had made sandwiches as well as a few other snacks for the side.
Now there was only one last step, and what was that? To get to the beach of course! Luckily, Bridgeport is right next to Seaside Beach; which meant it wasn't too far of a drive to get there. They packed up the car and had already changed into their swimsuits; with a shirt on top until they got there just in case it would be breezy. Bryce wore slightly dark red swim shorts and a red Hawaiian button-up that he bought years ago but never wore until now; Liam however wore deep green swim shorts and a white t-shirt with a shark printed on it. Liam seemed a bit more excited than Bryce, or at least he just expressed it more. Bryce was most definitely excited, he just didn't show it very well. The drive there was nice, it wasn't too hot out but it was warm enough to drive with the windows down. It really felt like the perfect weather, it seemed like everything was going just as planned. Which, honestly, they both learned to appreciate that after everything.
Soon they arrived at the beach, Bryce found a spot to park and they gathered the few bags of beach supplies as well as food they needed; they held hands as they walked onto the beach from the parking lot. Carrying the bags in their free hands, which were a bit heavy, but nothing they couldn't manage. Luckily, the beach wasn't too busy today; quite a small amount of people. Which is what they had hoped since they planned their days off for the trip to be on a weekday that most other people would be working on.
Bryce found a nice spot, a bit away from the few other people but also far enough from the road and parking lot so people driving by wouldn't be too noisy. He laid out the towels as Liam started to get out sunscreen and a few other things, even though before they left Bryce insisted he couldn't get sunburnt.
"C'mere." Liam said, watching as Bryce finished laying down the second towel on the hot sand. He had his hand held out slightly with a bit of sunscreen in it.
"I told you I don't get sunburned, I don't need any." He stated, rather confident about it.
"It's not just for not getting sunburnt! It's to keep you safe from stuff like skin cancer or something. Just put it on, it won't kill you."
Although Bryce was still convinced he didn't need any, he obliged and let Liam put some sunscreen on him. "Fine-. Only because I love you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Liam responds in a jokingly annoyed tone, letting out a small laugh. He gently applies sunscreen to Bryce's face, rubbing it in until it was no longer visible; giving him a small kiss on the top of his head once he was done. "There, let me just do your arms and I'll leave you alone about it." Liam didn't worry about Bryce's chest since he still had his shirt on.
Bryce sighed, reaching his arm out; allowing Liam to finish putting sunscreen on him. He honestly didn't mind, he found the gesture rather sweet; but he wouldn't admit it.
"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Liam teases as he finished rubbing in the sunscreen, a warm smile on his face. He loved doing little things like this for Bryce, it was just a way for him to show his love and affection.
Bryce jokingly rolls his eyes; " I guess, as long as you're happy." He teased back, a slight grin on his face.
Liam let out a small chuckle in response, giving Bryce another kiss, this time on the lips. He knows it always leaves Bryce's face a nice light shade of pink, and how he always tries to hide it by looking away or pretending to do something where his face could go hidden from Liam's sight. Bryce does exactly that, looking away from the other man slightly; a little goofy grin on his face.
"Well-" Bryce clears his throat a bit, "we are at the beach, shouldn't we get in the water?"
"Hm... Okay- last one to the water has to deal with vacuuming up all the sand we drag home!" Liam taunts as he quickly gets up and starts running towards the water, they set everything up a bit far from the actual ocean so they didn't have the chance of anything getting wet from the tide.
"Wh- Hey! you can't just-" Bryce gave up trying to protest and just followed after, trying to catch up. He almost caught up to Liam before it was too late, he had already made it into the water; giggling as he looks back at Bryce. Bryce ran up to him and tackles him, causing the two to fall into the shallow water; both giggling now as they get back on their feet. Sure, Bryce was a bit salty that he lost but he wasn't too upset, he was just glad they could both be here right now sharing this moment.
"I hate you, y'know that?"
"Nuh uh, I know you love me." Liam says, wrapping his arms around the back of Bryce's neck before pulling Bryce towards him gently and kissing him. It was a rather short and sweet kiss, but they both enjoyed it.
"I guess I can't stay mad at you, can I?" Bryce gives him a cheeky look before leaning down slightly and returning the kiss back.
"Oh, yeah?" Liam says before getting an idea and pushing them both into the water again. Giggling as he tries to stand up off of Bryce, though Bryce just pulls him back down into the water; the two laugh as they continuously splash each other with water. Maybe they were acting a bit childish but it was nice; nice to be able to genuinely enjoy life for a bit. No worries about their jobs, ONE, or anything else that tended to burden their day-to-day lives; all that mattered right now was not being the one to back down and splash the other.
Sure, they did get a couple looks from a small number of people on the beach; but most people didn't seem to be bothered. They ended up both forgetting to take their shirts off beforehand so now their tops were soaked; though since they had planned to stay here for the night to stargaze anyway, they brought back-up clothes. After a little while of playfighting and splashing around in the water, they retreated back to where their beach towels and umbrella were set up to escape the direct sun for a bit. A few times they'd go back and forth lightly tossing a small amount of sand at the other.
"Might as well give up, I could do this all day." Bryce taunts, giving Liam a cheeky smirk as he lowly tosses sand back at him.
"Well, maybe I could too!" He remarks, looking pretty confident in himself about it. Liam tosses sand onto Bryce's towel instead of at him just to try to annoy him a bit.
"You say that now, but I'll be the one laughing when you finally get tired of attacking me." Bryce brushes off the sand on his towel, it was like crumbs on your bed; you keep swiping it off but you'll still be able to feel it.
"We'll see about that." Liam instead tosses a sandwich in a ziplock bag at him; gently, but just to show he wasn't backing down. "Here, we should probably eat these before the icepacks in the basket get warm."
"Oh shit- I almost forgot about that, thanks." Bryce grabbed the sandwich that was tossed at him; taking it out of the bag and accidentally dropping it immediately in the sand. "God dammit." He whispers under his breath, picking up the sandwich which was now coated in a layer of sand.
Liam giggled lightly at the latter dropping it, "You're so lucky I told you to make extras." He says, passing another sandwich to him.
"Whatever." Bryce jokingly rolls his eyes, taking the sandwich again and being more careful not to drop it this time.
They sit and peacefully eat their sandwiches for a bit, talking about stuff that happened recently; from things like their jobs to new restaurants they could go to for a date night. It felt nice to just chat like this; the whole day so far was going pretty much as planned. After they ate their sandwiches and a few snacks they decided to tour the beach, they don't have fun outings like this too often so they wanted to appreciate it while it lasts; Liam finds a few cool rocks or seashells and attempts to gift them to Bryce. He accepts most of them until he wasn't able to carry anymore in his hands, making Liam wish they had brought a bag; though they really didn't need these anyway. Bryce still keeps them, finding the seemingly random assortment of rocks and shells endearing. As they're walking they get caught up in chatting, the sun starts to set; it was a little colder out now but not quite jacket weather yet. Before it got too cold or dark out they headed back to their spot, they made it back in around 15 minutes; holding hands on the way back. Once they had made it to their towels laid out on the now cool sand, they looked out on the sunset, admiring it; though Liam was admiring something- or more, someone else. He's been staring at Bryce since they got back, Bryce hasn't noticed until right about... Now.
"Nice sunset, hm?" Bryce teases, clearly knowing Liam's been staring at him for god knows how long.
"O-Oh, yeah. Nice- nice sunset." Liam feels his face heat up, unable to look away. There's a small moment of silence before he leans in and kisses Bryce; the kiss was sweet and warm. He cupped Bryce's face in his hands as they kissed; running one of his hands through Bryce's hair softly. The kiss ends to both of their dismay, and they stare at each other for a moment before giggling at how cheesy it all was. Bryce lays back and Liam lays his head on the other's chest; the two cuddling and enjoying the rest of the sun setting.
The sunset doesn't last forever, the sky soon becoming pitch-black; though, that meant the stars were out. Bryce used to be (and un-admittedly still is) a big fan of space, he tells Liam about a few of the constellations he can see from their spot on the beach. He points them out as he talks and Liam looks up at Bryce, listening intently as he rambles about a few different ones; soon trailing off from constellations to stars in general. Liam loves hearing him ramble, he may not know too much about space; but he's still interested, especially if Bryce is the one telling him about it. After a while of Bryce rambling and them talking, Liam grabs a blanket and wraps it around them; Bryce gives Liam a small kiss on the forehead once they're comfortable.
Maybe the world was healing after all, in their eyes that is.