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Moving to a new town for high school the summer before your senior year was shitty. Purpled would likely be spending his summer inside playing video games and then enter the school year with no friends and finish it in the same fashion. He was moving for the sole purpose of his brother getting a better job that was on the coast not miles away in the hustle and bustle of the city. The job also happened to be him teaching gym in the school Purpled was to be attending. It would be fine, he would be fine.
The moving day was miserable, the sticky summer heat making moving boxes and furniture into the new house from his and his brother's cars was a living hell. His binder was sweaty and had been on for a bit too long. It didn’t help that his neighbour was constantly watching him. He was sure they didn’t think that he’d noticed them, but the boy constantly peaked through a bedroom window in an abrupt fashion and due to the sudden movements his appearances were obvious. Purpled was finishing setting up his bedroom catching the sunburn on his arms as he put his mirror in place. At least his room was bigger here.
The doorbell rang, Purpled heard his brother open it. Brief chatter then his name was called.
“Purp, doors for you,” Punz called loudly.
He wondered who it could be, his mind immediately thought back to the boy from earlier. He was proved right when he appeared at the doorway and the boy was standing there floppy brown hair covering his forehead.
“Hi, I’m Toby, everyone calls me Tubbo though,” the boy started.
“Hi? I’m Purpled,”
“Weird name” Tubbo commented “Anyway, I saw you moving in, I thought I’d introduce myself considering we’re neighbours”
“I noticed you in the window,” Purpled added.
“Oh, I thought I was being discreet,” Tubbo shrugged “Are you coming to the high school?”
“Yeah, senior year,”
“Awesome, so am I and my friends,”
“Ok,” Purpled didn’t understand where the conversation was going or why Tubbo was persistent in talking to him.
“Are one of those cars yours?”
“Yes? I hope your not planning to steal it,”
“No, only Tommy would do something like that,” Tubbo smiled “I was wondering if you might want to get to know me and my friends, maybe go to the beach together?”
“So you want to become friends with me because I have a car,”
“No-”
“Cause if you do that's fine, I need a friend for the year,”
“Oh, great” Tubbo raised his eyebrows “Does tomorrow work? I’ll come ‘round at ten,”
“Sure,”
“Great,” Tubbo started to turn away before abruptly turning back “I should probably get your number or something,”
“Oh, ok,” Purpled pulled out his phone and contact info before spinning it around for the other to take down.
“Thanks, see you tomorrow Purpled,”
“See you,”
Tubbo left down the path and Purpled shut the door behind him realising what he’d just signed himself up to. He turned to see Punz loitering in the living space.
“So you’ve made friends already,” he teased.
“I guess,” Purpled shrugged.
“You’re going to the beach tomorrow,” Punz started “Are you sure you are going to enjoy that?”
“It’ll be fine,” Purpled said “I probably need to get outside more,”
“That wasn’t what I was referencing, the beach involves swimming,”
“Fuck,” Purpled hadn’t considered that “I need to find my tape and a good shirt,”
“You do need to be social though, you’re not very good at that,” Punz continued to tease.
“Ass,” Purpled added lightheartedly, shoved past his brother and returned back to his room, it took him thirty minutes to find the T-tape but he was thankful it was actually there.
The next morning Purpled overslept and found himself rushing to get ready. T-tape took way too long to apply so he was short on time for finding literally anything else. What the hell did you need to bring to a beach? He packed a towel and a change of clothes with a binder in case the tape peeled off in the sea, he haphazardly applied sunscreen hoping he wouldn’t end up with any weird patches of sunburn. He was shoving a cereal bar in his mouth when the doorbell rang. He scooped up his backpack holding the half eaten cereal bar in his mouth and opened the door.
It was Tubbo.
“Hey,” he started.
“Hey,” Purpled tried to reply though it probably wasn’t audible due to the cereal bar in his mouth.
“You ready to go?”
Purpled nodded, stepping out onto the porch and shutting the door behind him. He managed to finish the cereal bar in the short walk to his old beat up car, he swung open the drivers door. Tubbo did the same with the passenger door.
“So, you need to give me directions,” Purpled said, starting to pull out of the driveway.
“We’ll pick up Tommy first, he’s not far away,” Tubbo said before adding “Do you mind if I take the aux?”
“Go ahead,”
Purpled wasn’t expecting Tubbo to play video game soundtracks as he directed him to Tommy’s house. Tommy got in, he was loud and abrasive but Purpled couldn’t find himself to mind.
“So Purpled, how did you end up being recruited by Tubbster?” Tommy asked.
“He knocked on my door and asked me to drive you all to the beach,”
“You’re a pushover,” Tommy commented.
“Fuck off,” Purpled replied with no menace.
“Ranboo’s house is the next turn to the left,” Tubbo said.
Purpled flicked on the indicator and turned down to what he was expecting to be a street but instead was a massive driveway with an even bigger house at the end. He felt out of place in his beat up car.
“You didn’t tell me Ranboo was rich,” Purpled scoffed.
“Their mom’s co-own some business, I don’t really know,” Tubbo explained.
“Ranboo always has the best snacks,” Tommy added.
“Are one of you gonna get out or?” Purpled asked.
“Nah,” Tubbo leaned over and honked the horn loudly.
Purpled wanted to melt into the ground but the front door opened and out came Ranboo. This guy was tall, Purpled considered himself tall but this guy was a different level. Eventually Ranboo clambered into the backseat of the car next to Tommy.
“Can we stop at the seven eleven on the way to the beach? I want a slurpee,” Tommy asked as they started off again.
“Yes, we need good snacks,” Tubbo agreed.
“That’s fine with me,” Purpled added, he honestly didn’t know what he was getting himself into with these three.
“Ok, next turning,” Tubbo continued to instruct him. Tubbo’s instructions worked as they ended up at a 7/11.
“Come on, let's go in,” Tommy said clambering out of the car.
Everyone was short to follow. The sticky heat outside was uncomfortable and Purpled was glad to get into the aircon of the 7/11. Tommy and Tubbo excitedly rushed over to the candy aisle. Purpled followed Ranboo to the slurpees.
“So how’d you get lumped into this?” Ranboo asked.
“I moved in next door to Tubbo,”
“I wish you luck,” Ranboo laughed.
“Thanks,”
“What slurpee flavour are you getting?” Ranboo asked.
“Dr Pepper,” Purpled replied.
“Good choice, I’m getting lemonade,” Ranboo replied.
“I have plenty of snacks,” Tubbo said, coming around the corner, arms piled with chips and candy.
“And who’s paying for this?” Purpled asked.
“Not you, you're the driver,” Tommy chimed following shortly behind with less snacks but still an armful.
“I’ll pay,” Ranboo sighed.
“This is why I married you,” Tubbo commented.
“Excuse me what?” Purpled asked.
“They got married on the playground in third grade,” Tommy started “Tubbo hasn’t let it go,”
“We haven’t got a divorce so we’re still married, and we have a child,”
“9th grade health project, where we had to look after an egg,” Tommy replied.
“He was called Michael,” Ranboo said “Tubbo, you want blue raspberry, Toms you want cherry?”
“Yep,” Tubbo replied.
They checked out, Ranboo paid and they returned to Purpled’s car with four huge slurpees and two plastic bags of snacks. Purpled started the car back up and they were off again.
“How come none of you drive?” Purpled asked as they kept on towards the beach.
“I’m not trusted on the road,” Tommy commented.
“Same here, just mine is recognised by the government,” Tubbo added way too nonchalantly.
“I’m scared of driving,” Ranboo finalised.
“How have you been getting around then?”
“Tommy’s brother Technoblade,” Tubbo answered.
“He plays classical music in the car,” Tommy complained “And also drives the speed limit and complains about driving us anywhere,”
“No he complains about driving you two, he says I’m a delight to have in the car,” Ranboo argued.
“That’s because you’re scared of Technoblade so just agree with whatever he says,” Tommy insulted.
“Anyway, why did you move here Purpled?” Ranboo diverted the conversation away from Tommy’s insults.
“My brother got a job in the high school,” he replied.
“In our high school?” Tubbo questioned.
“Unfortunately,” Purpled added “He’s the new gym teacher,”
“Oh, so we won’t see him much,” Tubbo added.
“Hopefully not,”
“So you just live with your brother?” Tommy asked.
“Yeah, has been just us since I was ten,” Purpled replied “We both like it that way,”
“That’s chill I would not be able to live with just my brother I think I would go insane,” Tommy complained.
“You just don’t like your brother,” Ranboo mumbled.
“That’s not the point,” Tommy added.
“We’re almost there,” Tubbo broke up whatever silent feud had started between Tommy and Ranboo.
“Nice,”
The rest of the ride was punctuated by Tommy singing along really obnoxiously to each song that came on. Finally the beach came into sight and Purpled was glad to park his car with the dozens of others. It was hot so it was busy. There were kids ignoring their parents in the parking lot so Purpled nearly hit a couple, Tommy found this hilarious. They did eventually find a space, Purpled’s parking wasn’t great but it was passable. They filed out of the car, and grabbed their stuff snacks and half finished slurpees not forgotten.
“It’s so fucking hot out,” Tubbo complained as they made their way down to the beach.
A couple of families glared at them for the swearing.
“It is summer,” Ranboo added, the teen walking awkwardly due to the sand and having to avoid people already set up on the beach.
“Once we’ve dumped our stuff somewhere I am running straight to the sea,” Tubbo continued.
“I will not be joining you,” Ranboo chuckled.
“Me neither,” Purpled added.
“I will,” Tommy said “In fact,” Tommy dumped his stuff down in a space “I’ll race you,”
Tommy pulled off his shirt and started running down the beach, Tubbo was quick to follow.
Ranboo sighed “I love them I do, but they act like children,”
Purpled laughed in agreement.
“Not a water fan either?”
“Nah, not really” Purpled lied, he did like swimming in fact it was his favourite thing to do as a kid but the entire transgender thing threw some issues into the mix.
“I get it, I have a slight water allergy,” Ranboo said.
“Really?”
“Yeah, its annoying, I tend to avoid doing water activities regularly but I’ll problem head down in an hour so, wade in the shallows,”
“I’ll probably do the same, I don’t like to go much deeper than waist level,”
“That’s fine, Tommy and Tubbo will be understanding, I’m pretty sure Tommy brought a beach ball so he’ll want us in at some point,” Ranboo said “I’d take whatever break from the water you can get until then,”
“Sounds like a plan,” Purpled agreed.
After a minute or so of sipping on his slurpee Purpled spoke up again.
“What’s the high school like?”
“Any normal high school, there are cliques, you can imagine that we aren’t in the popular ones,” Ranboo laughed “The building isn’t too big since we’re kinda coastal, the teachers are fine, the guidance counsellor is great,”
“Sounds good,” Purpled nodded.
“Have you thought about college apps?”
“Not really, I have no idea on where I want to go yet,” Purpled said “I’ve moved around a lot so moving isn’t all that special,”
“Well, I’m probably going to stay instate,” Ranboo started “I’m a homebody, if I go out state I’ll miss family too much, and I doubt Tommy or Tubbo will go too far,”
“Well so far Cali has been my favourite state so I might stay in state, maybe more like San Fransisco area,”
“Nice, and thought about what you’d study?”
“Maybe something coding related,”
“Tubbo’s thinking about coding as well,” Ranboo said “You should talk with him about it sometime,”
“What about you?”
“I’m thinking film, Tommy is also stuck between film and English, but he doesn’t want to be like his brother who currently does English,”
“Speaking of Tommy,” Purpled said as Tommy approached them, he was soaking wet but had a massive smile on his face.
“Tubbo tried to drown me,” he panted “I fought him off though,”
“Why did he try to drown you?” Purpled asked.
“There wasn’t even a reason,”
“You lying shit,” Tubbo responded as came up behind Tommy “You tackled me first,”
“I barely tackled you,”
Tubbo rolled his eyes “Anyway, when are you guys coming in?”
“Later Tubbo, later,” Ranboo replied.
“When is later?” Tommy interrogated.
Ranboo checked the time on their phone “We should have something slightly substantial for lunch in half hour or so, I’ll come in after,”
“And you Purpled?” Tubbo asked.
“Sounds good to me, I don’t want to go too deep though,”
“We’ll play with the beach ball then,” Tommy nodded, “Alright, see you in half an hour I want to make a river,”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t recruit any small children,” Tubbo said.
“Recruiting children?”
“Yeah,” was all Ranboo commented, his tone slightly dejected “You said you moved around a lot earlier?”
“I was in foster care until my brother adopted me” Purpled filled him in “We used to live in Washington, so moved around there whilst we were both in care and then we started moving more when he had custody over me, we lived in Idaho for a bit, Oregon, Nevada then Cali, we moved wherever the best job offering was, and we were used to moving around so it wasn’t a big deal”
“That’s interesting,” Ranboo said “I lived in the UK for two years, one of my moms is british,”
“That’s cool,”
“Do you think you’ll be here for long?” Ranboo asked.
“Probably, Punz was working mainly hourly wage jobs that he got shifts for, he had one yearly salary job which was the one before this one, it was at another school, we stayed there for a while until this one came up and he would get paid more, I think he’ll definitely stay here at least until I’m done with college, he wants me to have a familiar place to come back to”
“He sounds great,” Ranboo said.
“He is,” Purpled nodded.
Ranboo rummaged through the bag they brought with them and pulled out a book.
“D’you bring anything to do?”
“I thought I’d be forced into the water,” Purpled said.
“Nah, they aren’t like that, if you don’t want to go in you don’t have to,”
“What book is it?” Purpled asked.
“Song of Achilles, I recommend it,” Ranboo replied.
“Hmm, I think I’m gonna scout out food places, and maybe the rides further up for later,” Purpled clambered up.
“Have fun, we’ll definitely get on a ride or two later,”
Purpled trekked back up the sand this time towards the food, rides and what looked like an arcade. It was still busy so he had to shove through the crowds slightly. The food stalls whilst fun and colourful all looked slightly weathered which made him feel nostalgic in some way, there were several stands doing fries and burgers all at different price points, as well as ice cream stands and ones selling candy and popcorn. The rides there were intriguing as well, Purpled liked a rollercoaster, he was definitely one for thrill rides, there were the classics like bumper cars, one of the kiddie coasters and a ghost train but there was also a ferris wheel, tea cups and a larger roller coaster that looked more to Purpled’s taste.
On his walk back to Ranboo, he got a text from Punz.
Punz: hows it going
Purpled: fine
yet to go in the water tho
Punz: well have fun lmk when ur heading back
Purpled: will do
“So, find something good up there?” Ranboo asked.
“There are the rides and all sorts of food places,”
“We’ll hit them up after,” Ranboo nodded.
Tommy and Tubbo returned and whilst wrapped in towels the four of them headed up to the top of the beach to get food. Tommy was eager to queue up for burgers, Purpled had his eyes set on burgers so joined him, Tubbo and Ranboo headed off elsewhere.
"So, how are you finding today?" Tommy asked, he swiped his wet hair off of his forehead as he did so.
"Better than I thought I would," Purpled admitted.
"That's good I guess," Tommy shrugged "Did Tubbo really just drag you along?"
"He wanted a ride," Purpled chuckled.
"Will we get you in the water later?"
"Maybe,"
"Can you not swim or something?"
"No, just not a fan of swimming,"
"Well, we won't really be swimming," Tommy reasoned.
Purpled didn't reply, he didn't want to have to out himself, but the idea of being in the water made him uncomfortable, he knew his clothes were going to cling to his body and his dysphoria would spike.
"Obviously you don't have to come in if you don't want to," Tommy rambled.
"I- I'll have to think about it," Purpled replied.
"Alright, what do you want?" Tommy asked, they'd now reached the front of the line.
"I'll buy for myself,"
"No it's fine,"
"I'll have a cheeseburger and a Dr Pepper,"
Tommy ordered for both of them, paying frankly too much for burgers, but then again they were at the beach and everything was overpriced at the beach. They then headed back down to their spot on the beach reuniting with Tubbo and Ranboo.
"Beach food is so overpriced,"Tubbo complained eating his fries.
"You didn't even pay," Ranboo commented.
"Its the thought that counts," Tubbo added.
Ranboo sighed.
"Good fries though," Tubbo commented.
Purpled chuckled biting into his slightly too greasy burger, the sun was beating down on his skin and the looming sea ahead of him wasn't helping his fear. But soon enough food was settled and he was being dragged down to the beach. He was atleast glad he didn't have to take his shirt off, Ranboo didn't either it made him feel slightly better. Dysphoria was still a bitch and his trans tape was already starting to roll at the edges and he wasn't looking forward to them getting wet, they would definitely come off.
"Purpled catch!" Tubbo yelled tossing the beach ball over.
Purpled caught it with ease.
They were playing a simple game, a twist on piggy in the middle. They were in two teams, Tubbo and Purpled against Ranboo and Tommy, the aim was to pass the ball between your team without the other team try getting a hold of it.
Purpled was ammused at Tommy's failed attempts to catch the ball, he was diving into the shallow water attempting catch the ball and failing spectacularly.
Purpled tossed the ball back to Tubbo only for Ranboo to catch it instead. Ranboo tossed it to Tommy, Purpled jumped for it. Crashing into the water, the water. Shit. That wasn't good. Fuck.
Now he couldn't breathe. Not because he was underwater but because adhesive and water didn't mix. He came up to the surface and Tommy who had dived in next to him caught on to his shifted mood.
"Purpled, you okay man?" Tommy asked.
The words only blurred in Purpled's head as his breathing accelerated and he wrapped his arms around his chest. Tommy's hand landed on his shoulder and he recoiled back.
"Guys!" Tommy called out.
There was splashing, Purpled knew Tubbo and Ranboo were heading over. He didn't know what to do he coudn't breathe, his dysphoria had spiked massively and he was overwhelmed.
"Purpled, are you okay?" Ranboo asked.
"He's obviously not," Tubbo retorted.
"Guys, now is not the time," Tommy said.
"I'm just-" Purpled breathed "gonna go back to our stuff"
"I'll come with," Tommy said.
Purpled's mind was racing he was finally starting to regain his breath as he headed back up the beach. Once he reached there stuff he wrapped himself in a towel hunching in on in himself and letting his head rest on his knees. He tried to regulate his breathing, thankfully it was working.
"Sorry," he said.
"It's alright," Tommy replied "You got some sort of water based trauma?"
"First off that's rude to ask, and no," Purpled replied.
"Oh, okay," Tommy added.
"I'm gonna go change," Purpled said.
"I'll be here," Tommy replied.
Purpled scooped up his bag and kept the towel wrapped around his shoulders as he sought out the bathrooms at the top of the beach. He was glad to change, trying not to look at his own body as he pulled on his binder then t-shirt over the top. A sense of comfort washing over himself. He then had to walk back down the the beach and potentially ruin his newly formed friendships by coming out. Whilst he didn't have to come out, he felt he owed them a reason behind the panic attack and ruining their game.
Tommy was the only one sat at their stuff, Tommy had a towel around his shoulders as he messed with the sand next to him.
"All good?" Tommy asked once Purpled had sat down.
"Yeah, thanks, sorry about freaking out,"
"'S alright," Tommy shrugged "We were probably gonna head up to the fair rides soon anyway,"
"Where are Tubbo and Ranboo?"
"They went up to get changed as well, I'm gonna go when they get back," Tommy replied "Are you okay, though, really?"
"I-"
"I know we only met today but you can tell me if somethings up," Tommy offered.
"Thanks, I freaked out because I'm trans and I was binding with tape and the adhesive and the water don't mix and I felt really dysphoric today already," he rambled.
Tommy's eyes widened.
"Congrats for coming out," he offered "Did you know you can buy swim binders?"
"You can?"
"Yeah,"
"Wait how do you know?"
"My foster brother is trans,"
"Oh, I bigged that up in my head for no reason then,"
"Kinda, Tubbo and Ranboo will be supportive of you as well," Tommy added.
"That's good," Purpled nodded "Part of the reason we moved was because someone in my old school found out I was trans, they outed me and then everyone kept misgendering me,"
"That's shit," Tommy said.
"Tell me about it," Purpled chuckled.
"You don't have to answer but when did you start transitioning?"
"I came out when I was ten," Purpled said, "My brother had custody over me at that point so I started socially transitioning then, because I moved around a lot after I came out people only knew me as Purpled a boy,"
"Thats sounds pretty good," Tommy said.
"It is, I started hormone blockers at fourteen and am on T so I pass really well," Purpled nodded "Spent a lot of time fighting for my rights to transition as a minor,"
"Fundy my foster brother, he says its hard, he is on the waiting list for T said they won't give to him until he's eighteen,"
"System's shit," Purpled nodded.
Tubbo and Ranboo had returned by now and Tommy switched out with them to go and get changed.
"You doing okay Purpled?" Tubbo asked.
"Yeah, dysphoria," he said.
"You're trans?" Ranboo asked.
"Yeah, panicked because adhesive and water don't go well together and I was already dysphoric today," Purpled said.
"Sounds not fun," Tubbo commented.
"Exactly," Purpled exhaled a laugh.
"I'm trans spec as well," Ranboo offered, "Currently identifying as non binary but it fluctuates,"
"Cool,"
"Have you guys seen the article on nuclear weapons?" Tubbo asked.
"What the hell, Tubbo," Ranboo sighed "No one else keeps up with nukes,"
Tubbo proceeded to ramble about nukes until Tommy returned.
"I want to go on the upside down ride," Tommy claimed.
"I'm down," Purpled said.
"Please hold him accountable,"Tubbo said "He always chickens out,"
They started off with some of the smaller rides. Ranboo tapped out first at a drop ride. Then it came to the upside down one.
"I'm not riding that one," Tubbo held his hands up.
"Come on Tommy," Purpled said.
"Do we have to?" Tommy asked.
"I want to ride it, you said you'd ride it with me," Purpled said.
"Fine, lets go," Tommy huffed.
Purpled led the pair towards the ride entering the very short queue. They were in the second set of people let on. Whilst they watched taht one ride before them, Tommy only got more scared. Purpled found it very funny. They were called foward and took their seats strapping in, safety checks took place and then they got sent off.
Tommy started screaming.
Purpled started laughing.
"How are you not terrified?" Tommy screeched.
"I like rolllercoasters," Purpled replied.
The ride finished with Tommy gripping Purpled's hand. They left the ride. Tubbo was laughing at them, well Tommy.
"Can we get ice cream now?" Ranboo asked.
"Yes," Tubbo replied excitedly, "I'm getting rocky road,"
"He always gets rocky road," Ranboo replied.
"You always get mint chip,"
"It's because it's good," Ranboo replied.
"So's rocky road,"
"I'm gonna get cookies and cream," Purpled said.
"Solid choice," Tubbo nodded.
"Thank you,"
They reached the ice cream stand, Tubbo ordered rocky road, Ranboo mint chip, Purpled cookies and cream. Tommy ordered some blue radioactive looking bubblegum ice cream.
"Seriously Tommy, you better not get any of that on my car," Purpled threatened as they walked back to his car.
"Your car is old as fuck anyway," Tommy said.
"I will leave you here," Purpled replied.
"Do it, please," Tubbo said, before taking a bite, a bite, out of his ice cream.
"Did you just bite your ice cream?" Purpled asked.
"And what about it?"
"I can't wait to leave you all at your houses," Purpled sighed.
"You had a good day, admit it," Tubbo said.
"Nope I hated every second of it," Purpled replied sarcastically.
The car ride home was full of noise, not just music like the way up. Obnoxious singing, stupid arguments and even stupider comments in response to totally normal question. Ranboo was dropped off first, waving goodbye as they walked up the ridiculously long driveway. Then Tommy who entered his house yelling about being home. Finally, Purpled pulled up into his own driveway.
"I'll add you to our group chat later," Tubbo said.
"Thanks, today was fun," Purpled added.
"Bye," Tubbo waved before heading next door.
"I'm home!" Purpled called out into the house.
"How was it?" Punz asked from the other room.
"It was fun, I think I've got some friends for school,"
"Good, dinner will be in an hour,"
"Alright," Purpled responded, he headed straight to his half unpacked room and collapsed onto his bed.
There was a ping on his phone. He'd been added to a group chat named 'Bench Trio (we will change the name)' by Tubbo. He definetely had friends for this year, maybe longer.