Something Else Entirely

8 - Instantaneous hetero/platonic gay lovers.

The amount of time we spent with the Fyres over the next few days, especially me and Byron, meant we got to know each other fairly well, and Byron was let in on a few more details about my history and life back home.

If my history and complicated family life bothered him, he didn't show it. In fact, he just seemed more intrigued the more he learned. I liked the guy a lot, and hoped that we could still hang out at home, and that this wasn't just a fleeting holiday friendship. I was too chicken shit to ask him if he wanted the same, but I was getting vibes that he just might. I don't think you voluntarily spend most of your vacation with a practical stranger for no reason. And we hung out with the Fyres every day that we remained in Waikiki before leaving to travel around the island, even if for just a few hours.

We shared a meal together every day, whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, and sometimes more than just the one. We went down to a park near our hotel and kicked the footy, which is where we learned that Byron was actually a decent footballer, and made tentative plans to go to each other's games when we got back home. Sadie and Kendall went shopping at some outlet place and came back with more new clothes for us than was necessary, forcing us to parade them around in the hotel room to make sure they looked good, each of us complaining about how hot we all were considering they were winter clothes heavily discounted in the late Hawaiian summer. Madden overcame his shyness and played with Darcie, despite still blushing anytime she came nearer than 2 metres to him. Dad and Carson got along like a house on fire, sitting back and watching the rest of us just do our thing with nothing but contented looks on their faces, their similarly deep laughs reverberating through the air whenever they were together for more than 30 seconds, somehow finding amusement in just about anything.

And Byron and I surfed for at least a few hours every morning, him borrowing one of our other boards and getting better every day. We fell into the habit of doing a dual family coffee run in the morning after a surf, an actual run and kick of the football after dinner to keep our fitness up for when we return to our seasons back home, and talking shit while soaking up the sun on the beach for at least an hour every day, earning us both now very well established tans, and me a few more dark freckles across my nose and cheeks. We even convinced our parents to let us catch a bus into the city to catch a movie at the cinema there one day, which was ironic considering how much trouble I was in when I first spoke to him.

It felt like I had known him forever, and Dad had picked up on it, too.

"You two remind me of Tanner and I when we first met," he chuckled. "We were practically inseparable from the very beginning."

"Instantaneous hetero/platonic gay lovers, is how I would describe it," said Sadie, giggling away at herself as she prepared for her date with Dad. Kendall and Carson had insisted that Madden and I stay with them for the last night we remained in Waikiki before continuing our travels, to give Dad and Sadie some 'child-free time together' and a night alone on their honeymoon. They tried to protest, but the Fyres are as much a force to be reckoned with as we are it would seem.

"There was almost a time when I thought he might actually want to date Tann, not me," continued Sadie, still chuckling as she applied her mascara.

"I reckon he'd make a pretty good lover, actually," said Dad seriously, creeping up behind her to hold her around the waist. "But I hope I've managed to alleviate your anxiety over that being a reality, Sade. I'd have thought I'd given you enough big, hard reminders of just how much I love and want you every day."

I spurted out the water previously occupying my mouth all over the small couch at his innuendo and her playful elbowing of him in the stomach. Dad swiftly enveloped her with his muscular arms and lifted her off the ground as she protested half-heartedly against him.