four

                                    

                                          
Cheater ((4))
                          
"Stop it," Bradley chimes, a soft giggle escaping his lips. Embarrassed at the noise, he covers his mouth with his hands, but this just makes both boys erupt in another fit of giggles. "Stop!"
                          
"What?" Tristan asks, smiling. "What did I do?"
                          
"Stop teasing me!" Bradley cries out, shaking his head with a small smile. 
                          
"I'm not teasing you!" Tristan defends, reaching out and nudging his friend. "I was being serious!"
                          
"Yeah, but- but-"
                          
"But what? I didn't do anything!"
                          
"Well you embarrassed me!" Bradley says, trying his best to make up an excuse.
                          
"In front of who? It's just me!" When Bradley doesn't reply, flustered enough, Tristan shakes his head. "See? Now seriously. His name is Justin. I think you'll really like him!"
                          
"Come on, Tristan, you can't be serious."
                          
"Why wouldn't I be serious?" the blonde asks sweetly, pursing his lips cutely. Well, he doesn't see how cute it is. Someone else does.
                          
"I...I don't know. Didn't picture you to be a matchmaker or anything. But anyways, I kind of like someone else. So thank you, but no thank you."
                          
"Oh," Tristan can't help but feel a little disappointed when Bradley says this. He tries to make himself believe it's because he really really thought that Bradley and Justin would get along. He shakes his head, wiggling his eyebrows. "Well who would that be?"
                          
"None of your business, babe," Bradley says extremely casually, just as Tristan pulls into the small parking lot by the beach. 
                          
The curly haired boy doesn't wait even a few moments, jumping out into the sand the moment the car shuts off. Tristan jumps out right after him, locking the car before speeding down the sand towards the younger boy. Bradley laughs, running faster towards the water. 
                          
Tristan keeps sprinting towards him and lunges, but Bradley dodges to the side. He manages to just grab Tristan's arm, preventing the the blonde from running straight into the water. Bradley pulls the two of them back and they collapse into the sand, laughing louder than usual. No one is around, and Tristan wants to believe it echoes. He knows it really doesn't, though. 
                          
After a second, Bradley stands up and walks along the waterline, collecting random stones, and Tristan just sits in his previous spot. And then it dawns on him what his friend had said in the car, and he goes on thinking about how Bradley called him babe. Babe. So effortlessly. Babe.
                          
Not a big deal, he kept telling himself.
                          
He doesn't believe his own mind, though.
                          
After a minute or two, Tristan's attention is averted to Bradley, who is on the process of pulling his shirt over his head. He tosses it into the sand, and somehow he must feel Tristan's gaze, because he turns his head and their eyes meet.
                          
"Come on," Bradley says so simply, motioning for Tristan to follow him to where the waves slowly roll onto the sand.
                          
"What are you doing?" Tristan calls after him, tilting his head in curiosity.
                          
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going for a swim!" he smiles his cheeky little smile, his accent making Tristan's heart melt. No. That doesn't happen. Tristan refuses to believe that. "Come on, join me."
                          
Tristan hesitantly stands up from his spot, walking down towards where Bradley's shirt lay in the sand, just a few feet away from where Bradley stands, the water just surrounding his ankles. The brown-eyed boy smiles, walking backwards, further into the water, eye never leaving Tristan's. He moves until he's fully submerged, and he goes under the water for a second before coming back up for air. He flips his now-wet curls out of his face, wiping off his eyes.