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 Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:22 pm
They made plans. They cleared schedules. Took off time, holiday, and made necessary calls to loved ones. They were set, and everyone was packed for a week at the beach. Ladon folded their clothes, set them in their duffel bags, and checked the apartment to make sure nothing was on or would rot in the fridge while they were gone. He also checked his phone and proceeded to spend the entire day before leaving on edge, wondering if he had everything. It had been a long time since he went on a trip, the first with a group of what could be considered his friends, and first with a boyfriend. It made him nervous and excited at the same time. When at least the morning came, Paris called and they were out on the sidewalk by the time Chris pulled up into a sparkling gray Buick that wouldn't be caught dead in this neck of the city without expecting to be gutted in an hour. They wasted no time getting in.He only flashed a brief smile at Paris, feeling self-conscious in the tight capri-like pants and graphic tee.
Then after the first introductions, things grew awkward, and Ladon noticed something. They would all be in the car for HOURS. He was a pathetic conservationist at best, but this would be a strain. Small talk was quickly spent, and it was only when silence came that Paris had the radio on.
Ladon didn't know when it happened, but the mixture of the the wind coming through the windows, the sun baking his leg, and the fact he'd be a bit jumpy the night before to not really sleep well had left him drowsy and warm. Before long, he was sleeping against Billy's shoulder. Luckily he wasn't a snorer.
It wasn't until he felt the car slow and a stirring that he woke up, the smell of salt air filling his senses as he rose and looked around, blinking slowly. It seemed they were stopping?
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 8:09 pm
The car ride hadn't been horrible. At least not in Chris's mind. He usually liked being out on the open road with the wind in his hair and enjoying the freedom it offered. Sure, there were some morons driving whom he needed to warn with long seconds of horn blasts, but other than that, it was rather peaceful.
The only thing that had made it awkward for him... was the fact that he and Paris, well, weren't exactly on the best terms. He knew it was his own fault, and he felt horrible about it, but it was a mutual thing that they would work through, especially when they had a whole week of nothing to worry about aside from getting too much sun.
Being asleep at the time of arrival meant that there were a couple things that were missed during their trip, such as being stopped at the gate of the guarded community, but after a quick, friendly greeting and congrats on the new car from the security guard, they were allowed through.
Many of the houses they drove past had long driveways, the home itself often concealed by large oaks and Spanish moss, on the Northern edge of its growing range. Other small, stunted trees and bushes that lined drives and the road were all neatly trimmed and the grass (surprisingly lush for being in such sandy climate, although that's probably because it was mostly sod) didn't have a blade out of place.
Their destination was down one of those drives, although there were more oaks along the drive, rather than the smaller trees saved for the landscaping closer to the house. It was a large brick home, two story columns came in sets on either side of the facade that covered the stoop to the front door. Brick steps formed a small princess staircase to the door, and while Chris could have easily driven around back to park in the garage, he figured he would be able to avoid some nagging if he started at the front — he could imagine Paris commenting about showing them the house as he'd first seen it.
"Uh... We're here," he mumbled with an awkward half-smile on his face. While it had been his idea to offer the house as a place to vacation at, he was unsure of the reactions he'd get. He definitely wouldn't appreciate any more comments on how he was 'privileged', though.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 8:48 pm
Paris spent his five hours trying to talk and failing miserably. This might have concerned him at some other point in time, as he was typically quite the proficient conversationalist and his sudden inability to come up with something to talk about was usually a sign that something was dreadfully wrong, but with how the recent two months had gone he didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary by now. He tried for maybe the first hour, and then gave up to plug in his iPod and turn on the radio in an attempt to mask the almost painfully awkward atmosphere with the many delightful tracks of Kesha.
He was so ready for this vacation.
By the time they’d arrived, Paris had taken to hiding beneath his sunglasses and floppy, wide-brimmed straw sun hat, pretending for much of the ride as if he were actually sleeping, though he might have unintentionally given himself away a few times by grabbing Chris’s hand during a couple of his boyfriend’s creative strings of road-rage induced curses. Ready to get the initial surprise and awkwardness he expected would arise once the other two set their sights on the Gallos’ beach house (which Paris still refused to call a house because no house should ever be that gigantic) out of the way, Paris opened the passenger side door and hopped out of the car as soon as Chris had pulled to a stop.
He probably should have warned Ladon ahead of time, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to cope with each new surprise in regards to his boyfriend’s family and the extent of their success. He certainly didn’t want to seem as if he were bragging, because if he had it his way Chris would be just another normal guy with a normal life and a normal family. Parts of the inclusion into so much wealth were nice, but the rest of it did little more than make him feel terribly inadequate, especially with recent happenings in his relationship with Chris.
“Right, so… this is it,” he said, ducking his head back into the car long enough to make sure the two in the back had actually realized they’d arrived. “Just, uhh… try not to feel too uncomfortable… or something. I mean, it sort of blows your mind at first, but you’ve just kind of got to take it in stride…”
Paris had a feeling his little pep talk wasn’t working at all, especially since he couldn’t even follow his own advice sometimes, but no one could say he didn’t try. “Chris, can you pop the trunk?” he asked.
Getting their bags out would at least give him something to do.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:54 pm
He'd been quiet for the most part of the ride, just staring out the window, and playing 'pillow' for a sleeping Ladon. Any conversation he took part in was brief, though not rudely so. There simply just wasn't much to talk about. He'd yet to land a job, and that was perhaps the only reason he was here anyway. After all, he doubted in the short time that had passed since the double date that a employer would approve a weeks vacation.
And now they were here...
This was not what he had been expecting. And while most would have been floored, Billy wasll...underwhelmed. Disappointed perhaps, even. He'd been expecting some small cabin with white vinyl siding and a dinky wooden porch with a hammock, right on the beach. Not...this. His expectations were shot.
Oh well, nothing he could do about it. While he said nothing, the almost deadpan expression on his face perhaps said enough.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:37 pm
Try not to be uncomfortable. This is what he was told, but Ladon turned to Paris as if this was asking a bit too much. This house was an ACTUAL house. This wasn't a beach house. It had a community, manicured shrubs, and LARGE houses. This wasn't a getaway. This was a place you moved into. One room in this place probably would cost him 3 years rent at the very least! It made the idea of over-packing seem pointless now considering how much room this place had. He had been wondering how tight it might become with 4 boys in the house, but they could probably hide in one room EACH!
As Paris went to get their things, Ladon leaned over squeeze Billy's hand. He seemed upset as he looked at the house. "It's just for a week. It's just as weird to be in such a big house, but at least there is the beach and you can always have a private moment in your room if you need it. If ...you get bugged." In short, if Billy wanted to kill someone or felt uncomfortable.
Looking at the back window to make sure Paris wasn't looking, Ladon pecked Billy on the corner of his lips before turning to open the door. "We better unpack." He could only imagine how big it was inside.
Stepping outside, he moved to the back trunk. "I'll help." Paris couldn't carry all their bags alone after all. He smiled to his friend, offering his help. It was a weird vacation they were having. Him and Paris were starting to get back on their friendship footing that they had before, but they were the links that were bringing Chris and Billy together. Billy and Paris didn't get along as it was, but Chris was the poor guy who was bring brought into it. Each of them were trying to be good for their boyfriend's sake, and also for the sake of friendships. Forcing this sort of emotion was straining on anyone, and Ladon only hoped that he could keep everyone from exploding. Maybe, if things all went well, he could actually relax a bit during it all - even for a few minutes at the least.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:32 pm
"Oh right," Chris mumbled to himself, using the remote on his car key to open the trunk with the press of a button. He went over to help Paris unload everything, of course. He didn't bother packing too much since... it was his house... he had some clothes there already. Nothing really different from what he already wore on a daily basis, but it was still nice to have stuff available.
He shouldered one of the coolers of food he and Paris had packed since there wouldn't be any fresh food there for them. He knew he could have called and had one of their grounds keepers stock the fridge for them, but for a handful of teenagers, that was probably a bit much.
"I'm guessing you guys want to share a room?" he asked over his unburdened shoulder as he lead the way up one side of the short set of stairs to the entry way, and fiddled with the lock before getting the door open for them. Instead of standing to the side to let the others pass into the house before him, Chris quickly set the cooler on the floor of the large foyer and went over to the security system to shut it off before the police were called to inspect the suspected break in. Once that was taken care of though, he turned back to hold the door open for the others.
The foyer was large and welcoming with warm, beachy tones of golds, blues, and reds. In fact, they would find that the whole house was decorated as such. His mother wanted her house at the beach to really feel like a house at the beach. Every here and there were displays of shells his mother and various others had collected over the years. There were paintings in large frames of beach scenes, and in the parlor just off to the right of the entrance, one might peek in to catch a glimpse of the large portrait of his family, hanging over the fireplace. His father and older brother in their Naval uniforms, his mother in a stunning, but modest silver-blue dress (a color that made her golden eyes stand out), and himself and Peter in their Sunday best. It was a few years outdated, but thankfully it had been done just after Chris had hit the better side of his growth spurt.
"If you keep heading in and to the left, you'll get to the kitchen. There are stairs around the back if you don't want to go up these," he said, indicating the swooping staircase that lead from the foyer up to the second floor. "I'm gonna get this to the fridge and then I'll show you your room, okay? Paris, you remember how to get to my room, right?" he asked, picking up the cooler once more and heading out to the kitchen.
Other rooms that would be passed on the way to the kitchen was a formal dining room and a hallway that looked like it lead to a bedroom suite on the first floor. Past the kitchen was a great room, two stories in height, and pretty much doubled as a library with its huge wall of shelves filled with books. There was another, smaller living room, a breakfast nook, and a large sunroom that faced the back and the ocean. There was a pool with an infinity view, and past that was the dock leading over the dunes and to the beach, or out to the pier where a decent sized sailboat was tied down.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:22 pm
Paris had, perhaps, over-packed a little bit, pulling a small suitcase and two duffel bags of his own out of the trunk. As he’d been packing he’d told himself it was completely necessary for a week at the beach, as his choice of clothing and swimsuits and shoes and pretty much everything would be affected but what they planned on doing over the course of the day. Plus, his hair was a b***h in salt water and humidity. He had one bag full of hair junk alone.
He walked a few steps behind Chris as they made their way up to the house, choosing to stick close to Ladon for now since Chris was entirely comfortable and Ladon was… well, Paris imagined Ladon might feel close to how he felt about the house. Sometimes being with Chris made it seem like this was how normal people were supposed to live. He was thankfully pulled back to reality and reassured that that was not the case by having company whose life and family situations were a bit more similar to his own.
“Upstairs and to the left when you go up through the kitchen,” Paris recited in answer to Chris’s question.
He followed his boyfriend through the kitchen where the staircase was less grand and let Chris put the food in the fridge while he took Ladon and Billy up to the second floor, giving them a little time to look around at everything else if they chose to.
“You guys can either have your own rooms or share if you want,” Paris said, though Chris seemed to have already assumed the latter. Not that Paris hadn’t assumed the very same thing. “The rooms on this side of the hall all look out over the beach. I figure you’ll probably have one of those. I think two of them are Chris’s brothers’ rooms, but there should be a guest room…”
He stopped to turn into a room halfway down the hall, leaving his suitcase on the floor and depositing his pair of duffel bags onto the large bed. “This is Chris’s room,” he explained. “You can come in and look around if you want. I promise it’s safe. All the dirty magazines are locked up in one of the little tables beside the bed,” he joked with a grin meant for Ladon.
The room was decorated in a similar color scheme to the rest of the house, though the trophies on one of the bookshelves all bore Chris’s name, and a framed photograph of some ballpark with a big green wall stood out from the rest of the beach scenes.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:57 pm
Billy quietly got both his and Ladon's things. He, himself, had only brought one bag. It wasn't like he had much to begin with. And although he could appreciate Ladon's sentiments, well... Billy was simply in a mood now. Cynical, judging, but at the very least, quiet. Whether or not Ladon and he would be sharing a room didn't even need an answer, and so it got none.
His thoughts were mostly along the line of 'overindulgence, unnecessary extravagance, waste,' and such. There were people without a home, or struggling to keep one over their heads - good people - while this house set empty for what? A good portion of the year? How many years did it not house a soul at all? And moreover, how much of this was taken for granted?
When Paris offered to let them see Chris' room, Billy simply decided he was having none of that. Just show him what room he and Ladon could claim for the week, k thnx? But again, he kept silent. Ladon could look if he wanted to.
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:52 pm
Picking up the smaller of their bags and frowning at Billy for taking the heavier bags (sure his chest wound had healed but he still worried!), he followed after then and slowly up the steps into the house. Despite it not being inhabited, it was still clean and bright, with warm shore colors and bright, ocean hues. It made the place feel brimming with light, and he noticed the smell of the outside already trying to invade the house. It seemed however that the house still had a bit of stale air, and he already knew he would sleep well when they opened the windows.
As Chris, the only person as of yet to feel absolutely comfortable in the house, went to put the cooler away, Ladon followed after Paris who seemed already familiar with the place, and wondered what he and Chris might have been doing alone in such a big, beach house. Even he could see the romantic potential if he had the place to himself with Billy.
Up to the second floor (This place had a second floor!!!), he walked past the many doors. "Billy and I will share a room." He added, looking around. "The guest room. I don't think I could sleep in someone else's bed." He wasn't sure if Paris mentioned Chris' brothers rooms as an option or not, but it seemed creepy to him to see in a brother's bed. He was a bit uncomfortable as it was already, and needed a place designed just for guests, as he was.
Bag in hand, he stopped as Paris already set his things in Chris room, and even though he was invited, he slowly entered as if he was intruding. "Um..." He looked around, glancing about only due to curiosity, but being in someone else's room just made him feel out of place. For Paris, who was his boyfriend, it was a place to be invited, but for Ladon, it just seemed strange. Why are you uncomfortable? You slept at his apartment. For all you know, that could have been his bed you were in! This thought didn't help him feel better, and he glanced at the trophies. "He must have been very good at baseball." Ladon had played a bit when he was younger but hadn't returned to the sport, instead moving to track. It would have been impossible down with his bad eye.
"Can you...show us the guest room?" He asked, moving to the door. It was just to weird to be in his room especially with Billy waiting nearby.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:16 am
“Sure,” Paris replied, leaving his bags to be unpacked once he’d helped Ladon and Billy find a room in which to get settled. “Let me just figure out which one it is…”
He remembered his mother had been the one to use it when the two of them had been invited to join Chris’s family over Mother’s Day, but as Paris didn’t make it a habit to pay too much attention to where his mother slept, he couldn’t be sure he’d be able to pick it out from a line-up of closed doors.
He slipped out into the hall again, maneuvering around Billy and making a careful note of the vibes he was giving off. Paris had absolutely no idea what he was thinking, but as there were very few (if any) instances in which he could recall Billy being nice, he assumed whatever he had going on in his head at the moment must be appropriately mean and nasty.
“Don’t look so constipated,” Paris told him, flouncing around him to start opening and closing doors.
“Christopher!” he raised his voice to call out, maybe a little louder than was strictly necessary but sometimes he liked to be obnoxious. “Which one of the rooms on your side of the hall is the guest room?!”
Paris didn’t bother waiting for an answer, merely pushed open the first door he came across to examine the inside. Stars on the ceiling, posters of space ships on the walls, no balcony—nope, obviously Peter’s room. He fared better with his next pick, coming upon a rather homey looking room with a generic beach-y theme lacking in any personal touches.
“Never mind, I think I found it!” he called, then pushed the door open all the way and stepped aside to let Ladon and Billy make themselves at home.
It was a fairly large room as far as bedrooms went, much bigger than the room Paris had had when he'd lived with his dad or the bedroom in Ladon's apartment. The bed was just as huge, more than enough for two guys who ranked as short and average. Small side tables framed each side of the head of the bed, complete with lamps and a few decorative knick-knacks. On one wall sat a chest of drawers for clothes, on another wall rested two doors—one that opened into a walk-in closet, the other leading to the room's en suite—and on the far wall directly across from them were a set of French doors leading out to their own balcony.
Paris tried to act blasé but didn't think he did a very good job keeping the awkwardness from his voice, even after he cleared his throat. “Did you guys want to take the time to unpack?" he asked. "Or I guess we could go ahead and head out onto the beach. Or whatever, really. There’s plenty of stuff to do here. Downstairs in the basement there’s table tennis and a pool table and a big TV for movies.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:45 pm
Billy was more than glad to finally set the bags down, or well, more like half-toss them on to the bed.
"I can take care of unpacking," Billy said as he unzipped his bag and began taking out neatly folded articles of clothing which were destined for the chest of drawers soon after the bag was emptied of the rest of its contense - a bag containing shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razor. He'd also brought along a book to read. Yeah. He really didn't have much in the way of possessions, anyway.
"So," Billy looked over to Ladon as he worked, "if you want to look around or whatever, go ahead. I'll be along shortly."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:59 pm
"Fourth one past the stairs!" Chris called up to wherever Paris was on the floor above, hoping that he heard and would be able to find the appropriate room. There were a handful of guest rooms, of course, but only a couple on the side of the ocean. Paris would be right in assuming that his and his family's rooms were all complete with a view of the water. Not that the view of the mature oaks and Spanish moss wasn't a sight to see as well, but usually when one went to the beach, they went for the beach.
Everything was put away rather quickly. Milk, cream in case anyone wanted some in their coffee or tea, coffee beans (of course, as he was rather dependent on caffeine), and various sandwich items like cheese and meats and bread and condiments were all put away into the rather large refrigerator. There were already cans of soda inside, and in the freezer were frozen pizzas and other various food products that could be left alone for quite some time without having to worry about them going bad.
He reached in for a coke for himself, and then grabbed another, a Dr. Pepper and a Sprite, carrying two in each hand as he ascended the stairs to where the others were. "Didn't know what you guys wanted. I just picked up what you'd had when we met for lunch," Chris explained, handing the Dr. Pepper to Ladon, a Coke to Billy, and then the Sprite to Paris, although he took a moment to open it for him.
It was a little awkward, standing in the doorway of the guest room where two guys he hardly knew were going to be staying, but he figured everything would be okay as long as they, like... took care of themselves. They had a maid come and dust, sure... but she wasn't there to clean up dirty laundry or anything like that... (which was why he was planning on not doing laundry and just taking it all home with him).
"Help yourself to the fridge or freezer," he said with a shrug, leaning against the door and taking a sip of his drink. "I'd prefer the alcohol be off-limits, especially the liquor..." he treaded cautiously, knowing the reaction to his goody-goodyness wasn't often met with total understanding and acceptance. Of course, the expensive liquor and wines were locked away, but that didn't mean there was an open bar on everything unlocked. Chris wasn't too worried about Paris or Ladon, since Ladon had shown him that politeness was usually the way to go, and he was sure he'd respect his wishes, but he knew nothing about Billy and what he was like, other than the fact that he saw Chris as a privileged kid, probably overindulged and pampered in all aspects of life.
O-okay, so he kind of was... but that didn't mean he was a horrible guy because of it! Just... a little spoiled.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:19 pm
Ladon was fine with exploring the place out, but even he noticed Billy's silence and rather rigid posture. As much as he tried to be close to him, with an audience it was rather hard. Ladon had never been much of a PDA person, and he wasn't thinking it would make him feel any less uncomfortable to lean in and give his boyfriend a kiss to calm him down and give him a bit of reassurance and a silent reminder that he was once again thanking him for coming along and playing nice. In the end, he knew Billy was only here because of him.
But they had a room, and after all the fun and games, he knew they could have a moment of piece together. He even hoped he could take Billy on the beach at night...
Settling, the next course of action was left in his lap. Paris was being the good hostess while Billy seemed - upset? Something was bothering him, and Ladon lingered by him, wanting to touch his arm but not sure if he would brush him off. "Okay." He told Billy, not very sure if he should go. "Are you sure?" He asked his boyfriend. "I can help."
Just then, Chris showed up with drinks and lingered by the door. Now the room felt crowded despite how big it was, and he wasn't sure this was helping the situation. Thinking, he glanced at Billy, then at his Dr. Pepper. "How about we head down to the beach? It's still hours till the sun goes down. We can check it out." It would mean that he could have Billy alone in their room for a short time while they changed. "Then we can have lunch? How does that sound?" He wasn't sure if he should even be making these decisions, being a guest.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:41 pm
Billy was about to say something to Ladon, probably something about everything being alright, when Chris came in the room.
He graciously took the offered drink, giving a quick "thank you," and a quick 'I'm busy at the moment, but thanks,' smile as he took a handful of clothing in the other hand and deposited them in to the chest of drawers.
Getting to move about after being stationary in that vehicle was helping a bit. Still, a moment to himself, or mostly so, probably would have gone a long way in easing his inner judgmental assholian cynic. And...he was a bit weary of being amongst a group. It wasn't something he'd ever had to do - at least not in such an informal way. He needed to collect himself.
A short reprieve while they all changed would be a start, but he had a feeling that for him it was going to be a long day. Through out the week he would get better, but right now? Well, Billy was doing his best. Even if he did still manage to give off the assholian vibes.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:13 am
Paris mumbled a quiet and slightly surprised sounding “thank you” as he took the opened can of Sprite from Chris, feeling a little mushy inside for the consideration but not wanting to let it go to his head when he and Chris weren’t… well, he didn’t really know what they were right now, to be honest, but Paris still thought of Chris as his boyfriend, and they were getting along okay and nothing really seemed to have changed except that they weren’t as… he didn’t really know. Mostly it was just confusing as hell to him.
Instead of worrying about that, he glanced between Ladon and Billy and let himself be annoyed by the fact that Billy was being Billy. They hadn’t been there for ten minutes and Paris already wanted to punch the guy in the face.
“Beach sounds good to me,” he said, happy that he could at least smile more naturally instead of forcing it for his friend. “Ugh, then I guess we should change. Someone help me pick a bathing suit. Navy or pink? On second thought, no. You’re all boring when it comes to color. It’s going to be pink.”
Because pink was a happy color and this trip was going to make him happy if it killed him in the process. Which, admittedly, wouldn’t be very happy at all, except that he wouldn’t have to deal with certain bullshit anymore.
Paris turned on his heel with his soda still at hand, grabbing Chris’s arm to drag him along as he stalked back toward Chris’s room, muttering things under his breath that sounded like “ungrateful a*****e” and “unappreciative jackass” and “pisses me off” and “don’t know what Ladon sees in him” and “the liquor might be necessary.”
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