Everyone was excited when they were planning their day at the beach. With the midterm exams out of the way, they all got to relax for the winter as they were able to ease their stress away.

An organised Brody and a distracted Adrian were currently in Adrian's room, making preparations for their trip as they were packing essentials for the beach.

"Sunscreen?" Brody asked as he put it inside his bag.

"Check."

"Sunglasses?"

"Check."

"A bear's left leg for the satanic ritual later?"

"Check."

Brody stopped packing things into his duffel bag and turned to look at Adrian, whose mind was else well. With his exams finished yesterday, Brody expected Adrian to be in a much more positive mood.

But his boyfriend seemed to be mentally elsewhere as he just humoured Brody with conversations in the last hour. Even when they were heavily making out, Adrian wasn't as responsive as he usually was.

"Adrian?"

"Check."

Brody threw a rolled up blanket at an occupied Adrian, gaining his attention when he looked back at Brody confused. "What was that for?"

With both hands on his hip, Brody interrogated his boyfriend. "What did I just ask you for?"

Adrian's mind went blank as he wasn't listening to Brody read out the essential things they both needed to pack. Thinking about something on the spot, "You wanted to rub oil over me before and after we get there?"

"That will always be true." Brody laughed as he sat down next to Adrian, forcing Adrian to sit up right next to him. Nudging their shoulders together, "You've been in a weird mood the last couple of days, will you tell me what's up?"

"I just don't get why Elliot has to come with us. You said that it was just the 4 of us, and I don't want him around." Adrian spoke with restricted honesty.

"He's our friend, Adrian. Besides, he said he would hire a private car to drive us down there. And I know you've always wanted to be like one of those rich folks who look down on those peasants with a normal car."

"True." Adrian replied, regarding the private car thing, and not that he was anywhere close to being Elliot's friend.

"What's wrong with Elliot anyway? He seems to like to you, just the same amount as everyone else in the group." Brody wondered.

'He's a sexual predator that has been trying to nail your boyfriend...' Adrian was too afraid to admit to Brody out loud.

"Nothing!" Adrian accidentally shouted, "It's just, 5's a crowd and everything. Plus I have enough people in my life, so I don't want another one."

Brody pulled Adrian's shoulder close to him and kissed the top of his head. "As sweet as I think that sounds, I still don't see the problem."

Adrian's bedroom soon burst open, with Adam walking in with Ashley. Carrying their own bags to take to the beach, they were now waiting for Adrian and Brody to finish packing their bags.

"Hey guys, you ready yet? Elliot is already here." Ashley told them both.

Hearing more footsteps from the staircase, Adrian immediately closed the door so that he wouldn't see his room, not wanting to give Elliot any more ammunition to toy with him.

"What was that?" Adam asked, indicating towards Adrian closing the door that separated the group of friends and Elliot.

"My rooms a mess and he shouldn't see it." Adrian told them on the spot. "Anyway, you guys go down and we'll be right there alright? Bye bye." Adrian rushed out, whilst chucking everyone out so he could pack his stuff with Brody.

Brody was silent as he didn't understand Adrian's treatment towards Elliot. It was confusing to see Adrian so distant towards his new friend, but he chose to ignore it for the time being and let him have his weird freak out.

Adrian had finished stuffing everything into his bag, now dreading spending the day with Elliot. "Let's get this day over with."

~~~~~~~~~~

To say the mood in the car was spoiled is an understatement. Brody was sitting in between his boyfriend and his new friend, and no words were exchanged between them throughout the whole ride.

When Brody tried to get Adrian involved in the conversations, he would immediately close himself off once Elliot joined in. It was weird but Brody didn't think it would be appropriate to bring up when they were sitting so close to each other.

They all arrived at the seaside in a short amount of time, lots of other people had the same idea as the beach was littered with people and families everywhere.

Finding a spot that Adam picked out, they all laid down their stuff. They unrolled the stuffed blankets so they could lie down on the beach. Ashley had put on sun hat, while Adam was already wearing sunglasses to avoid the rays. Elliot had already unbuttoned his shirt, while Brody had completely removed his shirt once they left the car.

Adrian felt extremely warm with the sun shining so brightly today, his buttoned up shirt making him a hot pocket, sweat already shining on his head.

"Babe you're already boiling, just take your shirt off." Brody gestured as he noticed that Adrian was the only one around that had more clothes on than he did when they left.

Adrian had cast his eyes onto Elliot subconsciously, explaining inside his head that he didn't want Elliot to gawk at him shirtless.

"I don't want to." Adrian whispered.

Adam joined in when he saw that Adrian was still fully dressed. "Don't tell me you're shy all of the sudden. The first thing you said when we finished the exams was that you wanted to swim in the ocean. And I doubt you imagined doing that fully dressed."

Only Adrian and Brody were left at the back, since the other 3 were getting comfortable on the warm sand that covered the entire beach. Pulling his boyfriend aside, Brody wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Are you worried because of your scar?" Brody asked softly.

Adrian looked back at Brody confused, "What? No."

"Adrian, everyone is sweating their balls off out here. I can see from miles away that everyone is getting blasted by the heat. So please help me understand why you don't want to take your shirt off?" Brody asked out of genuine concern and confusion.

Feeling backed into a corner, Adrian knew that from an outside perspective it was all so strange for him to be fully clothed on the beach.

But nobody else knew what was going on inside his head, how he wanted to starve the parasite by not giving it any attention. It was why he didn't want to be shirtless, if Elliot didn't get to see what he wanted, then maybe he would eventually stop.

"I ate too many chips before we left, and now I feel really bloated." Adrian lied, as he didn't even eat anything before he left. "I don't feel like walking around shirtless right now."

Sighing as if he was tired, Brody gave up and stepped closer towards Adrian, making sure he was wrapped up in his clothes and all covered up. "If that's what you want."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Heat exhaustion was settling in as Adrian tried to shade his body from the blazing sun. But it was no use as the sun was right over his head, as if it was deliberately tormenting him.

The dizziness was making its way round, as Adrian had a pounding headache that wouldn't leave him alone. His friends were enjoying the water while Adrian didn't feel like he could move, even if he wanted to.

Adrian ridiculed himself in his mind. 'Am I seriously going to die from being too sweaty?'

Checking in on his boyfriend, Brody emerged from the water and walked towards Adrian, sitting down next to him. "Adrian?"

Adrian couldn't speak as he felt too tired, so he only muttered a sound that seemed like he was paying attention. "Hmm?"

"Okay you've made your point, I think." Brody still had no clue what Adrian was doing, thinking he was just in a weird mood still. "But if you get any hotter then I'm worried about taking you into A&E." Brody said out of concern, still not understanding why Adrian was being stubborn.

Not hearing a response, Brody unscrewed a water bottle all over Adrian, drenching him with the cold water.

Spitting out the water that got into his mouth, "Brody what the fuck?!"

Brody then lifted Adrian over his shoulders, and carried him into the ocean. Dropping Adrian into the glistening water far away from everyone, Brody dived after him.

The water was refreshing as Adrian felt his body temperature cool down. Brody's hands seemed to snake around him, holding him up as Adrian started to regain more consciousness.

"Better?" Brody asked, with the both of them away from everyone and enjoying their alone time in the water.

Adrian removed the water from his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry for being weird."

Brody smiled warmly at Adrian before reaching towards the buttons on Adrian's shirt. "Can we pleeeease take this stupid thing off now?"

Adrian felt like it was a better option to be shy and die of embarrassment, rather than actually dying from a heat stroke. "Fine. I knew you just wanted to get me naked anyway."

Brody had already ripped the buttons of Adrian's shirt, ignoring the protest of ruining his shirt as Brody was relieved he didn't need to be worried about Adrian passing out from the heat. "That's always a given babe."

Floating along the wave, Adrian pulled Brody into a soft kiss that made Brody weave his fingers through Adrian's hair. This was what Adrian wanted, to have a sweet yet intimate time with his boyfriend.

Keeping their heads close together, "Can you please tell me what's up with you now? I wanted us to have a nice day out, but right now all I can do is worry about what's upset you Adrian."

Adrian was tired with the fact that Brody would surely break him down soon. Resting his head along Brody's head, "Brody, I need you to trust me when I say 'ignorant is bliss'."

"Adrian-"

"Brody please! Look, I'm sorry I've been acting like a spoiled brat today, but I'll be better okay? Just as long as we drop this conversation right now." Adrian negotiated. He wanted to start making an effort with his boyfriend, and it starts with a nice day out on the beach that they had planned.

Brody was struggling with where to go next, he didn't know what to think about Adrian pseudo ultimatum. It wasn't so easy to brush everything under the carpet, but it was what Adrian wanted.

"Fine."

Adrian pulled Brody in and hugged him close, relieved that everything seemed to be delayed - for now.

"So, have you ever gotten off in the water?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

All of the friends were in their bathing suits as they started to get tanned up. While Elliot was on his phone, Adam and Ashley decided to do some sight seeing.

Adrian had his eyes closed as he soaked up the sun, when Brody got his attention. "It's time, can you put more on me?" Brody asked as he passed Adrian their sunscreen.

Happy to have his hands all over Brody's body, Adrian sat closely behind Brody, and began pouring it onto his hands. Spreading the lotion between his fingertips, Adrian's cool fingers met Brody's warm skin, as he covered Brody's back with the sunscreen.

Delicately manoeuvring his hands all over his back, Adrian took his time to glide his fingers all over Brody's muscles, making sure every inch was covered.

He then tapped his shoulders as he indicated for Brody to turn around and face him. Now sitting in close proximity and facing each other, Brody sought a light kiss before Adrian continued rubbing the sunscreen all over the front of Brody's body.

Brody could have done the front himself, but the both of them knew they wanted Adrian to do it instead.

Rubbing it onto Brody's chest, Adrian felt the firm muscle underneath his fingertips as he enjoyed the feeling of it. He then used both hands to grab Brody's torso and slide his hands down, covering every inch with the sunscreen, before rubbing his covered fingers through his abs.

Adrian looked up at Brody and smirked when he saw his mouth was slightly open. "All done."

Brody coughed to gain himself some composure, "I didn't think it would be so, sensual." Brody whispered into Adrian's ear, who blushed in return.

"Stop what you're thinking right now, we're in public." Adrian laughed.

Brody groaned in retaliation as Adrian was a master at leaving him to want more. "Ugh, fine. But now it's my turn to do you."

Adrian happily tossed the bottle to Brody, who was too eager to get his hands all over his boyfriend.

Brody ended up squirting the bottle directly onto Adrian's skin, then using his hands to spread it all over Adrian's exposed torso. Brody enjoyed every second of feeling Adrian's body underneath his fingertips. It was a feeling he got used to everyday, and it was a feeling he could never get sick of.

After doing his front, Brody nudged Adrian to lie down on his stomach so he could get his back. Whilst putting sunscreen onto Adrian's back, Brody gave him massage in the process, without the happy ending this time.

"Umm guys?" Elliot looked up from his phone and addressed Adrian and Brody, "As much as I'm enjoying the porno right now, Adam asked if you could fetch his wallet Brody. They're down by the pier."

Playfully smacking Adrian's ass before he left, "Adam can pay for our drinks for interrupting us."

Brody dug out Adam's wallet from his bag and walked towards where Adam and Ashley went earlier.

"That was quite the scene there, is it my turn now?" Elliot grinned as he flashed his torso towards Adrian, tossing his own sunscreen up into the air and catching it at the same time.

"Bite me." Adrian replied with repulse.

"It would be my pleasure, want to do it in here or in private?" Elliot winked.

Adrian sighed as he got up from his spot, he wasn't going to get reeled into Elliot's game. "I'm going to help Brody."

Adrian didn't want to feed the beast, so he decided to just ignore it. But the beast had other plans and followed him towards the pier.

Grabbing his wrist, Elliot dragged Adrian into one of shops. Hidden in the back of the shop, Elliot began to torment Adrian.

"Ugh, what now? I don't want to play with you Elliot." Adrian spoke sadly as the reality of how it didn't seem like Elliot was going to stop, became more apparent.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for taking so long to get your kit off when we got here earlier. By the time you took your shirt off, your body was all hot and sweaty, and I freaking loved it." Elliot told him.

Elliot had the feeling he knew why Adrian didn't want to take his shirt off, but the hidden treasure that was Adrian's body became more appetising once it was glistened with sweat and the ocean water droplets. Seeing him come out of the ocean like he was on Baywatch made Elliot go crazy.

"Maybe it shows that I rather suffer heat exhaustion than be naked in front of you." Adrian told him bluntly.

Elliot ignored Adrian's honesty as he got the pleasure from describing what he wanted to do to Adrian. "The only problem I have is that I wish that I got to lather you up in sunscreen myself, your skin is too delicate for it to be ruined."

Elliot then used his finger to touch Adrian's skin, but Adrian quickly slapped it away.

Getting excited by the feistiness, Elliot continued to talk suggestively to Adrian. "I still need to return the favour by covering you with lotion, since you did it for me when you were my personal assistant. Only this time I will make sure both of us will see the happy ending afterwards."

Adrian's face was mixed with disgust and horror. "I won't even strip in front of you, no way I will let you touch me. And I don't want to hear about you masturbating!"

Elliot laughed at Adrian's naïveté. "But I've seen you in all sorts of stuff before. Almost naked in Halloween, sweaty in the elevator and at my house, and then everything today on the beach. So I'm sure I will see you shirtless again soon. I can wait a little bit longer for you Adrian, but my patience is wearing thin."

"As much as you think you can have me Elliot, you never will, okay? I swear to god Elliot, I will never cheat on Brody, and I will never have sex with you." Adrian yelled viciously.

Elliot began to invade Adrian's personal space as he towered over Adrian, ignoring what he had just said. "I can't wait to have you in bed." Elliot moaned as he lingered over Adrian. "Or we can do it behind this shop while no one's looking. In fact the thrill is kind of a turn on too, I've told you about mine and Kelsey's fuckfest before right?"

Adrian stayed silent as he groaned out loud, pushing Elliot away from his body at the same time. Sticking to the principal of not feeding the beast, he wasn't going to let Elliot think he was getting inside of his head.

Elliot chased after Adrian who had picked up the pace and walked away from him. Chuckling to himself, "Adrian wait up!"

Close behind them both at the very same shop, Brody came out from the corner he was hiding from.

Gloom and mystery was written all over his face while he was paying for their drinks, completely shocked at how surreal everything seemed to appear.

==========