1

The young couple walked along the shoreline in bare feet and rolled up pants. One had copper coloured hair and was toned, the other, a few years younger, had dark locks. It was spring, the water still cold, but refreshing nonetheless. Each wore a light jacket to ward off the breezes that were just enough to convince everyone else to stay indoors. They had the beach to themselves.

They had been looking forward to this weekend away for a month and nothing was going to spoil their enjoyment of the sandy beach and salty air. Even the call of seagulls was almost music to their ears. This weekend trip had been planned for months and it had been everything they had thought it would be and more.

They had been walking hand in hand in companionable silence for ten minutes when the copper haired one suddenly stopped, smiled and said, "This weekend has been amazing. I don't want to leave."

"Neither do I," the other replied, as one hand squeezed the other.

"But we have to."

"We can always come back."

"I like your way of thinking," Gii said and pulled other beachcomber into a hug.

Takumi returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

"I…," both began.

"You first," Takumi said.

Gii took a breath. This is crazy, he thought. We've been together for years. I shouldn't still be this nervous around him. Okay, now or never. "I've wanted to ask you this for some time now."

Oh, God, Takumi thought.

Gii put his hands on Takumi's hips and pulled him close. Takumi gripped Gii's shoulders.

"Takumi, I want you to move in with me. Officially. Will you?"

Takumi pulled Gii into a tight embrace. He buried his head in his boyfriend's neck.

"I mean, you practically live there already," Gii was saying. "So, what'll it be?"

Takumi lifted his head and gazed into Gii's eyes. "Of course I will. It's not like I have much more to bring over anyway."

He grinned. "I think I've been dropping hints for awhile now, by bringing more things over the past few weeks."

"I've wanted to ask for a long time now," Gii admitted. "It'll save us both time running back and forth across town."

"I don't know what took you so long," Takumi joked. "Pretty soon I would have had to move in without being asked."

Gii laughed. "You could have you know."

"Really?"

"I would have let you."

"I should have. We could have been having sex every night for months now. We're idiots!"

"No, we're just terribly old fashioned. We can blame our families for that."

Takumi looked up and down the beach. "Ssshh! Don't let anyone else know that!"

"Okay," Gii agreed. "It'll be our secret. So, what did you want to ask?"

Takumi rubbed his hands up and down Gii's arms as a stiff breeze cut across the beach.

"Oh nothing," he said, "just where you wanted to go for dinner tonight."

He took Gii's hand in his and headed back up the beach. "For a second there, I thought you were going to ask me to marry you."

Gii stopped walking. He raised his eyebrows.

"The weekend isn't over yet," he said. They both laughed and resumed walking along the shoreline.

They didn't notice the wind picking up speed.

They had already weathered the storm.

Right?

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The couple arrived at Gii's apartment late and exhausted after a day out in the sun. They stripped off their clothes, climbed into bed and were asleep within minutes.

They had made a reservation to go to the new paintball center the following day and wanted to be well rested.

The local sports complex had been expanded and Gii knew the owner fairly well, as he had been a regular at the gym for years. After picking up the necessary gear, it took nearly an hour of chasing each other around the field to empty all the pellets in the guns. Takumi proved to be more adept at firing; Gii was almost completely covered in yellow paint. Gii raised his arms in surrender and was heading towards Takumi and the exit when Takumi shot him once more square in the chest.

"Fuck!" Gii yelled. "That hurt!"

Takumi took his goggles off as Gii arrived next to him. "Sorry, babe, I swear that was the last shot I have."

Gii removed his eyewear and ran a dirty hand through his hair. "Shit," he said. "This is going to take forever to wash out. We're never coming here again."

Takumi gently swatted Gii on the ass and they made their way to depose of their equipment and clean up. "Yes we are. I'll even let you win next time."

"Promises, promises."

Takumi rolled his eyes. "Come on. I'll buy you something to eat."

At the food shack next to the sport complex, Gii was certain there wouldn't be anything of nutritional value on the menu. He let Takumi order while he sat at one of the few empty outdoor tables.

Takumi came back with a tray of oversized chili dogs, a large plate of fries and two of the largest containers of soda Gii had ever seen. Gii could tell by the look on his face Takumi was quite pleased with himself.

"You really expect me to eat this shit?" Gii asked.

"Oh come on," Takumi answered back as he placed the tray on the table and sat across from his boyfriend. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"You killed it along with my dignity on the paintball field," Gii said, as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, this place doesn't serve the five star meals you're used to. Look at the presentation.

Grease encased in fresh baked bread. I figured you could use a little diversity on your palette."

Gii laughed. "That's what I love about you. You can make junk food into a work of art."

"Just eat," Takumi mumbled, as he took a huge bite of his masterpiece. Gii picked up the other dog and had to admit it did taste pretty good.

"My arteries are clogging already," he snarked, taking a sip of his drink.

"By the way, you can reclaim your dignity tonight however you want." Takumi grinned.

Gii almost chocked on his drink.