It had been a long summer in some ways, but it was drawing to a close all too quickly. Cliff lifted his hand and let the sand pour through his fingers and back onto the beach as he watched the waves crash in front of him. Tomorrow, Kai would be riding those waves in a little boat, and the light that had made his days more bearable lately would be gone, far away. This golden, Mineral Beach sunset was the last that Kai would see for three whole seasons.
He sighed softly to himself. He had known all along that Kai would have to leave, that whatever they had together could only last until the end of the season, but the optimism and excitement he'd felt when they first kissed on the day of his birthday had tricked him into thinking summer would last forever.
Oh, but that kiss – and everything that followed – had been more than worth it.
He'd started his birthday alone and miserable, just like nearly every other day since moving to this cursed town. Fresh starts quickly became stale when nobody bothered talking to you, and it grew increasingly obvious that there was nothing in Mineral Town for him either, just like everywhere else he'd tried to make a life for himself.
After lying restlessly in bed since before the sun had risen, he'd got up as soon as the winery opened and bought something strong to drink on the beach. He didn't normally drink; the past had been unkind, and he had far too many bad memories associated with it. But this first, lonely birthday in Mineral Town was too much for a sober man to take. So he'd taken his wine to the beach and sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the pier, staring at the sea for hours.
Sometime around lunch, Kai appeared behind him, startling him with a lively greeting.
"You look like you could use some cheering up, so I brought you some ice cream." He passed Cliff an enormous cone, covered in syrup and sprinkles. "But don't worry – it's on the house," he added with a wink.
Cliff's head was bowed, but he put down the half-empty wine bottle and took it gratefully. "Are you sure I deserve this?" He cleared his throat. "Uh, I mean, thank you."
"Cliff, right?" said Kai, as he sat down next to him. "I'm Kai. I come here every summer for a change of scenery. I love this place, and I'm sure you'll grow to love it too."
"I'm not so sure," said Cliff, tentatively licking the ice-cream. It was good, cold and sweet on his tongue. "I came here to find… Something. I don't know. But I'm just as lonely as ever, and there's nothing to do here. I have no purpose, no direction. Happy birthday to me, I guess."
Kai said nothing for a moment, just joined Cliff in gazing out into the ocean. Then he turned to him, smiled gently, and said, "Why don't you join me later for something to eat in my cabin? I'm not a bad cook, you know. We can talk if you want, or get a little tipsy, or even just play some games."
"R-really?" Cliff stammered. He felt his cheeks flush a sweet pink, and it wasn't from the wine. After so little genuine human connection, he was a sucker for even the smallest bit of kindness.
Kai leaned closer. His lips were inches from Cliff's ear, and his warm breath tickled his neck as he whispered, "You might get more than just a hot meal if you play your cards right."
Cliff shivered as Kai's deep voice made all the hairs on his neck stand up on end. He drew away from Kai sharply, blinking at him, wondering what he could possibly mean. Well, not wondering exactly; the meaning to the words was quite clear, but Cliff couldn't bring himself to believe that someone would be interested in him like that, and be so forward about it to boot.
"W-what?"
Kai grinned. "You heard me."
His face was so tantalisingly close; Cliff's eyes flickered involuntarily towards the full, smiling lips. He wondered if Kai was making fun of him – it wouldn't have been the first time someone had gone to great lengths to humiliate him – but his dark brown eyes were so damn earnest, and his smile so welcoming.
"Well, my lunch break is over – I'd best get back to the restaurant. I'll come get you later, okay?"
Cliff nodded, and watched as Kai stood up and began to walk back down the pier. After a few steps, he stopped and turned around.
"I should probably tell you that you have ice-cream on your nose," he said, chuckling. "It looks very cute, but I don't want you to be embarrassed if you see anyone else."
Cliff dabbed a finger at the tip of his nose, then looked back up at Kai.
"Hmm, not quite…" Laughing, Kai stepped forward, producing a handkerchief from his pocket. He kneeled down in front of Cliff, and wiped away the sticky ice-cream. "There. Much better."
Cliff stared at him for a moment. As Kai double-checked his handiwork, their faces were so close together that each could feel the other's breath, even through the gentle sea breeze. Cliff felt extremely warm all of a sudden, and he met Kai's suddenly serious gaze.
Kai brushed a strand of brown hair out of Cliff's face, then out of nowhere his lips brushed against Cliff's; with a warm twinge of desire, Cliff's hand shot out, tangled itself in Kai's bandana, and pulled him closer. For an intense moment, both men forgot that they were out in the open, where anyone could wander onto the beach and see them, and lost themselves in the sweet taste of ice-cream and syrup on each other's tongues.
Panting, Kai drew back, and quickly glanced over his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me just then."
"M-me neither." Cliff cleared his throat, and returned to looking off into the distance, though there was a small smile dancing across his lips.
"So, I'll see you later?"
Cliff nodded. "Thank you, Kai."
He'd spent the rest of the day sipping more slowly at his wine with fewer sorrows to drown, drumming impatiently on the wood of the pier as he stewed in anticipation and nervous lust. He nearly talked himself out of seeing Kai more than once; he found it so hard to believe what had happened that he wondered if he'd fallen asleep and dreamed it – and he still wasn't totally convinced that Kai wasn't just very committed to a practical joke of some sort.
But he didn't talk himself out of it, and Kai came to meet him just as he'd said he would, and then they went immediately to Kai's shack. Almost as soon as the door was closed (and carefully locked), they were entangled in each other's arms again, kissing furiously, recklessly, both wound up after a day of waiting.
Cliff didn't usually kiss near strangers either, but that birthday had turned out to be rather an unusual day.
After a while, the two of them broke into nervous laughter, and Kai pulled away to prepare some food. They shared another bottle of wine and talked about family, love, and loss. They talked about a lot of other things too; Cliff hadn't talked so much to anyone since he'd moved to Mineral Town. He'd been suffocating in his own depression all this time, and Kai was an oxygen mask.
He spent the whole night with Kai, pouring his heart out between frantic, desperate kisses that both of them seemed to need. It was the first night he didn't regret coming to that town, and the first night of many that he slept in Kai's bed.
And now, he thought bitterly – now his oxygen mask was about to leave for three long seasons. A tear rolled down his cheek as he scrunched another handful of sand in his fingers. His shoulders started to shake as angry sobs took over him.
Why had he let this happen? It was doomed from the start. Even knowing it was doomed, he'd allowed himself to fall for Kai with reckless, gleeful abandon. His body burned with the ghosts of Kai's gentle touches as he remembered them – all the kisses stolen when nobody was looking, the way he held his hand as fireworks lit up the beach at the festival, all of the places his mouth had graced when they were alone in the dark…
He loved it; he would cherish all of those memories as long as he lived. But he hated himself, more than anything, for inflicting all this pain upon his own heart.
He growled to himself, threw a lump of sand towards the sea, then punched the damp sand beside him with a tearful roar, over and over again. Pain shot up his wrist and his knuckles throbbed, but at least it was something other than the anguish of knowing that Kai would be gone tomorrow.
Footsteps padded through the sand behind him, but he barely noticed until a low, quiet voice called out his name.
He turned around with a sharp intake of breath. "K-Kai. You startled me," he muttered, seized with shame at the fist-shaped dents in the sand beneath him.
"I said I'd be here, didn't I? I could never leave without saying goodbye."