Thanks for bearing with me with this. Due to the knocked back schedule September's chapter may end up running a little behind. I'll update you guys as things go.

Author's Note: This story features some musical enhancement; the link is embedded in the song lyrics.


August - "When you're on the beach you steal the show"


The sun-drenched trees and wood-clad houses along the stretch of Matunuck Beach North Road were quickly becoming a familiar sight through Jack's windscreen, and there was something to be said about having some variation in scenery compared to the bustle and noise of Providence.

Turning off onto Jay Street, Jack drew his car to a stop in front of the burnt orange and crimson-trimmed Haddock household. As promised, his boyfriend and his boyfriend's best friends were stood on the sidewalk in beachwear.

The azure-eyed man flipped down his mirrored aviators and flashed them a dazzling smile. "So who's up for some high tides and good vibes?"

Hamish grinned and showered his boyfriend with a warm greeting and a quick kiss. "Hey m'lord, traffic must've been good."

"U.S. 1 was pretty clear once I got out of Federal Hill, though I can't wait for the construction work on the I-95 to finally finish, it's been crawling every time I've used it." Jack banished his grouse with another flash of his smile, and he addressed Astrid and Fiske. "Hey guys. So who wants to go to the beach?"


Jack's 'a little bit of everything' playlist blared from the car stereo as they glided along Matunuck Beach South Road, out of Berk and eastwards along the coast toward East Matunuck State Beach.

The suggestion had been Hamish's at the spur of the moment, which had come as a bit of a surprise to Jack, who'd assumed they'd be spending the day at the town beach, where they'd had the fourth of July barbecue. Still, considering there wasn't much in the way of beaches close to central Providence, he was always happy to check out new shorelines and sand dunes.
As they made their way to the beach, he'd learned that in addition to being much larger than the town beach, it would often be quieter even in the height of summer… And had required a change of vehicle, as Astrid's Volkswagen GTI was equipped with a season pass for the provided parking.

The structure of the beach pavilion stood out as an unmistakeable landmark even half a mile down the road, the largest object amongst a landscape dominated by low trees, tall hedges, telegraph poles and salt marshes.

"Woooooooah, we're half way there!" Jack sang at the top of his lungs.

"Woooooooah! The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!" Hamish, Astrid and Fiske joined in, before breaking into a round of laughter. They'd been supplying meme-responses since the song started playing.

Astrid did her best to keep her laughter under control as she drove. A rectangular sign quickly approached, announcing:

Beach Traffic
KEEP RIGHT

"Here we are, guys." She smirked, the ghost of his laughter still in her voice as a second sign, advising to keep right swept past. Astrid followed the slip road off of the highway, drawing the car to a stop in a short queue leading up to the toll booth-like huts.

Jack settled back in his seat, and glanced towards his boyfriend.

"Looks busy." He mused.

"Don't worry; it won't be as busy as it looks." The auburn-haired man explained.

"So what's the plan? Sun bathing? Volleyball? Building sandcastles?"

"Astrid's got something planned." Hamish remarked with a smirk.

Their driver quickly glanced away from the traffic. "It's nothing fancy, but I think you'll like it."

Jack grinned. "Neat. Hamish and I will have whatever you've got planned sorted in no time."

Astrid glanced back, now bearing a conspiratorial look. "Actually, you'll be teamed up with me."


Despite the initial flurry that had queued to pay, the parking lot for the beach was reasonably quiet for the day. As Jack climbed out of the V.W., he took in the towering sight of the wind turbine.
His gaze drifted down to the sprawling mass of the beach pavilion, which he only had a moment to admire before his attention was drawn back to the others in the group.

Astrid walked past with a familiar beach umbrella slung under her arm, and a tote bag of snacks slung over the other. Fiske followed a few steps behind her, carrying some folded up windbreaks.

"Jack?" He turned to face Hamish, who was holding out a zipped sports bag of items. He took the bag from his boyfriend, who had a bundle of beach towels in one hand, and a drinks cooler in the other. "Thanks."

"No problem, babe." Jack smiled, and shared another quick kiss with the other young man.

Hamish slid a pair of sunglasses into position as they resumed walking, following their friends towards a ramp leading up to the pavilion.

As they ascended the ramp, Jack took in the pavilion. Set atop a raised concrete platform, the two huts, like oversized boathouses, were decked out in tan clapboards, white trim and grey pitched metal roofs. Square windows dotted above head level gave occasional glimpses of indistinct illuminated interiors. Their path took them between the two huts, and out onto a large deck, with a covered picnic area and tables with parasols. Jack glanced to his left, and spotted a pair of signs that advertised:

SALTY'S BURGERS & SEAFOOD

And:

WOODY'S FROZEN LEMONADE

As he glanced right, he could see the lifeguard tower rising over the roof of the hut containing the changing rooms. Three storeys tall, with an observation platform lining all four sides of the tower.

"Pssst, c'mon." Hamish intruded with a good-natured tone, and Jack quickened his pace to join Astrid and Fiske who were now stood by the rail overlooking the beach. The others turned as they approached, and Astrid broke into a friendly smile.

"You wanted to know why your boyfriend brought you here rather than hang out on the town beach again?"

She stepped aside with a theatrical sweep of her arm.

"Here's why." Hamish gently finished, and Jack took it all in.

The sand stretched out as far as he could see to the his left and right. Before them, the sparkling waters of Block Island Sound reached out until they caressed the sky where it met the horizon.

"Wow."

"I know, right?" The green-eyed man grinned. "You stole the show when we were last on the beach, so I figured you deserved to see what else we had to offer."

Astrid cleared her throat, levelling a challenging look on her three companions. "So, who's up for a little game?"


A quick set-up on the sand later, Jack, Hamish, Astrid and Fiske gathered under the beach umbrella.

Astrid clapped her hands together as she began. "Hamish has told me that one of the things you love to do is get into in a good old snowball fight."

The blue-eyed man raised his hands in surrender with a grin. "Guilty as charged."

"And I trust him when he says you're pretty good at it."

"I believe my exact words were 'he's a demon'." Hamish interjected.

"So normally, I wouldn't even suggest going up against you in a fair snowball fight. And as you may've noticed, it's still summer."

Jack nodded with a flippant air. "I had noticed."

"Which gives us a nice handicap: how good are you with sandballs?"

Jack's brows raised as Astrid produced a pair of plastic snowball sand molds. He accepted one of the tong-like objects. "Looks like we're about to find out."


Hamish and Fiske set themselves up less than a yard from the waterline, with Astrid and Jack facing them eight feet away along the shoreline. Each camp had erected a wind break to serve as the wall of their "fort", and each team had a pair of buckets which they could use for water to make their "sandballs".

"The rules are as follows: a direct hit results in a ten-second penalty before you can start firing again. You can fire at the opposing team while they go to get more water. Try to aim for the body rather than the face if you can help it. You are only allowed four bucket refills each, so the first team to run out of "ammunition" is the loser, so make those shots count!"

"I'd like to see a nice, clean fight guys." Jack added, getting into the spirit.

"I've seen you when you get into a snowball fight, m'lord." Hamish fired back. "You're anything but clean."

"That's fighting words, Haddock!" Astrid challenged.

"You're so on, babe!" Jack jeered, and loosed the first shot.


The first shot had smashed Hamish square in the chest, and from that moment on he'd chosen that all was fair in love and war. Although Astrid and Jack had the better aim of the two, Hamish and Fiske had employed strategy to combat their opponents' athletic prowess. Jack and Astrid had been enthusiastic, but their rivals were patient, and made their water count. A good few shots from both sides ended up smashing against the wind breaks, and twenty minutes into the sandball fight, Hamish chanced a quick peek over the "parapet".

He didn't have a clear view of Astrid and Jack, but they appeared to be scrambling for supplies. He quickly ducked back down, and grinned broadly at his fellow soldier. "I think they're out."

Fiske looked hesitant, but optimistic. "Should we call them out?"

"I think we should charge them."

The heavyset man nodded, though he didn't look like he was keen on the idea. "I just hope this doesn't end up being like the charge of the light brigade!"

They swung out from behind their windbreak, and made a run for Jack and Astrid's, a sandball in each hand.

The green-eyed man wasn't too surprised to see that Jack and Astrid had planned a similar response, and they leapt up out of cover, a sandball in each hand in mirror of their contenders.

Each participant unleashed their remaining ammunition, with the last shot, hurled by Fiske, having caught the white-haired man on the shoulder.

The battle descended into a chaotic effort of flinging loose sand at each other, and a truce was finally called when they got to the point where they were spitting sand.

Chests heaving and sweat coating their skin, Astrid, Hamish, Jack and Fiske flopped down. It had been silly and frantic, but it had been-

"Fun." Jack let out a groan, but they knew he'd enjoyed himself. "Did you come up with that specially for me?"

Astrid nodded. "Yep."

He gave her a thumbs up. "Awesome. The only other person to invent a game for me is sat over there…" He vaguely gesticulated towards his boyfriend. "But I doubt it'd be family-friendly enough to play on a beach."

Hamish made a dismissive wave of his hand. "There's too much sand, anyway. It'd get in everywhere."

"T.M.I., guys." Fiske interjected.

"Seconded." Astrid agreed, raising a hand.

"Alright, you prudes, we'll stop." Jack chuckled. He made another attempt to spit out some more of the coastline.

"Drinks?" Hamish suggested.

"Drinks." Astrid agreed, and the group pulled themselves up and gathered their warfare supplies.


"Jack, could you help me carry this stuff to the car? It's less for us to carry later."

The blue-eyed man shrugged. "Sure."

Hamish shot Astrid a look, and she fired back as much of a reassuring smile as she could achieve in the short moment before they headed back towards her car. As Jack fell into step with her, she glanced toward him.

"Nice idea with the snowball makers, I have to steal that for next summer."

She chuckled, unable to stop the smirk. "Be my guest."

He smiled, and then glanced pointedly at her. "So what do you want to take to me about?"

To the point. "I wanted to ask how things were going, can't I do that?"

"C'mon, Astrid. You've got Hiccup here most of the time, you've got plenty of chances to ask him how things are going."

"I used to." She conceded. "But I think I overdid it a little when you two started dating and now he gets exasperated with me."

He glanced slyly at her. "You were that worried about me?"

She shrugged. "You were this guy from the city that neither of us knew… And I know that he can be a bit of a love-struck puppy when he has a crush on someone."

"He's told me something like that." Jack nodded with a chuckle. "Okay, I'll lay it out… Do you want it in one-hundred-and-forty characters, or Facebook length?"

"Facebook, please."

They were clearing the edge of the pavilion; the parking lot and Astrid's Volkswagen were in sight. "We're starting to settle into a routine, but that's normal… Isn't it? I'm still having plenty of fun with him on our dates, and I think he is as well. I don't see us stopping anytime soon."

"What about the long-haul?"

He slowed. "I haven't really thought much about it." He shrugged. "I'm kinda taking it one day at a time."

"Do you see yourself as still being with him this time next year?"

"Well… Sure, I guess. Has he said he's losing interest, or something?"

"No!" Astrid responded suddenly. "No, he's not said or done anything to make me think that." She took a step closer to him. "You're the first person he's had a significant relationship with… I guess it's my natural nosiness and protectiveness getting the better of me and maybe making me a little scary."

"You were getting a little scary… But, I get what you mean and why you're doing it." He took a breath as they resumed walking to the car. "I don't really want to make a plan and carve it into stone. I like being able to see where things go without the expectation to settle down, get married, have kids, get a dog…" His expression turned thoughtful. "I mean, yeah, I think I do want to have those things. I think I can have them with him, but I don't want to think too far ahead: wasting the now to work out the later… Know what I mean?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I do."

She extracted the keys for her car and unlocked the trunk.

"He's lucky to have you." Jack stated.

"Isn't that my line?" She countered with a smirk, and he let out a chuckle.

"Sorry if I got a bit defensive back there. If you want to know how we're doing, feel free to ask, or call."

She nodded, grateful for the offer. "I will. Thanks, Jack."


Hamish glanced up from his spot opposite Fiske in the shade. "Hey you two. I was about to call Dad and organise a search party."

"Sorry." Astrid smiled apologetically. "I was grilling your boyfriend and we lost track of time."

"About what?" Hamish asked. Fiske reached into the cooler and extracted a can of Pepsi Max for Jack and a bottle of Clear American raspberry apple for Astrid.

"Stuff, things, the average unladen velocity of an Swallow. The usual." Jack interjected as he sat down, accepting the cool can from the blond man.

"Pull my other leg, it's real." Hamish countered.

"Astrid was just doing what all good friends do with the people dating their best friend: making sure my intentions were honourable."

Hamish turned towards his aforementioned-best friend. "Are they? Is he?"

She nodded as she effortlessly twisted the cap off of her bottle. "You've nothing to worry about."

Hamish looked suspiciously between the pair of them. "Good."

"Good." Jack agreed.

"Good." Astrid smiled.

Fiske looked between the three of them. "So, uh… How about those Bruins? Who'll they get to replace Czarnik now that he's going to the Flames?"


After the sandball fight, the four young adults settled down to spend the rest of their time relaxing in each other's company. Fiske poured over his rule books for Dragons & Berserkers, making occasional notes as he went. Astrid was progressing through Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, and Hamish was contently lying with his head propped up, using his boyfriend as a willing pillow. The two of them passing time identifying shapes in the clouds.

The afternoon drifted on, with the sun starting to descend towards the west.

Astrid slipped a homemade bookmark back into her novel, and set it down to glance at Fiske. He appeared to have briefly dozed off, pen loosely held in hand. She trailed her gaze to Jack and Hamish, who were talking quietly between each other.

"…Doing anything for Labor Day?"

Jack shrugged. "Barbecue with Bunny, Anna, Nick, plus Jamie and the others… You?"

"Same. Dad will probably hold it in the back yard and we'll have Astrid, her family and Gobber over like we did for the fourth. I might be able to spend some time that weekend in the city with you, though."

"I'd like that." Jack returned softly. He leant forward and kissed Hamish's forehead. A moment later, they shared an awkward upside-down kiss.

Astrid smiled and shook her head. They were a pair of romantic saps, but she loved them despite that. She retrieved her book, hoping to squeeze another few pages out of the dying light, before they headed back to Berk.