Chapter 27

They found a good spot to set up on the beach. It wasn't a very wide one, but it was sandy and it had a beautiful view into the Gulf of Mexico. At this hour of the morning, it wasn't too busy either. They rented an umbrella. Then, they sat out on the beach.

Tim was tense, at first. He wasn't at all relaxed. He was actually looking at all the people coming onto the beach, as if Gibbs was going to show up again, against all the odds. He wasn't obvious about it, but Tony could tell that Tim wasn't relaxed. There was some temptation to just give up and find something easier. Something that would require less effort. Something that wouldn't make Tony start worrying about Tim again.

But he persisted, simply because Tim needed time. He couldn't relax right away, but he would if nothing happened on the beach. And there was no earthly reason to expect anything this time. ...of course, there had been no reason to suspect it last time, either.

Tony himself wasn't feeling all that relaxed either as he worried about whether or not Tim would relax.

However, after the first hour, the change Tony had been looking for started to occur. Tim started talking more and stopped scrutinizing every person who came close to them.

And that meant that Tony started to relax as well. It wasn't the fun-filled relaxation that they'd had before Gibbs had shown up, but it was a deeper, more meaningful relaxation simply because of how hard it had been to get it.

They both needed this.

Tony thought about how Ducky had just had him sit and breathe for a few seconds. It hadn't been much, but it had helped a little bit. That was the idea now. He wasn't trying to do anything. They talked as they wanted, but they weren't deep or difficult conversations. It was just sitting on the beach and watching the waves.

It was nice.

It got hotter, but they had some good shade from the umbrella. Tim was wearing his sun hat and he had put on plenty of sunscreen. Looking at him now, laying out without a shirt on, he definitely still had some of the signs of his illness. Of course, yesterday hadn't really helped matters much. It had been stressful and Tim had exerted himself for about the first time. Still, if there was any question about how serious it had been, seeing Tim a month later still showing some signs proved it. Tony didn't want to bring that up, given how sensitive Tim was about it, but he was glad they hadn't planned on any real hiking. Tim definitely wasn't ready for it.

Sitting on a beach was the right thing to do on this trip.

"The tide's going out, isn't it?" Tim asked, sounding a little lazy, actually.

Tony looked at the water.

"I don't know."

"Then, watch it for a minute, Tony," Tim said. "I don't think it's coming as far in as it was when we first got here."

"You could look it up. I know there are tide charts." He started to pull out his phone.

"No. Just watch."

Tony looked at Tim for a long moment. Then, Tim looked at him, peeking out from under the sunhat Tony had bought him. He smiled.

"I'm not the ocean, Tony. Look at it. Watch it for a bit."

Tony raised an eyebrow and then looked out at the ocean. He just sat there and watched it.

For about ten minutes while he tried to see what Tim was seeing.

And Tim never said a word. When Tony snuck a glance at him, Tim was just sitting there, staring out at the ocean.

Waiting patiently.

And after a few minutes, Tony thought he could see what Tim meant. It definitely seemed like the waves were receding and not rolling as close to them as they had been initially.

"I think you're right," he said, finally. "I don't think the water's coming in as far."

"Have you ever thought about the people who lived in ancient times, the ones who were experts on things like the ocean, not because they had a phone they could look everything up on but because they just had the experience and knew the world they lived in?"

"Uh...no."

Tim laughed, still sounding lazy and relaxed.

"I'm not surprised, but think about it. It took you a few minutes to notice what people back then would have just known without really even thinking...because it was the experience they had. What would that be like? It really would be like living in a different world."

Tony looked at Tim for a moment, wondering at the trend of this conversation, but Tim looked very relaxed, not at all stressed or worried. Was it an act? It didn't seem to be.

"Come on, Tony. Think about it. Think about living back hundreds, even thousands of years ago, knowing so much less about some things and so much more about others."

"Why?"

"Isn't it interesting?"

"I guess so."

Tim laughed softly again.

"You only say that because you're not really thinking about it. There was a body found in the ice in the mountains on the border of Italy and Austria. Turned out to be a man who had died there 5,000 years ago. They call him the Ötzi man. They did a full analysis on him and they learned about what he ate, how many times he'd been sick, how he died, what he did for a living, all just from analyzing his body and what he had with him. And it shows a world that's different but still a lot the same."

"Is there a point to this?" Tony asked.

Tim smiled. "Nope. Just random thoughts bombarding my brain."

Surprised, Tony laughed.

"You're weird, Tim."

"I know."

For a moment, Tony worried that he'd been too flippant. He looked over at Tim... And he still looked relaxed.

And he needed a picture to show his team, to show them that he could fully relax on the beach. Sneakily, Tony pulled out his phone instead of a camera that would be more obvious. He sat up and took a few. Tim didn't even notice at first, but then, the sun glinted off Tony's phone screen and shone in his face. He looked over.

"Hey!" he said.

"You said you needed a picture of you relaxing on the beach. You're relaxed. You're on the beach. I took your picture," Tony said.

For a moment, Tim looked a little tense again, but then, he relaxed and smiled.

"I don't think my team has ever seen me without a shirt on. They might be disgusted."

"Or amazed at your manly physique," Tony said.

Tim laughed and looked at himself. "Manly physique doesn't describe me in any way, shape or form, Tony. I still look like I was sick. I'm flabby and pale."

"You're not that bad," Tony said. "Well... you are pale, but that's normal. You're always pasty white."

"Thanks. You've done wonders for my self esteem," Tim said, but he smiled.

"That's why we lay out on the beach, so you can get less pasty."

"Can you stop using that particular adjective to describe me?" Tim asked. "It's way worse than just being pale."

"Starts with the same letters."

"Doesn't matter."

Then, the silence fell again, but it was an easy silence, still. The waves still came in and then flowed out, and the longer they were there, the more obvious it was that the tide truly was going out. More people were on the beach as the morning progressed, but there was still a feeling of solitude, as if there was an invisible barrier, keeping the rest of the world away. Somewhere beyond that barrier were things they both could and probably should worry about, but not right here, not in this moment.

"How long do we stay here?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. How long do you want to stay here?"

"I don't know. I don't think we can stay here long enough for me to do anything but flirt with sunburn."

"But you're wearing a sunhat," Tony said.

Tim smiled.

"The hat doesn't cover my whole... pasty white body," he said.

"No, it doesn't. Maybe next time, I'll buy you a sombrero, a really, really big one like they have as costumes in some of the old Westerns."

"No thanks. That would probably be too heavy to walk around in."

"You could do it."

"Not while I'm flabby," Tim said.

In reality, Tim didn't look at all flabby. He had lost too much weight, but it made him look ill, not flabby. What there was of his muscle was tight. It was just that he needed more flesh on his bones to look healthy.

"Tim, I'm going to ask the question, even though you may get irritated. How do you feel? Really."

Tim looked at him, and his expression was a little resigned. Tony knew why, but after how tired he'd been the day before, Tony wanted to know if Tim was feeling recovered from that or not.

"Come on, Tim. You know why I'm asking. You were really tired yesterday. I just want to know if you're feeling it still."

"I wish you wouldn't worry about me so much, Tony," Tim said. "You have enough to worry about without adding me into the mix."

Tony knew that Tim's feeling was, at least partly, leftover from yesterday, from Tony's ill-timed, cruel accusation. Not all of it, probably, but some of it.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No," Tim said. "I just don't want you to worry about me so much, Tony. You don't have to apologize for doing it. I feel as good as I have been on the trip. I was tired last night, but I'm fine now."

"That's not why I was apologizing," Tony said.

Tim's expression changed, but Tony wasn't sure what it was this time.

"You don't have to apologize for that, either. You already did. More than once."

"I know, but..."

Tim shook his head. "No buts, Tony. You apologized. I accepted your apology. That's enough. Let it go."

Tony sat up and faced Tim directly.

"It's only enough if you don't still feel hurt by it. Do you?"

Tim sighed. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Yeah. Maybe. Depends on when you ask me. Right now, all I am is tired... of you asking me if I'm tired." Tim smiled. It was a little fake, but it was still mostly genuine.

Tony smiled back...paused for a moment and then chanced a grin.

"How about now?"

Tim couldn't help but laugh. "Don't push it."

"Right."

"So... how much longer do we stay?" Tim asked.

"You ready to go now?"

"Not necessarily," Tim said. "I'm just wondering. We have to make sure we're back to Kennedy in time tomorrow."

"We only have a few hours' drive to get across the state," Tony said. "I figure that we can get partway there or even all the way there today, get a hotel and then, get there for the graduation thing tomorrow with no trouble."

"Okay."

Then, Tim leaned back again and let the sunhat fall over his face. Tony was surprised to see that he'd relaxed again. And that helped him release a little bit of his own tension. He followed Tim's lead and leaned back.

They both lay there on the beach for another hour, saying almost nothing, but it was now getting closer to noon, and Tony was getting hungry. They hadn't really done anything but at the same time, this was really helping them feel better, and what better way to wrap that up than by getting something for lunch before getting on their way?

Tony sat up and looked around, almost surprised by how many people were now out on the beach. He smiled a little. They'd basically spent the whole morning sitting on the beach doing nothing.

And it had felt great.

"Hey, Tim. Ready to go?"

No response.

Tony looked over and lifted the sunhat. He smiled. Tim was asleep.

"Hey, Tim," he said again and shook him a little bit. "Wake up."

Tim snorted a little and then sat up quickly.

"What?" he asked, blearily.

"Wake up. It's noon. I'm getting hungry."

"Huh?"

"Food, Tim. I want food."

Tim shook his head to wake himself up. Tony chose to be happy about this because it meant Tim was relaxed enough to fall asleep on the beach. He tried not to be worried about the fact that Tim was still tired enough that he could fall asleep on the beach on a bright and sunny morning when he hadn't been doing anything strenuous.

"Food sounds good. I'd like to be fully-clothed, though," Tim said, stretching a little.

"Okay. We go back to the hotel, get our stuff, check out, and then get some food. There's supposed to be a nice little café not far from here. We can stop and get something to eat there."

"Okay, works for me," Tim said.

Tim got up and then bent over to grab his stuff and the beach towel he'd got from the hotel. Tony covertly watched for any lingering weakness, and he was glad to see that there didn't appear to be. Tim had simply been able to relax, perhaps for the first time since seeing Gibbs on the beach in Key West.

They walked back to their hotel. They both showered quickly, just to rinse off the sand. Then, they left the hotel and went to a little café to get lunch. Tim got fish tacos and Tony got a fish sandwich with fresh-caught grouper. They both got some pop as well since it was only lunchtime and they'd be driving. After a good lunch, they went out to the car.

"Tony, let me drive to start, okay?" Tim asked.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Think about it. This is when I'm going to be at my best. You can drive later, but let me start."

Tony considered and then decided that part of his current problem really was being unable to stop worrying about Tim. So instead of fighting him on it, Tony just tossed the keys over. Tim almost missed them because he was so surprised, but he ended up catching them okay.

"Don't kill us while you're driving."

"Ha. Not a chance," Tim said.

They got in the car and headed out, and Tony felt like he could chalk up their stay in Fort Myers as a success.