The beach.
What a wonderful, beautiful place. The sun shining, warming the sand, the ocean sparkling in brilliant hues of blue and white, a soft, gentle breeze floating across, the tall grasses swaying to the song of nature—
"Kowabunga!" Finn hollered, sprinting across the beach toward the water, his towel contorting wildly in the wind as he tossed it away and entered the sea. "Aw, this is the life!" he declared, floating on his back, small frothy waves crashing over him.
They had arrived at Poe's childhood beach house—rather idyllic, sun-bleached white and blue stripes, vibrant flower gardens in the front—the night before around one in the morning, and had promptly gone to sleep in their designated rooms. (Poe and Ben in the master bedroom, and Finn and Rey in Poe's old room.) Upon waking up, however, they had slipped into swimsuits and headed for the private section of the beach that his parents owned.
"Ooh, hot sand, hot sand," Rey cringed as she dashed from the grass to the bright green picnic blanket Poe had set out for them under a huge striped umbrella. She grabbed an ice-cold ginger ale from the cooler and relaxed, sliding her huge sunnies from the top of her head onto her face. She used a balled-up towel as a pillow and cracked open her book.
"Look, a hermit crab!" Poe called, further down the shore, at the water's edge. He held up a small red crab with a speckled ivory shell, a look of triumph on his face. He crouched down and sifted through the hand, before sticking his hand up again in victory. "I found another one!"
"I still can't believe you guys made me do this," Ben muttered, plopping down under the shade of the umbrella. He wore black swim trunks and a black t-shirt, his hair tousled and messy from the wind. He held a bottle of sunscreen in one hand and Markus Zusak's Book Thief in the other. "You know," he began, slathering the lotion across his arms, legs, neck, and face, "prolonged sun exposure is one of the leading causes of skin cancer in young adults."
Rey yanked her sunglasses off with a huff of exasperation and peered at him, her freckles darker and more prominent from her time in the sun. "Ben, I love you, but I do not care. I wanna get tan and have my freckles more apparent. If I get skin cancer, so be it." She slipped her shades back on and took a sip of her drink.
He stared at her in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" In response, she shifted so her bikini-clad body got even more direct sunlight. He crawled over to her as she hummed quietly, pretending to be absorbed in her book. "Rey, I'm serious." As she continued to ignore him, he placed himself at eye level, his face right above hers, glaring as sternly as he could, concern softening the edges of his gaze. "C'mon, are you even listening to me?"
She lowered her book to acknowledge his presence, biting her lip as she looked him up and down. "Take off your shirt." She ordered him abruptly, brow arched, a grin tugging at her mouth.
"What?" he recoiled slightly in shock.
"I mean it, Ben," she struggled to keep her face serious but failed, breaking out into a smile. "No one wears a shirt to the beach. Get some sun—not too much, though. Don't wanna expose too much flesh to the UV rays."
He screwed up his face in thought and mild annoyance. "If I take off my shirt, will you put on some sunscreen?"
Her smile widened. "It's a win-win,"
"Yeah, whatever," Ben rolled his eyes as he leaned back onto the blanket and pulled his shirt over his head, feeling Rey's eyes on him the whole time. Maybe he should have felt embarrassed, but he didn't. He had worked long and hard for the body he had now, and he didn't mind the blatant attention he was receiving. He tossed his shirt to the side and smirked as she quickly averted her gaze.
"Jeez, I didn't know you were freaking chiseled," she grunted, her voice thick and breathless, her cheeks bright red. She cleared her throat as she held out her hand toward him. "Deal's a deal. Sunscreen please." She accepted the bottle he handed to her and squirted a dollop into her hand, working it onto her arms, shoulders, and legs. She couldn't help stealing glances at him as he settled back into the blanket to read his novel. She vaguely remembered Poe mentioning that Ben worked out almost religiously, but she had never actively thought about what his body might look like under the baggy black shirts he always wore. Now, though, it seemed that she couldn't stop staring at him.
Poe and Finn approached, both soaking wet, each holding something in their hand. The latter knelt beside Rey on the sand, and held his open palm out to her. "I found seashells," he announced excitedly, almost like a little kid. "And I got this one for you, Rey of sunshine," he added, handing her a bright yellow scalloped shell.
"Aw, Finn!" she cried, holding the small shell in her hand. "That's so stinking cute!"
"Yeah, well," Poe interjected, holding a plastic baggy in front of their faces. "I found a jellyfish carcass."
Rey scrunched up her nose but moved closer all the same. "How'd you pick it up and get it in the bag without getting stung?" she inquired, fascination evident in her voice.
"I used the good ol' Dameron charm." He swept a hand through his curls, and at her unamused expression, amended, "I picked it up with a stick."
"Okay, well that's great," Ben piped up, "but I can feel my skin blistering already."
"Ben, you're in complete shade. And no, you're not putting your shirt back on."
Finn did a double-take toward Ben. "Dang, brother. Nice abs."
"I know, right?" Poe and Rey chimed in sync, then stared at each other in pure horror.
Ben sprawled out on the blanket, his hands laced behind his head, a smug smirk on his face. "I guess I'm just that hot. I get the ladies and the men."
In perfect unison, his three friends scooped up a handful of sand and chucked it at him.
A/N: aha two updates in a row holla
I figured you guys deserved it, for being so awesome and shit