Feelings All Over The Place
"Hi!"
"Hey!"
"How's Roppongo?"
"Fantastic! Take a look!" Tyson flips the camera and moves the phone around to show her the beach - from one end to the other - before flipping it to selfie mode again.
"Wow! That's amazing. The water? It's so blue."
"I know, right?"
"Are you having a good time?"
"I'm having a great time!"
Her laughter chimes like bells. "I'm glad." Tyson misses her.
"Yo! Hoo!" Eddie bounds over and slings a heavy arm across Tyson's shoulders. "Haha, hey Hilary, wanna know what this crazy motherfucker got up to last night?" he asks. Tyson stiffens. "He almost blew himself to bits."
"Alright, that's enough," Tyson tries to extract himself from under his arm.
"What?" Hilary frowns. "That better have been a sexual joke because the alternative is terrifying."
Tyson shrugs his arm off. "Can you give us some space? This is a private call? I need some privacy." He wades away from him for some privacy. The water around his ankles.
"Pussy! You better tell her!" Eddie shouts loud enough for her to hear.
Tyson shoots him a death glare.
Eddie grins nastily before walking back up the shore towards Michael.
"What is he talking about, Tyson?" Hilary demands in a no-nonsense tone. "What did you do?"
"I-" Tyson rubs the back of his neck, looking at the hotel in the distance so he doesn't have to meet her eyes. "There was this huge party last night. A bunch of guys brought in fireworks to make it exciting and shit. They were..um..lighting it by hand. It's apparently a thing they do every year."
"Where is this going? I don't like where this is going. Tyson..."
"I got dared to light half of them."
"Half of what?"
He looks at his feet, biting his top lip. He glances up. "The fireworks"
Hilary's jaw hangs open. Inhaling sharply through her mouth. Her eyes appear like saucers. "You didn't say no," she completes the story for him.
Tyson shakes his head. Guiltily.
"Tyson motherfucking Granger." And it starts. He hangs his head. "I can't believe your gall. What type of insanity? You- you could have died! Or worse!"
"Hilary, it wasn't as dangerous as you're probably thinking it is," he tries to calm her down before she blows it out of proportion. "The first guy seemed pretty confident."
"He was probably a nutcase just like you. Without a care in the world for his own safety or for the safety of those around him," she scolds. "Hold on a second. Emily's on the other line. I think she'll want to hear about this."
Argh! God, no. They're going to team up against him.
Emily joins the conversation after a short while.
"Hullo!"
"Hey, Em," Tyson waves.
"Emily, do you wanna know what this neanderthal did last night?" Hilary gets right down to business.
"This neanderthal? What, what did he do?"
Tyson stands and scratches his jaw as they discuss the situation between themselves and start chewing him out. Brutally.
Jesus. He starts laughing after a couple of minutes. Finding it funny.
"Why are you laughing?" schools Hilary. "Does this seem funny to you?"
"It's funny. A little bit."
"It's not!"
"I can't believe we have to mother this guy!" says Emily. His laughter ends in a grimace. "You know, he's the one I appointed to keep the rest of the idiots out of serious trouble. Thinking he was the mature one out of the lot. And look what happened! You're the worst! Is your ego so fragile that you couldn't turn down a dare to save your life?"
Tyson winces. "Alright" He's had enough. It's been ten minutes of this already. "It was fun and all. Time to go. See you guys later." He waves.
"We're not done, Tyson!" protests Emily.
"Bye"
He hangs up.
Whew
Tyson notices a crowd forming around something a few metres away.
There's cheering and hooting from the scantily clothed beachgoers.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asks Mike and Ed. Kenny comes back from the washroom, adjusting his hair.
They all look toward the scene.
"No idea. Let's go take a look."
They trek towards the gathering. The shouts and chants increasing in volume the closer they get.
"Whoooo! Ten! nine! eight!" they're counting down.
Tyson wriggles his way to the front of the circle and feels his jaw flop open at the sight.
Kai has Tala on his back. A knee on his chest. Holding him down.
"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"
He sees and hears Tala snarl. Kai grins, enjoying it. He has his arms pinned at an awkward angle in front of his chest. That's got to painful. "Kai wins!" Bryan declares with a fist in the air.
"Let go, you maniac. Let go." He gets off of him.
"Son of a bitch," Tala spits, picking himself off the ground and dusting his clothes clean. "You're going to pay for that later," he promises Kai before trudging off.
"Who's next?" calls Bryan. "Sergei, you want that go, bro?"
Kai's shirtless. Sweaty. He accepts a bottle of water from Ian and chugs it down to half.
Tyson watches a bead of sweat roll down his neck in a trance before shaking himself back to earth.
Sergei enters the makeshift arena next. Shedding layers of clothing and leaving only a pair of shorts.
Their fight is more brutal than he expects. But it's mostly just grappling. Trying to flip each other onto their backs and hold them down.
It lasts a while, probably because Sergei is bigger than Kai, but he's also slower than him, and it helps Kai maneuver out of his locks quicker.
The tussle ends with Kai twisting Sergei's hands behind his back and pulling one over the other and sinking his knee into the opposite arm's shoulder, using his entire weight to keep him immobile for ten full seconds as he grits his teeth in pain.
"Aargh!" Sergei frees himself out of his hold once it's over. Kai remains on his haunches, observing his friend for a minute as he wiggles his shoulder. "That fucking hurt."
"Come on" Kai gets up with a snort. He says something to him in Russian that sounds like he's telling him not to make a big deal about it. It's friendly. He sees him give him a pat on his harassed shoulder.
While Tyson always thought that Tala and Kai were the closest, Kai seems to have a certain fondness for the softer member of their crew.
He watches them joke around.
There's this energy around Kai that he can't quite describe. The sun is beating straight down on his form. He has a rare smile on his face. And for a moment, he's too bright to look at. Too bright to be real.
Tyson shakes his head. Out of the stupor. What the hell is he thinking?
"Anybody else wanna try?" shouts Bryan.
Kai wipes the sweat under his jaw with the back of a forearm. "This place is too hot."
Tyson steps forward, breaking out of the ring of people.
"Me" he says, because he's always wanted a go. Always. Since the moment he met him. Possibly since the moment he was born. He's wanted to fight Kai. For some weird unexplainable reason. The urge comes from somewhere deep inside of him. It's ever present and underlies all of their interactions.
This need - a deep-rooted desire really - to fight him. To really fight. No holds barred.
"Alright, Bambi's up next," announces Bryan. "Step up!"
Kai's head jerks around to look at him. His gaze flicks up and down his form once as Tyson rolls up his shirt sleeves to his elbows. He gives one shake of his head and tells him, "You don't stand a chance, Granger." In the most obnoxiously matter-of-fact tone of all time.
He thinks he's spitting straight facts, doesn't he?
"You're underestimating me," scoffs Tyson. "You'll be sorry to do that. I'm a San-dan-"
"Kendo disciple" Kai cuts in. "I know. Your Jūdan grandfather is your mentor. It's impressive. But we're not fighting with sticks."
"I'm trained in hand-to-hand combat as well," Tyson rushes to add. "I'm good at it," he says, intent on convincing him. "Don't believe me? Try me." He holds his arms out in a welcoming gesture.
Kai has that look on his face. The slight smile, minute head tilt, heat in his eyes look he receives from him often.
Tyson clears his throat, wishing he was able to do the same with his mind.
"Okay" Kai agrees. "Let's give it a go."
He pulls in a deep breath. To prepare himself and to calm his nerves. He takes five minutes to warm up. Stretching and shaking out his limbs. Loosening his muscles and getting them fired up.
He announces when he's ready.
Kai touches his hands to the sand at his feet briefly, before dusting them together.
Tyson focuses on his breath. His breath is the key to keeping his mind clear.
A clear mind is a clear win.
He clenches and unclenches his fists as Bryan shouts out the rules for him. "First one to put his opponent on his back and keep him there for ten seconds is the winner. The fight begins in three...two...one. Brawl!"
Tyson breaks into a run. Aiming straight for Kai, who is taken aback for a split second - not quite expecting him to charge head-on at him.
He recovers from the shock quicker than Tyson anticipated. Tyson who was looking to use his agility against Kai. He blocks his arms a moment before they can lock around Kai's waist, his hands twisting to forcefully grip Tyson's forearms and push him away.
Nevertheless, the momentum with which he approached him still knocks Kai back a few steps.
Tyson, on realizing the danger in having his arms captured, immediately swipes a foot under Kai's leg to throw him off balance.
They fall together.
Kai lands on his back.
Tyson on his knee, teetering sideways.
He sees his opportunity to win.
If he can just get one leg over Kai and put his weight on him...For ten seconds...
Kai reacts before he can rock his body forward.
He flips them around. Climbing on top of him. Planting a knee on either side of his hips and sitting back so that Tyson's thighs are pinned to the ground.
He uses his upper body strength to overpower his arms into the sand - his grip on the underside of his forearm, just above his elbow. It's effective. He even keeps his head out of the reach of Tyson's. This motherfucker is good.
Who taught him?
Tyson struggles.
Bryan begins counting down.
"Ten!"
Fuck no. He needs to throw him off. Somehow.
Tyson's eyes fly up to Kai's. They're dark. Hooded. He grits his teeth and digs the heels of his feet into the earth before trying to raise his torso with all his might.
It doesn't work. He doesn't budge.
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
He attempts to thrash, but his grip on him is too strong. Immovable. Tyson curves his spine. Raises his head.
His hips are arrested under Kai's thighs.
He cries out. He flails his arms in his infuriating hold.
"Seven!"
"Six!"
This is too soon. It can't be over before it even started. He was supposed to last a lot longer.
Tyson snarls in frustration.
"Three!"
"Two!"
He gives it one final shot. One final full body flail.
It doesn't work.
"One!"
Kai wins.
No. It can't be over. He still has too much energy left inside of him. He's not done yet.
He's ready to go and protest when Kai suddenly leans down.
Tyson holds his breath when he comes close enough to kiss him.
"You're 5'10 and 150 pounds," he says to him, his voice sending tremors down his spine. Tyson gulps involuntarily. "You're no match for me," he breathes against his lips before getting off of him.
Yes, he's 5'10 and 150 pounds, so what?
Tyson crushes the plastic cup in his hand.
He can still beat his ass. Kai won because Tyson's skills are rusty. Last time he fought someone was when he was 17. Two and a half years ago. He hasn't been training in years while Kai probably spars on the daily.
The boxing. He never quite got around to asking him about that. They broke up before he could.
Still
The argument stands that Tyson can beat Kai. He just needs to brush up on his skills a little.
He wants a rematch, dammit.
Tyson balls the cup in his hand before hurling it at the back of Kai's head. The prissy dick is talking to some other prissy dick he knows from Date University. At least he's wearing a shirt again. He's insufferable when he's shirtless.
Tyson's near the beer pong table. Kai's further down the beach. The cup travels the few feet of distance between them and bounces off the target quite beautifully.
Yes! he mentally cheers for himself. That is one victory.
The mighty Hiwatari turns around and casts the poor cup an annoyed glance.
"Hey, Kai!" Tyson yells to get his attention. He gets it. "Wanna play some beer pong?" he asks with a smile, holding up a yellow ping-pong ball he stole from the table.
His invitation is not met with enthusiasm.
"Do you know that guy?" Prissy Dick #2 asks Prissy Dick #1.
"I'm afraid I do. Excuse me a moment."
Kai approaches Tyson.
"Winner gets a prize," he attempts to tempt Kai, touching the ball to his own nose.
"What's the prize?" Kai humours him for once. Now, that's a first.
Tyson's thrilled.
"If I win, I get a rematch with you on that colossal clusterfuck that went down earlier." The asshole doesn't even get thrown off by Tyson's sudden alcohol-induced word vomit. He smirks without missing a beat.
"So this isn't about beer pong. It's about you being a sore loser."
"I am not a sore loser. I accept my defeats if they are well-deserved. Kai, I'm out of practice. I haven't sparred in years. That was the first time in literally two years! I want a rematch."
Kai shakes his head. "I have better things to do with my time, Granger."
"What do you want?" Tyson bites the ball thinking of ways to persuade Kai. He takes the ball out of his mouth. "There must be something you want," he says. "From me."
As soon as he sees that Kai's considering his offer seriously, he rushes to add: "Sex is off the table."
Kai snorts, a mini eye roll accompanying it.
"I won't have sex with you," he leans forward to reiterate in a whisper just in case. "Or get back together with you again. Those two things are off the table. Anything else is cool," he smiles benevolently.
"Anything else?" Kai raises his eyebrows.
"Anything else," Tyson confirms, rolling the ball between his palms, merrily.
Kai nods, contemplatively, at him.
They smile at each other.
"Go on that trip with me," says Kai.
"What trip?" prompts Tyson, then the bulb switches on in his cranium. "The trip to Hong Kong?" he asks, rearing his head back with a grimace. "Hell no" Fuck this shit. He's out.
He whirls around.
Kai holds him in place by his shirt.
"Not Hong Kong. We're going to Dubai."
He spins back around to face him. "Why would I go on a trip with you to Dubai and stay there for three whole days after I've broken up with you? That's insane."
"What's insane is you honestly thinking you have a chance of beating me."
"I do!"
"With those stick arms?" Kai gestures to his left bicep.
He gasps, snatching his arm out of sight. He gives Kai the stink eye. "You are so rude." He throws the yellow ping pong ball at him. It hits his forehead squarely.
Annoying Kai. "I have better things to do, Tyson," he turns around to leave. "Go annoy someone else."
Tyson's collecting the ball from the sand-covered ground when he catches him moving away. "Wait!" he rushes to stop him. "Hold on for a second. Jeeesus." He pulls at his sleeve to make him face him again. "Is that guy more interesting than I am?" he asks, referring to the Prissy Dick who's still waiting nearby.
Kai regards him with an entertained glint in his eye, suspecting him to be jealous.
As if.
He rolls his eyes at him and waves it off, not even willing to verbally address that accusation.
"I'm good, Kai. Just fight me. Why do you want me to go on a trip with you?"
He just doesn't understand the why of it all. Why still go on one when he clearly said he had no intentions of getting romantic with him again.
"I already said I won't have sex with you or get back with you," he says, confusedly, spreading his hands.
"That is not the point," says Kai, a muscle in his ticking in his jaw. Slightly growing pissed.
Seduction is not the point?
"Then what's the point?" he asks, looking up at him.
Kai goes to answer, before glancing up at the people behind Tyson. The beach full of people around them. That he'd almost forgotten about for a moment.
Tyson looks too. Then back at Kai.
Oh
His eyes return to the shore again and sees Kenny laughing at a joke Michael made. They're starting to get along.
"Can we talk about it later?" asks Tyson. "I need to think."
Kai nods, eyes on something far away.
They do need to have that talk. He'd accidentally let it slip that he didn't want to get back with him in a really stupid and immature way earlier. He needs to fix that.
They need to sit down and have a long, adult conversation about things.
Sometime later.
In the meantime...
"Beer pong?" suggests Tyson, lifting his shoulders in a half-shrug when Kai casts him a glance.
He sighs softly. "Sure" he says, then waves over the Prissy Dick, who puts his phone away and jogs toward them with a gigantic smile.
"Unfair!" Tyson cries. "This is so unfair. I had that cup. I had it! Aargh!"
The game hadn't gone as planned. Tyson didn't win. Again! He simply ended up getting drunk and missing Kai's second-last cup by a millimeter, costing him the game.
So close.
So fucking close.
"Urgh" He looks across the table at the Champion™ expecting to be assaulted by a truckload of smugness and general bastardry.
He doesn't get any. Instead he receives a serious, sober look of concern.
He's not drunk. Because he has the alcohol tolerance of a damn Viking.
Kai comes around the table to fetch Tyson who is having a difficult time staying upright.
"You should probably sit down," he suggests, a frown between his eyes.
"I can handle myself, Hiwatari," he turns him down, shuffling back a step.
He nearly trips backwards.
Kai helps him find his balance again with a hand on his elbow.
"Why don't I take you to your friends?" he tries again.
Tyson looks at him and tilts his head. He wants to take him places now? Good. He has a place in mind.
He stares into his red-tinged phoenix-like eyes and tells him, "I'm sleepy. Can you walk me to my room instead?"
Kai sucks in his bottom lip, considering Tyson's rather forward request with a dubious expression. He's growing a beard, Tyson notices. Not that he hadn't noticed it last night. Or haven't been all this time. It suits him, Tyson admits grudgingly to himself. Of course he is able to grow a proper beard. And of course he looks even better than usual with one. Why wouldn't he?
That's just how the universe works.
"Alright" Kai agrees with a nod, steering him away. "Let's go"
"Great"
"Watch your step."
"I'm fine. I can see. I have eyes, you know. I'm not blind."
As soon as they step into the room and Tyson takes in the spartan-like surroundings, he spins around and closes the door before Kai can leave.
He grins at Kai's surprised face when the lock clicks.
"What are you doing?" he asks, voice pitched low.
Tyson takes a step toward him. And raises a hand to touch Kai's hair.
He hears him hold his breath.
He's not breathing too well himself either.
"Wanna sleep with me?" he asks, tucking a lock of his hair in place. "Like sleep together? On a bed?" He meets his gaze. "Normal sleeping?"
"Why?" asks Kai, stiff, guarded.
"Because" his eyes roll down his torso. The white shirt. He wears so much white. Tyson wonders what the reason behind that is. "You look nice and..." he says, reaching out to tug at a button. "Cushiony"
Kai takes that as his cue to leave. He bids him adieu with a nod and a two-finger wave before heading for the door.
"No, wait! Wait!" Tyson blocks his path. With his full body. Positioning himself directly in front of him. Leaving barely a foot of distance in between. "Okay! No cuddling. Just...stay for a minute," he insists, bringing a ginger hand to either side of his jaw. Touching him carefully. The stubble lightly pricks his palm. "Ow" he says softly. Then snorts.
He raises his gaze to Kai's.
"Move" he orders, unkind.
"Please" Tyson pleads, in his tiniest voice. Puppy eyes in full effect. He smooths a thumb along his cheek. "Just for a minute."
Kai's not amused. He doesn't even break a smile. Or break the light frown. What he does is take a calming breath through his nose and consider Tyson with forced patience.
Tyson smiles.
"Yum"
The round wooden table is filled with food.
Tyson has lunch with his buddies in the open-air restaurant, chopsticks in his hand and soft breeze in his hair.
"Mm, so good," he moans, trying a piece of the Okonomiyaki. "God bless the chefs."
Kenny laughs, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork. They're pretty much the last people to have lunch today, discounting the Blitzkriegs a table over. It's almost two and it's all thanks to Tyson who decided to take a nap in the middle of the day after drinking all the way up to his nose for a game. He'd slept from 11 am to 01:30 pm.
And he considered himself a legend for doing that.
"So, amusement park or water park after this?" inquires Michael.
"Amusement park first," answers Tyson. "I don't want to sit in wet jeans on a roller coaster."
"We can change clothes," suggests Kenny.
"I don't want to do extra laundry."
"Yeah, you're right," agrees Eddie. "We can do fun stuff during that time. Every minute here is precious. We can't afford to waste any doing laundry. Amusement park it is!" he declares.
"Cool with me," shrugs Michael.
Kenny gives a nonchalant jerk of his head and continues to eat.
Tyson observes him as he chews.
"If you don't want to go on rides," Tyson begins, leaning forward to whisper.
Kenny cuts him off. "I don't mind going on rides so long as we don't pick anything crazy."
"Hmm, got it. We won't go on the upside down gyrodrop then," he says, making up a freaky sounding ride name just to fuck with him.
"What?" Kenny falls for it too easily.
"Just kidding" He grins.
He shoots him a sour look.
The double doors to the kitchen bursts open and a waiter walks out, bearing two round platters with domed lids, another follows right behind him, carrying a similar dish.
Tyson tracks them with his eyes all the way to their stop at the Blitzkriegs table. There are a few unfamiliar faces sitting among them. Friends and acquaintances of theirs.
The domed lids are pulled back to reveal three huge grilled fishes steaming on the platters. Wait a damn minute. He totally forgot about the fresh whole grilled sea food he was looking forward to order. He'd forgotten yesterday. He almost forgot today too.
Jeez
"The grilled fish!" Eddie exclaims. "Bitch! We gotta order. Call the waiter over."
"Let's get two of the biggest," says Michael. "What was its name?" he turns to Kenny, who shrugs. "I forgot the name."
"Um, excuse me," Tyson waves a waiter over as he crosses back to the kitchen. "Can we have two of the same?" he asks, pointing towards the newly arrived dish at the Blitzkriegs table.
"Sir, my deepest apologies, we have run out of today's catch," the waiter replies with a brief bow.
"Oh no"
"We have other savoury options available if you'd like," the well-dressed staff in red and black uniform adds.
"Damn" curses Eddie.
"That's alright, thank you," Michael sends him away.
"Oh!" Tyson whines. "I really wanted one." He twists in his seat to look at the dish the Russians are digging into and whines some more. "Off! I came all the way here just for that fish. God. We're the unluckiest losers."
"It's okay, Tyson," Kenny tries to console him. "We can come early tomorrow and order to your heart's content."
"Man, this sucks," Eddie says, miffed. "Why could none of you think of it earlier? You guys are such airheads."
"You included," argues Michael.
"I know. We have three braincells put together and they all belong to Kenny."
Tyson's still whining when he hears a voice from the other table ask, "You guys want the fish?"
He turns around in his chair to look at Kai, who seems to be talking to Michael.
"Um" Michael wavers.
"We have an extra," says Kai, gesturing towards the untouched platter in the middle of their table.
"Well, if you don't want it.."
The chair drags as Kai gets up to transfer the whole grilled fish to their table.
They hustle to make space for the plate in the middle and he places it there, reaching over Tyson to do so.
He catches a whiff of his cologne as his shirt brushes the side of his head.
"Than- Thank you," Tyson stammers out softly as Kai withdraws, returning to his table.
"Thanks, man," says Michael. Kai gives him a nod of acknowledgment before taking his seat.
There's a beat of silence as they cut and pull pieces of the meat onto their respective plates. Kenny casts Tyson a sideways glance.
Michael digs in heartily.
Eddie breaks the weird silence by saying, "God heard us" all of a sudden.
And they all burst into quiet suppressed laughter.
"Shut up, Eddie," hisses Tyson, a grin on his face.
Kenny smiles, but keeps sneaking looks at him as they eat and clean up the food in front of them.
The Blitzkriegs don't stay for dessert. They rise and start filtering out the restaurant and into the long flower-lined pathway leading to the gate in threes and twos.
Kai trails behind the group with the tall, GAP-wearing dude with closely-cropped white hair and a mile-wide air of arrogance, discussing something as they descend the steps.
Tyson watches him go.
His friends order dessert.
They ask him if he wants some.
He answers with, "No, the fish was delicious. I ate a lot." Eyes still on his ex-lover walking down the paved path. "'Scuse me for a minute. I gotta go talk to him. I'll be right back."
"Wha- wher-"
Tyson ignores his friends' questions as he quickly rinses his hands and mouth and rushes after Kai.
"Kai, can I talk to you?" Tyson interrupts them halfway down the path.
He had been following them for five whole minutes looking for a chance to draw Kai away from the other dude who sounds the opposite of how he looks. Calm and collected.
They were talking about the dude's father's real estate agency which has been starting to see major losses since the start of the second half of the year.
He cuts in when he gets tired of waiting for an opportunity.
Kai turns to him with a curious look. "What is it, Tyson?" he asks him.
"Um..." he stumbles when he sees the other guy paying attention. He moves a couple steps away for privacy and Kai follows.
"I wanted to talk to you about," he starts again, speaking in a soft tone, wringing his hands nervously as he looks at him. "Us" he says, mouthing the word more than actually saying it out loud. So no one else would hear.
Kai nods in understanding and excuses himself from the guy, whose name seems to be King. His hand briefly touches Tyson's back as he tells him and the others not to wait for him.
Tyson smiles at King when he glances at him.
He sees Tala and Sergei turn around at the front as well. They watch as the others continue on and Tyson leads Kai to the path that cuts to the right.
The pavement is white and 6 feet wide. Lined with bushes and flowers.
The sea is visible from here.
The restaurant is behind them as they walk down the pathway.
He suddenly recalls something.
"Kai, I remember you being in my room earlier, before I fell asleep. Did we do something?" he asks in a panic. "I can't really remember."
"No" replies Kai. They stop when they're a safe distance from the restaurant. "You tried to kiss me but that was as far as it went."
"Fuck" Tyson covers his mouth in shock. "I'm sorry. I- I didn't- I was drunk. I was out of my mind."
"Don't worry about it," says Kai, not making a big deal out of it.
"I'm sorry"
"It's alright"
Tyson nods. Rubbing his palms against the side of his thighs. The sun's bright and warm on his face.
"What did you want to talk about?" asks Kai.
He takes a deep breath. "I...I was thinking about what happened last night and-"
Kai interrupts him with a palm. "Before you go on, Tyson. I want you to understand that I didn't push you to light the fireworks meaning to send you into danger. The cords were looped around the set up in such a way that the repeaters would never explode before you were safely out of the pool. There was enough time for you to make it back regardless of which wire you lit. The crackers around the base were the only danger there but I told you to look for a long wire. You would have been fine if I hadn't interfered."
Tyson looks at him with wide eyes.
Kai scratches his nose, the other hand on his hip, probably thinking about the incident again. "I shouldn't have touched your hand. That's what made you drop the torch and set off the crackers. That was my fault," he admits with a nod. "I'm sorry"
He meets Tyson's gaze.
"Are you okay?" he asks, reaching out to gently rub his shoulder.
"Yeah" Tyson melts under the concern with a smile.
"No nightmares last night?"
"No"
Kai takes his hand away.
"Why did you interfere?" Tyson asks softly.
Kai stares at him. Hands on his hips. He shifts his foot against the pavement. "You went for the wire I didn't tell you to go for. I was being anal about it."
That is not the truth. That is not why he stopped him. He can see it in his eyes. May be it's the sun but the mask he's wearing is crystal clear to Tyson for a moment. May be he wants him to see that he was lying about why he interfered.
Tyson puts that thought out of his mind.
He needs to do this. The right thing. The smart thing.
He starts carefully. "I know that you weren't trying to put me in danger. I know that. But the fact that it happened. That I lost my head and you...made an almost fatal mistake, goes to show that we are not a good...match. It's better if we stay apart and don't get back together." He's wringing his hands again. In a subtle way.
Kai watches him. Gives him a nod. "All because of last night?" he asks.
"No. Not only because of that. Time away from you made me realize that I rushed into a relationship with you. I didn't think about it much beforehand. I was acting entirely on impulse. Blindly following my feelings and completely losing sight of my plans. I was never planning to date a guy. I don't think I will date a guy in the future either. Even if I do, it can't be you because I want a big family someday while you don't want to be tied down by one. You want the exact opposite. I just think it's better overall if we go our separate ways now and save ourselves from future heartbreak."
He lets out a short exhale of anticipation once he's gotten out everything he wanted to say. He looks up at Kai with nerves.
Kai sucks in his lips, his eyes on him. He sees his throat bob and down in a gulp before he looks away for a moment. "What about the trip?" he asks after a while.
Tyson raises his eyebrows. His one hand hugging the other in front of his chest. He gives it a brief thought. "Don't you think it would be a bad idea for us to go on a trip right after splitting up?"
Kai slips his hands into his pockets. He seems...he seems fine. There's even a ghost of a smile on his lips. "I think it would be good," he replies. "Will help us part on better terms."
Tyson nods understandingly. He glances at his friends eating at the restaurant. They're still well occupied. "It's...not like a romantic getaway, right?" he asks Kai.
He gives him a brief smile and a shake of his head. "No. It's Dubai, Tyson. Not Paris. The worst thing that could happen between us is we have genuine fun with each other."
Tyson smiles. Kai returns it.
"Fun is okay. I would like to have fun." He shrugs.
"I won't hold the trip over your head or ask for something in return afterwards," Kai adds quickly.
"I know that," Tyson replies just as fast. "I didn't you think you would."
There's a small, filled silence that falls between them. Filled with leftover words and feelings.
He hears Kai draw in a long breath.
"So you'll give me that rematch?" he asks slyly. "It's confirmed?"
Kai rolls his eyes slightly. "Your pigheadedness knows no bounds."
Tyson's expression grows sour. "And this is why we won't work out," he says.
"That and because your biggest dream is to have an enormous family one day."
Tyson slaps a hand over his wrist and offers a middle finger to Kai with a bow. "Choke on this. Please. I insist."
Kai snorts, and starts walking away.
"You better show up tomorrow or the trip is canceled!"
"11 o'clock, Granger!" Kai calls over his shoulder.
"Yes!" Tyson pumps a fist in the air. Finally. Time to train.
Tyson holds his throbbing heart in his hand as the rollercoaster careens down the rail.
"This is insane!" he screams as Kenny cries next to him.
"Oh my god, I'm gonna die!"
"Fuck yeah!"
"Oh my god!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
His legs tremble when he gets off. The bottom of his spine quivering as he makes his way over to his friends. "I felt my soul leave my body. I saw it fly away. It was insane. Let's do it again. In five minutes."
"Wait, is that Julia?" Michael gasps all of a sudden. The popcorn bucket in his hand tumbling.
It is Julia!
She's with a group of her friends. Her sorority friends. Queen, Kristina and another girl from third year named Hana.
Michael drools. Eddie pops a boner on sight. Kenny inhales his cotton candy into his wind pipe. Tyson drops his phone.
He's whacking moles with a rubber mallet when she comes up to him.
He yelps when she says "hi".
The mallet drops. He stoops to fetch it and hits his head on the side of the machine.
Ouch. It hurts. But he ignores it completely and fumbles with the mallet as he stands up.
"Hey" He smiles
"It is so hot this year," Julia complains in a bored voice as they walk around the amusement park. Tyson eating popcorn to occupy his mouth which is always in danger of saying something dumb and ruining everything around girls like Julia.
She brushes the long sheet of silver hair over one shoulder and fans herself with the pamphlet they are giving out at the entrance. Her outfit is purple. Dark purple sleeveless top and light form-fitting pants.
She's so gorgeous and smells so wonderful Tyson can barely believe he's walking next to her.
He has no idea why. She's simply hanging out with him. It's bizarre.
But awesome.
It's like living in a different planet for a while.
Her world is just so stylish and breathtaking. Everything about her is breathtaking.
"Last night's party at your hotel? We could hear it from ours. I heard it was crazy."
"Yeah, I- I heard it was crazy too. I wasn't there. I went to bed early."
"You didn't take part?"
"Nope"
"Shame. You're a first-timer too. We were out clubbing. I would have liked to join but Queen wanted an exotic lay."
Tyson nods. Stuffs his mouth with more popcorn.
"Join the next one," she tells him. Her blue eyes finding his. "It's what you're here for. To grow. Don't hold yourself back. Gotta break out of your shell and live your life."
Tyson nods some more. "I will"
"Hm" she hums distractedly. "Want to go on the ferris wheel?"
"Yeah"
"Queen!" Julia leans forward in her seat, resting her elbows on the steel bar as she looks out. She wiggles her fingers in a flirty wave when her friend spots her.
"Who's that loser next to you?" Queen shouts back from the ground.
"Oh this?" Julia leans back to touch Tysons shoulder. "He's the star athlete of our track team! Tyson Granger!"
Tyson blushes. "I'm not"
"Oh" Queen gives him a short head-to-toe scan. She's unimpressed. "Right" She swivels away on her heel.
"She saw you compete at an invitational last year and couldn't stop talking about you for like a week after. She had a mini crush on you. It died when she found out you were at the bottom of the social ladder. That stuff matters to her a lot."
"Right" Way to lift and crush his ego all in less than a minute. Amazing.
"So you and Kai are over, huh?" she asks after a while.
Tyson looks at her with big eyes. "Yeah" he confirms.
"And you broke up with him?" Her eyes are sharp and piercing. It kinda scares him. He finally understands why she hangs out with the Blitzkriegs so often.
"Yes"
"He must have done something super bad."
She's fishing for information. He forces the words that had risen up back down his throat. "That's between me and him," he says.
"Oh! Yeah, sure," she backs off. "Sorry"
"It's fine"
They're eating sandwiches sitting on a bench. It's nearly eleven in the evening. His friends are still on rides. There's so much to explore.
He's having fun with Julia.
She's been taking sips from this silver flask since the last one hour and it's making her less guarded. More carefree.
And funny
She tells him her one true dream is to become an actress.
"I want to become a huge star! A sensation like Audrey Hepburn. Meryl Streep."
"You will be. You can do anything you want to do."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Want to play a game? Give me a feeling and I will act it out for you. Like that Jimmy Fallon Wheel of Feelings game."
"Oh, okay" He nods. He tries to think of a feeling. "You are standing on the edge of a cliff and your asshole friends are telling you to jump."
Julia widens her eyes till she looks like a frightened lamb. She shakes her head in short jerks taking shallow terrified breaths through her mouth as she looks at him. "No!" she cries. "No! Please!"
"Wow" Tyson claps. Impressed. "Wow. You are amazing. You're incredible."
"I know" She flips her hair over her shoulder. "I know"
Tyson stares at her. He bites his lip. There's this weird feeling in his chest. "Julia" he calls.
"Yeah?" She turns to look at him.
"You have something on your face."
"I do? Where?"
He points to her lip.
She tries to wipe it off on her own.
But there's nothing there.
"Here, let me get it for you," he says, scooting closer.
He kisses her when she leans forward.
She responds earnestly after a brief moment of surprise.
He breaks away after three seconds. That felt good. That felt amazing.
And he's turned on.
Tyson licks his lips to hide his smile as he glances at Julia.
She has a secretive and excited smile on her face too.
His grin breaks out in full when he sees hers. His boot tap-tapping away on the ground.
A/N: AHOY THERE! IT IS ME! MISSED ME? I BET YOU DID. BUT I HAVE COME WITH COMPENSATION, HAVENT I? THIS WAS A LONG ASS CHAPTER. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED. I FEEL LIKE FATHER CHRISTMAS. HO HO HO, HAVE A GREAT DAY, MY CHILDREN. I LOVE YOU ALL. MMMWAH.
