[Neil]

[plntfood]

On the beach, sitting on a towel near the water, watching Sam as she plays in the shallow water, Mathias wishes his cast was off already. He has only a few days left, hopefully, but he wants to be in that water with her now, he wants to be diving and swimming and surfing, but he still can't do any of those things. It isn't that he's in a bad mood,

Comments

[little_moons]

It hadn't occurred to me that I oughta shy away from him. I see him standing in the water, and I don't think about slipping away, unseen. That sorta shit's never been me, anyway, and as much as I get that we probably made a mistake, it's not something I'm actively ashamed of.

Even if I wanted to slip past unnoticed, the pack of dogs and four-year-olds I've got with me kind of make it impossible. Gordon and Max run off with King, while Dexter sticks close with Mack and Flo, who are carrying between them a bucket of saltwater and sand, little mole crabs burrowing inside.

Slipping up beside him, I bend down to pick Sam up, saying to Mathias, "Dude, get outta the water." Sam's little arms go around my neck and I tell her, "Let's not give him a hard time. Okay, kiddo?"

[plntfood]

"King pushed me down," Sam answers, frowning at Neil, even though she's holding onto him and Mathias is grateful for that much. He hops back out of the water, still holding his cast above the waves and drops back onto the towel he has spread out.

"Thank you," he says to Neil once he's seated again, thinking once more how glad he'll be when the cast is off and he won't have to think about it anymore. There are other things that he's thinking about now, worrying that he's not only made a mistake, but ruined a friendship. Neil, however, doesn't seem to be awkward and clearly isn't avoiding him, which lifts his mood a little.

"What do they have?" Sam asks, leaning forward in Neil's arms when he sees the twins with the bucket. "What's that?"

[little_moons]

"We're catchin' crabs!" Mack says, trying to lift the bucket higher and letting out a huff of frustration when water sloshes over the side. "We found a starfish, too," says Flo, "Wanna help?"

Walking Sam out of the water, I set her down on her feet near the twins so they can run off and play. "Stay close," I say to them, sinking down onto the corner of Mathias' towel and scratching behind Dexter's ears before he runs off to keep an eye on the girls.

Looking down at his cast, I bite down on a grin when I see the little pink heart with my name in it, scrawled neatly on dingy plaster.

[plntfood]

"All she's going to want to do is catch crabs now," Mathias comments as the other dogs follow the girls, too, all their tails wagging. It's still strange to look at his life; four dogs and a little girl, all things he was sure he would never have.

Looking down at his cast as well, he catches sight of Neil's name on it and huffs out a soft laugh. "Do you remember doing that?" he asks, although he's teasing. Neither of them were too drunk to remember and that's a little disconcerting.