Little Runaway

Zacky had done his best to be patient, deciding they could both have a fair start toward the ocean. He waited for Brittney to get ready but before he could really even react, she'd dropped the bag and took off running toward the ocean. His jaw went slack as his eyes narrowed before he realized he needed to start moving if he wanted a chance at winning this little bet.

"Hey!" He called, huffing as he started to close the distance between them. "You cheated! That's not fair!" Zacky whined, willing himself to move faster as they neared the water.

"I didn't cheat!" Brittney called out over her shoulder. "Just gave myself a little bit of a head start." After a few more seconds, she'd reached the water and she dove into the incoming wave, letting the water wash over her head. Resurfacing, she pushed her now wet hair out of her face before she turned back to look at Zacky.

"I beat you, does this mean I win something?" she asked him, grinning. Looking around a bit, she spotted a snow cone stand a little ways down the beach. "If so, for my prize I'd like a snow cone, please."

"A head start is cheating!" Zacky bellowed out around a laugh, unable to contain himself. He grinned as he caught up to her. He shook his head as he reached out, wrapping his arms around her waist. Zacky pulled Brittney flush against his chest and he was quick to press a kiss to her temple before he dropped his grip from her waist.

His attention moved to the snow cone stand that she had spotted and even if Zacky had been inclined to tell her there was no winner's prize, he couldn't deny how good a snow cone sounded at the moment. "I don't know... should you get a reward? I mean, you did cheat and all. So why should I reward that?" Zacky teased as he raised an eyebrow, exaggerating the thoughtful look on his face.

"It is not!" Brittney said back. She let out a soft giggle as Zacky pulled her close, relishing in the affection. It felt like it had been so long since Zacky had shown her any. But just like that, it was over and Zacky had dropped his grip from her waist. But even as short as it had been, the interaction had her feeling hopeful that this would be a good day.

"Maybe you're not rewarding that," Brittney said. "Maybe you're rewarding my quick thinking." She knew it was a stretch but she hoped Zacky wanted a snow cone badly enough that he would buy a couple for the pair of them, anyway. He seemed to be in a good mood, which was a rarity and something Brittney intended to soak up as much as she could.

Zacky let out a soft laugh as he gave a nod of his head, reaching out to wrap an arm tightly around Brittney's waist. "Fine. Let's get a snowcone. I mean, it is hot. It'll help us cool down," he reasoned, nearly sounding as if he was trying to convince himself about it. He led them toward the snowcone stand, his hand sliding down so that he could lace their fingers together. It was subtle but to him, it showed that Brittney was his. To any straying eyes.

He moved so that he stood behind her, looking up at the menu of flavours as they waited in line. Zacky hummed under his breathe, glancing down to her. "What flavour are you getting?" He asked, straightening up when the line moved forward so he could follow her movements.

Brittney glanced down as Zacky took her hand, unable to hide the smile that blossomed over her face. She enjoyed the affection, and although she knew it was essentially his way of showing the world she was his, she didn't mind. She was his and this was an innocent way of showing it. She kept her grip on his hand as they stood in line at the snow cone stand, eyes traveling over the selection of flavors.

"Hmm, tiger's blood sounds good," Brittney said after a moment of thought. "Or maybe root beer float? I think I'll go with root beer float." Since Zacky was the one who would be paying for the snow cones, Brittney stepped to the side to let him do so once they'd ordered. She felt eyes on her from behind and when she glanced over her shoulder, she noticed a man almost ogling her. She ignored him, shifting closer to Zacky, but she could still feel his eyes on her.

"Definitely going with the bug juice, please," Zacky ordered his before pulling out his wallet and paying for their snowcones. He slid his wallet back into his pocket before he reached out to slid his arm around Brittney's waist. He gave her a light squeeze before his arm dropped. Zacky was quick to offer Brittney her cone when it was handed to him, his coming just a moment later.

Zacky stiffened when he turned, noticing that a guy was staring at Brittney. His eyes narrowed slightly and he stepped forward to shield her from view, as much as he could. "Let's go," he all but growled, setting his free hand on her lower back. He pushed her in front of him, guiding hre away from the snow cone stand. as he ground his teeth together.

Brittney accepted the snowcone as it was handed to her, scooping a big bite onto the spoon and shoving it into her mouth. She nearly spilled a bit of it on the ground as Zacky guided her away from the stand, but her mind hardly lingered on it as she noticed the tone to Zacky's voice. She should've known his good mood wouldn't last long and she knew exactly what had caused this sudden shift, but that didn't make her any less disappointed.

"Yeah, we can go back to the towel and eat these," Brittney said, trying to soothe Zacky's nerves. She started following him back to where they'd stashed their things and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other man following behind them. The pace of his footsteps told her he was going to pass by them and she'd hoped it would be without incident, but she was quickly proven wrong.

"Hey, when you're done with this chump, why don't you come see me?" he whispered to her, although it wasn't quite a whisper. "He looks like an asshole, anyway."

Zacky's shoulders squared and he was doing his best to just keep walking beside Brittney because this was supposed to be a good day. He didn't need some ridiculous man trying to move in on his girl. Brittney was his, not anyone else's. His. His eyes narrowed as he heard the telltale sounds of someone walking behind them. His head tilted to the side slightly, enough to eye the man as he started to pass by them.

When the man spoke, Zacky's footsteps slowed before he stood rooted in his position. He sneered as he turned toward the man, blindly shoving his snowcone in Brittney's direction.

"You wanna repeat that again, asshole?" Zacky spat, his hands balling into tight fists. When the man turned toward him, Zacky wasted no time in taking a step forward. He shoved into the man's chest and the man laughed. "Just like I said, you're an assh-" he was cut off by Zacky giving him a swift shove to the ground.

"Don't ever talk to my girl again. And sure as shit keep your fuckin' opinion to yourself. Else this is goin' to get a whole lot uglier," Zacky spat the words, glaring down at the man before he finally looked up to Brittney. He jerked his head in the direction that they had been headed. "Let's go," he grunted, only taking a step when Brittney was ahead of him.

As soon as she heard the other guy's words, Brittney knew this situation was about to turn ugly. All she could think about was Zacky's fight with Mitch, how explosive Zacky's temper had gotten. And Mitch was someone Zacky knew, this was a complete stranger. Brittney barely caught Zacky's snowcone as it was shoved at her, gasping as some of the ice slid down her bare stomach. But her attention only lingered on this for a second, quickly snapping to the altercation in front of her as the other man was shoved into the sand.

When Zacky looked up at her, ordering her onward, all Brittney could do was nod rapidly. She nearly tripped in her haste to start back in the direction they'd been heading, keeping up a pace that she hoped would make Zacky happy. She hoped that once they had a chance to sit down and Zacky was able to cool off a bit, they might be able to enjoy the rest of their afternoon. But even as she thought this, she knew it wasn't true. She knew their little outing was as good as ruined and she wouldn't be surprised if Zacky decided they should just go home.