The Beach

Alex and Jake sat awkwardly across from each other at the kitchen table, not saying anything, just sipping on their cups of coffee and both trying to figure out whether or not they should try and make small talk with the other. Alex felt beyond awkward, because unlike Jake, he knew everything. He knew that Sawyer was cheating, for fact, and not with Jack but with Alex himself. Jake felt super awkward about trying to talk to Alex because Jack was his best friend, and he had sat there and accused him sleeping with his fiancée.

“Thanks for letting Sawyer crash in your room with you. Being a good friend to her and all.” Jake finally spoke, and Alex just nodded with a shrug.

“It wasn’t exactly something I had to think about. Sawyer is one of my best friends since I was 16. She needed somewhere to sleep and since it obviously wasn’t a good choice to sleep in Jack’s room, mine was pretty much the only option short of a couch.” Alex tried to make sure he worded his response carefully. He didn’t want to upset Jake anymore, but he knew it wasn’t a situation where he could just not answer the man.

“Yea, well. I’m sorry for putting you in that situation.” Jake said, just as Jack walked into the kitchen, looking particularly disheveled. He didn’t even acknowledge the two boys that were sitting together at the kitchen table. Jack walked straight to the coffee maker and grabbed the pot of coffee and one of the coffee mugs set next to it, pouring himself a full cup. It wasn’t until he turned back around that he caught sight of both of the men sitting there.

“Morning.” He said, his voice rough with sleep. He walked over to the table, moving to take a seat next to Alex.

“Rough night bro?” Alex asked, ignoring Jake’s presence to focus on his best friend. It was easier than it should have been, given the fact that Alex was looking for any reason not to have to talk to Jake.

“Dude. After all the fighting last night, I couldn’t sleep. It felt like the entire house was fighting.” Jack said, shaking his head.

“I should be the one apologizing for that. It definitely was mostly my fault for all the tension in the house. I don’t know how much Sawyer told you, but I kinda accused Sawyer and you of having a think and possibly doing something behind my back.” Jake confessed.

“Dude. It’s ok. I get it. Really. But man. I haven’t been around a girl that angry since I stole Jayce’s straightening iron for a day.” Jack said shaking his head, trying his hardest not to laugh hysterically at the fact that Jake was just so clueless.

“Yea. I can’t even begin to imagine what she was like when she was away from me. I’ve never seen Sawyer yell once in the entire time that I’ve dated her, let alone known her.” Jake confessed to the other two men.

That statement struck Alex as extremely odd, and it really made him wonder how well Jake knew Sawyer at all. In the 7 years that he had known Sawyer, they had fought several times every single summer that they had known each other, whether it be over something completely ridiculous or something completely serious. Sawyer was a lively person, full of passion for anything and everything that she cared about. How in the world had she been dating the same person for 3 years and not ever had a single fight with him? How had he not ever seen her angry? Alex had seen her angry so many times during their time together over the summers, and he couldn’t imagine how Jake had gone three years of being around Sawyer, spending nearly 10 months of the year, probably almost every day with her, and he had never once seen her mad. How in the world was that even possible?

“Really? You two have never fought?” Jack asked, almost as if he could read Alex thoughts.

“No. We’ve never fought. Sawyer has always been such a calm person. Like I said, I’ve never even seen her yell. Last night was the most intense night in our entire relationship.” Jake said.

“Wow.” Jack stated, his voice a bit underwhelmed by the information.

“Morning” Zack said as he and Rian stumbled into the room, once again heading straight for the coffee pot before making anymore acknowledgement. As soon as they poured the last of the coffee, Rian started a fresh pot, the two men joining the other three at the table.

“What are we talking about?” Rian asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

“We’re talking about how Jake and Sawyer have never fought before last night. In fact, Jake had never seen Sawyer mad until last night.” Alex said, and both Zack and Rian raised their eyebrows and turned to look at Jake, completely bewildered.

“Seriously? Not one single fight?” Rian asked, amazed.

“Yea. Sawyer’s a pretty calm person. I’ve never even seen her yell or raise her voice, not even get mad at anyone.” Jake said, confused as to why everyone was so stumped by the fact that Sawyer never yelled before.

“Man. Even me and Jayce fight.” Zack said, and Jake looked at him confused.

“What do you mean even you two fight?” Jake asked, and Zack shrugged.

“I’m a pretty laid back, reserved kinda guy. Jayce is the one that’s a little louder, more forward. But even we get into fights between each other. And I hardly ever talk that loud in general. I’m just not that kind of person. But still. Every couple fights.” Zack stated, and Jake shrugged.

“Not me and Sawyer.” Jake said with a final shrug, and the other four boys gave each other a look before going back to their drinks on the table.

Idle chit chat was made, light conversation that would just barely fill the silence in the room, until the boys heard the door open and seconds later, the 3 girls were in the kitchen with them, all raising their eyebrows at the awkward scene in front of them.

“Having your own coffee date in the kitchen?” Austin asked, and the boys just shrugged in response.

“Jake, we really need to get you packed up and ready for your flight.” Sawyer stated, and Jake nodded, standing up from the table and headings out of the room, his coffee mug in hand. Sawyer gave a small smile to Alex before moving to follow Jake out of the room.

The couple made their way up to the master bedroom in silence, entering and moving to opposite sides of the room.

“Are we ok?” Jake asked, and Sawyer sighed.

“Honestly, Jake?” She asked, and he nodded. “Not really, no.” She admitted.

“I really am sorry.” Jake confessed and Sawyer nodded her head in response, biting her lip a bit.

“I know Jake. I know you are. But it really comes down to when I said nothing was going on, you didn’t believe me. You chose to ignore what I said and believe whatever you wanted. I don’t know how I feel about you not trusting me, especially on something this big.” Sawyer stated.

“So are we over?” Jake asked cautiously.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I need some time away from you to figure that out. I think that we do need to go on a break for the rest of the summer until I come back home, and then we can talk again.” She said, and Jake sighed, wanting nothing more than to argue with her, fight till he was blue in the face to say that they shouldn’t do this, but he couldn’t. He knew that she was still really upset, and the last thing he should be doing is starting another fight.

“Ok. But we’ll talk as soon as you are back in California, right?” Jake asked, and Sawyer nodded.

“I’ll call you when I’m back in California.” She agreed.

“Ok. But please, Sawyer, think about this a lot. Because I do love you. I love you so much. And I really want to work past this. We’re better than this. We’ve been together for years, and I don’t want to throw that away after one mistake.” Jake said, and Sawyer gave him a small smile.

“I will, I promise.” She said, and they moved about the room in silence, gathering the few things that Jake had laying around the room and starting to put them away. Sawyer folded all the clothes that she found, placing them in the duffel bag that Jake had brought with him.

After another 10 minutes, they had packed everything that Jake had lying around.

“This is everything right?” Sawyer asked, and Jake took a glance around the room once more, before nodding.

“I’m fairly certain that’s everything.” He said and Sawyer nodded, zipping up Jake’s bag.

“You might want to start getting ready. I left out an outfit for today, for you to wear.” Sawyer said, taking a glance at the clock that said it was already a bit past 1pm. She hadn’t realized that she had spent so much time at the coffee shop with Austin and Jayce that morning.

“Once you get showered and ready, it’ll probably be past 2 and we can get ready to leave to take you to the airport for your 4pm flight.” Sawyer said, and Jake nodded, heading off in the direction of the bathroom, leaving Sawyer alone in the room. She seized the opportunity and went across the hall to Alex’s room, finding him shirtless and looking through his bag. At the sound of the door, Alex looked up, smiling when he saw Sawyer standing there.

“Hey. What’s up?” Alex said, stopping his search for what Sawyer assumed was a shirt, before Sawyer smiled at him, closing the door behind her and moving towards Alex.

“Guess what?” She said, moving to wrap her arms around his neck, linking her fingers together.

“What?” He asked with raised eyebrows, moving his arms to wrap around Sawyer’s waist.

“After Jake leaves, we are on a break for the rest of the summer until I return back from here. Then I can decide whether or not I’m going to stay with him.” Sawyer said, and Alex’s smile widened.

“So you’re legitimately mine for the rest of the summer?” He asked, and Sawyer nodded with a large smile. Alex’s teeth showed through in his grin, and he moved to press his lips against Sawyer’s firmly, her pressing back with just as much force.

Sawyer pulled away, moving to rest her head against Alex’s chest, breathing heavily.

“I need to get back. I still have to take Jake back to the airport, and he’s probably really close to being out of the shower. But as soon as I get back, I’m all yours.” Sawyer stated, and Alex nodded with a smile before letting Sawyer go so that she could go back to her room and Jake for the last time.

It wasn’t long before Jake and Sawyer were leaving the house, leaving the rest of the group of friends in there to relax. They were all sitting on the front porch and moving around on the beach, but Alex’s mine was elsewhere. He wasn’t focused on the beautiful day, but rather on the fact that this was his chance to keep Sawyer as his. This was his chance to prove to Sawyer that she didn’t need Jake and that they could actually be pretty happy together. He just had to prove it to her, and he was going to, somehow.

“Hey man. What’s up with you. It’s a perfect beach day, and you’re sitting on the porch staring aimlessly at the water.” Jack said as he approached Alex. Alex shrugged.

“Just thinking about how Jake’s gone.” Alex said with a small smile.

“And Sawyer is all yours for the rest of the summer.” Jack said, and Alex’s smile grew a bit more.

“She said that they are going on a break until she goes back to California, and then she’ll make a decision. I have the rest of the summer to try and convince her that she shouldn’t be with him.” Alex stated, and Jack patted his best friend on the back.

“Get her bro.” Jack said, and Alex smiled, looking back out at the ocean. He was planning on winning Sawyer over, no matter what.