Chapter 3 - Tension

"Come on Aphmau," I smiled as I poked her shoulder, "I won't tell your boyfriend if you tell me why you won't swim."

She sent me a glare while still staying silent on the matter.

"Aphmau," I whined, rolling my head back in exaggeration.

"Stop," She whined back, almost mocking me, "Why are you so hung up on me not swimming when Zane is sitting right beside you?"

I glanced over at Zane, watching as he glared at the light next to him.

"Because I know why he's not going out to swim," I told her, leaning back so that she could see what Zane was doing.

"Scared of the sun, Zane?" Aphmau teased, earning a deadly look from Zane.

"Scared of the water, Aphmau?" He shot back, making me burst out into laughter. For some reason, their arguments always got me to laugh.

Aphmau rolled her eyes as she set her attention back on me. "Why are you not going out again?"

"I don't want to leave Zane alone."

"Well, he wouldn't be alone," Aphmau shrugged, taking a handful of sand into her hands.

"Let me rephrase that," Zane spoke up, "She doesn't want to leave me with you."

Aphmau squinted her eyes suspiciously at me, "Why?"

I raised my hands up beside me, "I never said that." After a few moments of silence, I chose to speak again. "I just want to spend more time with Zane."

I tried to stop my cheeks from going red but it was hard when Aphmau gushed over how cute I was being. "This is why I ship you two!"

Zane groaned, putting his head in his hands. I noticed his ears were a bit red but other than that, I couldn't see the rest of his face. "Why do girls do that?"

"Do what?" I asked, trying to keep myself from stuttering.

"Ship," Zane responded, still looking away, "I don't get it."

"Well, it's instinct I guess," Aphmau replied, leaning forward to try to get a better look at Zane's face.

Zane hurridly looked away, trying not to be seen by Aphmau, but it was already too late. "Aww! You're so red Zane!"

"Stupid," Zane growled at her, "It's just a sunburn."

"Sure, sure," She laughed, "You got a sunburn in the shade."

"Anyway," I coughed, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling I got when Aphmau was close to Zane. "How are you and Aaron?"

She eyed me suspiciously, sending shivers down my back. "We're doing great, why do you ask?"

I felt my cheeks heating up once again. I hated how little it took for red to spread on my face.

"I-I just want to start a conversation," I replied, biting the inside of my cheek.

I relaxed a bit when I felt her hand pat my back, noticing how uneasy I was feeling. I didn't want to seem like I was prying her to say anything about her relationship– I just wanted to make sure that Aaron has kept in his lane.

The rest of the time we were together, there was a weird tension surrounding us. I cursed at myself for making everything so awkward by asking a simple question. Maybe I'm even worse than Zane is.

•••

As soon as everyone got out of the water, Zane and I headed back to our room. I was too embarrassed to be around Aphmau at the moment, worried that my question was a bit too much. Zane, on the other hand, was just uncomfortable because of how much sunlight was surrounding him. I swear he's some kind of vampire.

"You look like you're deep in thought," Zane blurted our from the couch he was laying on.

I took my attention off of the wall adjacent to the bed and onto him. In response, I just shrugged, before closing my eyes and laying back on the cold sheets.

"Yeah," I said, "I think I messed up about asking Aphmau about her relationship."

I knew that Zane wouldn't have a response, so I just covered my face, trying to let the embarrassment that I was holding seep into the sheets of the bed.

"I'm listening," Zane spoke, making me freeze in shock for a moment.

Usually, when it's a personal problem, he would want to stay out of it. Zane wouldn't ask questions and he would even go to the point where he would avoid me until I would figure it out. But, at this moment, that wasn't the case.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered, feeling my heart pounding in my chest, "I just think I made her uncomfortable when all I was trying to do was start a conversation."

I watched carefully as Zane stood up from the couch and walked over to the TV like he had no clue what I just said. But, he did.

"I don't think Aphmau was uncomfortable. She just wasn't prepared for you to ask that question."

"Yeah," I sighed, "I guess I just feel bad for saying it."

"Well, instead of complaining about it, maybe you should focus on something else for the time being. I'm going to watch the new episode of My Little Pony if you want to join," He motioned to the couch in front of the TV.

It couldn't hurt, right?