Abel and I were on our way to the cafeteria when Fred came out from that building, stomping towards us like a horse. She grabbed my and Abel's arm and just said "nope", turned us around and got us to walk in the opposite direction.

"Neither of you wanna go in there today." Her whole face was dark, and she seemed so off.

"What's wrong?" I asked, nerves making my heart jump into my throat.

"Another body was found, and you don't wanna hear what's being said in there. Let's just go and get some coffee." She didn't let go of us and neither of us looked like we wanted to fight her on this. We went to the tuk-tuk and sat down by the stone tables.

"So, what're they saying?" I asked, just wanting to burst that bubble.

"It's Liam and his asshole crew. They sat down by mine and Creek's table and started speaking so loudly about how you've been at it again."

"Where's Creek?" Abel asked and looked around, as if Creek was just hiding somewhere.

"Went to the bathroom to calm down. He was close to screaming at them. Like, banshee screaming."

I cringed a little. But underneath that cringe and the anger, there was a sense of pride in my friends too. They had been so mad because someone was saying mean stuff about me. And it was a little warped to be thinking about that at that moment, but I couldn't help it. I felt protected.

"I uh... Might've dumped my tray on Liam too," Fred said then and bit down on her bottom lip. "There was chili con carne in there. Now it's in his lap."

"Chili con Liam," Abel laughed. "And I thought you were such a pacifist." He put his arm around her neck and pulled her close.

"Listen, I'm a Momma Bear above all. Gotta take care of my dumb boys." She laughed and patted his arm. He eased up on his grip on her but kept his arm resting on her shoulders. I sat across from them and put my hand on top of hers.

"Thanks for... Protecting my honour," I said and smiled.

"My pleasure." She winked at me.

Creek came out from the cafeteria building and dropped down by our table, next to me, his hood on his hoodie on his head. They grabbed the strings and the hood tightened around his face.

"I hate them so much!" they growled and let go of the strings. He pulled the hood down and turned to me. "I wanna scream so loud in their dumb jerk faces."

"And on Goodbye Day, no less. Have they no shame?" Fred asked.

Creek looked up and smiled. "It's Goobbye Day."

It really sounded like they said 'boob-bye day' but maybe my hearing was still wonky after my eardrum having burst.

"We're going to the lake. Wanna come? We were planning on doing it later but fuck it." Creek rose to their feet and looked expectantly at us.

"Sure, let me just grab some trunks from home then," Abel said and rose to his feet. "Wanna come?" he asked me.

"Uh, sure!" My voice broke. I had feared this. Dreaded it. The inevitable time where we'd go swimming and I'd be sitting by the water, refusing to go in because going in meant taking my shirt off.

I could feel Abel's eyes on me, even from behind his aviators but I dodged his gaze. I just wanted to be normal and maybe no one would ask me to swim. I could maybe just sit with my feet in the water.

Abel drove us to his place so he could grab his trunks and when we were back in the car, he turned to me, putting his hand on the backrest of my seat.

"If you feel uncomfortable, just like, send me a sign and I'll bail you out in any way I can. Even if I gotta drop my trunks and flash everyone."

I snorted and smiled at him. "Thanks. I appreciate it. But I'm thinking of actually just being honest. These people are really good friends and like... Maybe honesty is the way to go."

He softened and nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

We drove off and met up with our friends by the lake. It was ridiculously pretty here. The mountains encased the valley, the lake spread out over the landscape, and it was if the sun was looking at its own reflection in the water, casting long rays that made the lake look more golden than deep blue.

There was even a natural beach with a small promenade, and we had the entire space to ourselves. This was probably one of the last days we could do this, due to the weather already getting colder. But it was perfect that day. The sun was still keeping the last of its warmth before it left for the autumn and winter. Watching the seasons change here was already becoming a favourite thing of mine.

I sat on the beach on a blanket brought by Fred, watching them as they undressed. Both Fred and Creek had their swimwear under their regular clothes. Abel hadn't been as clever and stood with a towel around his waist. It was about to fall down when I stood up and grabbed it, holding it so he could change comfortably.

"No peeking," he murmured and dropped his boxers.

"I promise no such thing."

"You've seen it all before."

"Not in this lighting." I winked at him before dropping my gaze downwards. He chuckled and got his trunks on, unfortunately covering up the goods.

"I'm definitely owed a show at home." He bent down and kissed me, making me drop the towel and putting my hands on his waist.

"Oh, come on, already!" Fred yelled out, clearly annoyed having to wait.

Abel placed another kiss on my mouth, then stepped back and put his hands on his hips. "You better relax, missy, or I won't be blowing up the beach ball."

"You will though, right?" Creek asked as he slipped his sweats down, exposing a pair of white trunks with red love hearts on it. Like a cartoon character. I couldn't remember ever seeing them in other colours than black or navy blue, but it looked good on them. A big contrast to their dark skin.

"Naturally," Abel scoffed as if he was offended by the mere notion of him not actually blowing up the beach ball. He searched through the large plastic bag while Creek turned to me.

"Not going into the water?"

"Ehm, no," I said hesitantly and grimaced.

"No trunks? I've got a spare if you want to borrow them?" They smiled so sweetly.

"I've... I don't... Wanna take off my shirt... For this." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I've got scars. And I don't wanna show them."

"I totally get that," Creek said and then took off their shirt. Fine scars lined the bottom of their chest, one under each peck, ending on his ribs. "But in honour of Boob-bye Day, I can be your scar-partner."

They were definitely saying 'boob-bye' and not goodbye.

"Boob-bye. Are you kidding?" I asked and couldn't help but laugh.

"Listen, getting my top surgery was a very big day for me and Fred came up with Boob-Bye Day. All I ever wanted was to take my top off at the beach. So, each year, on this very date, we come here. To celebrate."

"How long since you got it?"

"Two years today!" He threw his hands in the air, flaunting their chest.

"We said tata to the tatas!" Fred chimed in and bounced back from the water up to us.

Abel laughed and stopped his endeavour with the beach ball. "It was a blessing. I didn't wanna hear more complaints about the binders. Who knew a clothing item could be the cause of so much complaining?"

"I didn't complain that much," Creek laughed and plopped down beside me on the blanket. Abel threw a bottle of sun crème to Creek, and they went to war with smearing the lotion over his arms first and then their chest. "Besides, you weren't around for most of it. Like you arrived and I got it done like a couple of months later."

"I had an ex who got top surgery too. He said it was like being reborn but in a very anti-climactic way," I said and then wanted to kick myself. That wasn't a nice thing to say.

"Oh yeah, no, it's like... You build it up to such a big thing in your head, yeah? It's like New Year's Eve. Too many high hopes and it can never live up. There's definitely a time slot allotted for 'is this it?' right after. But then the longer I went after, the more comfortable I got, the more normal it got that I didn't have breasts anymore... Like. It just became me. It's hard to explain, really. But it was like I became me, and now I'm me."

I smiled and took the sun crème from them, rubbing it on my arms and then my face. "It makes perfect sense."

Creek smiled again. It was so lovely when they smiled. The way their whole face kind of broke apart to make way for the smile. It was just so lovely to watch.

"It looks great. You must've had an awesome surgeon," I said then.

"Oh, I really did. Like the way it has healed was beyond what I thought it'd look like. If I bulk up, the scars could be hidden entirely. But I don't mind them, to be honest. They're a part of this body and I quite like my body, scars and all."

"You're actually fawning over your own body now?" Abel asked then, punching through the otherwise really nice atmosphere.

"Yes, I am, Abel." They shrugged and put on a pair of perfectly round sunglasses. "You're just jealous and it's not a good look on you."

"Well, not like I can check a mirror to see what looks good or not."

"As if that's gonna make me feel bad," they laughed. "He always does this. Tries to make me feel all bad and he plays sad puppy, and it doesn't work at all."

"Aw," I said and rose to my feet going to my boyfriend. "It works on me."

Abel smiled a very fang-filled smile and bent down, kissing me. "And that's another of the many reasons why I love you," he murmured softly.

"I can be guilt-tripped easily."

"Yes," he snorted.

We had a fun time at the lake. I sat on a tiny wooden pier, with my legs submerged into the water and watched my friends swim and goof around. By the time the sun was going down, we sat on the beach with a little bonfire, roasting sausages and making s'mores.

Abel sat beside me, his arm around my shoulders. He kept pressing me close for like a second, before he focused on whatever the subject of conversation was. It was one of my favourite things about him. How he'd show these small acts of affection, no matter where we were or what we were doing. I wasn't even sure he realised he was doing it. And maybe that was my favourite part of it all, the fact that it came so naturally to him to brush his fingers over my arm, ruffle up my hair, place small kisses on my forehead and cheeks, hold my hand, squeeze me tight.

It was a nice break from everything, that afternoon and night. It didn't last forever, no matter how much I wanted it to. I just wanted it to last forever.