Chapter Three
Bythetimetheywerebackintheapartment,Florianknewhecouldn’tpushoffhisconversationwithNadiaanylonger.Augusthadgonebackdowntotheshop,thoughFlorianexpectedthathewasprobablyclosingupandwouldbebacksoon,sohavinghercomeuptotheapartmentwouldn’tbethebestidea.
“You’re nervous,” Kade remarked, as they set their haul from the corner store down on the edge of Florian’s bed.
“Is it that obvious?” Florian grimaced. “Yeah, I have to call Nadia... I’m still not sure what to tell her. Or where to meet her. I feel like Uncle August probably doesn’t want any more guests, and I don’t want to have this conversation with him around anyway.”
“The beach is right there,” Kade replied, and despite his nerves Florian laughed.
“Seems like the easiest solution, I guess,” he sighed. “Alright, let me text her.”
Nadia agreed to meet him at the bonfire pit on the beach nearest the souvenir shop, so he and Kade headed back out.
“Are beaches on Earth really so crowded?” Kade asked as they walked.
“I mean, right now it’s probably not too bad,” Florian said, then frowned. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Kade pressed his lips together before answering, a hint of embarrassment creeping onto his face. “Well, your father showed me a few Earth movies when we would travel. Whenever there was a beach there were so many people. Are they always like that?”
Florian laughed—it was easy to forget Kade was from an entirely different world, and he had probably only ever known the empty shore along the cliffs of the Winter Court. Though, the thought of Kade sitting and watching a movie was cute, somehow. He’d have to pick some for them to watch together while they were here.
“It shouldn’t be too crowded now, I think,” he said, grinning indulgently at the taller man as they walked. “But it can get pretty busy, especially in the summer when it’s hot. The busy season starts up in a few weeks now.”
Kade frowned. “That sounds unpleasant.”
“Yeah, I try to avoid it when it’s too busy,” Florian agreed. He pointed, and they started to cross the street onto the beach. “There’s the fire pit. We got lucky, no one’s using it.”
With the early evening air getting cooler and the sun starting to go down, the beach began to empty with only a few people sitting near the water, and a few groups still gathered around picnic benches or distant fire pits. Once the sun had fully set, Florian knew the last of the stragglers would likely pack up to leave, and the beach would technically be closed, although it was rare anyone came out to actually enforce it. The area around the fire pit seemed mostly empty, and Florian hoped that it would stay that way, imagining all the different ways their conversation could go.
He and Kade sat down at one of the benches around the fire pit, but barely a moment had passed before he heard Nadia’s voice calling out to him.
“Florian!”
He shared one last nervous look with Kade, then stood up to look in the direction of her voice. Nadia was jogging across the street, her hair pulled into a messy bun that was falling apart as she ran. Her eyes were wide, and her expression looked nearly on the verge of tears.
“Hey,” he managed to call out. Without answering, she ran straight for him and hugged him tightly, squeezing him so hard that he thought he might break a rib. He couldn’t bring himself to make her stop, though, and only hugged her in return. “Sorry...”
“Where have you been?!” she exclaimed, pulling away so she could look him in the eye. Her worried expression had morphed to anger instantly. But then she caught sight of Kade standing behind Florian, and she faltered. “Oh—uh, who’s this?”
“Oh,” Florian stammered, glancing nervously between them. Kade’s expression was perfectly neutral, the same blank slate that Florian had seen so often when they first met. “Well, um, it’s a long story, but this is Kade. Kade, this is Nadia.”
“Hi,” Kade said flatly. Nadia glanced between him and Florian, raising an eyebrow.
“Hello,” she answered, suspicion still in her voice. Though from the way she looked at Kade, Florian could tell she was now more intrigued than upset.
“Kade is,” Florian started, then faltered. “Kade is, um, my boyfriend.”
“Florian!” Nadia exclaimed, stamping her foot in the sand. But a grin split her features, and Florian hesitantly smiled back. “What the hell, dude? What have you been doing?”
“It’s a long story,” he laughed, nervously rubbing his arms as if he were cold, though the early evening temperature was entirely pleasant. “Want to sit down with us?”
She sighed and sat down next to Florian, Kade resuming his spot on the other side of him.
“So...” he continued. All at once it felt as if his mind were both racing and entirely blank, knowing what he needed to say with no idea how to say it. “So, I, uh, was with my dad for a while. After our trip to Catalina. I decided to stay with him for a bit.”
“How did that go?”
“Well, it was good, but, uh...” Florian trailed off. The words were agonizing to speak aloud. “Um, he died… about two weeks ago.”
