fic exchange for saiya_tina

[sinful-teddy.livejournal.com]

Hello! I would have posted this earlier but I didn't have access to the file until now. ^^;

This one's for Saiya_Tina, who wanted: Brad/Ryan, UK era, something mushy, kisses in the ocean, preferably with Brad the slightly more dominant one.

So I wrote and I hope I delivered... It was fun, but a bit hard, since unfortunately I haven't watched WL in quite a long time. OAO
And I wasn't sure how far to go, If You Know What I Mean, so it gets a bit sexy and then it's sort of a Fade To Black type deal. And sorry it wasn't quite as mushy as it should have been. Normally my Brad is quite a bit mushier and cuter than I wrote him here! OTL

Title: Seaside Rendezvous
Author: sinful_teddy
Recipient: saiya_tina
Pairing: Brad/Ryan
Rating:
Summary: "In between seasons, nothing happens and I get restless. It’s me or Greg, usually, who’ll come up with the idea of meeting up some place... I nominate the beach."

We’d fly back to the USA between seasons, us Americans in the cast. Colin fluttered between America and Canada during these times, mostly staying with his family but meeting up to hang out every now and then.

Still, in between seasons, nothing happens and I get restless. It’s me or Greg, usually, who’ll come up with the idea of meeting up some place. This year, it’s been good weather and I’ve wanted to get outside, so I nominate the beach.

“I don’t tan well,” Colin says warily, over the phone, but within a few minutes Ryan has him convinced to go. Those two are so close, they’d probably do anything for each other. I envy that a lot sometimes – Colin’s one of my best friends but he’ll never like me as much as he likes Ryan.

Greg clings to me when I turn up at the beach that day. I don’t see him dress down very often so I can’t help but grin when I get out of my car and see him in shorts and a shirt, dripping with ocean water.

“My God, Bradley, what took you so long? We’re all hungry!” he nags me, half-jokingly, hovering behind me as I open the car boot to retrieve the picnic basket I brought.

“Relax,” I say, smiling patiently as I push the basket into his arms and close the boot. “I’ve brought plenty.” Staggering slightly under the sudden weight, he believes me. I laugh at him and start to walk towards the sand. “Come on.”

“You could at least help me carry it!” he calls after me. I just grin.

Down on the beach, Greg lowers the basket onto the sand. I drop my towel and look out into the water. “Where are Ryan and Colin?” Greg moves to stand at my side, pointing ahead. I follow the line of his arm to see the men in question bobbing up and down in a gentle wave. I have to squint to know it’s them; the beach is pretty busy even in the late afternoon.

“So why a picnic dinner?” Greg wonders as we move to set up. “Why not lunch?”

“I like the beach better in the afternoons,” I say with a shrug, stretching out a blanket to sit on and stop the sand getting into our meal. “There’s less people.” And the sun hits the water so strikingly in the next few hours, casting fantastic beams of light across the rolling ocean landscape. “We get to have it to ourselves.”

“Well, I’m not complaining,” Greg says, as Ryan and Colin approach us from the shoreline. “I’ve never been one for beach crowds. Besides, it’s all kinda romantic at night.” I give him a funny sort of questioning smile. But he might as well not have said anything out of the ordinary. Greg is known to come out with weird lines like that; people barely acknowledge it anymore.

“Brad. You should have turned up earlier,” says Colin, in way of a greeting. “You could have had a swim before we start eating.”

“Still could,” I say.

“No, you’ll miss out on the food!” Ryan says, patting my shoulder so firmly I have to promptly sit down. He gives me a playful smile so infectious it’s impossible to resist returning it.

So we sit down to a kind of early, but very satisfying, dinner of chicken and salad. I’ve packed dessert too. Colin seems particularly happy about the strawberries, which is nice to see.

Later we watch the sun begin to set on the horizon. The sky is tinged with deep orange, and splashes of pink, reflecting artfully onto the surface of the brine. Clearly feeling that he has waited long enough after eating, Greg grasps a mass of seaweed and brandishes it at a laughing Colin, chasing him maniacally into the water.

For a little while, Ryan and I sit without speaking, and watch the other two with silent amusement. In my peripherals I see Ryan moving, and upon looking around I see that he has turned to face me. He offers me a mild smile and tilts his head, but says nothing. I smile back, but can’t help feeling a little uncomfortable. He’s just…looking at me. I turn my head back to the water but I can tell his eyes are still on me.

After a moment he opens his mouth. “Well, this was pretty fun, Brad.” There’s a little gap between the bulk of the sentence and my name. The corner of my lip quirks a little. I look over at him.

“Yeah?” It’s reassuring. Admittedly, I had doubts about whether a picnic on the beach was a good idea. It’s sort of childish, and although we’ve had childish get-togethers before, this time it was my suggestion we were following through on. But if Ryan thinks it was fun, then it was worth it. Somehow his opinion seems powerful – he’s always so quiet on his feelings, but he can sway the rest of us so easily on the occasion that he does reveal his thoughts. And it never seems like he’s lying to make you feel better.

“Hey,” he says suddenly, interrupting the short stretch occupied only by my thoughts and the sight of a quickly darkening sky, “what if we stayed here?”

“Huh?” I raise a quizzical eyebrow. “You mean, all night?” He shrugs with a dopey grin. “It’d get way too cold, though, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he says, shrugging again and looking off to the side. “Yeah, I guess it would. Never mind, then.”

I study his face. He has a vague sort of half-smile on, but he’s definitely disappointed. “Well, maybe not, though,” I say hopefully, trying to cheer him up. “We could light a fire. And who cares about the cold, anyway? It’d probably be really fun.” He meets my eyes questioningly. I smile optimistically at him. Slowly, he nods.

Moments later Greg and Colin come crashing back out of the waves. Shivering, Colin throws himself at his towel and wraps it around himself with a grin, while Greg walks calmly over to where we sat.

“I think I’m ready to go,” Greg comments, looking around. “It’s getting late. And cold.” Ryan and I exchange glances.

“Me and Ryan were thinking about staying here for the night,” I say. “You don’t wanna hang around?”

“Stay out here, all night?” Greg paraphrases doubtfully. “Well, normally…yeah, but, I’m so tired, and I didn’t bring anything warm to wear.”

“We’ll have a bonfire,” Ryan eggs.

Greg’s face twists up in thought. “Eh… Sorry. I should really go home.”

I nod understandingly. “We’ll get together again.”

“Colin?” Ryan turns to Colin, who has been quiet the whole time. Now he adjusts his towel over his shoulders and looks up at the sky.

“Uh, I think I’m gonna go, too.” He shrugs and smiles at Ryan and me. “Sorry, guys.”

“That’s okay,” Ryan says, with a slight bob of his head. “Me and Brad will just stay for a while.”

“Ooh, alone together, on the beach, in the evening?” Greg says wickedly. “How romantic.” I laugh at the seeming absurdity; Ryan gives Greg a mockingly disdainful look.

Before too long, a dark blue tint colours the sky, and I can see the moon brightening above us. The last of the other beach-goers are packing up and leaving. Ryan and I have split up to scout the beach for interesting junk. I find a shell that looks like a funny moustache; with a breath of laughter at it, I look across to where Ryan is standing, some distance away with his feet in the shallow, lapping water. I toss the shell back over my shoulder and walk towards him. The shadows of the evening make his figure seem dark and lonely. I’m quite sure he’s really neither, but it’s a pretty image nonetheless.

He greets me with a little wave. I smile at him. He takes a step towards me and suddenly falls; before I have time to react he’s on his backside. A little splash of water sprays merrily at my shins. I laugh loudly in surprise, and move to help him up.

“Stupid seaweed,” he laughs, kicking away the offending plant. He doesn’t seem to mind that much that he’s fallen. He accepts my assistance, though he doesn’t really need it, and I pull him to his feet. We stand an inch or two apart, still grinning and chortling stupidly, his breath huffing on my neck warmly. We lock gazes for an instant. My stomach tightens; my heart forgets its rhythm for half a second.

I realise I’m still holding his hand.

He looks like he’s going to kiss me.

He tries to take a step away; mildly irritated by that I tighten my grip on his hand, which makes him pause. We stare at each other for a few short seconds. Feeling light and warm and only slightly uncertain, I lean my head forwards and catch his lips in mine. His mouth twitches under my touch, as if he hadn’t thought I’d act, but then he moves his lips deliberately, kissing back. His hands move to softly hold my back. I place mine directly on his hips and push us closer together. His nose taps my cheek and I giggle, breaking the kiss. Ryan pulls his head back. I want to meet his eyes, but they’re closed. So I settle for kissing him again.

I’m not going to lie. I’ve had fantasies along these lines. Not always Ryan, but often. Usually when I’ve imagined myself with him we’ve been in the green room after the show, or at my house, or even once in the change room of a clothing store. But there’s something about the romance of the beach at night that hadn’t crossed my mind until tonight. And it’s captivating.

Ryan pulls me closer against him, holding me tighter. His tongue slips forward, parting my lips. It’s exciting. But I don’t want him to take the lead – that’s not the way I’ve pictured it. So I roll my tongue over his firmly, putting him in his place, while at the same time I slide my hands down to grasp his butt. He makes a small noise of surprise. That encourages me, and I grind forwards with my hips, rubbing up against him, provoking twin arousals. Ryan pulls away from the kiss to rest his cheek against mine, avoiding my eyes. I ignore that and shift so that one of my legs is between his, and vice versa. Then I rub against him again; this time, he moans a little and pulls at the fabric of my shirt.

I back off further into the water, grinning. He gives me a look of confusion and dazed need. I glance down; his shorts are tented impressively, and my grin grows as I look back up. This time he meets my eyes, and even in the dark he must be able to clearly see the look on my face, because his resolve seems to stiffen as he splashes through the water towards me.

He reached me, pulls me into his arms, and with a mischievous grin I lean heavily against him so that we tumble down into the sand and shallow ocean. Salt water licks and splashes around us. Ryan and I laugh together; I straddle his hips and silence the mirthful sound with another, deeper kiss to the lips. Now he tastes like the sea, and vaguely something sweet and rich from dessert. Cold water makes my skin break out in goosebumps, but where our bodies meet it’s hot and wonderful. The contrast makes me shiver, and to further make up for the cold I buck forward with my hips again, humming in the back of my throat at the sensation.

Ryan runs his hand up my back, under my shirt, as I lift my head away from him to stare at him. Water laps eagerly at his cheeks and over his neck. His hair hangs sodden around his face, and he looks at me with kind eyes. He looks at me that way and it’s as if he really cares about me. I grin at the idea. Maybe he does. It’s not so crazy.

I dip my head down again and lick his nose playfully. He bursts into laughter and tries to sit up, but I hold him down and nuzzle my nose against his. He chuckles, his breath coming out short and hot against my lips.

“Ryan…” I say lowly. The amusement and affection on my face is just as clear in my voice.

“Mhm?” he says, recovering from his laughter. His response becomes a short, quiet moan; I’ve continued to rub against him. The feeling is electric but I won’t keep it up for long. I want to go all the way.

“Love me?” I ask, more out of curiosity than out of a necessity to know the answer before we go on. I’d want to keep going even if he said he didn’t care for me. This moment is too perfect to let go of.

But there’s a beat when Ryan doesn’t answer. He arches his chest against me and then pulls me back down towards him, kissing at my neck. I bury my head in his hair and give him a moment.

He’ll answer. And I know exactly what he’ll say.