Hyde decided to take Rune to the beach. Rune had shown him what his town is like, now Hyde wanted to show him more of Corburn. Hyde loved going to the beach as a kid, he wanted to share that with Rune. But Rune couldn’t get the full beach experience during the day, so they went after sundown.

They walked on the sand towards the water. Both were barefoot and wore swimming trunks and a t-shirt. Hyde had given Rune some of his clothes again. They both had a big towel with them. Rune stared down at his feet with an uncomfortable look.

Hyde frowned. “What?”

“I never walk barefoot, it feels weird.”

Hyde chuckled. “It’ll feel weirder in the water.”

Rune tugged at his swimming trunks. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve never worn shorts before?”

Hyde was taken aback, then he squinted. “Well, considering what you are and where you’re from, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I had never worn a winter coat before we went to Enath.”

“Heh, yeah.”

They arrived at the edge of the sea. The waves were calm, making relaxing sounds. The moonlight shimmered in the water.

“Is it a good idea to go swimming in the sea in the dark?” Rune asked, worried.

“No. But we won’t swim, just play around in the water. No deeper than our knees.”

“Alright.”

They left their folded towels on the sand and approached the water. Hyde walked in, up to his ankles. Rune seemed unsure. Hyde breathed out a chuckle. “Come on, don’t be a chicken.”

“Is it cold?”

“No.”

Rune only hummed and rubbed his arm.

Hyde frowned. “Have you gone swimming before?”

Rune huffed. “Yeah, in indoor pools. Not the sea!”

Hyde gave him a sweet smile and held his hand out to him. “There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Rune took a deep breath and grabbed his hand.

Hyde pulled him closer, his feet into the water. “See? Not cold.”

“Yeah.”

Hyde went deeper, to his shins, water sloshing along. He pulled Rune with him again.

Rune chuckled nervously. “Nothing to be afraid of,” he repeated to himself.

“Unless you’re scared of fish and crabs biting at your toes,” Hyde teased with a smirk.

Rune glared at him. Hyde snickered and pulled him closer, leaving barely any room between them. “What? Afraid of a little crab?”

Rune turned his shoulder to Hyde. “It’s not my fault I didn’t grow up with the sea.”

“Oh, come on.” Hyde put his arms around Rune’s waist, his chin on his shoulder. “Don’t be so grumpy. This is supposed to be fun.”

Rune stared at him with wide eyes, giving off a raspberry red glow brighter than the moon. He composed himself with a playfully raised brow. “Fun, huh? Standing around in water?”

“What, you’re not having a good time? Need some help with that?”

“I don’t know how you’d be planning to do that.”

“Wanna find out?”

Rune scoffed as a challenge. “I’d like to see you try.”

Hyde gave a small pinch in Rune’s side, making Rune yelp and jump away, into Hyde. Hyde stepped back to catch himself from the sudden force against him. He laughed a little.

“Or maybe I should let the crabs help me.” He began poking and softly pinching Rune’s waist, stomach and the small of his back, making Rune squirm against him while he tried to hold his laughter in. Hyde switched to tickling instead and smiled as he watched Rune unable to hold his laughter back.

Rune made himself small, pulling his arms against himself, his legs twitching around. “Hyde!” he managed to laugh out.

“What?” Hyde leaned his chin back on his shoulder with a grin.

Rune tried to get more words out of his mouth. He lost his balance with a yelp. He grabbed Hyde’s arm, he fell down into the water with a big splash and brought Hyde down with him. Hyde yelled as he fell on his stomach, on top of Rune.

Hyde pushed himself up on his hands and coughed. He rubbed the salt water out of his eyes. He saw Rune below him, leaning on his elbows between Hyde’s arms and rubbing his eyes too. Rune pushed his soaked hair back, out of his face, and looked up at Hyde.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Hyde stared at him through the wet, dripping hair in front of his eyes; frozen, his cheeks heating up. Rune blushed. He moved his hand out of the water and softly ran his hand over the middle of Hyde’s chest, admiring it through the soaked fabric. He brushed his fingers through Hyde’s hair, pushing it back too, revealing his face. Rune gave him a shy smile. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Hyde managed to breathe out. He leaned closer to Rune. He rested his forehead against his. Rune gazed into his golden eyes, his lips slightly parted. Hyde didn’t move.

He breathed in sharply as he felt like a rock sank in his stomach. He moved away and sat back. He ruffled his wet hair and stared off into the horizon. He heard the water sloshing around as Rune changed his sitting position too. He glanced at him. Rune sat leaned forward now, with his arms in his lap. He had a confused look on his face. Hyde looked at their towels on the sand. “We… we should head home, it’s late. We have to shower, too.”

Rune frowned and glanced down. “Oh.”

Hyde stood up. He held his hand out for Rune to grab. Rune took it and Hyde pulled him to his feet. Hyde walked to the towels, trying his best to not look at Rune’s torso through his soaked shirt. He grabbed his and rubbed his face dry, then dried his hair a bit. Rune picked his towel up too and dried his face.

They walked to the house in a tense silence.

----------------------------------------

Hyde laid on his stomach in his bed, freshly showered, eyes wide open.

What had he done? He shouldn’t have tried to initiate a kiss if he wasn’t ready to go through with it. He was afraid of things being weird between them if they kissed, but this was so much worse. They hadn’t said a word to each other after they got out of the water. Rune must be so confused, maybe even upset.

Hyde hadn’t been sure if they were on the same page. But Rune didn’t push him away, he more so leaned into it. He had no issue with the way Hyde was touching him the whole time, with how close they were. But he had never had an issue with that, so did that mean much?

Should he have kissed him? The way Rune had looked at him and touched him, it was like he was waiting for it. It would have been such a cute moment, too.

Hyde lifted his head up and repeatedly bonked his face into his pillow.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Stupid anxiety.

He placed his chin on his pillow with a sigh.

He won’t be able to sleep tonight. Not unless he can fix things between them. He wanted to talk about this with someone. And the only person he wanted to talk to was Rune.

He took a deep breath and pushed himself up. He got off the bed and walked out of his room.

He went to the door next to his and opened it slightly. He saw Rune laid on his back. Rune turned his head to him.

“Oh, you’re awake, too,” Hyde said, hushed.

Rune let out a confirming but questioning hum.

Hyde looked into the hallway, checking if anyone saw him. “I-eh.” He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door with a frown. “I can’t sleep.” He glanced up at Rune. “Can we talk?”

Hyde saw Rune’s eyes light up brighter, literally. He sat up with a relieved smile. “Yeah.” He pulled the covers aside and pat the space next to him. “Come here.”

Hyde took the seat. They both sat against the headboard, Rune threw the covers over their legs.

Hyde sighed and began, “Tayen asked me why I didn’t want to stay in Corburn, when she took me on that walk.”

Rune raised his eyebrow. “Why don’t you?”

“Because it wouldn’t be fair to you. She suggested you could go to Enath on your own, but I hadn’t even considered us separating. Cause I—” Hyde glanced at him. “I don’t want to be separated from you. You put my mind at ease,” he finished with a whisper.

Rune smiled. He brushed their knees together and said, “I don’t want to be separated, either. You make me feel safe and wanted.”

Hyde smiled back. He moved closer, making their hips touch, and laid his head on Rune’s shoulder.

They sat in more silence, but less tense. Hyde rubbed his face against Rune’s shoulder. Rune reached out and grabbed his hand.

Hyde took a deep breath, he lifted his head back up and built up the courage to begin again, “At the beach.”

Rune tensed and looked away.

“Did you want—”

“Why didn’t you kiss me?”

Hyde was startled. “I… I was about to ask if you had wanted me to.”

Rune turned back to him, upset. “I could not have made it clearer that I did, other than kissing you myself.”

Now Hyde looked away with tense shoulders. “I wasn’t sure if we were on the same page.”

“What gave you the impression that we weren’t?”

“I don’t know!” Hyde turned to him again. “You know how anxious I get. I don’t have any experience in this, I don’t know what hints to look for. I didn’t wanna make things weird, I didn’t know if you’d want me to kiss you, I—”

Rune laughed a little. Hyde’s face flushed in embarrassment. Rune saw it and grabbed his hand again. “No, sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just—” He looked away with a blush. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for weeks, now.”

Hyde was taken aback. “Weeks?”

Rune nodded with a shy smile.

Hyde stared at him, flustered and flabbergasted.

Rune chuckled. He placed his hand on Hyde’s cheek and rubbed his stubble with his thumb. “You’re cute,” he whispered. He leaned in and pressed their lips together.

Hyde inhaled sharply as a shock of anxiety went through him. Rune pulled away, keeping their foreheads together, and moved his hand down to Hyde’s chin. He caressed his bottom lip. “Relax. We both want this, right?”

Hyde nodded.

“Then take a deep breath, it’s alright.”

Hyde breathed in, and slowly breathed out. Rune smiled. He kissed him again. Hyde closed his eyes and kissed back, his chest fluttered, his stomach filled with excited nerves. Rune moved his hand to the back of Hyde’s neck, pulling him closer and stroking the short hair. Hyde grabbed a hold of Rune’s shirt, not wanting him to move away.

Rune broke the kiss. Hyde tried to reconnect their lips, but Rune turned his head as he said, “Hang on,” letting Hyde’s kiss end up on his cheek.

“What?”

Rune pushed Hyde’s knees down and straddled his lap. Hyde stared up at him, face burning. Rune leaned his head down to Hyde’s with a breathy chuckle. He grabbed Hyde’s hands and placed them on his hips, then put his own hands on Hyde’s cheeks and pressed their lips together again. Hyde moved his hands up to Rune’s back, afraid to move them down for now. He let his hands explore under his shirt, Rune arched his back and kissed him deeper.

Rune pulled away and gazed into Hyde’s eyes as he panted. Hyde tried to catch his breath too, he smiled. Rune carefully stroked his thumb below Hyde’s eye, causing Hyde to pinch his eyelid closed. Rune frowned.

“What?” Hyde whispered.

“How about we call it a night?”

“Why?”

“It’s well past your bedtime. You have bags below your eyes.”

Hyde glared up at him. “I’m not a child.”

Rune removed his hands from Hyde’s face and sat back. “Are you telling me you’re not tired?”

Hyde sighed. “Fine.” He grabbed the bottom of Rune’s shirt. “I’m staying here, though.”

Rune smiled. He got off Hyde’s lap, sitting beside him. He grabbed his chin and turned his face to him. “I wouldn’t want anything else.” He pecked his lips, then laid down.

He glanced up at Hyde, he held his arm out to him. Hyde laid down against Rune’s side. Rune threw the covers over them again and wrapped his arm around Hyde, he kissed the top of his hair and rubbed his cheek against it.

Hyde took a deep breath. He ran his fingers over Rune’s chest a few times before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.