Back to the Beach

"Hello...?" Paige said, waving her arm in front of my face.

"Huh? Wha-? I'm awake!" I suddenly said, confused.

"Wow, you were either asleep with your eyes open or lost in thought about something again," Paige said with a chuckle. "I was trying to tell you that I'm gonna go in the water, don't let anyone grab the stuff."

"Oh! Oh, yeah, go ahead," I said.

She ran out to the tides, splashing water on Anna as she did so, inducing a water war.

"Jesus, all of them are insufferable," I said to myself.

A few minutes went by. People started appearing on the beach as the heat of the day set in, but not so many people that it became crowded. It was about what you'd expect from a normal beach day at a semi-secluded Californian resort in the middle of May.

Becca came out of the water to where I was laying down after awhile, saying "Hey, I wanted to get out of the fray there."

"Yeah, one second longer and you'd've been roped into World War Three," I remarked, motioning to the growing chaos of people attacking each other with sea water.

We sat in silence for a few seconds, Becca looking like she wanted to say something, but couldn't quite find the words.

A bit later, she found a lead-in, saying "Do you remember what happened right after I came back from Belgium?"

"It's funny you should mention that," I answered with a wry smile. "I was actually just thinking about that right now."

She sighed loudly, perhaps a bit over-dramatically, but then followed it up by saying, "Look. I know it may've been really confusing, what happened there. Trust me, I wasn't in my right mind then, and I still might not be because of it. But I do know that I'm thinking clearly when I say that I love you, and I wouldn't give that up for anything. I don't want to make excuses for my shitty decision-making skills, nor do I want to make Carly or **** the scapegoats for what I did, but I can't bear to lose you."

The weight of her words continued to pile up on me. She really was trying to make up.

"And that's why", she continued, tears forming at the corners of her eyes, "I'm okay with you having another girlfriend. Even two other ones. Heck, why not go all out and be in a relationship with all nine of us? Because maybe, maybe in one of them, you can find the loyalty that I lack".

Those last eight words struck a chord, and not a consonant one.

"That's not true," I immediately said, defending her. "You lack loyalty? Not a chance. You made a bad decision at the time, I won't deny that, but the fact that you'd still stay with me even if I had another girl just shows your loyalty. Forgiveness is something that, I admit, I am a bit Laissez-Faire with, giving it to people who may not necessarily deserve it, but you are someone who is definitely deserving of forgiveness. I know you don't want to make Carly or **** your scapegoats, but I will. Carly is insanely pushy, and I'm well aware of that. I mean, I thought you were pushy, but then I met her and I was thinking 'Wow, she seems like the type of person who would stalk a person for months if they so much as looked at her funny'. And ****, I'm not as familiar with that, but again, I've probably made some stupid blunders whenever I've had too much to drink."

Those tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes had now started streaming down her cheeks.

"Becca, I love you too. More than you could ever imagine. I would be happy with just having you at the center of my life for all of eternity. That being said, you're the one who's been pushing for me to get another girlfriend, so let me ask you. Are you okay with it?"

That seemed to give her a moment of pause, seriously pondering the question that I had just presented her with. She had been okay with it back a few weeks ago when she had first told me, but was she okay with it now? If not, I would immediately break things off with Mary and whatever shenanigans Paige was trying to pull. Granted, it would probably upset them, especially when it came to Mary, but the facts of the matter are simple. If Becca wasn't okay with it, then I wouldn't be either, because she's the person who I'd be spending the rest of my life with.

"I-I am," she said softly. "I know I may come off as jealous sometimes, like what I told you when you were starting college, but I feel like just knowing that you'd be making someone else happy can make me happy too. Plus, if I get to keep you around, that's just a bonus for me".

I chuckled lightly, remembering what she said when I was entering college. Since she was a grade level behind me, she was just going into her senior year of high school then, and she texted me "Don't go off trying to get into any other girl's pants while you're over there and I'm stuck here. I'd never forgive you for that".

As I was reliving that, she came over to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and pulled me in for a deep kiss. We had kissed hundreds of times before, but this one seemed special. As our lips met, she parted hers and snaked her tongue in to meet mine. The intensity behind her quickly took over my mind, putting me at ease and making me focus on being in the moment.

After a minute or so, she pulled away from me, and I must've had the stupidest-looking grin on my face.

"You look like such an idiot," Becca teased jokingly. "You're MY idiot though. Mine and whoever else you want to add to your list of girlfriends. Just promise me that even if there'll be other girls, that I'll still be yours?"

"Of course," I assured. "You'll always be my love, my beautiful, smart, red-haired, fiery, sweet, caring love".

It was then that I heard some hooping and hollering from the shoreline.

"Yeah! You go John!" Emily shouted from the water, immediately followed by over-the-top kissy faces.

Yeah, all of you are dorks.