IV.
"This is even better than winning the game!" the blond exulted.
"I like talking with you a lot!" the brunet smiled.
"Well, it's not that we have talked much," Dom made him notice, laughing.
"That's true, but I like listening to you," Matt pointed out, looking at him straight in the eyes. "You know, the other children are not as good as you," he muttered, wiping out his own name written in the sand with a sudden wave of his hand.
"Oh no, please, don't pay much attention to those kids, I know them. You know, when I came here for the first time it was me who they made fun of, but then we became friends, and now I guess I am their leader!" Dom chuckled, pompous.
Matthew smiled, but then he opened his clear sky eyes wide.
"Do you come here very often?" he asked the other kid curiously.
"Every summer!" Dom replied with a grin.
"Oh. Instead, we go to a different place each year, dad likes changing, he feels trapped if he spends too much time in the same place." Matt explained.
"Too bad. So you won't come back here." His new friend pouted.
"I'm afraid I won't." The other grieved a little bit. "But I'll still come back here tomorrow!" he rejoiced afterwards.
"Oh, I'll come back, too, it will be our last day here," Dom informed him, all enthusiastic.
"So we're going to meet again!" Matt beamed.
Dom nodded happily, before glancing at the clock of the beach bar which marked the fateful hour.
His happiness increased.
"It's four o'clock, so it means that I can finally swim!" he exulted. "Can you, too? Please, say yes!" he asked his new friend, eagerly.
"Of course I can. I could have done it even before," the brunet revealed with a smirk.
"Great! So..."
"The last one who reaches the sea will be kidnapped by the Zetas!" Matthew yelled, anticipating him, running towards the shore with a snicker.
Dominic did not understand what that funny kid was babbling about, but he ran as fast as he could.
He had almost reached Matt, but stopped when he saw him stop and retrace his steps.
"You can go there, Dom, I'll just wait here," Matthew muttered, while he was surpassing the blond.
Only when he looked in front of him, Dominic figured out everything: there were the other children and they had already begun to stare at Matt, as they gave accomplices jabs to each other.
But Dominic already knew what to do.
Without saying a word, he grabbed Matt by the hand and led him towards the other children.
"Look, he is my friend, did you understand?" The blond turned to them with a cold tone and a glacial look, which was something that he had ever used before. "So you have a choice: treat him well and play with us as it should be... or you'll have to go!" he rebuked them.
Puffing, muttering and launching the latest series of mean glares at Matt, who still did not understand what was going on, the other children came out of the water, searching for a refuge as far as possible.
"You were not kidding when you said you were their leader!" Matt commented. "You are so lucky, they all respect you." He smiled, but it was a sad smile and also Dom noticed that.
"Come on, don't talk like that. I am sure that one day you too will become a great leader and will command everyone, and everyone will love you and will do anything you want," he heartened him.
"I do not know, Dom... I'm always so alone..." the brunet sighed unhappily and upset.
Dominic performed an instinctive gesture and hugged him tightly, shaking his shoulders.
Following an instinct equally spontaneous urge, Matthew rested his head on his shoulder.
"Now you're not alone anymore, you have me," the blond murmured.
When Matt raised his head, on his face there was a new, bright smile.
Dominic ran with him until the water came just above their knees and they dived among waves, splashes and giggles.
"And now try to fight my super splash!" Dom warned Matthew, right before turning his back to him and bending to be able to splash the brunet, using both arms, with a motion similar of a dog who digs a hole.
Matthew swam away as fast as he could, trying to change the area.
"It's useless to run away, you cannot escape from my super splash!" Dom chuckled. "Why don't you ask for help from your Seta friends?"
"It's the Zetas and nope, they are not my friends, quite the contrary!" Matt protested.
"Then who are they?" the other frowned, stopping his motions to splash the brunet.
"Never mind," the other kid replied, before splashing Dom back in his own way.
Matthew couldn't even remember the last time when he had had so much fun.
Having decided that they had teased each other enough in the water, the two children returned to shore, laughing, each momentarily heading to their respective umbrellas, to wrap themselves inside the towel.
"Are you having fun, huh, Dommie?" his mother smiled at him, looking up from her magazine.
"A lot! Can I return to shore?" the son politely asked, while he was rubbing himself with the towel.
"Sure, you can, dear, but be careful not to get sunburn," the woman warned him, concerned.
Not far away, a similar scene was repeating.
"I told you that you would have had a very good time here, did you see that you've already found a new friend?" Matt's mother smiled at her younger son.
"Yes and I'm so happy... I'm going to have a little picnic with him!" the child informed her, taking off his T-shirt, now soaked, and wrapping himself inside a towel, quickly.
The two children met each other again on shore, in front of the remains of the musical instruments that they had drawn.
"You know, Dom, I could never manage to eat all this, do you want to split it in two with me?" Matt offered, opening with a popping sound the packet with a croissant stuffed with chocolate.
Dom accepted that offer willingly and, even though it was crushed in several spots and had been exposed to the sun more than allowed, it seemed to the blond the most delicious snack in the world.
"Tomorrow I'll take you to my umbrella and I'll ask my mum if sometimes you can come to my house, so I'll show you my drum kit!" the little drummer suggested, devouring the last bite.
"It would be amazing. And I will ask my mum if you can come to my house, so maybe we'll play something together," Matt suggested, daydreaming.
-
Among chat, games and many big projects, the time flew sadly fast and it was time for Dom to go.
On the second call from his mother, he decided not to make her wait any longer.
"Too bad I have to go. See you tomorrow, Matt!" Dom said to him, running to his umbrella, where within a few minutes he was ready to gather all his stuff and leave the beach.
"Please, tomorrow can we come here a little earlier and go away a little later?" the child asked to his parents, as he climbed inside the car.
"Yes please, I also want to spend more time here, there was a boy who is very good with the balloon!" Dom's sister, Emma, supported her little brother's request.
Their mother's face darkened a little bit, while their dad set the car in motion.
"Kids, I'm afraid that 's not possible. Dad has been called from work, his colleague is sick and Dad must replace him urgently. We must leave tonight. I'm sorry," the woman gave them the bad news.
"No!" a very disappointed Dominic almost screamed, with tears in his eyes as he looked outside from the window the beach becoming gradually an invisible spot.
Matthew did not know that the day after he would no longer meet his new friend.
Matthew could not even predict that Fate already had a definite plan for the two of them, he couldn't know that they would meet again, in another place, after many years, forgetful of their first real encounter and that together they would have realized something important, something that would leave an indelible mark.
Matthew could not even begin to imagine how Dominic would become indispensable to him and vice versa.
As he watched the little boy go away, Matthew was certain of one thing only: he did not hate the summer so much anymore.
-
END
Yes, I know bitter-sweet ending :/ (actually I'm thinking about writing a short Future!fic sequel … I just don't feel like leaving them like this :/ would you like it? ^^ ) but I hope you enjoyed this little story anyway ^^