Kalmin looked out to the beach from the patio. Behind the little white-picketed fences in the luscious green backyard sand glittered and water shimmered. Boats swayed lazily by the docks and seagulls wailed in the distance. There was a gentle breeze that spun little toy windmills and jingled little chimes. The sun beat down on him, sweat dripping down his temple, which ultimately led him back into the cool beach house once again. The air conditioned breeze wrapped around him like a gentle hug, chilling his skin wonderfully. Everyone from the trip inside were relaxing about, tired from the long and hot trip, chatting quietly or scrolling through their phones. Aaron and Gabriel were packing up the fridge with food and booze, and Kalmin walked over to say hello. They had a small chat about how pretty it was today, and how tomorrow was when they were going to really party. Without even discussing it, everyone today was going to take it easy. Maybe they’ll play some games in the evening, but for the afternoon people were going to relax. Kalmin ended the conversation with his co-workers after stealing a juice box and decided to wander about. The first level of the home was spacious and bright, large long windows stretching across the house to reveal the blue lake across the horizon. The window seats were soft and relaxing, but Kalmin was only taking Renee and Raven’s words for it since both of them were passed out on them. The couches sunk deep and were large, housing six people on them now with pillows for twenty. The kitchen was suited for a party, wide enough for people to pass through with ease. There were a few bedrooms downstairs, however, most of the rooms were upstairs. The rooms were also big and spacious, king-sized beds for the couples in most rooms and a big room for six people, equipped with large bunk beds.

Kalmin was going to venture to the third floor where there was the entertainment like air hockey and pool tables, but he ended up passing Mira and Deimos’ room. Silently, he approached their room and stopped, peering through the open door curiously. When everyone arrived, both of them beelined for the nearest bed, exhausted from the trip. They had their bags messily dropped at the foot of their bed, and drinks and snacks casted aside on the tables. The two of them were lying sprawled across the mattress, noses nuzzled, legs wrapped around each other. Deimos dragged his hand up and down Mira’s soft thigh as she rubbed his cheek with her thumb. They were mumbling to each other, Mira occasionally leaning in to kiss Deimos softly. It was an intimate moment. Too intimate. Kalmin felt so out of place, and he felt like he was violating some sort of secret pact by just watching them cuddle in bed. Mira said something that made Deimos chuckle softly, ever so softly, that made Kalmin’s heart melt. Deimos kissed her nose and Mira hugged him gently, her hands sliding over to his ass. That was the point where Kalmin decided to leave the two of them. That was their time together, he wasn’t going to impede on their happiness.

It felt weird to see them so…loving. He knew they were in a relationship, god, with the amount of kisses Deimos gave Mira he should be sick of it now, but their dynamic felt so…platonic. Platonic in the intimate way. As if they’ve been friends for centuries now. Kalmin didn’t know. He might be just trying to deny their relationship because he…

He what?

“How’s Mira and Deimos?” Aaron asked suddenly. Kalmin found himself in the kitchen again. He blinked at his friend and cleared his throat.

“They’re sleeping. Probably don’t disturb them,” he said evenly.

“Ok,” he nodded slowly. Gabriel finished lining up the last of the beer cans and closed the fridge with a little thud. He pushed his hair out of his face and smiled at Kalmin.

“How was the drive since the last time we asked you?” He chirped.

Kalmin smiled. “Pretty good. We all did impressions of our moms, and apparently Mira and Deimos can’t skate.”

Aaron barked a laugh. “Oh no, did you..?”

“Offer to teach them, yes,” Kalmin said immediately. Gabriel barked a laugh.

“Oh god, good luck.” He scrunched his face and shook his head. “When Mira and I were dating, skating dates were absolutely not a thing.”

For a moment, Kalmin forgot that Gabriel was the couple’s ex. Aaron seemed unfazed, which was a good sign that the two of them have talked about this before, but Kalmin probably went too quiet for too long. Gabriel looked at him oddly and sat on the counter calmly.

“How bad is she?” Aaron asked for Gabriel’s sake.

“Bad,” he replied with a chuckle. “She’s like a newborn lamb, she wobbles and can’t stand up straight. On ice, she always needs to hold onto someone.”

Kalmin and Aaron laughed, but Gabriel rolled his eyes at them.

“It might seem cute, and it was the first time because we were brats, and I got a thrill holding her hand so easily, but the amount of times she dragged me down when she wiped out was not pretty.”

Aaron glanced at him. “Have fun,” he sneered.

“I will,” Kalmin laughed and rolled his eyes. He leaned against Aaron and sipped at his juice box. “How was your guys’ ride?”

“Daniel and Annie sang a lot,” Aaron commented.

Gabriel snickered. “The whole van for a solid hour was singing and harmonizing,” he added. “Renee and Micheal roasted each other after that on who was the best singer.”

“Do you have any photos of this?” Kalmin laughed.

Gabriel slid off the counter. “I totally do, just a sec.” Quickly, he grabbed his camera bag casted aside the huge pile of bags in behind the couch and returned to Kalmin’s side. With a little click, the old camera turned on and Gabriel hastily clicked through the various pictures he took. Some were of the roads, the mountains, the trees, Aaron with his flower crown, and eventually a video of the whole van shaking as they sang to Life is a Highway. Kalmin burst out laughing like Gabriel in the video as Renee and Annie stole the show and harmonized. It was cute. Everyone was wild. Micheal and Daniel rapped to Nicki Minaj and Aaron drummed on the seat. Since Gabriel was an experienced photographer, he snagged beautiful photos of everyone. Little magic moments. Beautiful smiles, glimmering eyes, serene expressions.

“You’re really great at this photography thing,” Kalmin pointed out.

Gabriel looked at him oddly. “Well, yeah. Kinda my thing like how hockey is to you.”

“Take my compliment you jerk,” he laughed, elbowing him playfully. “When I think great photographer, I think of Ray-bans, cuffed jeans and a clean camera with a huge lens. Not a Hawaiian shirt and that old, scuffed up thing.”

“Ouch,” Aaron whispered.

“I’ve had this baby for six years,” Gabriel said proudly. “We’ve grown up together.”

“Have any nudes on there?” Aaron joked.

Gabriel snorted and shot him a devilish look. Kalmin shrunk away between the both of them, feeling the sexual tension between the two. Fortunately, Aaron hasn’t boasted about his sexcapades with Gabriel (yet), so no horrid images popped up and made the mood weird.

“No, but I’ve got just random photos from other trips and such. This is my travel camera,” Gabriel redirected the conversation. “I’ve got photos from when I was a high schooler.”

“Ooh, let’s go down memory lane, I wanna see baby Gabriel,” Aaron said excitedly. He poked his head over Kalmin’s shoulder to get a closer look at the little monitor. There were many photos from the greenery earlier in the day of everyone in their beautiful flower crowns. Gabriel snagged a photo of Kalmin, Deimos and Mira goofing around a rose-covered arch, and the photographer wiggled his eyebrows at him. The three of them were laughing again, Deimos with his arm around Kalmin’s shoulders and Mira laughing into his chest. It was a cute photo. It looked like they’ve been friends for years, even though it’s been more than a month since they’ve met. It was weird. Kalmin connected to them the same way he connected to Aaron.

After they breezed through the current road trip series, there was a large compilation of landscape shots. Apparently Gabriel lived in the Maritimes for a bit and took many photos of the coast. Other shots were from hiking and backpacking with his long-time friends and some were even taken in Iceland and Thailand. Gabriel saved a bunch to go traveling after he graduated. He even went to Japan and took millions of photos of the neon-lit streets and dark alleyways. Then there was graduation photos of Gabriel with his family. His two moms hugged him tightly as he held his diploma proudly. Gabriel smiled warmly at the photo. Then Mira appeared.

“Oh my god, she’s so cute with long hair,” Aaron said immediately.

Kalmin’s guts twisted. These photos…felt surreal. As if he’s seen them already.

Gabriel had hoisted her up bridal style in their black gowns, bright smiles on their faces. Mira was kissing his cheek, her lips red and hair long. Ridiculously long. Raven black hair cascaded down her shoulders to her hips. Her glasses were the same, big and adorable on her face. Both of them looked absolutely in love.

“She’s just cute, period,” Gabriel pointed out. “But, yeah, she’s pretty cute with long hair. She chopped it all off after graduation.”

“Makes sense,” Kalmin laughed. “I can imagine her now painting and hating her long hair.”

She had long hair.

She had long hair?

Kalmin knew that.

Something similar to nostalgia washed over him.

And it had to do with something about that dream.

“Bullseye,” Gabriel snickered.

There were other graduation photos with Raven and the bunch, all of them rejoicing in the summer sun. Then, it immediately changed. Bright sunshine was replaced with the dim, ghostly blue light of a transit bus. Mira was in frame, at the end of an empty bus, her feet hiked up onto a neighbouring seat as she looked out to the pink sky. Her skin glowed blue because of the eerie lighting, her expression serene and mysterious. Her long hair slipped down her arms, leading Kalmin’s eyes to her hips. She was wearing black high-waisted shorts and a pink crop top, a sliver of bronze skin exposed between the articles of clothing. She looked beautiful. Familiar. Nostalgic.

“You’re a really great photographer,” Kalmin murmured softly.

There were other beautiful mysterious bus photos of Mira. Some had her hair up in a bun, others had her dark eyes staring straight at the lens. Gabriel captured her at different moments. Moments of quietness and relaxation. Moments of intensity and curiosity. It startled Kalmin how beautiful she was. There was this sense of innocence to her stare, yet darkness underneath those deep eyes. Gabriel caught photos of her standing in line in a café, biking down a sun-cracked street, in a studio working on a painting, and sleeping in bed. She was Gabriel’s muse. There was no way denying that. There were beautiful shots of Raven and Annie, or Cameron and Lee, or of random strangers on the street, but nothing could compare from the amount of shots Gabriel had of Mira. It also didn’t help that there were many photos of Gabriel and Mira as a couple.

“We had an on-and-off relationship in high school,” Gabriel murmured.

Kalmin could tell they definitely had an intense relationship in high school. There was a shot of them cuddling on the bus, hugging in libraries, kissing in the rain. Kalmin wondered if Gabriel was really over her, and moreover, if Gabriel romantically loved her. He did say he was aromantic, but the photos said otherwise. But maybe Kalmin was looking too much into it.

He didn’t know what to feel.

Before he knew it, Gabriel was clicking through grade eleven photos were he had a wildly different hair style. He had a buzz cut and Aaron burst out laughing at the sight of him. Gabriel groaned remembering it.

“I buzzed my hair for a cancer charity thing, ok,” he justified. There were photos of Mira kissing his buzzed head. A few more photos of the city and then they had gotten to the first, and the oldest thing Gabriel had on his camera. It was a video.

“Is it recording?” Mira asked. Her voice was a little higher than Kalmin expected.

“Yes it is, you dork,” Gabriel chuckled sweetly.

Mira and Gabriel were crammed in frame, younger and excitable, big smiles on their face. Mira had different glasses, black-framed and circular. Her hair was still long, and it tangled around her neck and Gabriel’s chest. Gabriel’s head was freshly buzzed still, and he had an eyebrow piercing. Mira cuddled into his chest, biting his ear playfully has Gabriel adjusted the settings and focus.

“Hello world,” Gabriel said to the camera. “Meet my stupid girlfriend.”

“Hey!” Mira laughed. She glanced at the camera. “Hi world, meet my stupider boyfriend.” She burst out laughing and covered her face. “Oh my god, what are we doing?”

“Saying hello,” Gabriel said matter-of-fact. “Also immortalizing this moment.”

“God, our first Valentines together isn’t that important.”

“What are you saying!? It’s like the most important thing in the world!”

Mira sighed and whined into his chest. “Ok, it sort of is,” she admitted. Then, she spoke softly, “I’m just embarrassed.”

“Of what?” Gabriel laughed. He looked surprised.

“Ah! Stop smiling! This is weird, ok! You’re my first male partner, you jerk,” she stuttered out. Gabriel’s expression softened and the widest, brightest smile stretched across his face. Kalmin has never seen such a glorious smile on his face before.

Gabriel kissed the side of her head and she looked up at him with a pout. The longer they stared at each other, the softer Mira’s expression became. Then, the two of them kissed. It was slow and gentle, Mira’s eyes fluttering closed and cheeks burning pink. They parted softly, lips sticking together and bouncing off. Gabriel’s control of the camera wavered as their faces got out of frame. They got half of their faces as Gabriel nuzzled their noses together and he kissed her again.

“I love you,” Mira said softly.

The video cut.

The three of them were silent.