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Day 72 Tel Aviv, Israel

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” David asks again as he and Will walk down the street.

“Yes. Everything is going to be fine. Stop worrying!” Will says. “Now come on!”

He takes David by the hand and drags him down the street.

“Will!” David hisses. “Someone might see!”

“No one is gonna see,” Will says. “Loosen up, David!”

David sighs and tries to relax. It’s going to be fun, right?

“The beach?” he asks somewhat dubiously when he sees their destination.

“Not just any beach,” Will says, grinning at David’s awestruck expression as they step onto the sand.

As far as the eye can see are men. They’re of all shapes and sizes and nationalities. Some of them are very good looking and well-built and some of them aren’t. There are a few women, there are mostly men.

“Welcome to the Hilton Beach,” Will says. “Tel Aviv’s unofficial gay beach.”

“Are you serious?” David asks.

“Yep,” Will says brightly.

David can’t help grinning. It’s absolutely perfect. With all the gay couples around, no one will give them a second glance.

Will grins back at him. “And if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you where our private cabanas are.”

“Private…cabanas?” David repeats.

“Yep,” Will says. “You don’t want to know what I had to do to get these.” At David’s horrified look, he quickly adds, “No sex was involved in the deal, I promise. I don’t have sex for money or other favors, remember?”

“Okay,” David says and for some reason, he’s inclined to believe him.

They walk across the sand to a pair of empty cabanas sitting next to each other. They’re pretty nice with retractable tops and comfy looking cushions. Will lets go of David’s hand and plops down on one of the cushions with a sigh, his bag of stuff falling carelessly from his hand. David sits on the edge of the neighboring cabana and sets down his bag with much more care than Will. They’re quiet for a while as they take care of business; pulling off clothes so they’re left in their swim trunks and slathering on sunscreen.

“Hey Will, can you do my back for me?” David asks once he’s finished slathering sunscreen on the rest of him.

“Yeah, sure. So long as you do me too,” Will says.

“Yes of course,” David says.

Will gets up from his cabana and sits next to David. David can’t help jumping slightly when he feels Will’s hands spreading sunscreen on his back; the sunscreen is cold.

“You’re so tense,” Will murmurs in his ear. “You need to relax.”

As he rubs the sunscreen in, he massages David’s back muscles. Oh god, it feels so good. Will gives a husky laugh in his ear as David melts under his touch. His lips find the crease between David’s neck and David shudders when he feels Will’s teeth on his skin.

“Not too hard,” he groans. “Don’t leave a mark.”

“I won’t,” Will murmurs

He places several more kisses on David’s shoulder and then pulls away.

“My turn,” he says and he turns around to bare his back.

David swallows hard. He knows Will is doing it on purpose just to mess with him. He’s not going to lose control here, though this isn’t the worst place for him to lose control. He swallows again an focuses on rubbing sunscreen on Will’s smooth, flawless back. Damn it. He exhales shakily. Will turns toward him. David drops the sunscreen and kisses him, long and hard. Their little show generates some appreciative whistles and applause from some onlookers. Blushing, they break apart and turn. A small group of Israeli men in their twenties are watching them with huge grins.

“Don’t stop for our sake,” one of them says in heavily accented English.

“Yeah,” a second guy agrees. “You two are a cute couple.”

David blushes more. Will says something to the men in another language. They look slightly disappointed, but disperse.

When they’re gone, David turns to Will. “Hebrew?”

Will nods. “I’m not fluent, but I know enough.”

“What did you tell them?” David asks.

Will’s smile is all teeth. “I told them you were an escapee from a mental institution and were highly unstable.”

“Will!” David says, aghast.

Will bursts into peals of laughter. “I’m just kidding. I told them that the show was over and they should leave.”

Now that David can believe.

“You won’t tell me which languages you speak, but will you at least tell me how many?” he says. 

“Uh…eight,” Will says, looking uncomfortable again.

“Eight?!” David repeats, awestruck.

“Well, four fluently,” Will amends. “The other four are passable at best.”

“Still, that’s pretty amazing,” David says.

Will blushes. “Really? You think so?”

“Yeah,” David says.

“What if I told you I only learned those languages to try and win my parents’ approval?” Will asks, looking extremely insecure all of a sudden. He looks up at David. “The truth is, David, I was like you once. I would have done anything to try and please my parents. I tried so hard.” His voice breaks. “But it was never enough. So I gave up. Pathetic, huh?”

“Not pathetic,” David says. “Human. It’s human nature to want to please others. Just because you’ve failed to please your parents, doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. Some people are just impossible to please and it has nothing to do with you. Okay?”

Will nods and sniffles softly. David wraps his arms around him. Will rests his head on David’s shoulder. They remain that way for a while, until Will straightens up, nervously clearing his throat.

“Well, I didn’t drag you to the beach to bitch at you all day,” he says. “Let’s go get in the water.”

“All right,” David agrees.

They get up from their cabana and head for the water. There aren’t a lot of people in the water and David quickly realizes why.

“Holy shit it’s cold!” he yelps. He glares at Will, who is laughing at him. “You knew the water was going to be cold and did that on purpose. You asshole!”

Will laughs even more, confirming his suspicions. But David doesn’t stay mad for long. Soon, he’s laughing along with Will. They only wade a bit into the water; it’s far too cold for them to go any deeper than their knees.

David hasn’t forgotten his irritation with Will and splashes water at him the first chance he gets. It’s immature, but worth it as Will squawks indignantly when he’s hit with a face full of cold water.

“Ooh, I’m gonna get you for that,” he says and he splashes David right back.

A splash fight ensues until both of them are drenched and breathless with laughter.

“Come on,” Will says through chattering teeth. “Let’s go get dried off.”

David nods, his teeth also chattering. They wrap themselves in beach towels and push their cabanas as close together as possible so they can curl up together. Will falls asleep rather quickly, but David remains awake, watching him sleep. It’s amazing to see Will so calm and quiet; he’s usually full of energy. Extremely long eyelashes rest lightly on his pale cheeks and his lips are pressed together. Everything about him is soft, even his breathing. David could lay here and watch him sleep all day, if that was possible. But it’s not.

With a sigh, David glances at his phone. It’s almost noon, which means he has to start heading back into the town to meet his parents, Tessa, and her parents for lunch.

“Will,” he says, gently shaking Will. “Will, it’s time to go.”

Will utters a low groan and opens his eyes. David swears his heart skips a beat when Will’s eyes look at him

“You sure? Will asks behind a yawn.

“It’s almost quarter to noon,” David says.

“Damn,” Will mutters.

They dress in an awkward silence that suddenly descends on them. David leans over and presses his lips to Will’s for one last kiss before he hurries off to meet his parents and fiancée for lunch.