Spring has dissolved all of the remaining snow. New, green life is starting to peek through everywhere I look.

It feels like a good sign.

I stand in Raj’s driveway, hugging myself against the early morning chill, letting my eyes wander over the little shoots pushing their way up through the thawing earth. It would be a peaceful moment, except that there’s a rush of activity happening all around me. I had felt slow and tired after getting up so early, but not anymore. The buzzing hum of excitement has thoroughly taken care of that.

Aiden is tossing our bags up to Raj, who stands in the back of his truck, catching them. Noah is still in the house, double-checking that all the doors are locked, that they didn’t leave anything on.

I’ve got a few of our bags opened up, making sure that we have everything we need. Sunscreen, towels, drinks and snacks for the ride, thick round blocks of Sexwax for the surfboards.

I'm not the only one concerned about forgetting something. Raj keeps smoothing a hand over the pocket of his jacket, feeling for the ring box. He’s nervous, I can tell.

But there’s an overall upbeat energy to the group, loudness and laughter, all of us itching to go.

“Bummed that you can’t come with us, Ripples,” I tell him, zipping the bags closed.

Ripley was smiling down at Nikita, who he’s got cradled in his arms, but now he lifts his head to fix me with a pouty frown.

“I know. I convinced my dad, but my mom vetoed it.” He lets out a deep sigh, then drops his gaze back down to Nik. “At least I get to hang out with this one for a bit.”

“Thanks for watching her, Ripley.” Melanie comes up from behind him, affectionately messes up his green curls. “My mom will be here soon to pick her up. Should only be an hour or so.”

Ripley smiles at Nik, who is busy trying to grab his nose. “No problem.”

Ripley may not be coming with us, but I can see the spark of excitement in his eyes, too. Raj filled him in on the true purpose of this trip, and Ripley has been grinning ever since.

I turn to let Aiden know that he can add our bags to the truck, only to find him gone from where he was a moment ago.

“He’s in the garage,” Raj explains, when I catch his eye. “Getting the board bags.”

The garage door is closed, so I loop through the house to get there. I find Aiden at the far end of the garage, on the other side of Melanie’s car. I weave around it to join him.

“Hey! Came to see if you needed any help with the - oh.” I stop, watching as Aiden easily shoulders the cased-up surfboards. “Nevermind.”

Aiden huffs out a laugh, comes over to me, and sets the boards down again. When he straightens up, he puts his forehead against mine, takes a breath.

I hold his muscled forearms and draw back to look up at him. There’s something moving behind his blue eyes, some quiet anxiety.

I trace a thumb up his stubbled jawline. “Everything okay, Sugar Maple?”

“Mhm. Just…” He lets out a heavy exhale. “Hoping no one gets themselves into trouble while we’re out of town. I’m the Guardian, I - I’m supposed to be there, in case somebody…”

I slide my hands down Aiden's arms, gather his fingers into mine.

“Hey.” I smile up at him. “You’re being there for Raj. You’re his Guardian, this weekend. And we’ll only be gone for three days. It’s gonna be okay.”

Aiden nods slowly, then bends to put his forehead to mine again.

“Also, you’re allowed to have a little fun,” I remind him. “We both know that you could use a break.”

Aiden nibbles his lip. “I guess it’ll be nice to not worry about the exhibition for a few days.”

“There we go. Besides, we need you there to prevent surfing disasters, Guardian. I’ll probably need to be rescued at least once. Watch me end up accidentally snuggling the reef.”

Aiden huffs out another soft laugh. He presses a kiss onto my mouth, then looks up over my head. I turn to follow his gaze, and find Raj slipping into the garage.

“Hey, boys.” He pushes his black curls out of his eyes, claps his hands together. “C’mon, strategy meeting.”

We group up in front of Melanie’s car, where Raj puts one hand on each of our shoulders. Gripping us a little more tightly than strictly necessary. His deep brown eyes are nervous, blinking a lot.

“Alright, so - Mel and I are gonna ask Noah on day two of the trip,” he says. “That way we’ve got time to relax and settle in, have some fun first. And - I want us all to have a great fuckin’ time, obviously, but it’s especially important that Noah does. You know?”

“We understand, Raj,” Aiden tells him, and he nods gratefully.

“Thank you, brother. I just - I want Noah to have nothing but good memories from this weekend.” He bites his lip anxiously, looking first into my eyes, then into Aiden’s. “Think of it like the goal of this trip is to make Noah happy. This is a team uniquely qualified to do that, so I’m not worried about it, but - wherever you see an opening to make sure he’s having a good time…”

“We’ll take it,” I promise, and Raj gives our shoulders a squeeze.

“Um,” someone says, and we all lift our heads to see Noah leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded over his chest, one eyebrow quirked. “What kind of goon-ass commando squad is this?”

I realize abruptly that Raj, Aiden, and I are huddled up like a sports team, hands on each other’s shoulders, heads bent together as we strategize.

“Oh - Noah!” Raj straightens up, hastily pulls a smile onto his face. “Is the house all good?”

“Yep. We’re ready to go.” He narrows his grey eyes at us. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Talking about how you should be helping us get all these damn boards in the truck,” Aiden answers, reaching for them again. “Here, take this one.”

We troop back out to the truck, get the boards stowed. I realize at the last minute that I forgot something in my car, and rush to retrieve it.

Aiden smiles when I return with his soccer ball. I go to hand it to him, but Raj quickly snatches it from my fingers.

“That’s staying packed,” he says firmly. “I can just see this thing bouncing down the freeway.”

Aiden laughs, leaps gracefully up into the truck bed, and reaches down to help me up. Noah kisses the top of Nikita’s head, then swings himself up after us.

“Are we sure that Noah should ride cargo?” Ripley arches a skeptical eyebrow. “Noah, who has shown a shocking disregard for the rules of physics, and his own personal safety?”

Noah makes an innocent face at him. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Ripples.”

“Says the guy who tried to run on water using some taped-together pool noodles,” Ripley laughs.

Noah laughs with Ripley, reaches down from the truck to give him an affectionate shove. “Gonna miss you this weekend, man.”

Raj and Mel give Ripley a hug and Nik a snuggle before they disappear into the front of the truck. Aiden closes up the back, then roots around in his bag and pulls out a snapback. I watch him, puzzled - he’s already wearing one - but he puts it on my head, not his.

“Gotta protect that Irish skin,” he explains, popping a kiss onto my nose. “Don’t lose it, though. These two are the only ones I brought.”

“Didn’t bring the one that we gave you, Aiden?” Noah asks, settling his arms behind him on the edge of the truck bed.

“Fuck no, I didn’t. Don’t want to risk losing it. It’s my favorite one. By far.”

Noah blinks, then breaks into a wide smile.

I lean comfortably back against Aiden, who wraps an arm around me. He reaches over the side of the truck bed and flat-hand slaps the truck. Raj gives him a thumbs up, then starts the engine. We all call out goodbyes to Ripley, who steps back and raises Nikita’s tiny hand in a wave.

The truck rolls out of the driveway, out onto the street. Wind starts whipping through our hair, our clothes. Raj rolls all the windows down as we go, and a few seconds later, music starts blasting from the speakers. Noah’s type of fat-beats-only music.

We all exchange a grin.

Noah tips his head all the way back and lets out a howl of excitement, so ridiculously long and loud that Aiden and I instantly burst into laughter. We hear Mel and Raj join in from the front, and Noah’s grin grows even wider. He closes his eyes and lounges back, his elbows on the side of the truck bed, the wind pulling long black strands loose from his bun.

I watch him, thinking to myself that the mission Raj gave us is off to a good start. I’m determined to do everything possible to ensure that Noah has a blast this weekend, and Aiden is, too.

But I know that nothing we do will make Noah anywhere near as happy as what Raj and Mel have planned for him.

~~~~

The ride down the coast is a gradual approach of warmth. We’re headed south, and the half-frozen landscape grows more and more thawed as we go, until suddenly it explodes into spring.

I see trees bearing the buds of brand-new leaves. Chains of fields sporting smooth green blankets of grass, nipped down by goats and cows. Caps of mushrooms along the roadsides, birds wheeling through the air. Nature awakening, everywhere I look.

And always on one side of us, the ocean, which looks less frozen and more tempting with each mile we go.

Aiden, Noah, and I stay in the back, taking it all in. Flattening ourselves to the bottom of the truck bed whenever Raj gives us the signal that a cop car is approaching. The music in our ears, the wind in our hair, and crisp, fresh spring air in our lungs. There were thunderheads forming in the sky over Ketterbridge, but we left those far behind. Sunlight pours down from the open sky, pooling in the back of the truck.

I shed my flannel - which it’s officially become too warm for - and sit back in my t-shirt, Aiden’s snapback, and my Ray-Bans. A look I guess Aiden likes on me, because I keep catching his blue eyes lingering.

I’m having such a good time that I’m almost bummed out when Raj lowers the volume of the music and turns off the main road, guiding us towards the little beach town. But we all sit up with interest, checking out what the place has to offer.

We see other cars with boards strapped to the roof or piled up in the back. Colorful, tiny restaurants, offering bagels and smoothies. Most of them with the doors left open, music escaping from within. Squat palm trees between the buildings, and the taste of salt in the air. People riding bikes and skateboards along the cracked, sunbleached sidewalks.

Noah leans over the side of the truck and snags a bright red flower from an outreaching branch. He passes it to Melanie through the back window, and she tucks it behind her ear.

We roll through the town and onto a quiet street lined with thick greenery. We can’t see past it, but I think that the beach must be on the other side. A group of surfers comes through a path hidden in the trees, wet-haired and grinning, handing around a spliff. Raj hangs a shaka out of the window at them, and they all call out friendly greetings to us.

Noah stands up and leans his elbows on the roof of the truck, getting a better view, taking long breaths of the salty air.

Raj guides us onto a barely-paved road, dusted with a light layer of sand. At the end of the small, short road sits the beach house. Raj parks us in front of it, and we all hop down from the truck, come around the side to check it out.

The beach house is painted a very pale turquoise, with white trim. It’s small and snug, but with two floors, three dormer windows with white shutters lining the slanted roof. There’s no yard or garden; the wild plant life grows all the way up to the walls, brushing against the windows. Natural and abundant. I spot a dragonfly hovering above the flower-decked earth.

Seashells and sand are scattered around the little steps that lead up to the door. Raj unlocks it, and we all step inside. It’s bright and beautiful on the interior, too - but none of us care about that right now. We want to see the beach.

We all exchange a look, then simultaneously rush to get our shoes off. I curse Noah out as he chucks one of his Air Force Ones at me, and Aiden gives him a shove. Mel seizes the back of Raj’s t-shirt to slow him down, all of us battling to get there first.

We race for the sliding glass doors on the other side of the living room, the ones that open to the sand. Noah throws them wide open, leads the charge outside.

The roar of the waves hits our ears.

We all burst out into the sunlight, then stagger to a stop, staring open-mouthed at the sight before us.

Soft white sand spreads in a sweeping arc before us, forming a bay. Beyond it, the ocean. White gold sunlight spills down from the sky, illuminating the topaz water, making it glitter and sparkle like liquidized crystal. It's so clear that I can make out the fields of coral reef sprawled out below. White ropes of froth crown the waves, shattering and bursting into glimmering spray when they break.

The sky looks endlessly vast. Seabirds drift with wings flung open, riding the highest currents of the wind, but not a single cloud smudges the skyscape.

For a long, breathless moment, we’re all silent.

“Holy shit, yo,” Noah finally says, echoing my own thoughts.

I can understand perfectly why Raj chose this spot to propose to Melanie. And now to Noah, too.

“How d’you gauge those waves, Noosh?” Aiden murmurs, without tearing his gaze away.

Noah watches one of them crash, sending up a tremendous burst of shimmering droplets. “Peg that one at… twelve feet?”

He and Aiden glance at each other, both breaking into an excited grin, but immediately turn back to stare at the unbelievable sight before us.

Raj and Mel haven’t said anything yet. I turn my head and see them sharing a meaningful look with each other. Raj takes Melanie’s fingers in his hand, gives them a gentle squeeze. She looks back at him with eyes full of love and nerves. As one, they steal a glance at Noah.

He feels their eyes on him, turns, and smiles, shifting the tiny tattoo on his cheek. Bringing out the dimples.

He tosses a strand of windblown black hair out of his eyes. “Let’s do this, right?”

Raj blinks at him. “Do - sorry, what?”

“Um.” Noah points at the waves, makes a face at Raj like he’s a complete dipshit. “Surf?”

“Oh.” Raj shakes his head, coming back to the present. “Oh - yeah, let’s fuckin’ go!”

Noah grins, starts heading back inside. “You gonna come out with us, Jamie?”

I wouldn’t normally try to surf waves this size. I’m nowhere near as experienced as Raj, Noah, and Aiden. But my boyfriend can walk on water, so. That changes things. Besides, if any of us are in real danger, he’ll hear it.

I’m a little anxious, but Noah is looking at me hopefully, and Raj said to take every opportunity to make him happy this weekend.

“Oh, god,” I groan. “Fine. Yes. This is about to be so damn embarrassing, though.”

Noah’s grin broadens, and he slaps my back as we all make our way towards the beach house.

All of us except for Raj, that is. He hesitates, staring out at the water. Chewing his thumbnail, his dark brown eyes clouded with his thoughts.

I hang back, gently touch a hand to his arm. He glances down at me, and I give him an encouraging smile. He smiles back at me, takes a deep breath.

He runs a hand over the bump in his pocket, and follows me back inside.