Chapter Text
"What's up guys ?" Asked Logan with his strong american accent. "Meet Oscar, that's the friend I was telling you about."
"Hi."
And he wasn't just pretty, he also had a very good voice.
"Hi Oscar, it's nice to meet you !" said Alex with a big smile, offering him his hand. Oscar simply offered him back a shy smile, but didn't shake his hand. They all understood quickly that this poor guy was shy as hell, so no one forced it. Logan put the cool box he brought under the parasol, and all the boys ran to the sea. Everyone except Oscar, who just sat under the parasol, keeping his hat on his head, and his oversized shirt on his upper body. Lando didn't want to leave him here all alone, so he sat next to him on the hot sand, the sun harassing his face. He didn't say a word, he just stayed here, giving Oscar some looks from time to time.
"You don't have to babysit me, you know." Said the hot Australian guy after a moment.
"I know."
"Why are you staying here then ?" He asked, finally turning his head in his direction.
"Because I don't like leaving people alone."
"At least wear a hat or something, you'll get a terrible sunstroke" he replied, looking a little bit concerned.
"Forgot it at home."
Oscar sighed, and took off his own hat to hand it to Lando. He finally revealed his face, and Lando’s heart missed a beat. His face was studded with moles, beautiful, adorable moles. And his hair was flawless. Not like his stupid messy curls.
"Here, you can have mine. I'm under the parasol anyways." He said, and his voice suddenly brought him back to reality, and that’s when Lando realised he was staring.
"Oh uh thanks, that's nice." Lando smiled, and grabbed the cap to put it on his head. Oscar offered him a shy smile, and brought back his attention to the boys trying to drown each other.
"What is your name, by the way ?"
"I'm Lando."
“That’s pretty uncommon," said Oscar. Surprisingly, his tone wasn’t mocking. It sounded genuine, and it took Lando by surprise.
“I- yeah. my mom kinda made it up, I think”
“that’s cool.”
Lando’s eyes met Oscar’s, and he felt like he got trapped in them.
______________
Oscar couldn’t get his eyes off Lando. Especially his eyes. He couldn’t quite name their colors, it was a mix of rotten green and moldy blue, with some brown and gold here and there. They almost didn’t feel human. But there was something else. Something else that he couldn’t quite name. Something so much more raw, and powerful, and destructive, and feral..
It was Lando, who broke eye contact. And Oscar wished he would have had more time to admire those eyes, trying to grasp what was so unravelling about them.
“it’s- uh, I’m gonna take a jump in the sea” said Lando before carefully putting Oscar’s cap on his towel and standing up.
Oscar didn’t say a thing. Why would he ? This guy was a complete stranger anyways. So he looked at him walking away, and that’s when he noticed the horrific scar on Lando’s back. It seemed like someone tried to peel off his skin, strand by strand, before sewing it back with thorns. And the scar wasn’t just on his back, it also was going down on his left arm. Maybe it could explain what he saw in his eyes. You can’t be sane when there is such a scar on your body.
“What on Earth happened to him…” whispered Oscar to himself. He knew he shouldn’t be sneaky, but a teen with such a scar wouldn’t be kept under silence, especially since this town is known for a strange cold case.
So Oscar grabbed his phone, and looked for the local journal. He scrolled through the articles. For a while. Hopping to see a mention of an accident involving a teen. Strangely, there was nothing. Maybe Lando wasn’t from here either, but Logan told him that this friend group knew each other since kindergarten. It didn’t make sense.
Well, nothing in his life made sense for the past two years now. His father died from what the doctors called food poisoning, his girlfriend had abruptly broken up with him for no real reasons, and he felt like he was losing his mind. He was having recurring strange dreams, if not horrific, and there always was something in the corner of his eyes that always gave him cold sweats. But the doctors had said he was sane. That it was just due to the fatigue. He just needs to buy sleeping pills. He is fine.
He is
SANE.
He didn’t even notice Lando came back. Not until he grabbed something in the cool box, making his hair brush against Oscar’s arm, and making the Australian jump.
“whoops sorry I didn’t mean to scare you ! I thought you were just ignoring me.” said Lando, fastly straightening, a can of coke in his hand.
“What ? No I didn’t.” responded a very confused Oscar.
“Well… I asked you to hand me a can and you just… didn’t react”
“Sorry I was lost in my thoughts” Replied Oscar, feeling deeply embarrassed. He couldn’t quite wave the image of Lando’s injured back off his mind.
“it’s fine, don't worry” replied Lando.
He then opened his can, and put Oscar’s hat back on. A weird feeling filled the Australian, but he didn’t pay attention to it. He must be just tired. He will take a pill when Logan will drive him back to his house, and he will have an eight-hour night.
“So… why did you move to this one-horse town ?” asked Lando, dragging Oscar back to reality again.
“I uh… I don’t really know. My mom just wanted a small town in England. I proposed Midtown Fall cause I knew someone here”
Lando nodded, seemingly actually interested. That was weird. People usually only spoke to him to fill an awkward silence. But he couldn’t remember the last time someone genuinely talked to him like they really wanted to get to know him.
“Tell me if I’m being too noisy, but why leave Australia ?” continued Lando.
Oscar’s heart tightened. He took a deep breath, and looked away. There was no point in trauma-dumping and crying right now. He will just give an evasive answer, and hope that Lando will not try to push it.
“My mom needed a new start”
Lando seemed to have noticed how shaky Oscar’s voice was, since he immediately changed the subject.
“Why won’t you come in the sea with us ? I swear they will not try to drown you”
Oscar eyed him from head to toe, before raising an eyebrow. Lando was soaked. From his swim shorts, to his hair. Who was falling into his eyes and sticking to his already tanned skin. Oscar could only dream of having such a tan one day.
He seems too perfect. That’s what a little voice whispered in his mind. His smile was too bright, his skin too tanned, his body too athletic. There was something wrong with him.
“no I’m fine here, don’t worry about me”
He simply nodded, and stayed on his towel. He didn’t try to make the conversation, he just watched his friends act like children. Oscar took some time to look at Lando a little more, and especially at the scar on his back. His brain wouldn’t stop trying to guess what could have caused that. But nothing realist would come to his mind. It couldn’t be lightning. The scar would have looked more like roots or veins. It wasn’t the case. A car accident maybe ? but even that didn’t make sense.
He may have stared at it for too long, because he could swear he had seen something moving underneath, right before Lando’s shoulder twitched. But before Oscar could confirm what he just witnessed, the young Brit started to stretch his back. He then laid down on his back on his towel, and closed his eyes. Stopping Oscar from staring at his scar.
“You don’t have to stay with me, you know, I’m doing fine on my own.” Declared Oscar, finally getting his eyes off of Lando.
“I know”
“Why are you staying then ?”
Lando opened his eyes, and locked eye contact with Oscar. The young Australian felt like those eyes could rip his clothes off of him if they stared a bit too long. So he fastly broke eye contact, and looked at Lando’s friends being stupid.
“Because Max drowned me once already. I’m done for the day” sighed Lando with a little laugh. Though the laugh somehow felt forced.
Oscar nodded, and none of them added a thing.
______________
The afternoon went by very fast, and the sun was setting already upon the sea. Everyone was out of the water, and they were all chatting and laughing together, a beer in hand. Lando was slowly starting to feel dizzy already, and was talking louder than usual.
“Mate you’re drunk already !” sighed Max, trying to hide an amused smile.
“One more and we’ll have our strip-tease !” declared Daniel very enthusiastically.
“I don’t do that anymore. Not after last year.” replied Lando.
An awkward silence fell upon the group, and Lando fastly filled it with music. He was now blasting “In The Wood Somewhere” by Hozier, not caring about the general discomfort. Only Oscar seemed just confused.
“What happened last year ?” he asked, as everyone was as silent as a rock.
“Nothing, don’t worry about that.” fastly replied George.
And, as to break the awkwardness of the situation, Alex jumped on his feet, and offered his hand to Lando.
“wanna dance mate ?”
Lando chuckled and agreed. He clumsily got up, and took Alex’s hand. They danced in the middle of the sand, completely careless. There was a common agreement among the friend group about not mentioning a seemingly important event that didn’t put Oscar at ease. It had to be linked to Lando’s scar. He needed to know the truth. Especially if he was going to hang out with them for the entire summer. Secrets are dangerous, he was well-aware of that. But he couldn’t force someone to talk. It wasn’t in his nature, first of all, and he was struggling already to include himself in this group. If he was forcing someone to talk, it would just make it worse.
No, he will need to be patient.
He felt a weight against his right side, and realised Lando was done dancing, and had decided to sit right next to him. He raised an eyebrow and looked at him, before looking at the others. He could see Daniel trying to hide a suspicious smile, and the others chuckling.
“Don’t mind him. He’s very clingy when he’s drunk. I hope it doesn’t bother you” said Max, with a soft yet mocking smile.
“Uh no, it’s uh, it’s ok don’t worry” replied Oscar. But in reality, his entire body was buzzing. He didn’t really know why. Maybe it was because Lando was doing gentle circles on his back. Or maybe it was because he could feel his breath against the bare skin of his neck and shoulder.
Either way, he knew he needed to be careful around him.
“You ok Oscar ? You look like you're on the verge of exploding” asked Logan, an eyebrow raised.
“What ? No I’m fine, I don’t know what you’re talking about” replied Oscar, though it was an enormous lie.
His body was tense because of Lando’s contact, and because of the very idea that the scar that he saw moving was touching his body. And because he was starting to have a very bad headache, and because everything he swallowed tasted like earth, and like rot. And the things in the corner of his eyes were back, dancing and looming in the distance like a threat. He was sane. He was freaking out. He needed to calm down.
“It’s getting late, we should all go home. Logan, you’re sober enough to drive ?” asked Daniel, whose voice brought him back to reality. He was getting up to pack everything up already. Did Oscar just have an absence ?
“I didn’t drink a single drop of alcohol mate, I’m good, don't worry.”
Daniel nodded, and everyone started to pack up. Some were struggling more than others, but about fifteen minutes later, there was nothing left on the sand. and only the moon was allowing them to see where they were walking.
When Oscar got into Logan’s car, he let go of a huge sigh. He heard his friend chuckle, as he was buckling his seat-belt.
“Yeah I know, they’re something. But I swear they’re good guys.” said Logan with a little laugh as he was starting the engine.
“Oh Yeah I don’t doubt it, it’s just… What happened last summer ? And please, don’t avoid the subject. If there’s some things I need to avoid mentioning, it would be good to know it now, you know.”
Oscar noticed how Logan’s knuckles became whiter, as he was squeezing the steering wheel. He heard him sigh, and saw his grip loosen.
“Well, you’ve heard of last year’s strange disappearance already. Right ?” asked Logan, unsure.
“yeah”
“That guy… listen, he was a very good friend. And… Please, don’t mention him. Ok ? Especially in front of Lando.” He was walking on eggs, Oscar could hear it. “Last summer was.. something.”
Oscar nodded, and didn’t add anything.