he’d always taken the no dogs allowed on the beach sign as a suggestion. after all, he couldn’t find any reason why perfectly civilized dog like freddie shouldn’t be allowed on the beach. it’s not like he was going to shit in the sand — he had some dignity — and dylan always thought the dude was more human-like than dog. unfortunately that wasn’t enough to convince the officer from writing him up a citation he definitely couldn’t afford. “fucking bitch,” he muttered to himself as he and freddie bounded up the beach, freddie looking up at him with that adorably oblivious sort of smile, and dylan had to will himself not to smile back. “oh fuck off,” he says, “you owe me, you better be such a good b-” he blinks when freddie starts sprinting, his leash still coiled up in dylan’s hand and unhooked from his collar. “hey!” he shouts after the dog, picking up speed after him, his feet sinking into the hot dry sand so that he couldn’t keep up with the dog. he’s completely out of breath by the time he does reach him, apologizing profusely at the stranger freddie had practically ambushed. “i’m so sorry, he’s not usually -” he stops in his tracks when he lifts his head, his heart sinking at the realization that he was not in front of a stranger and that freddie’s sudden runaway made a whole lot more sense now. “oh.”