closed for ben (@brutalperception) ｡⋆♡
Archer sat with his knees tucked up to his chest, bare feet half-buried in the sand as he stared out at the water. The ocean stretched on forever. They’d found a little beach tucked away off the road, one that promised pretty views and sand dollars. He’d found one almost immediately and he’d cradled it like a treasure – he was gonna keep it forever!! Big Sur was pretty. Stupid pretty. The kind of pretty that made your chest ache a little if you looked at it too long. Archer loved it. He loved being there. He loved that Ben was there with him. Two whole weeks. He’d actually gone to therapy for two whole weeks in a row. He hated it! God, he hated it so much, but being away from Ben, sitting alone with his thoughts, that whole night had made it impossible to ignore how bad things had gotten. He needed more than drinking and jokes and pretending he was fine. He needed help. So he’d texted his therapist back, swallowed his pride, and logged into the stupid Zoom call. Then he’d done it again the next week. There was another appointment waiting for him when they got home. That thought sat heavy in his chest – but there was something else there, too. A quiet hope. Like maybe he’d bring something back with him from this trip that wasn't a souvenir or a photograph. The tiny box in his pocket felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job of acting normal about it. “This is nice.” Archer glanced over at Ben and smiled. “I really like the beaches in California. It’s so different from Colorado.”