Being Bokuto's best friend came with some cons. You loved him to death, but when he's forcibly crawling on your back in the water at the beach, weighing nearly 200 pounds was not what you wanted on vacation.

"SURPRISEEEEEEEE..!" He cackled.

Salty water splashed onto your face, in your mouth, and in your eyes. It stung, but it was worth it. He was laughing as a wave crashed onto him and he toppled over. He was always a bafoon, wasn't he? Even since you two were toddlers, in matching Halloween costumes, babbling around with chocolate-covered faces. Bokuto always found you attractive, but he had never seen you in a romantic light. Not until as of recently, when he held you a little longer in his hugs, when he watched intently as your hair blew in the wind, or if you didn't show up for practice. He didn't entirely acknowledge it; that wasn't necessary to him.

You'd never not be special.

Maybe it came from the small things. You'd come to learn how he likes his laundry done. So, when he was busy, you did it for him and left the hamper of folded clothes in his room. You'd pre-fill his water bottle the night before the day you knew he had spiking drills early in the morning.

The rest of his classmates laughed or dove into the waves as the sun set. It was only May, but the air was warm and golden. And suddenly the thought of going back to the hotel, where no one followed the no-partying and no-sharing rooms rules, seemed boring. 5 more days until you go back to school, graduate, and say goodbye to everyone.

His laugh boomed as he said. "Bro, You need to help me stay afloat!" He said, scrambling back onto your back, as you wobbled to hold him still. After a wrestling match in the water, you got him off of you, where he swam off to his other friends, laughing and splashing them.