#why florida and not some australian beach? or somewhere that makes more sense?

[bright-and-burning]

🐑💗 #summer vacation #strangers to lovers #insomnia #bittersweet ending

🐑 send me a fake set of fic tags, and i’ll try to come up with a summary for it!

There’s music playing down the beach. Oscar doesn’t usually make it this far, has always turned back earlier in the desperate hope of falling asleep before the glaring red lines of his clock display 4:00. He’s kind of annoyed, honestly. Can’t even have a crisis in peace, he thinks, immediately irritated at his own dramatics. Oscar keeps walking. It’s not often his walks are interrupted by anything other than drunk teenagers, though that’s probably still the case here. Hey kids, got any career advice? Oscar snorts, shaking himself out of his thoughts, and stops.

The source of the music is clear. A beachside bar, full of flashing lights and not much else. There’s a man wiping down tables, warbling along enthusiastically to a song Oscar doesn’t recognize. Something too sad for the tiki bar themed plastic surrounding him.

Oscar raps his knuckles on the railing marking the edge of the bar. “Still open, or?”

The man startles, turning to look at Oscar. He runs a hand through his hair, somehow getting glitter in his wilting curls.

Oscar stifles a laugh.

“Can’t serve alcohol at this hour, but you can sit for a bit,” he says, clearly eyeing the bags under Oscar’s eyes. He goes back to his table, scrubbing at a sticky spot. “Not really the usual crowd, are you?”