Can you guys tell that I don't want summer vacation to end yet?

Will's POV

"I can't believe that it took us this long to get ice cream. It's summer, we should've been eating ice cream for every single meal, every single day," Will says, droplets of coffee ice cream dripping down the side of the cone, spilling out onto the back of his hand, cold and sticky. The stand on the corner of forty second street and Washington is bustling, employees in red and white striped paper hats ladling out scoops of vanilla and chocolate fudge as fast as their arms can move. They've passed this stand dozens of times throughout their summer explorations, never giving it a second look. But that day, in the light of the lowering sun, it's clear that everyone else is just trying to get one last taste of summer.

"And I thought that you were so into nutrition," Nico says with a small smile, ice cream smudged on his upper lip. His face glows as he basks unintentionally in the sun, the rays hitting him just right so that his eyes glitter. "I don't even know you anymore." Will brings his finger up to Nico's mouth, wiping away the ice cream on his upper lip with the tip of his thumb. Nico's skin is warm underneath his finger, soft, the way the skin of your boyfriend should feel, flawless like porcelain.

"Maybe I'm just sentimental," Will says with a sigh, tilting his head up to the sky, the setting sun shining bright in his eyes. It's like it's giving one last push before it sets underneath the horizon, the line of buildings and streets that sits just before the straight line of the Hudson. "I can't believe school starts tomorrow. It's kinda just flown by. What happened to the summer vacation we thought we were gonna have?"

"We got lazy," Nico says, doing his best to keep his feet steady on the curb of the sidewalk, straight on the line that seems to go on forever. His ice cream is held out in his hand, hovering over the street and with the shine of amusement in his eyes, the small grin as he hops down from the curb, no one would believe that he's going to be a high school senior. There's still a childish nature to his actions, something playful that takes the overwhelming stress out of life and makes him feel like a kid again. "Dreams of impromptu road trips and all-nighter dates around the city turned to watching the same show over and over in my basement."

"It was fun though, at least," Will says. "Anyway, we still have time. We can do one of those all-nighter dates around the city tonight. Fit our ideal summer all into the span of a few hours."

"We have school tomorrow, shouldn't we get to bed early?" Nico asks, glancing up at Will with a sparkle in his eyes. There's a beat after his words, two, and they're silent for five seconds after until they both burst into laughter.

"You don't get enough credit for being funny, you know that?" Will says, slinging his arm around Nico's shoulder and pulling him close. Nico shot up an inch or two that summer, the small extra bit of height somehow managing to give him that mature look of a high school senior, despite being small. Even so, Will will always be taller, will always be able to press a kiss to the top of Nico's head. He used to have to bend down, though, Nico's head hitting somewhere around the middle of his bicep. But now he's at Will's shoulder, the height gap getting smaller and smaller by the day, and his body fits perfectly against Will's. Perfectly enough that he doesn't have to do much to kiss the top of Nico's head, a tiny romantic gesture that makes Nico so impossibly happy. But it's nothing compared to when Will stops walking, grabbing Nico by the arm and pulling him close, tilting his head up and meeting Nico's lips with his own. Nico tastes like the chocolate of his ice cream, the flavor mixing with the coffee of Will's to form a perfect mix. "Let's get dinner. I'm starving."

"We're having ice cream literally right now."

"I'm a teenage boy, I'm always hungry. That's what we do best." He pulls Nico tighter, kissing him on the head for the second time. Small touches like that- the head kisses, backs of hands brushing together as they walk, Will brushing Nico's butt- it'll all disappear once school starts. In the six or so hours during school, at least. He'll miss the soft touches, the feeling like he and Nico own the world. But they've got one night, as the feeling of summer dies around them, to do whatever they want.

It takes them longer than usual to get slices of pizza at the tiny corner shop they usually go to. It's brimming with people, groups of two or three, all laughing in their own private conversations. The concept of walking with a slice of New York pizza down the streets is so classically summer, and it's obvious to Will that every person in New York City is trying to get their own slice of summer as it wanes. But finally, they get the basic slices of cheese they always get and with iced coffees swinging from their hands they make their way back out onto the street, their lips already slick with the grease of pizza.

"What do we do now?" Nico asks, staring up at the sky. The sunset is a tie-dye of colors, pale while clouds slicing into the pinks and the oranges. This is the last night they'll be free like this until graduation, he tells himself. The thought scares him, the thought of being tied down with the work and stress of school as he applies to colleges and pushes harder in his classes. But he tries not to think about that, at least for that night. It's not worth ruining the final night of summer with his worthless worries and the stress of school, already setting in.

"What's the most summery thing you can think of?" Will asks, walking in an uneven line down the sidewalk. It's emptier than most nights, with only a handful of people brushing past them with earbuds in and work bags swinging from shoulders. Nico is quiet for a second, chewing slowly on his pizza and wiping the residue from the ice cream on his pants.

"Beach."

"Neither of us have our bathing suits."

"We can just sit on the sand," Nico says. "Besides, we don't need bathing suits."

"It's a public beach!"

"All I'm saying is that I'm sure there's a private spot, and I'd really like to swim tonight."

"You astound me sometimes. You're so sweet half the time, and then you say that."

"At least give me a maybe."

"Fine." Will smiles at the setting sun, his face aglow with a pale light. "Maybe." He knows that they won't actually do it. He knows that they'll kick off their shoes and finish their pizza half-buried in the sand as they listen to the waves crash against the beach. But he'll say anything to see that smile from Nico.

As the last of the sun sinks behind the Hudson a chill takes over the city, one that makes Will draw Nico closer, hold him to Will's chest. It isn't supposed to be romantic, although it is nice for them to be so close but because in the months of the scorching summer, his tolerance to the cold has gone down so much that even the sixty-degree weather that should be perfect makes him shiver. But Nico's body is warm and his breath is pleasant on Will's cheek after they kiss so they huddle close, Nico wrapped in Will's solid embrace. Not that he minds. Any contact between them is welcome, even if it's nothing more than holding hands.

The beach is empty by New York City standards and the people are spread out enough so that they get their own square of the beach, stretching out and rolling around on the sand all they want. Nico finishes off his crust as Will kicks his shoes ten feet into the air, watching as they bury themselves in the sand. When his shoes are sticking out with the toes stuck into the ground he inches over to Nico, the sand sticking to his butt as he lays his head on Nico's shoulder. The waves crash against the beach, bringing grains of sand with it as it rolls back in and although the moon sparkles over the water and it looks cool and inviting, Will has no desire to go in. He's sure that Nico's offer of skinny-dipping still stands, and it won't be anything he hasn't seen before but still, he's not exactly yearning for the rest of the world to see something that he worked so hard to make his. And once they're actually on the beach, their bodies curled into one, neither of them seems to want it. Will doesn't want to speak for Nico but he looks happy with Will's head on his shoulder. He doesn't want to do a thing to ruin this perfect thing between them.

"Does it feel weird to you?" Nico asks quietly, digging a tiny hole in the sand with the tip of his finger. His voice is almost swallowed up by the sound of the waves, of the wind bouncing lightly across the water, bringing the chill that gives them the painful reminder that August is coming to a close and September is coming, looming over them and carrying the threat of school and homework and stress.

"Does what feel weird to me?"

"That we're gonna be seniors? I don't feel that old yet. I feel the same as I did when I was fourteen."

"I think that's pretty common."

"Good." Nico lets out a breath, his head dropping back down onto Will's chest, still digging the hole in the sand. It fills in almost immediately as the walls cave in but Nico keeps digging, making only tiny dents in the trillions of grains that surround him. He's not digging to make a hole, Will realizes, watching him poke at the sand. It's just a distraction, the repetitive motion of pawing at the sand and watching it fill back in. He's doing it so he doesn't have to think about the pressure that the coming year will bring, the decisions that make their chests feel tight and their heads pound. Or, maybe, Will is wrong. Maybe Nico is digging a grave for summer, because they're both feeling it at that point, with the moon high in the sky. The nervous energy of the night before, the realization that they're going to have to get up early the next morning, pack their bags the next morning. Nico will dig a grave for summer in the sand and bury all of the memories to make room for the useless trivia they'll learn that year. Neither of them wants to, but they both know they'll have to. "Do you think we'll change."

"Probably."

"Shit." He sticks his finger deeper into the sand, watching the ground swallow it whole. "I don't want to change. I like where I am now. I like where we are." The hole is getting bigger, the grains falling in less, the crevice filling less.

"So why are you thinking about it?" Nico laughs quietly, staring out at the water, a rippling blanket of blue-black water that stretches on forever. When Nico looks back at him, his eyes glitter like the stars above it. Will doesn't want to think about the next morning, or the week that will follow, or the next month. He wants to think about how the cool air feels on his face, the quiet crunch of sand as people leave the beach, and how there are two universes that night. One in the sky, and the second in Nico's eyes.

"I can't not think about it."

"Try." He grabs onto Nico's wrist, bringing it gently to his chest. "Just try for this last night, to pretend like summer never has to end." They watch the hole fill in with grains, slower than slow, as Nico's soft breaths puff onto Will's cheek. "When we wake up tomorrow morning, everything is going to be the same. We don't have to worry about anything, and we can wake up whenever we want and do whatever we want until we go to bed whenever we want." Neither of them believes the words passing Will's lips, but Will knows they both want to so badly, they just might convince themselves.

Slowly, Nico nods as the grave he had made for the summer fills in, their memories still save above the ground. "We don't have to leave the beach any time soon. We don't have to go to bed early tonight." He tilts his head, considering the water as if it's a work of art. It kind of is. "Is denying that school is starting tomorrow a healthy coping mechanism?"

"Who cares? It's working." Nico laughs, the sound light and airy and slightly less worried than before.

"You're pretty smart."

"Thanks." He cards his fingers through Nico's hair, smiling as Nico relaxes onto his chest, his hand resting on Will's side. Maybe Nico was right, that denying the beginning of school wasn't really going to help them. But Nico is more relaxed than he's been all night, and Will is content with Nico on his chest, watching the waves crash onto the beach. The grave that Nico had made for summer had filled in completely, the grains of sand covering up the fact that there was ever a hole there and their memories, their carefree feelings of being carefree teens were safe, at least for another night.

Hi guys, I hope you liked it!

Nina