Nico's POV

Sweat pouring down his back in buckets stuck his shirt to his back as he leaned back as far as he could go in the chair that sat on the small patio of his apartment, the umbrella barely blocking the rays of the sun wreaking havoc upon the city. He pulled his hat over his eyes, groaning softly as he squeezed them shut. The inside of his eyelids were tinted a painful red from the sun and he squinted up at the sky, the handful of fluffy white clouds offering no protection against the rays. 

Clinking ice drew his attention from the sky and when he glanced behind him Will was creeping out of the door, two glasses of water filled to the brim balanced precariously in his hands. Condensation clung to the outside of the glass, the ice cubes growing smaller before Nico's eyes. "Hey," Will said, pulling up a seat next to Nico and handing him his water. "It's boiling out here."

"It's hotter in there," Nico responded, nodding at the apartment as he gulped down his drink. "You know, if we had an air conditioner this wouldn't be a problem."

"I can dump some water over your head, if you're really that desperate."

"Shut up," Nico laughed, taking another small sip. 

"So, I've been thinking." Nico groaned as he watched a grin spread across Will's face and he sat up in his chair, his eyes wild. 

"That's never a good sign."

"Hey, I have good ideas," Will protested. "I was thinking, how about we get out of this apartment for a few hours? We can go to Coney Island."

"You know I hate Coney Island," Nico said, wrinkling his nose. "It's so touristy and crowded, and it's so hot."

"Please?" Will begged, flashing baby blue puppy dog eyes. "I love Conye Island. We can go swimming, and after that we can get pizza and ice cream on the boardwalk. I'll even win you one of those massive teddy bears, the one you always look at."

"You really think you can win me one of those massive teddy bears?" Nico arched his eyebrows. 

"I know I can," Will said. "Look, I even have our stuff packed. We can just head out right now." He reached beyond Nico, grabbing a small backpack that had sat next to the doorway. "Ta da!" Unzipping it he revealed two bathing suits stuffed in next to towels, a bottle of sunscreen sitting on top with water bottles tucked underneath. "Everything we would ever need for a day at Coney Island is in here. I'll carry the backpack, too."

"Fine," Nico said, standing up and chugging the rest of the water, letting the final drops slide down his glass and into his mouth. "Let's go." He smiled softly at Will's crazy grin, as he put on the backpack in one fluid motion. "You know, it's worth it just to see that smile," he said, pressing a kiss to Will's mouth. "But you're still going to win me that bear."

"Don't worry," Will laughed, grabbing Nico's hand and swinging it in the air. "I know."

------

The air was sticky with the heat of hundreds of bodies as they arrived at the Coney Island subway station, elbows lathered in sunscreen brushing against their skin. The smell of cotton candy and fryer grease rose high into the air, mixing together into a scent that made Nico sick. "Come on, let's change," Will said, nodding at the bathrooms overflowing with sticky bodies. "We can go swimming and cool down a little." Will grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the bathroom. They were jostled around, fought tooth and nail for one of the stalls backed against the endless white brick wall but when they pushed back through the crowd, their clothes slung across their arm and their swimsuits hanging from their hips Will was still smiling.

"That was terrible," Nico muttered, brushing grains of sand from his arm. 

"Yeah, but look how worth it it was," Will responded, gesturing at the beach a hundred yards away from them. Casting his gaze in the direction of the water Nico's eyes widened as he watched a ten foot wave crash onto the beach, sending people scattering. It licked at the beach, leaving its imprint on the sand before crawling back to the ocean, leaving nothing more than a patch of sopping sand behind. "Don't tell me you don't think that looks awesome."

"Okay, that looks pretty awesome," Nico admitted with a reluctant grin. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Will laughed, shoving their clothes deep into their backpacks and grabbing Nico's hand. He took off at a full sprint, leaving Nico to stumble behind him. 

The air itself was perfumed with sea salt, the sky bright blue as Nico stared out over the water, letting the water lap at his feet. The iciness was refreshing like a breath of fresh air but Nico hesitated as Will waded in, the water covering his legs until he was only visible from the waist up. "Come on!" he called, beckoning Nico out. "Why are you waiting?" Nico shrugged, watching the water make patterns in the sand. Seagulls screamed overhead, diving down on lunches and stealing bites of bread and sour cream and onion chips. To his left a group of kids patted down the sand on a towering sandcastle, the moat protecting the building from the wrath of the sea. 

"Dunno," Nico responded, his hands swinging loosely at his sides. He watched as Will rolled his eyes, stomping back through the waves and joining Nico on the shore. "It's cold," Nico whined as Will gave him a look. 

"Stop being a baby," Will laughed, grabbing Nico's hand. "You'll like it after you're in there, come on." He took a step and Nico followed cautiously, the water freezing on his bare legs. Still he followed Will until the water was at his back. "We'll go under at the count of three, okay?" Nico nodded. "One-" Nico mentally prepared himself for the shock of cold that would follow. "Two-" Nico took a gulp of air, his cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk as he fought to contain it. "Three!" They pulled each other underneath the water, a wave passing over their head and ruffling their hair. Nico's eyes were squeezed shut until it passed and he cracked open one eye to see Will's blonde curls floating above his head, a huge smile on his face. He waved to Nico before letting bubbles rise from his lips and he floated back up to the surface. Nico's eyes were wide as he gazed though the clear blue water, the legs surrounded him, dancing through the surf. The corners of his mouth turned up as he watched a crab scuttle through the maze of feet and when he could no longer hold his breath he let the air out in one fluid motion as he rose out of the water and into Will's waiting arms. "What did I tell you?" Will grinned. 

"Yeah, yeah," Nico laughed. "You were right. Come on, let's go further out." This time Nico took charge, leading Will underneath the waves until they surfaced far past the crowds, where it was only them, the seagulls cawing overhead and the salty sea breeze dancing off of the water.

------

As the time passed the beach emptied out and after hours splashing in the high waves Nico and Will pulled themselves out of the water, their hair plastered to their forehead and sand sticking to their legs. The hot and sticky air had turned cool from a cloud blocking the sun and Nico felt his skin prickling as he stepped out, the water droplet clinging to his skin icy cold. "Here," Will said, handing him a clean black sweatshirt. "Put this on. Let's get food." They slipped into clothes, the sweatshirt soft on Nico's arms and they hiked up the wooden stairs to the boardwalk, the air perfumed with fryer grease and sugar. 

"Pizza?" Nico asked, his gaze falling onto a small shack pressed against the back of the boardwalk. He watched a couple walk past them biting into grease coated pepperoni slices, the crust golden brown and the cheese still bubbling. 

"You read my mind," Will said as he pulled out his wallet. 

"I can pay," Nico offered. "You've already done so much for today."

"Yeah, but I invited you, so that means I pay," Will pointed out. "Obviously. What do you want?"

"Pineapple." Will wrinkled his nose. 

"Nasty. I'll take cheese." They were handed their slices on grease stained paper plates, the pineapple sweet in Nico's mouth. "I have no idea how you eat that stuff," Will muttered, nibbling the crust of his slice. "It's disgusting."

"Hey, you can't judge me," Nico said. "I agreed to come with you today." 

"Yeah, but you're having fun."

"Irrelevant," Nico said. "Come on, let's sit somewhere." They wandered the boardwalk, taking small bites of their pizza until they landed on a bench overlooking the water, the sunset reflected on the waves. It was still a hub of energy, the young families replaced with couples slung over each other in the water. "It's so pretty," Nico sighed, resting his head on Will's shoulder as he took his final bite of crust. "You have really good judgement, you know that?" 

"Don't worry, I know," Will laughed, wrapping his arm around Nico's shoulder. "What do you want to do after this?" 

"Well, I do remember you promising to win me a teddy bear," Nico said, casting his gaze towards Will. 

"You really want that?"

"Of course I really want that," Nico said with an eye roll. He folded up his plate, tossing it lightly into a black trash can to the left of them. "I've been looking forward to this all day. And there was a dart throwing stand pretty close to here, with a giant one as the top prize. And you have the best aim of anyone I've ever met. Unless, of course, you don't think you're talented enough to win."

"Oh, shut up," Will laughed. "Where was this?"

"Over there." Nico pointed toward a small booth, massive stuffed animals blocking the multi-colored balloons from view. 

"Come on," Will said, pulling Nico up. "Let's go win you a bear."

Soon Will stood in front of the booth with three darts clutched tightly in his palm, a fourth one pressed between two fingers as his tongue stuck out of his mouth in concentration. With a flick of his wrist it was flying, spiraling toward a red balloon and striking it in the center. He didn't seem to notice as a grin split Nico's face, instead sending a second dart flying toward a blue balloon and soon the sound of popping latex filled the boardwalk, four balloon carcasses hanging off of staples in the cork board. "I'll have that teddy bear, right there," Will told the man behind the counter, eyeing a three foot bear with a red satin ribbon tied around his neck. 

"Congratulations," he said, handing him the bear. Will passed it down to Nico, the fur soft in his hands and the small brown eyes filled with love. 

"I knew you could do it," Nico grinned, hugging the bear to his chest. 

"Love you, too," Will said, pressing a quick kiss to Nico's lips. "Come on, there's one last thing we need to do." They walked down the boardwalk with the setting sun at their backs, the sky a watercolor with the hazy shadow of the moon above them. The ice cream stand was quiet when they arrived, with creamy flavors on display in a glass case. 

"I'll have the strawberry," Nico told the girl at the counter, watching her pile it into a cone. 

"And I'll have the chocolate," Will decided, accepting the cone with a drop of ice cream already trailing down it. Nico took a lick, the strawberry sweet on his tongue. He was still hugging the teddy bear, half his height and his swim shorts were still damp from the water that seemed so long ago. 

"This is so perfect," he sighed, watching as the stars became brighter against the dark sky. "You're so perfect, you know that?" 

"Aw, you're sweet," Will laughed. With the sunset at their backs their lips locked into  chocolate strawberry flavored kiss.

Hi guys, sorry that one was kind of cheesy, I'm in between ideas right now, so that was just a filler. Also I didn't really have time to edit, so I'm sorry about that, too. But I hit 200k reads and I just wanted to give you guys a gigantic thank you for reading my book! I see your comments and your votes and your reads every single week, and it just warms my heart to know that there are real people out there who enjoy what I write. I know I've said this before but I wouldn't be the writer I am today without this book or you guys, you help me reach my dreams and I can't thank you enough for that!! I love every single one of you guys and as a special little present, I'm going to be starting a mini series, and the first chapter will hopefully be up next week! It's going to be about four parts, and I'll be updating every Sunday night so you'll be getting two updates a week. I'm not going to say too much about it but it's going to be set in Venice and I think it's going to be really good! Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter and, again, thank you so much for the reads, they mean the world to me!

Nina