Nico's POV

As soon as the school bell chimed, dismissing a thousand students into the freedom of a Friday afternoon Will was grabbing my hand, pulling me toward the parking lot. "Where are we going?" I  laughed, stumbling after Will, past classmates slipping into shiny cars and small groups talking as they walked down the sidewalks, bathed in warm sunlight. Birds flew circles around blooming trees waving in the cool wind, the first warm day of the year melting the piles of snow, rivulets of water streaming down the sides. Will glanced back at me and there was a crazy smile on his face, wildness dancing in his eyes. 

"You'll see," he said. "I have a surprise for you." At the very edge of the senior parking lot he pulled me up to a small black car sitting in a parking space, tinted with dirt. He held out his arms, his smile splitting his face. "Ta da!" 

"What is this?" I asked. "Since when do you have a car?"

"My mom lent it to me for the weekend," he explained. "We can go on a road trip together, doesn't that sound fun?" I could tell that senioritis was getting to him because he was bouncing on his feet, energy filling him from head to toe. 

"I don't know, Will," I said. "We have homework, and-" he stopped me with a kiss to the lips. 

"Come on, we're graduating in a few months, you can loosen up a little," Will begged. "Let's get out of here, just for the weekend. It's boring here, and all I want is to be with you. I have money, you don't have to bring anything. Just come with me, please."

"Do you have a plan?"

"That's the best part about it!" Will said. "We can just drive, all weekend. We can go wherever we want, do whatever we want." He must have seen the hesitation in my eyes because I got another kiss, this one more passionate. "Please?" I sighed. 

"Fine," I said. "But you're driving."

I could see as Will got more and more excited as the ignition sputtered to life and the wheels began to spin, Will pulling out of the parking lot. Once we were alone on the road Will stopped driving, plugging in the aux cord and handing me his phone. "Pick whatever music you want," he said. I flipped through various artists until I landed on Nirvana, the sound of the guitar filling the car as Will and I zoomed down the highway, the school getting farther and farther away, the worries and stress of school getting farther away, too. I rested my head on Will's shoulder and I saw him smile. One hand was on the wheel but the other rested on my thigh and even through the thick denim I could feel the comforting warmth of his hand. 

"Should you call your parents?" he asked eventually. "They're going to wonder what happened to you when you don't come home tonight." I shrugged, nestling my head into the crook of Will's neck. 

"Eventually I will," I said. "We can just sit here, though. Nothing has to happen now." 

After an hour of nothing but songs playing endlessly and the sound of the tires through the melting slush we reached a small beach a the end of a tiny dirt road, the cool waterfront air deterring any visitors from the shore. We were stopped, pointed out at the water, just behind the rusted gate that would open up to the beach with nothing more than a push. "Do you have snacks in here, by any chance?" I asked, nudging Will. He reached behind him, pulling out a bulging plastic bag filled with soda, candy and chips of all kind. 

"Oh, I have snacks," he said. "Take your pick." He handed me the bag and I rummaged around inside of it, finally landing on a coke and a hershey's bar. "What do you have in mind?" 

"We should go out there," I suggested, gesturing to the empty beach. 

"It looks cold," Will said, eyeing it with apprehension. "It's still technically winter, after all."

"Hey, you said we could do whatever I wanted to do, and I want to do this," I said, climbing out of the car. I was immediately hit with a gust of cold wind but I ignored the small shiver that ran through my body. "I want to do this. Besides, we have coats. And I'm hungry, and I'd rather eat here than in the car." I heard Will sigh, grabbing a bag of chips and coming out after me. His cheeks were pink in the cold but I could see him smiling, however faintly.

The gate creaked when I pushed it open, my feet sinking into the grains of sand. I was looking at a lake, maybe a thousand feet by a thousand feet with the breeze bringing ripples across the surface. To my left was a lifeguard post and while I was sure it was put to good use in the summer it was abandoned now, although the ladder to get up to the top was still propped against it. I watched as the waves gently crashed up against the beach, a lone seagull cawing in the sky. It was an eerie yet beautiful sight, like a photograph that you might find buried away in a dusty box in an antique store. 

"Where should we go?" Will asked. One hand was holding his chips but the other was brushing up against mine and I curled my fingers through his. 

"Up there," I said, gesturing the the lifeguard post. 

"Are we allowed to?" Will asked, squinting at it.

"No one's here to stop us," I responded. I began to walk and Will, unwilling to let go of my hand, followed. 

I had made the right decision when I had decided to sit up in the lifeguard post. It offered a shield from the wind and Will and I were able to rest our backs against the weathered wood, my head on his shoulder and his head on mine as we ate in silence. "This was a good decision," Will said, crunching down on one of the chips. "It's nice up here."

"It was your decision to come on this trip in the first place, so I should be thanking you," I said. "I'm already dreading going back." 

"Well, we have the rest of the weekend," Will reminded me. "Just you, me and the road." 

"That was so cheesy," I laughed, reaching into the bag and taking one of his chips before he could object. 

"Hey!" he complained. He tried to swat it out of my hand but it was already gone. 

After an hour of sitting and talking it began to grow colder, and the sun began to sink lower and lower into the sky, the water taking on hues of pink and purple. "We should go," Will suggested, slipping down to the ladder and holding out a hand for me to follow. "We should get some real food, and I still have to find a place for us to stay the night." My eyes widened as I shimmied down the ladder after him, my feet hitting the sand. 

"We're sleeping somewhere other than the car?" I asked him as we climbed back inside of it, turning on the heat full blast. "This is fancier than I thought it would be." Will laughed. 

"I've been saving up for this for a while, picking up extra shifts," he said. "I wanted to make this special for you."

"You didn't even know if I was going to agree to come."

"Yes, I did," Will said. He smiled softly, pulling out of the beach area and back onto the darkening highway. 

Real food turned out to be a quick stop at subway and from there we drove around, looking for a cheap motel on the side of the highway that we could stay in for the night. After going in what seemed like circles for hours we saw the flickering neon vacancy sign, a stout motel sitting behind it. The parking lot was empty and the light behind the dirty glass windows was dim but this only said that it was cheap so Will parked the car, walking into the office and pulling out his card. 

"One bed room, please," Will said. My eyes were beginning to wander, roving over the bare walls and the flickering light. 

"Seventy dollars," the woman said, holding out her hand for the card. 

"Will, do you want me to help pay for some of this?" I asked as he handed over his card. "This is getting expensive, especially if we're doing this again tomorrow night."

"No, I've got it," Will said as he slipped his card back into his pocket and accepted the bulky silver key from the woman. "The car barely uses any gas, and I've got something special planned for tomorrow night." My heart skipped a beat. 

"What is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you," Will laughed. "Come on, let's get to our room."

While the room was small, containing nothing more than a queen sized bed, two dressers, a small table with a lamp on it and one window it was clean, something I was grateful for. The pillows looked soft and the bed looked inviting and now, all I wanted to do was curl up next to Will and fall asleep.

Neither of us had brought pajamas so we stripped down to our boxers, climbing into the bed. Will slipped his arm around me and I inched closer, breathing in the familiar scent of his hair. "Are you tired?" Will murmured, running a finger through my hair. 

"Yeah," I said, barely getting the word out before a yawn split my face. I had been wide awake for the rest of the day but I was suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion so that all I wanted to do was close my eyes. Will reached over, switching off the lamp and the room fell dark, the only thing I was aware of Will's breath next to me. 

"Get some sleep, then," Will said. "I'll see you in the morning." I had all but fallen asleep when I thought I heard him whisper "I love you."

Hi guys, since it was long already and it's not done there's going to be a part two next week. Also I'm sorry if it was rushed at the end or if there were any mistakes, it's late right now. Anyway, I hope you liked that one!

Nina