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Nico sat quietly in the passenger seat, purposely staring out the window. Jason drummed on the steering wheel as they waited for everyone to leave the parking lot. Today, everyone was taking their sweet time as they leaned out of their car windows and called out to their friends walking by. The excitement of the start of summer was in the air, but that excitement didn’t carry into the car. Nico glanced at the tassel hanging from the rearview mirror, with a mocking 2016 pendant shining in the light. Jason was graduating this year. He was graduating tomorrow. And then come August, he would be moving across the country to attend one of the most prestigious private colleges that his father attended. Leaving Nico alone in New York.
They hadn’t really talked about what they were going to do. Nico refused to even acknowledge the elephant in the room, even when he helped Jason send out his invitations, search for scholarships, and came with him when he took his graduation pictures. But now he couldn’t avoid the fact anymore. His boyfriend was going to walk across the stage tomorrow and then they would be on a timer. 3 months and then who knows what would happen.
“Nico-” Jason began, but Nico cut him off. He wasn’t ready to have the conversation yet. Not in the school parking lot. Not right as everything was setting in for him.
“Let's go to the beach.” He said suddenly. Jason turned to him and gave him a weird look. “
The beach?”
“Yeah. Let's head to Long Island and go to the beach. Right now. Head to one of those cute little towns with a nice historical district and just have a really nice last day of school.” Nico explained. Jason stared at him for a second. Then he smiled slightly and grabbed Nico’s hand. Rubbing circles on his palm, Jason nodded.
“Sure, sounds fun. Let's go to the beach.”
The drive to Long Island was silent except for the occasional change in radio stations. Any other time, Nico would have felt awkward with such a long silence between him and Jason, but today it felt like it needed to be there. Like, if they started talking, then they would have to talk about Jason graduating.
Jason smoothly pulled into one of the empty parking spots in the small town’s historical district and shut off the car. “Ok, where to?”
Nico scanned the nearby buildings before pointing at the giant house in the middle of the square. There was a large sign that said ghost tours right in front of it, which made Nico smile. That would work.
“Small town ghost tour. Come on.” Jason got out of the car with a sigh and checked his pockets for his phone, wallet, and keys.
“You and ghost tours.” He muttered under his breath as he intertwined his and Nico’s hands. Nico smirked at his boyfriend.
“After this, we can track down the classic confectionary shop and get milkshakes or something.” Nico compromised. Jason let out a small laugh and started to swing their arms as they continued on their way to the ghost tours. This was probably the most cliché thing they had done in a while and Nico was loving every minute of it.
“You sure know how to smooth talk a guy, di Angelo. Fine, first ghost tour, then milkshakes.”
They found surprisingly a lot to do in the town’s historical district. They went on several more tours and took the stereotypical tourists pictures. Once Jason tracked down the confectionary shop, they got their milkshakes and then proceeded to try and buy several pounds of candies and chocolates. After walking around for a bit more and stopping by several tourists shops, they found their way into a small diner and ate some pizza. Now, the sun was setting and Nico could almost feel like the spell of the day was wearing off. He wanted it to last just a bit longer. As they made their way back to the car, Nico pulled on Jason’s sleeve.
“We should go to the beach and watch the sunset.”
Jason didn’t object and they were soon driving the few miles it took to get to the nice beach to watch the day end. Jason parked his car directly in front of the sun and got out. “We can sit on the hood and watch it like that.”
Nico followed his lead and climbed onto the hood of the car. They laid next to each other side by side and watched the sky become a mural of reds and pinks. Nico felt a pang in his heart as he realized the day was almost officially over. It wasn’t fair.
“You know that I am going to come back home every chance I get, right?” Jason said suddenly. Nico closed his eyes. So they were finally going to talk about it.
“I know.”
“And I am going to be constantly texting you and skype you every day. And I will probably send you letters and gifts from California all the time.”
Nico sighed. “You say that now, but it’s only a matter of time before every day becomes every other day, and then it becomes once a week, and then we break up because I couldn’t handle the distance and you found someon-”
“You’re being stupid.”
Nico’s eyes snapped open and he sat up. “I’m being realistic Jason. This happens all the time. Long distance relationships don’t really work out.” Jason shook his head and looked Nico in the eye.
“You’re being stupid if you honestly think that I would be able to find someone else like you. I love you and that’s not changing anytime soon. You are stuck with me sir, whether I am 5 minutes away or 5 hours away.” Jason declared.
“You could easily find someone better than me. I don’t set the bar very high.”
Jason sat up and moved closer to Nico, reaching to play with Nico’s hair. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Nico felt his heart jump. “Nico, you set the bar impossibly high.”
Nico swallowed. “How?”
Jason inched closer so that their foreheads were touching. Nico was vaguely away that they were at a public beach in the open and that anyone could see them, but he found that he didn’t really care. “You are kind and sarcastic and incredibly smart. To the point that I am pretty sure you are going to be your class’s salutatorian, at the least. Probably the valedictorian.”
“A lot of people do that,” Nico whispered. He was torn between concentrating on how close Jason was to him and how nice it felt when Jason played with his hair. Jason grinned.
“You are reckless and willing to stand up for what’s right. You come up with spur of the moment ideas like coming to this beach in the first place.” Jason paused. “You make me feel like a regular guy instead of the golden son puppet that my parents want me to be.”
Nico couldn’t come up with a retort at that point and instead closed his eyes. Jason placed a small kiss on each eyelid and placed his other hand on Nico’s waist. Nico’s hands found their way up to Jason’s shoulders. “I feel alive and free whenever I am around you. I constantly want to be around you. I am always wanting to touch you.”
With that, Jason finally pressed his lips against Nico. Nico moved his hands from Jason’s shoulders to around his neck, pulling himself closer. Jason shifted slightly so that Nico was now sitting in his lap. With each kiss, the franticness and need for each other grew. The sun set slowly in the background. When they finally pulled apart, only a few rays were left. Above them, the stars glowed.
Jason looked down at the younger boy in his lap, his eyes drifting from the faint blush that was on his cheeks to his lips. Nico could feel the intensity of his stare and smirked. “Ok, you made several good points, but I feel like I need some more convincing.”
Jason blinked twice at his boyfriend’s words before laughing. Leaning back in, he gave Nico a quick peck. “Sure thing. I am completely willing to give you all the convincing you need. No matter how long it takes.”
“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing we have all summer.”