Summer was coming to an end.

In the past that usually meant the end of sleep overs and barbecues and a return to school.

Not this year though. 

Still, there was one more thing Ellie and Dae wanted to do this summer.

Something they hadn't done in years.

"Ells? You ready to go?" Dae called from her front door.

"Almost...I'll be right down!" She called out to him.

He swung his keys around his finger as he waited at the door, bouncing on the balls of his feet, wearing a plain white t-shirt and shorts, he adjusted his feet in his sandals.

Finally he heard her on the stairs and smiled as she came around the corner carrying a small bag holding her things.

His heart skipped a beat as he looked her over. 

She was wearing a cute summer dress that stopped just abover her knees, her hair was down hanging over her shoulder, and her smile made his heart melt.

"Beautiful..." he said aloud without thinking.

She blushed and looked down.

He cleared his throat and smiled, then went to her, and took the bag from her hand and slung it over his shoulder as he leaned in for a kiss.

"I missed you." he said.

"We've only been apart like 8 hours.."

He shrugged. "Even so..."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his shoulder.

He rest his hand on her back, rubbing it as she snuggled him.

"I guess i'd have to admit, i missed you too." she said, kissing his neck as she pulled away.

"You guess??" he teased.

He kissed her forehead and took her hand as he opened the front door.

At his car he went to her side and opened the door for her, then placed her bag in the trunk before getting in and starting the car.

He pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the freeway, rolling the windows down just enough for the wind to tussle their hair as he reached over, placing his hand on her leg, just above her knee.

"Excited?" he asked.

She nodded. "You?"

"Of course. I haven't been to the beach in ages, and even better than that, i get to go with you."

He smiled at her and she smiled back.

She leaned against him and rest her head on his shoulder.

Keeping his eyes on the road he turned and kissed the top of her head.

"It's a shame your mother couldn't come." she said.

"Mm, she said she had too much to do...although in all honesty, i think she just made that up so we could go by ourselves."

They both smiled, knowing that was probably the case.

"Any word from the boys?" Ellie asked hesitantly. She knew they had another court date coming up soon and was torn as to what she wanted to happen. It had been delayed time after time and she was sort of hoping it would be delayed just a little longer, but then she hated herself for thinking that way, as she'd seen how upsetting this was for Dae, the longer it was dragged out.

"No." he said turning to look at her, "but let's not worry about that today." he smiled, giving her thigh a gentle squeeze.

Truth be told, he'd been worrying about their upcoming court date, but today he just wanted to focus on Ellie. It might be one of their last chances to get out just the two of them for who knew how long.

Halfway into their drive, he glanced over at her, and found her staring silently out the passenger window, her head reclining against the seat. 

He smiled to himself and let his hand move a couple inches up her thigh.

Ellie slowly turned to him. "Yah Jung Daehyun, just because i'm wearing a dress--"

He chuckled. "I'm only playing, i was just curious what you'd do. "

She gave him a look and crossed her arms. "Only playing my ...trying to cop a feel."

She only made him laugh harder. "I'm sorry, i'm sorry, it won't happen again..at least not right now..."

"Eyyy," she said side -eyeing him. "I'm gonna sit away from you." she teased, pulling away.

He reached over, putting his arm around her, his hand on her side, in an attempt to pull her back, but at the same time she was turning away from him and next thing he knew, he had a handful of .

She quickly turned and both of them looked at eachother wide eyed.

She recovered first and slapped his hand away.

"What did you just do?" she asked, face flushed.

"It wasn't my fault, i was only trying to pull you back over here, but you turned and...well..." Dae stammered, embarassed.

"And you copped a feel."

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident, you put your in my hand.."

"I did what??" she asked, shock on her face.

"I mean not on purpose, but that's what happened when you turned away from me. I wasn't trying to grab you i swear."

"Jung Daehyun, i've been in the car with you all of 30 minutes and already you've tried to get up my skirt and grabbed my ."

His face turned red as he returned both his hands to the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry..." he said softly. "It really was an accident."

She tried her hardest to keep a straight face, but seeing how embarassed he was, she couldn't control it and burst out laughing.

He looked at her confused.

"Ah Daehyun..." she said shaking her head.

"Honestly it was a mistake."

She smiled at him and leaned over, grabbing his hand and pulling it around her shoulder as she cuddled up against his side.

"I know it." she said with a wink.

He gave her a look. 

"That does it...when we get there, i'm tossing your in the ocean."

She pressed herself to his side and smiled, holding onto his arm for the rest of the drive.

They arrived at their destination close to 3 in the afternoon. 

It was a hot day, and the beach was crowded with teens enjoying the last of their break before school started back up.

Dae got out and ran around to get Ellie's door, taking her hand as she got out.

Ellie squint from the sun's glare and shielded her eyes with her hand.

"Perfect day for the beach." she commented.

Daehyun smiled, and holding Ellie's hand, they walked toward the sand.

A few steps across the beach and Ellie stopped to take her sandals off, and looked out across the ocean.

Dae watched as she closed her eyes and inhaled the ocean breeze, the wind whipping her hair about her face as pulled up into a smile.

She opened her eyes and caught Dae staring.

He reached over and took her sandals from her hand, and held them as they continued toward the water.

"Remember that time our families came to the beach together, and we had a barbecue in the parking lot?" Dae asked, thinking back.

Ellie smiled. "Mmhmm...and a certain little boy threw mud in my face, and i cried."

Dae chuckled. "I didn't mean too."

"Yeah, just like you didn't mean to me in the car earlier?"

"Aish, you sure know how to give someone a hard time."

Ellie giggled. "Only because you're so fun to tease."

He stopped and stood in front of her. "You know, I did make you a promise in the car."

She cocked her head to the side. "You did? I don't remember..."

He smirked at her just before he bent down, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her over his shoulder.

"Dae!" She shrieked.

"What? I said i was gonna toss your in the ocean, remember?"

"Put me down!"

"Nope."

"Jung Daehyun, i'll make you regret it!"

He chuckled, as she lay hanging over his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her legs to keep her from falling.

When he made no attempt to set her down, she reached down, grabbing ahold of the waistband of his shorts and pulled up.

"Yah!" he yelped.

He quickly set her down, then fixed his shorts, holding a hand against his rear. "You know I don't think anyone has given me a wedgie since middle school, thanks for that."

"I told you, you should've put me down." she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You're cute when you're fiesty."

"Shut up." she said pushing him away.

He chuckled and made a grab for her, hooking his arm around her waist.

Ellie giggled and he held her against him, his chest pressed to her back, his chin on her shoulder.

They stood a moment, staring out across the water, letting the breeze caress their skin.

Dae sighed softly. "Last time i was here, i came with my Dad."

Ellie rest her head back against his shoulder as she listened. 

"We went fishing on the pier. Didn't catch a darn thing all day...We still had a great time. I felt bad that we never caught anything so i took him to dinner at that restaurant over there." He gestured with his head the direction of the restaurant. "So in the end, we still got to eat fish, even if we didn't catch any." he chuckled.

Ellie smiled, happy to see that Dae was finally able to talk about his Dad without being in pain.

 "He was lucky to have a son like you. I know he thought so too."

Dae gave her a squeeze and kissed her cheek. "I love you." he said gently.

"Me too."

He gave another deep sigh and released her. "Alright, I'm gonna go grab our stuff from the car, while you pick where you want me to set it up."

"Ok."

He returned a couple minutes later with their things and she chose a spot closer to the pier, as it was less crowded there.

She helped Dae stretch out their blanket then they put their towels, bags, and their mini cooler on the corners to keep it from blowing away.

Once their things were settled, she pulled her dress up over her head, so that she was standing on the beach in just her bikini.

Daehyun stopped what he was doing and froze.

She pulled her sunscreen out of her bag and began putting it on her arms, oblivious to his gaze.

When she'd finished putting the stuff on her arms and legs, she turned to Dae. "Can you get my back?" she asked ing the bottle toward him.

"S...sure..." Daehyun said, looking away shyly.

He squirt the white liquid into his hand and rubbed his hands together before rubbing it on her back and shoulders. 

Her skin was soft and warm and he had to resist the urge to kiss her exposed skin as he slathered the lotion on her.

He cleared his throat. "All done."

"Thank you." she said turning to him with a smile, unaware of the partial hard-on he was now concealing. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"Well," Daehyun started, averting his eyes. "I brought some things." 

Ellie watched as he picked up one of the bags sitting on the blanket and emptied it of its contents.

Out tumbled several plastic containers of various shapes and colors, as well as a couple shovels.

"Sandcastle stuff." he beamed.

Ellie chuckled. "You're cute."

To anyone else it would probably seem childish, but it warmed her heart. It brough back happy memories of their time at the beach as kids, spending the day with both their families. 

They'd have sand castle competitions, and fly kites together, seeing who could keep their kite up the longest, and enjoy lunch which almost always included a watermelon, both families sitting in a circle on their towels and blankets.

Ellie joined Daehyun and kneeled down in the wet sand and began digging.

After completing her first castle, Ellie watched as Daehyun worked on his castle, filling the little plastic containers with wet sand, then flipping them over, quickly creating a small town.

The sun was getting low and it cast a beautiful glow on his dark skin.

She watched his biceps tense, his wet hair sticking to his forehead, and she smiled as she saw his face, so focused on his castle. It was the same face he'd made as a kid while working on his sand castles.

He sat, completely immersed in the construction of his castle, totally unaware that Ellie had scooped up a handful of wet sand and was eyeing him.

Ellie bit her lip and launched the mud at Dae, hitting him on the side of the head.

It splattered across the side of his face and bits fell off landing on his shoulder, tumbling down inside of his shirt, the rest of it embedded in his hair.

He stopped fussing with his castle and sat, unmoving for a long moment, before snapping his head in her direction.

"You're in big trouble." he stated, quickly jumping to his feet.

Ellie squealed, scrambling to get up before he could get ahold of her.

He was faster than she though, and he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder for the second time that day, and made his way toward the water.

"I'm sorry, i'm sorry, put me down!" Ellie pleaded. "I was only getting you back for the time you threw mud at me, come on Dae, put me down!" She yelled, hitting him on the as he approached the water. "Dae, please!"

"You've given me trouble all day Ells, now it's my turn."

"I'm sorryyyyy," she cried.

"Too bad." he chuckled as he prepared to toss her.

She grabbed ahold of his shirt with both her hands, pulling tightly as he threw her, so that as she fell, she ended up pulling him into the water with her.

As she went under, she pushed away from him and swam further out.

Dae surfaced coughing as he pushed his hair back out of his face.

He spun around looking for her, and by the time he spotted her, she was already out of reach.

"Yah!" he shouted.

"I told you to let go!" she chided. "Besides, you needed to wash the mud off anyhow right?"

He lunged after her and she swam away further still.

He chased her about for a bit, until they'd both exhausted themselves.

Finally he caught up and she gave in, putting her arms around his neck as she laughed, out of breath.

"Troublemaker." he teased.

She beamed at him.

He leaned in to kiss her and as he did, she put her hands on his shoulders.

"I love you." he said. "and i love seeing you happy and playing around like this. It's like we were never apart."

"Mm." she agreed. "and i love you too."

He kissed her again, and as he pulled away, she pushed down on his shoulders, submerging him underwater once more as she swam away, returning to shore.

She returned to their blanket, wrapping a towel about her as Dae came out of the water.

He was smiling, one eye closed as he had salt water in it, hair dripping, his shirt sticking to his chest and abs.

When he neared the blanket, Ellie tossed him a towel, which he threw around his shoulders.

Ellie was now lying on the blanket, wrapped up in her towel, looking up at Dae.

He crouched down and threw himself on top of her, making her squeal.

He straddled her waist and leaned down, bringing his mouth to hers.

His wet shirt sagged, brushing her bare skin, as water droplets fell on her face from his hair.

Her hands came up, slipping into his hair as they kissed.

Dae sighed softly, content, with Ellies arms around him, the sun setting behind them, the sound of the waves and the seagulls in the air...

As he pulled away from their kiss, he looked down into her face and smiled.

He took a seat next to her on the blanket, rubbing his wet hair with the towel, then laying it across his shoulders as he brought his knees up, wrapping his arms around them, clasping his hands together.

Ellie sat up, and scoot closer to Dae, looping her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder.

He smiled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the ocean air.

"How did i get so lucky?" he said in disbelief.

They sat side by side, watching as the sun set, not aware of anything or anyone else around them.

"What do you mean?" Ellie questioned.

Dae placed his hand atop hers, caressing it softly.

"My best friend, my everything in the whole world, just happened to move in next door when i was 6...what are the chances? How many people get that lucky..."

His words warmed her heart, and made her smile.

"Just think about it...we've spent most of our lives together..."

And they had. Through good times and bad. Family outings and funerals, graduation and growing up...they'd done it all together.

The last of the sun's light disappeared beneath the horizon, and with it, the last of it's heat.

As the breeze kicked up, Ellie curled up tighter and pressed into Dae.

Daehyun kissed the top of her head and stood up, reaching out for her hand, and helping her to her feet.

Ellie took his hand and followed, as he led her under the pier.

He stopped walking and turned to Ellie, as she leaned back against one of the wooden posts beneath the pier.

He pulled his shirt off and pulled it over Ellie's head, as she was still in her bikini and the air was quickly cooling off.

"Thank you." she said, putting her arms through the sleeves.

Dae took both of her hands in his and Ellie looked up at him with a smile.

"I love you Ells...so much." he said softly as he leaned in. "I don't know what i'd ever do without you."

He brought his mouth to hers as his body pressed against her, his tongue sliding past her lips.

His hands came up, cradling her face as his tongue explored .

Her hands, that had been resting on his waist, came up, pressing against his bare chest.

She heard his breathing change, and he moaned softly.

He placed his hand on top of hers, holding her hand in place over his heart.

His mouth left hers and moved to her neck, kissing and nipping along its length.

Ellie let her head tilt back, coming to rest against the wooden post behind her.

She could feel her body becoming warm, and it wasn't because of his shirt.

She closed her eyes, focusing on Daehyun's mouth moving across her skin.

Softly, gently, his lips pressing here and there.

After leaving her neck, his lips moved to her shoulder and collarbones.

Ellie felt her face flush, and brought her other hand to the back of Dae's head.

They'd had a couple heated make-out sessions lately and every time, theyd been interrupted by one thing or another.

Once again, she felt Dae's hard-on throb against her and she groaned.

"I want you." Ellie said softly. "I need you Daehyun."

His kisses slowly came to a stop, and he placed his lips near her ear as he pressed his pelvis against her.

"I want you too, believe me Ells, but not here. Not with so many people around. I don't want to take the chance that someone comes along and sees you. When it happens... I want to be able to focus on you completely, just you... and i don't think i can do that here. It's not that I don't want to so please don't think that. You're beautiful and amazing and i'm dying to have you...but not at the risk of someone accidentally seeing you exposed...I'd be worried the whole time."

She looked into his eyes, her hands entangled in his hair, and she smiled.

She smiled because, he wanted to protect her...and as much as he wanted her here and now, he wanted to wait until they could be alone together so he could completely focus on her...just her.

She brought to his, wrapping her arms tightly around him as they kissed.

Afterwards they packed up their things and began the ride back home.

Ellie sat curled up against Dae, still wearing his shirt as the heater warmed them both, the street lights flashing through the windows as they went.

Daehyun the radio and began singing along, and slowly she drifted off to sleep, thankful for the time they'd had together..

And for the wonderful man at her side.