Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 50th cycle. Now cycle 51!

"Lazy Hazy Days"
16/15yo Mike/Tina
Chang Squared series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Summer was on them, and as much as the days could feel like they'd just fly by, all that mattered was that they'd have a good time the whole way. They had each other, and their friends, and all the time in the world. And then came the heat wave.

As summer went, this was the hottest one Lima had seen in a good number of years. If it could be helped, they would stay anywhere that had a pool, shade, or air conditioning. Tina would spend most days at the Changs' house, since they had all three, and her boyfriend to boot.

She arrived that morning, needing to do nothing more than to kick off her flip flops, take off her shorts, and put her sunglasses aside, and she was ready to dive in the pool. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a neat bun. "Long hair in the summer… I'm going to chop it all off if this keeps up. I can make it work," she breathed and he smirked.

"Hey," he leaned in to kiss her.

"Hey," she smiled back, stretching to meet. They had gone right to the pool, and he watched her take a dive, swim under like a graceful sea creature, and finally emerge. He joined her by taking the cannonball approach, and he could hear her squeal as she got splashed. He swam back up right before her, wrapping his arms around her.

"So we were going to go camping…" he started, and she smiled, remembering a previous trip with his family. "But I think they're reconsidering, with the heat, you know?"

"Where are you going then?" she asked.

"They haven't decided yet, I think. But my mother has been talking about taking a bigger vacation this time, you know? Just this once, something special. I've heard her talk about New York." Tina gasped and almost slipped out of his arms.

"That's great, I…"

"I asked if you could still come with us," he cut in. "I think they might say yes…" She squealed, and a moment later they were both underwater again, as though she had tackled him.

It was a few days before the plans were settled, but as they had discussed, the decision came down that they would go to New York, and if Tina's parents said it was alright, she could come with them. It wasn't an immediate agreement, but in the end they had agreed. They would leave the next week.

The heat was still there, though not so high as it had been. If they were going to sweat in Lima, they could do it in New York; at least they'd be on vacation… They left early one morning and headed for their flight.

Mike had warned her that vacationing with his parents would mean a lot of walking around, and schedules, and she'd said 'but we'll be in New York.' Within two days though, it became clear she had underestimated the warning. They would return to their hotel, exhausted and drenched, but after a beat they would head to the pool.

Day three saw a break in the heat when the clouds broke with rain. Mr. and Mrs. Chang decided to stay in, which gave Mike and Tina the perfect way to escape, if for one rainy day. Somehow an umbrella hadn't factored into their packing, which didn't seem to bother Tina. Heading out of the hotel, she just stopped and stood in the rain, like it had the power to revive her. She'd looked back to Mike with that smile of hers, and he didn't care if they were drenched.

They spent all morning just exploring the city, for what they could see through the curtains of rain when they stopped in for lunch, they had to squeeze excess water from their hair and clothes before they'd be let in.

"Where do you want to go this afternoon?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Kind of like just going around without a schedule," he told her, and she laughed.

"Alright, then we'll just go where our feet take us or whatever they say," she gestured. "Although… I would really love to see at least one show while we're here. It would seem criminal not to, especially with us…" she pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure my parents are going to make that happen at some point, just try and act surprised," he told her and she grinned.

The next few hours had been aimless as the morning. The rain was starting to let out, so the two had returned to the hotel. When they arrived to the room though, there was no sign of the Changs except a note that said they had decided to go out after all and that they would be back to take them to dinner.

"We should probably change… put something dry on…" Mike looked to Tina, finding her already – and literally – peeling her t-shirt off. She met his gaze and smirked. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing, I just…" he didn't know what to say, and he wasn't helped by her edging toward him, like she knew exactly 'what' it was. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Three thirty, I th…" she told him before being cut off by a kiss. His arms would move to hold on to her as they would, compensating for the height difference. Her knees had started giving, and then they were lying down on the bed, locked in their embrace. The kisses had stretched on for a time, but the longer it went, the harder it became to ignore the urges that came with it all. Their eyes had met and they had paused, out of breath.

"Do you…" he started, and she hesitated.

"I don't know… I mean, I want to… believe me, I want to…" she blushed. "But maybe we should…"

"Wait?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Is that…" she asked nervously, like she thought he would hate her for it.

"When we're both ready," he promised, and she smiled, kissing him lightly. "I love you, Tina."

"I love you, too," she beamed, then after a breath, "We should get ready for tonight."

He helped her up, and they went and got changed, fixed hair and all to make them presentable when the Changs would return.

At dinner, Mrs. Chang was pleased to announce they would be heading to see a musical, the next night. Both Mike and Tina gave an appropriate amount of surprise, which wasn't hard, when faced against the reality that they were going.

Back on the scheduled days, the vacation had carried on, made more bearable by the fact that the heat had broken. They had gone to the show, and along with the rainy day, it would be one of the best memories they would take back with them to Lima, as they looked on to the last few weeks leading to their return to McKinley High and their auditions for Glee Club…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!