"I'm gonna get there first!" Nick shouted, peeling off his shirt and tossing it in the sand, not even bothering to look where it would land.

Jeff was temporarily mesmerized by Nick's broad, tan chest and the curve of his muscles. But he recovered quickly by running and after him.

The sand had them tripping over dunes and kicking up dust, but Nick still had a considerable lead.

"Face it, man! I wasn't in track for nothing!" Nick said, lengthening his stride.

"Yeah, well…" Jeff shouted back "Doesn't mean I can't still out-run you!"

"Yeah, because you're so out-running me right now!" Nick lowered his head and broke into a flat-out sprint for the water.

Jeff tried to catch up, but failed miserably, arriving at the water's edge several minutes later.

He put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Honestly," he panted "Who thought of putting the fire pits so far away from the actual beach?" He straightened up. "I mean, I understand needing them away from the water, but that was a ridiculous distance."

"The loser always has something to complain about," Nick teased, looking completely at ease.

"The day we have a dance-off, you will eat your words."

"I doubt it." Nick gave Jeff a confident smirk.

Jeff stuck his tongue out before reaching down and taking his own shirt off and tossing it behind him.

Before he'd even turned around, he felt his back being splattered with wet sand. Nick was already running further into the tide and scooping up another handful from under the water pooling around his heels.

"Oh no you don't!" Jeff yelled, running and stooping low to pick up some sand of his own.

He aimed carefully at Nick's face as he flung the sand with all his might. He was disappointed when Nick lithely dodged the mass, ducking quickly.

Nick straightened up, laughing. "Missed!"

Jeff ran towards him, but Nick held up his hand.

"Whoa, whoa. Let's not make this a war." He looked at Jeff sincerely. "Let's call it a tie." When Jeff was close enough, Nick tugged on the strings of the other boy's trunks and pulled him closer.

"You can't do that, there are people around," Jeff protested.

"How much I care is equivalent to zero," Nick said happily before closing the gap between them.

He let his fingers trace the curve of Jeff's jaw and memorize the feel of his silky skin. Their lips parted and Nick took in a sharp breath. He could smell the coconut scent of Jeff's sunscreen and the salty spray of the ocean. Then his senses were overwhelmed by the taste of Jeff's mouth moving with his own.

"Why do I get the feeling this is a trap?" Jeff said with a smile.

"Because it is," Nick said, giving Jeff one last peck before smearing his handful of wet sand on Jeff's chest.

"I've been had!"

"Haven't you heard? All's fair in love and war!"

Jeff's stomach flip-flopped at the word "love" and he grinned as he caught up to Nick and overpowered him, scooping the other boy up in his arms.

Nick struggled to break free, but found himself being tossed into the waves. He came up spluttering and spitting out salt water.

Jeff was doubling over with laughter at the sight of Nick shaking his hair out and muttering promises of revenge when a huge wave came and knocked him down.

Then it was Nick's turn to laugh.

"Karma, my friend. Kar-ma!" He emphasized the word as Jeff pushed his sopping blonde hair out of his eyes.

A particularly large wave crept up behind Nick and thundered down on him, sending him stumbling forward. He caught himself at the last second with a shocked expression on his face.

"What was that you were saying about Karma?" Jeff asked smugly.

Nick bent down and splashed some water in Jeff's direction defiantly. "Nothing. I was saying nothing."

They didn't have to wait long for it to get dark. There weren't very many people on the beach anymore; the water was bitingly cold and the sun was sinking down behind the waves.

The dark orange orb was cut evenly in half by the ocean and casting various rays of deep yellow and red over the ocean, changing colors with each new wave.

Nick was letting the waves run over his feet as he crossed his arms. He felt Jeff's arms winding around his waist.

"What are you thinking about?" Jeff murmured into Nick's dark hair.

"Nothing," Nick said with a small smile.

"Liar." Jeff tickled Nick until he was laughing breathlessly.

"Okay, okay! Geez." Nick caught his breath before going on. "I was just thinking about how I never get to actually see the sun set. Like I see it get dark, but I never get to see as it actually disappears. It's like one minute it's there and the next…it's just not."

"Wow," Jeff nodded to himself. "And here I was just thinking of how good you look."

"I find your ignorance charming," Nick joked, twisting around in Jeff's arms and kissing his lips lightly.

Nick brought his hands up to cup Jeff's face gently as he took a step closer. Jeff's hands were splayed across Nick's back and they were shifting as Jeff pressed their chests flush together. The contact of skin touching skin was like a shock of pleasant electricity between them. Jeff let out a soft moan as Nick moved his hands into Jeff's hair.

Jeff opened his mouth and their tongues met as the tide reached their bare feet. Neither of the boys were bothered as Nick ran his tongue over the outline of Jeff's lips.

"I thought you were watching the sunset," Jeff said with a little difficulty.

"I can think of better things to do with my time," Nick replied, arching an eyebrow before kissing Jeff tenderly once again until all thoughts of protest were pushed out of his mind.

They huddled together by the fire later. Nick had unwisely brought a pair of shorts to change into, so he had a blanket draped over his legs.

"I told you to bring jeans," Jeff taunted, crossing his own legs beneath him.

"Yeah, but the beach is so weird. It's hot during the day then it's cold at night. I say it needs to make up its mind." He shivered as he pulled a Dalton hoodie over his head.

"We're by the water, of course it's cold." Jeff laughed as he threw in another log, the fire crackling around the new addition of wood.

"This coming from the guy who forgot to reapply his sunscreen," scoffed Nick.

"It's not my fault!" Jeff protested. "I don't have time to be reapplying it every two minutes."

"Whatever, I can see where your face is going to burn." Nick poked the slightly pink patches on Jeff's cheek and his nose.

"Then I'll tan, and it'll be attractive."

"Then your skin will peel. Which is not attractive." Nick gave him one last poke before picking up a skewer. He opened the pack of marshmallows they'd brought and stuck one at the end.

"You know," he looked back at Jeff. "I have this irrational fear that my marshmallow will burst into flames and ruin a perfectly good s'more."

Jeff laughed, picking up a skewer of his own. "Why's that?"

"I think that happened to me as a kid. There's nothing more traumatizing then a kid pulling out a flaming 'mallow." He pulled his out of the fire suddenly, blowing on it. The edges of it were slightly brown which was good enough for him.

"Oh, you wish you had as perfect of a s'more as this," Nick said with a grin, adding the graham crackers and chocolate.

Jeff didn't reply, but grabbed Nick's hand that was holding the s'more and bit into it neatly, a trail of marshmallow goo leaving his mouth as he pulled away. He chewed the piece of s'more triumphantly as Nick's mouth was agape with shock.

"You ruined my perfect s'more," Nick said indignantly.

"I made it better," Jeff teased, still chewing and wiping his mouth.

"The first bite of the perfect s'more is a huge deal. It's like a rite of passage practically. You've cheated me out of it."

"Well you can't get it back now." Jeff pulled his marshmallow out of the fire, the outside of it almost burnt completely. Just the way he liked it.

"Can't I?" Nick said slyly before grabbing a fistful of Jeff's sweater and crashing their mouths together.

Nick could taste the sweet, sticky traces of marshmallow left behind on Jeff's lips as he let his tongue run quickly along them. He deepened the kiss, pulling Jeff closer and parting the other boy's lips. He could taste the chocolate still lingering there as their tongues tangled together.

Nick smiled through the kiss and pressed a hand against Jeff's chest, pushing him back.

"Delicious," he said, taking a bite of his s'more.

Jeff blinked, taking a second to recover himself. All he could do was grin widely as he made his own s'more.

The embers of the fire were dying away and there was no more wood to feed the feeble flames. Nick was leaning against Jeff's shoulders, fighting sleep.

Jeff's left arm was draped over Nick's shoulders, stroking his arm soothingly.

"Come on, let's get you home." Jeff tried to stir the other boy, but Nick refused to budge.

"But you're so warm and nice."

"So is your bed."

"Is that a come-on?" Nick tiredly looked up at Jeff.

"What? No." Jeff couldn't help but laugh at Nick's half-asleep state. "You're obviously tired and we need to get back."

"But you smell good." Nick pouted a bit as he buried his head further into Jeff's sweater.

"I'll make you a deal: I'll let you wear my sweater in the car."

Nick considered for a moment. "Okay. But you can't let me fall asleep."

"I'll do my best."

He helped a groggy Nick to his feet and grabbed the few things they'd brought with them easily in his other arm.

"Hey, I figured out why the fire pits were so far away" Nick declared.

"And why's that?"

"Because they're so close to the parking lot."

Sure enough, they were only a few feet away from the parking lot. Jeff opened the passenger door for Nick.

"You're going to get sand all over my car," Jeff pretended to be annoyed.

"Serves you right. You bit my s'more." Nick clambered into the car as Jeff pulled off his sweater.

"Here you go."

Nick wrapped his arms in the sweater and promptly stuck his face in it. Jeff could hear the other boy smelling it as he tossed their things in the trunk.

When he'd made his way to the driver's side and was turning on the ignition, he looked over to Nick.

"Hey, are you awake?"

Nick was already fast asleep.

Jeff smirked and brushed a strand of hair out of Nick's face. He squirmed in his sleep, pressing into Jeff's touch.

Jeff shook his head and put the car in reverse. It'd been a long day.

A/N: Inspired by my recent trip to the beach.

Review please? (: