Warnings: None

Word Count: 2085

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy the chapter!

*     *     *

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove along the backroads of Columbus. Y/N was in the passenger seat, sitting with her head halfway out the open window. The afternoon sun was making the car warm, but not unbearable.

"Are you going to tell me why I'm wearing a swimsuit now?" I asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had been filling the car.

Y/N turned to me, "Is it not obvious?"

"No."

"We're going swimming."

"Ok, yes, that was obvious. My question is where?"

"Have a little sense of adventure, Tyler," she giggled. Her phone read out some directions that I couldn't quite hear, but she repeated them soon after. "Turn right in two miles."

Two miles? It didn't look like anything but fields and distant forest out here.

"I think I went to a summer camp out here when I was younger," I said as we passed a brightly colored sign advertising some chicken farm.

"I think I did, too."

Y/N set her phone down in one of the cup holders and went back to leaning out the window. She looked so pretty and carefree as she watched trees fly past. It was hard to pull my gaze away from her and watch the road instead.

"I think this is the turn," she said, pointing to a little side road.

"Are you sure?"

"That's what my phone says."

"If you say so."

An increasing number of trees started to line the road as we drove. In the passenger seat, Y/N was smiling and starting to excitedly tap her hands on her knees.

"What has you so excited?"

Her jaw dropped as she turned to me, "Do you really not know where we are? Or, I guess, where we're going?"

"No, because you still haven't told me," I laughed.

"The lake! I thought you would have figured it out by now."

"The lake?"

"Yes, Ty," she sighed. "You know, the one where all the basketball guys threw that party and you dragged me along because you didn't want to be the only one without a friend there?"

I held back a smile. That was only the excuse I had come up with to get her to come with me. In reality, I just wanted to spend time with her and I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of doing something with the team.

"Oh right. That lake."

"Yes, that lake. And I figured what better way to kick off our last afternoon together than going for a swim?"

Our last afternoon together. I still didn't like the sound of it.

"Um, can we just not talk about it being our last afternoon together right now?" My fingers were tapping against the wheel faster now. "I just want today to be about us."

"About us," Y/N repeated. "That sounds good."

I nodded and turned back towards the window. If I remembered correctly, it wouldn't be long before we reached our destination.

*      *      *

Dozens of other cars filled the tiny parking lot. I somehow managed to find a decent parking space between two trucks near the entrance. Y/N grabbed her bag from beneath her feet and was quick to hop out of the car. I followed suit.

"Can you grab the blanket, Ty?" she asked from the other side of the car.

"Yeah."

Y/N grabbed the cooler from the backseat and tucked it up under her arm. Once I finished grabbing the blanket and locking the car, she led the way out to the grassy patches that surrounded the lake. There were more people than I was expecting for late March.

"What do you think?" Y/N asked me.

"Huh?"

"I asked what you think." She waved her arm in front of her, "Of this spot."

"Oh yeah. Yeah - it's good."

A pause.

"Ty?"

"Yeah?"

"The blanket?"

"Right."

Y/N kicked off her shoes while I carefully laid out the blanket in the grass. As much as I was trying to enjoy my time with her, my mind wouldn't stop wandering back to the fact that I would be leaving tomorrow. Everything was happening so quickly.

"Thanks," she said as she sat down. I did the same. "Want a drink?"

"Sure."

Y/N dug around in the cooler for a moment before pulling out a Red Bull and handing it to me. I popped open the top and took a long drink, letting out a content sigh as I swallowed it. Nearby, a few kids were splashing water up at one another and giggling.

"How was practice this morning?" Y/N asked.

"Fine," I shrugged. "I mean, I've been playing these songs for so long that practice feels kind of useless now."

"Did you figure out a set list?"

I turned to her, "I thought we weren't talking about me leaving?"

She smiled against the edge of her drink, "I just asked if you have a set list."

"We do. Josh came up with most of it."

"Do you like it?"

"It's alright."

I hated how conversation between us felt so forced, like we were both trying to skirt around the fact that I was leaving but not being able to think of anything else.

After another long sip of Red Bull, I stood up and stripped my shirt off. Y/N gave me a funny look as I pulled my shoes off and tossed them to the side of the blanket.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"We're here to swim, right?" I smiled. "Might as well make the most of it."

Y/N shook her head as I ran towards the edge of the water and dipped my feet in. It wasn't the warmest water I had been in, but it wasn't terrible, either. I walked in a little further so that it was lapping around my thighs.

"Coming?" I called back to Y/N.

"I'm going to finish a little more of my drink," she answered, holding her can up for added effect.

Rather than continuing to yell, I simply gave her a thumbs up before turning back to the water. I slowly continued to move deeper until the water was up around my waist. The deeper I went, the colder I seemed to feel.

When I turned back towards the shore, Y/N was pulling off her own t-shirt. She tossed it onto the blanket along with the rest of her things, grabbed her phone, and then came walking towards me.

"It's cold!" she called as she began to wade in the water.

"It gets better the further in you get," I said, knowing perfectly well that it wasn't true.

"It does?"

I nodded, meanwhile trying my hardest not to let my smile show. Y/N walked over to me, handed me her phone, and then turned her back to the water. After a deep breath, she let herself fall back until she was completely submerged. It splashed up onto my shoulders, making me jolt a little.

"Tyler!" she yelled as soon as she emerged from the water. She messily pushed the hair that was stuck to her forehead back so that she could see. "You liar! It's cold!"

I was too busy laughing to give her a proper answer. In her frustration, she splashed some water up at me, giggling as she did so.

"Here, I'll make it even," I said, passing her phone back to her.

Y/N watched me with a raised eyebrow as I walked out towards where she was standing. I turned my back to the water as she had done and let myself fall into the water. The cool water came as a bit of a shock as it washed up over my head, soaking me completely. When I stood back up and shook my hair out of my face, Y/N was laughing.

"Even?" I grinned, holding my arms out.

"Even."

I pushed my hair back and sunk a little lower in the water so that it was up around my shoulders. Y/N had moved to a little shallower spot and was doing something on her phone, most likely taking pictures. She liked to do things like that.

"Aren't you afraid of dropping your phone in the water?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Carter let me borrow a waterproof case he had. It should be fine."

"What are you doing?"

"Taking videos."

"Of what?"

"I don't know. Stuff?"

I moved closer to Y/N to see what she was doing, but she held an arm out to stop me.

"What?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

She exhaled, "Ty, maybe one of these days you'll learn that I'm sentimental and like to remember everything. Just stand there and look pretty, alright?"

"Why do you need to remember today?"

Y/N looked at me over the top of her phone, "I would tell you, but I'm not allowed to talk about it."

I nodded and turned out towards the other side of the lake. For a while, I had forgotten about leaving. It had been just another carefree day spent with Y/N.

"Ty?"

I had been so caught up in my head that I hadn't heard Y/N talking to me.

"What?"

"I'm going to go set my phone down. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks."

"Ok."

While Y/N waded back towards shore to set her phone down, I took another dip under the water. My body was slowly adjusting to the temperature, making it less shocking than the first time I dove under. In fact, it was actually starting to feel kind of refreshing under the mid-afternoon sun.

"It's kind of nice out here, isn't it?" Y/N asked as she returned.

I ran my hands through my hair again, "Yeah. I think the lake was a good choice."

That same gorgeous smile was on her face again, "I'm glad you like it."

I wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked. Little strands of hair were framing her forehead, pressed flat by water. Her eyes were absolutely shining in the sun, framed so nicely by her eyelashes. Everything about her just seemed perfect.

Of course, there was no way I was going to tell her that.

Instead, I did the only thing that seemed logical: tackled her straight into the water. She squealed as my arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her down into the water with me, completely submerging the two of us.

Y/N made it out of the water before I did, and by the time that I had stood up and could see again, she had already gotten the water out of her eyes and was staring at me. She was trying her best to look angry, but she couldn't entirely wipe the smile from her face.

"What was that for?"

"I couldn't resist," I smiled, hoping it would make me look more innocent.

"Ty," she sighed. "I swear."

I simply shrugged, prompting her to kick water up at me. It hit my back as I turned away just in time to avoid getting a face full of water.

"You're going to pay for that, Joseph."

"I'm sure I will."

Y/N and I spent the next hour or so splashing around in the water and generally acting like kids again. She made several attempts to tackle me in return, but none of them were successful. I, on the other hand, was able to successfully tackle her on multiple occasions, only adding fuel to her desire to get revenge.

We eventually got tired of our water shenanigans, so we grabbed our drinks and sat down at the edge of the water to relax for awhile. Our conversation was nice, but I could tell that both of us were having a hard time staying away from the topic of me leaving. Not that I could really blame us.

When the sun finally started to get lower in the sky, Y/N and I packed up our belongings and headed back towards the car. I tried to get her to tell me more about what she had planned, but she refused to fess up. All she would say is that we had to get back to Columbus before any more details would be revealed. Although I wasn't sure exactly what was in store for our night, I was determined to make the most out of it.

After all, in a situation like this, every minute counted.