"Got everything?" you ask as you walk down your driveway, heading in the direction of the beach. The street pavement is ripping hot, but your feet are practically leather at this point from all the days on the hot sand. There are only a few days left of summer and you are going to take advantage of every day of good weather that you get.

"Yes, ma'am. All set," Matthew confirms what you already know. The two of you go to the beach together so often that you practically have a routine at this point. Matthew carries the chairs and a backpack with your towels in them and you carry your trusty beach bag full of snacks, sunscreen, and whatever else you might need.

You grab his hand, lacing your fingers together as you make your way down the streets of your neighborhood. You've been renting your house for years now and it may not be the biggest, but you can't beat the location. Matthew practically lives with you when he's not busy filming. When he's working, it's easier for him to be close to downtown so he doesn't have to deal with the absurd Los Angeles traffic. You've talked about moving in together, but you couldn't ask him to leave his place downtown and you couldn't bear being so far away from the beach all the time. You do spend almost every night together though, switching between places depending on the season or Matthew's work schedule.

The two of you walk in silence, swinging your hands back and forth like a couple of kids. You've gone to the beach at least twice a week this summer and both of you have gotten extremely tan because of it. Because you grew up only a few blocks away from where you live now, you know how to handle the sun and the heat, hence why your tan instead of burn and you almost never wear shoes. Matthew had to get used to the no-shoe thing himself and was even a bit grumpy when he couldn't keep up with you running across the beach parking lot at the beginning of the summer. Now, he's a seasoned pro and rarely put sandals on himself.

Matthew leans over and presses a kiss to the top of your head. "I'm gonna miss this," he sighs, knowing that the summer is coming to a slow end. He's going to start shooting again soon and you have to go back to teaching in a couple weeks. You look up at him, meeting his eyes shielded by his baseball cap. You stop walking for a second and stretch up on your toes to give him a small peck on the lips.

"Me too, but you do realize we live in southern California right? It'll be hot for another couple of months. We can always go to the beach on the weekends," you rationalize. You're going to miss this, too. Both of you get so busy in the fall, you don't get to spend as much time together. When you're together in the evenings, Matthew is trying to learn lines and you're always busy grading papers.

"Whatever, smartypants," he taunts you. You let go of Matthew's hand as you walk in front of him down the narrow ramp that leads you down to the shore. The sand is somehow hotter than the pavement so you drop your bag and run straight to the water to cool off your toes. Matthew follows your lead dropping his backpack and the chairs and runs right after you. You're ankle deep in the water when he sneaks up behind you, grabbing you around the waist. He picks you up and spins you around a few times as you squeal.

"Matthew, quit it! I'm still in my clothes, come on!" He sets you down laughing as you run back towards your stuff. You pull your water bottle out of the beach bag and chug down half of it, not even realizing how thirsty you are. Matthew is not too far behind you as per usual. He sets up the two beach chairs next to each other and throws a towel over each of them.

You dig the sunscreen out of your bag and spray down your arms and legs, rubbing it in as you go. You hand the bottle to Matthew as you strip off your tank top and shorts, leaving you in your bikini. You pull your hair up into a loose ponytail and rub some more sunscreen on your face as Matthew sprays down his body. You wordlessly turn your back to your boyfriend, pulling your ponytail to the side. He knows what to do as he sprays down your back and rubs the sunscreen in. He hands you the bottle and his baseball cap so he can pull of his shirt. Damn, that never gets old.

"Excuse me, Y/N. My eyes are up here," he says with a wink. You giggle as he turns his back to you and you spray him down and rub it in. Matthew finishes up with the sunscreen as you as you spread out your towel and settle into your chair. He does the same, pulling your beach bag onto his lap. He hands you a magazine and offers you a bunch of grapes from the container you brought.

Somedays you bring a book to read or download a podcast to listen to, but you can't help bringing a trashy gossip magazine to read every once in awhile. Matthew is reading through a script for a movie his friend wrote that he's thinking about directing. The two of you sit in silence, reading and chewing on grapes, appreciating the sounds of the wave crashing. The beach is not too crowded, mostly groups of teenagers or parents with a couple kids.

"You're kidding," you laugh, handing Matthew the magazine opened to a particularly interesting page.

"This is gold," he laughs after taking a second to read it. "It's going in the group chat." Matthew pulls out his phone, snapping a photo of the article and sending it to the criminal minds cast group chat. The magazine made a whole half-page spread about Shemar Moore's dancing videos that he posts on instagram. The article has a bit of praise for his confidence, but is mostly a subtle roast. To your amusement, it also includes a screenshot of one his videos where Shemar is shirtless in a pair of shorts with a backwards hat balanced on the top of his head. Let's just say that you and Shemar have very different definitions of what "cool" and "sexy" look like.

"What are they saying?" you ask, hearing Matthew's phone start to ping continuously.

"Just a good-old-fashioned Shemar roast. Lots of offers to buy him a shirt or a hat that's actually big enough to fit his head. According to him, we're all just jealous," he laughs typing something back. He flips his phone to silent and shoves it into the backpack. Matthew pushes himself out of the chair and spreads his towel across the sand in front of you. He lies down on his back, head between your outstretched legs and places his cap over his face, blocking the sun so he can nap.

You continue to eat your grapes and read your magazine, enjoying the sun on your skin. You smile to yourself when you hear Matthew's soft snoring. He naps almost every time you come to the beach, but you'll never get over how adorable it is. You run out of grapes and reach the end of your magazine as Matthew rolls onto his side, a sign that he'll probably wake up soon. He has perfect timing because you're starting to overheat a bit and you want to jump in the water.

You put you magazine down next to you and lean over, pulling the hat off Matthew's face. You reach down and thread your fingers through his hair, waking him up completely. He squints up at you with a closed-mouth smile and you lean down, pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Swim?" you ask, squishing his cheeks together, giving him a little fishy face.

"Only if you carry me," he says, pushing his bottom lip out.

"Oh come on you big baby, let's go." You climb up out of your chair and extend a hand out to Matthew, lifting him up off his towel. He holds on to your hand as you slowly make your way down to the water.

It's late in the summer so the Pacific is the warmest it will be all year, but it's still on the cold side. As a kid, you learned the best way to get into the chilly water is to just dive in head first and that's exactly what you did. Matthew followed right after you, diving under a wave and popping up next to you. The two of you swam out a bit further to a spot just before the waves break. You can still stand on your tippy-toes when the waves are at a lull between sets and the water hits the top of Matthew's chest.

You can't help yourself as you place your arms over his shoulders and wrap your legs around his waist. He grabs you by the bottom of your thighs, keeping you attached through the motion of the waves. You tighten your arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss. He reciprocates as the two of you intensify your actions. Something about making out in the middle of the ocean hits different.

You pull away and lean back so your back is floating on top of the water, keeping your legs wrapped around Matthew's waist. You close your eyes basking in the sun and the movement of the water beneath you as Matthew runs his hands up and down your legs. You lean back up so you lips are pressed to his ear and he grips you thighs, expecting another make out session.

"Race you back," you whisper in his ear, unlatching from him and swimming as fast as you can. Apparently you're not fast enough, because he grabs you by the ankle, pulling you underwater. You come up to the surface and push your wet hair out of you face and splash Matthew. "That wasn't very nice!"

"You were trying to cheat! Do you expect me to just let that happen? I am a man of justice," he laughs at you. You just pout as you turn to slowly make your way back towards the sand. "Oh come on, don't be like that, Y/N. Come back here, I'll give you a ride." You smile as Matthew comes up in front of you and you climb on his back. He slowly walks you out of the water and onto the sand, setting you down on his towel. He lays down next to you, coating himself in sand as you laugh at the big kid that you call your boyfriend.

"I'm hosing you off in the yard before you can come in the house," you warn him.

"Sounds like a good time to me," he chuckles, reaching a hand up to push your wet hair out of your face. He presses a kiss between your eyebrows. "I love you," he whispers, lingering at your forehead.

"And I love you," you echo. You couldn't imagine a better day at the beach.