June arrived with heat that turned Vireo City into a skillet. Campus emptied again, dorms locked, only a skeleton crew of summer students and staff rattling around Hawthorne Hall. Elara and Nova had begged, bargained, and bribed the housing office for one of the few double rooms left open to upperclassmen. They got 312 again, same scarred walls, same fairy-light bridge, same view of the quad now overgrown and humming with cicadas.
They moved in with two duffels, a mini-fridge stuffed with mangoes, and a plan: no classes, no track, no deadlines, only each other and the city.
The first week they barely left the room.
They woke at noon, bodies already slick with sweat and last night's sex. Sheets kicked to the floor. Fan spinning lazy circles overhead. Elara rolled onto Nova, kissed the salt from her collarbone, then lower, mapping every rib with tongue until Nova arched and begged. Elara slid down, spread Nova's thighs, and ate her slowly, morning light striping them gold. Nova came with fingers twisted in Elara's hair, thighs trembling around her ears.
They showered together in the communal bathroom, water barely lukewarm. Elara pressed Nova to the tile, fingers slipping inside from behind, thumb circling clit until Nova sobbed her name. They dried each other with the same towel, rings clinking, then walked back naked down the empty hallway because no one was there to see.
Afternoons dissolved into photography and blueprints. Elara shot Nova in every corner of the room: sprawled on the desk with legs open, riding the strap on the windowsill, asleep with fairy lights tangled in her curls. Nova sketched rooftop gardens that wrapped around abandoned subway cars, labelled one corner *Elara's Darkroom Deck* with a tiny heart.
Evenings they cooked on the hot plate: ramen doctored with whatever was in the fridge, mango slices for dessert licked from each other's stomachs.
Night was for the city.
They slipped out the side door at 1 a.m., hoodies and combat boots, Leica swinging against Elara's hip. Vireo never slept, but summer stripped it raw: bodegas glowing neon, drag queens smoking on fire escapes, subway musicians playing for empty platforms.
They found rooftops unlocked by drunk security guards, rooftops with views of bridges strung like necklaces. They fucked on tar warmed by the day's sun, Nova bent over the ledge, Elara behind with the strap, city lights flickering across Nova's back as she came. They fucked in alleyways behind clubs, Elara on her knees, Nova's hands fisted in her hair. They fucked on the subway at 4 a.m., fingers under skirts, biting shoulders to stay quiet while the train rattled through tunnels.
One night they broke into the campus pool after hours. Chlorine stung their noses. Moonlight poured through skylights. They stripped and dove naked, rings left on the diving board like offerings. Underwater, Elara pulled Nova close, kissed her slowly, bubbles rising. Surfaced gasping. Nova pushed Elara against the pool wall, lifted her legs around her waist, fingers sliding inside. Water sloshed with every thrust. Elara came with her mouth open to the sky, Nova following seconds later, forehead pressed to Elara's, whispering wife wife wife.
They climbed out dripping, lay on the warm concrete, and let the night air dry them. Elara traced the new scar on Nova's knee, kissed it softly. "Still beautiful."
Nova rolled on top, pinned Elara's wrists. "You're obsessed."
"With every inch."
They made love again under the stars, slow scissoring, clits rubbing slick, rings catching moonlight. Came together, quiet and shattering.
July brought storms. Thunder that shook the windows. Power outages that turned the room into a darkroom of its own.
During one blackout they lit candles, shadows dancing. Nova blindfolded Elara with her track ribbon and tied her wrists to the headboard with fairy lights. Dripped candle wax on breasts, stomach, thighs. Elara arched, moaned, begged. Nova licked each drop away, tongue soothing burns. Entered her with three fingers, then four, stretching slowly. Elara came sobbing, body bowing off the bed.
Untied her. Elara flipped Nova, returned the wax, the licks, the stretch. Nova came so hard she squirted, soaking sheets, crying Elara's name like a prayer.
After, they lay in the mess, thunder rolling overhead, rings tangled between fingers.
August crept in, humid and lazy. They got jobs: Elara shot weddings on weekends, Nova interned at a landscape architecture firm downtown. Paychecks are small, but there's.
They rented a storage unit for "overflow art." Turned it into a secret studio. Concrete floor, one bulb, lock from the inside. They fucked there between shoots and site visits: Nova bent over crates of prints, Elara's tongue in her ass, fingers in her cunt. Elara on her knees, Nova riding her face, grinding until she came twice.
One afternoon the heat was unbearable. They bought two bags of ice from the bodega, carried them back dripping. Poured cubes over each other in the shower, gasping at the shock. Nova pressed an ice cube to Elara's clit, watched her writhe, then replaced it with her mouth, hot and cold until Elara screamed. Elara held ice to Nova's nipples, sucked them hard, then slid cubes inside her, fingers following, fucking her until she melted and came in shivers.
They lay on the tile afterwards, water and ice pooling, rings fogged with condensation.
End of August. The city started filling again. Freshmen orientation buses. RAs returning.
They stood on the roof one last night, city humming below, summer clinging to their skin.
Nova leaned on the ledge. "We survived."
Elara wrapped her arms around her from behind. "We more than survived. We burned the whole season down."
Nova turned, kissed her slowly. "Ready for junior year?"
Elara grinned against her mouth. "With you? Always."
They made love on the roof one final time, blanket spread on gravel, strap deep and steady, city lights witness. Came whispering next summer, next year, forever.
Back in the room, they packed nothing. The fairy bridge stayed strung. The walls stayed covered in photos and sketches. The rings stayed on.
Summer had swallowed them whole.
They came out the other side still holding hands, still hungry, still each other's.