"You want to go out on a date with me sometime?" I asked.

"Yeah." He uncrossed his arms to reveal his trembling hand, as well as his heart. "I do."

With my feet a little lighter, we set off once again.

Our steps crunched over gravel, the only sound in an eerily quiet night. Even the red lightning crackling through the sky kept silent without any echoing booms to chase after the boiling clouds. The farther we walked past the video store and down the split road, ...