"Rose!" she heard her mom call "I need you to go throw away the trash"

She sighed and got up. She went down the stairs where her mother was waiting with a garbage bag. The girl took it and faked a smile.

"Thanks" her mom walked back to the kitchen and Rose left the house.

Maybe the short walk outside would help her send away those painful thoughts about Max. Two weeks had passed since their kiss and she couldn't stop thinking about it. They talked about it the very next day and Max told her he was still hung up on Magnolia and he didn't want to hurt neither of them so it was better for them to forget it happened and just be friends. Rose obviously agreed, who is she to demand that max break with Magnolia? However, every time she thought about him, every time she wondered 'what if', it hurt, like, a lot.

As she hopped down the steps of the porch a raindrop fell on her arm, but she didn't bother going back inside to take an umbrella.

She heard ticking, like someone was playing with a metal bracelet, but when she looked around she couldn't make out anybody. She threw the rubbish in the bin and as she looked up again she noticed someone was sitting on a bench about 20 metres from where she was. That wasn't just any bench she realized as more raindrops began to fall from the sky. It was the bench Max and her had been on that night, two weeks before. As the memories of that beautiful night took control of her mind again, she quietly moved forward to take a closer look at the mysterious person. It was definitely young, probably a teenager boy. As she went closer, she was maybe ten metres from the guy who in the meantime still hadn't noticed her presence she spotted his short brown hair and the green shirt he was wearing, the one that looked so good on his toned body. She then understood who it was. Still she didn't dare approaching him any more so she decided to stay where she was.

"Max?" He rose his head at the sound of her voice calling him.

"Uh, hey, Rose" she clearly had caught him by surprise.

"What are you doing here?" She felt butterflies in her stomach. She swallowed but they didn't go away.

"Just hanging out..." He smiled awkwardly and stared at her for a long time before he stood up and slowly walked over to her. Meanwhile, more raindrops were falling. Rose looked up at the sky, then at him and there she saw a kind of spark in his green eyes.

"Actually" the football kicker took a deep breath to take courage "I come here every evening. I sit here... and hope you'll find me. I've been doing this thing since two weeks" the girl didn't need to think it through to understand that he meant he had been going there ever since that night they kissed. The only question running through her mind was...

"Why?"

Max just grinned shyly. He couldn't find the right words for what he had to say and that was a first. He'd always known how to talk to the girls he liked, even with Zoe. Well there is a first time for everything, they say.

" 'Cause..." He took a step forward so that he was standing right in front of her. Their eyes met and Rose felt chills up her spine. There was a pouring rain but neither of them seemed to notice. "Because whatever it was that I had going on with Magnolia is over, we broke up. I did. I mean, it was my fault... my decision. I broke-"

Max didn't even finish the line, he just grabbed the girl's hands and smiled.

"Does this mean what I think – hope – it means?" She grinned and looked at him hopefully. It was like a dream come true. The boy she liked so much was right in front of her, her hands in his, their eyes locked. He was telling her he was free. They could finally kiss out in public, for real, without feeling guilty; they could be together. He stared at her, his mouth open, but he couldn't seem to be able to speak.
As words wouldn't come out, he ducked down a little bringing his head closer to hers and they kissed as raindrops fell on them. She waited for something to happen, but just like two weeks before, she felt no butterflies, no fireworks, nothing, and she was starting to freak out when Max put his hands on her face streaked from water droplets and as they kissed again, more passionately this time, Rose realized the only thing she felt was pure happiness. He pulled her into a sweet hug and she found herself smiling from ear to ear: she finally had the boy of her dreams. Max breathed deeply her scent and as he hugged her more tightly he couldn't help but smile, too.
With time, they'd figure happiness was the best effect they could have on each other.