I was standing in the rain, looking down at Calyope's grave. I was thinking about Cortez, and how I could make it up to him. Then it hit me...
"Cortez...?" I call, peeking my head through the sliding glass door. He was sitting on the couch, watching tv. "Cortez, please come here. I'm soaking wet..." He doesn't even blink. He doesn't do anything. He just continues to sit there with a stupid look on his face. "Cortez, I'm sorry, ok? I know it was wrong of me to do that to you, and you're probably mad enough to kick me out of your house. I understand. All I'm asking of you is to get me a towel, please? Once I dry off, I can go pack my things and leave..." I told him. He still doesn't do a thing. "Cortez-" I start. "Nicole..." He gets up from the couch and walks my way. "You don't have to be sorry. I understand how you felt. I'm in love with you, too..." He says softly, right to my face. We stare into each other's eyes for a second, then Cortez starts to lean in. I do the same. Eventually, our lips touch. We back out into the backyard, still raining really hard. He wraps his arms around me, I wrap my arms around him. All of a sudden, I feel the rain lighten up. Our lips part, and we watch as the clouds seperate to let the sunlight shine through. We look back at each other, smiling. Cortez drags me to his side, and lifts me up in the air. My wet hair was flinging in every direction. "Woooooooh! Hahahahaha!" I yell. Cortez starts to laugh with me. He puts me down, and I push him to the ground. When he falls back, I playfully topple on top of him. We start to crack up. I fall onto my back, holding my stomach from laughing so hard. Right then and there, I knew our relationship has just begun.