The cool air blew against Jennifer's face as they continued down the sidewalk to her apartment. There was hardly anyone on the sidewalk at this time of night, which made the mood a lot more peaceful and relaxing. The full moon that shined in the sky was complemented by thousands of tiny stars and created a marvelous view that for some reason only seemed to captivate Jennifer at the time. They were nearing her apartment at a rather rapid pace, but the beauty that she saw in the sky was just to alluring to pass up. They ran up the stairs reaching the roof of her apartment building. Jennifer stopped the movement of her feet, firmly planting them when they reached the roof and stopping both of their movement as she sat down. She immediately got a questioning look from Cheng in response, but she kept her eyes to the sky as she continued to soak in as much as she could. It didn't take long for the older boy to figure out what was going on. He smiled and leaned towards Jennifer, kissing her cheek before pulling away and looking up at the sky as well.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Cheng asked with a small smile upon his face.

"Yeah... I've never really got the chance to look at the stars like this where I came from. I never stayed out long enough to. "

"So you mean this is your first time seeing the stars?"

"No... I've seen stars before. I just never had such a clear view like this. It's just... so amazing."

"Yeah... it is amazing... I used to do the same thing with my mom. We would go to the park around ten and just watch the stars until I would fall asleep. When she died... I just couldn't find the spirit to do it without her."

Jennifer instantly felt a rush of guilt flood through her entire body.

"I'm sorry. We can go ahead to my house if you-"

"No... it's alright. I want to be here with you. You are the only person I feel comfortable doing this with."

"Really?"

"Yeah... When I'm with you... I feel a sense of comfort and love that I haven't felt in a really long time. Something that I have never felt ever since that faithful day I lost my mom."

"What about your dad... He seems like a nice guy... doesn't he love you too."

"Yeah... but it isn't on the same level as what we have... or what I had with my mom. My dad spends most of his time at work and always comes home when I am asleep. The most I ever get to see him is on the weekend... but it's never long. About two or three hours and he's off to work again. It's been that way even for as long as I can remember."

"I'm sorry Cheng... I... I didn't know."

"It's okay Jen..."

He looked deeply into Jennifer's eyes with a smile on his face and she immediately saw something she had never seen from the Chinese boy before. She could literally see the sadness and pain that he felt radiating from his eyes. He may have tried his best to look okay on the outside, but on the inside she knew he was hurting. As soon as she wrapped him into her arms, his defensive walls crumbled and water began to flow from his eyes.

It took nearly five minutes for Jennifer to comfort Cheng enough to bring his crying down to mere sniffles and a little longer to calm him down completely. When she was sure that he was okay, she pulled him out of the hug and gently pressed her lips against his before slowly pulling away.

"Feeling better now?"

"Yeah... thanks baby."

"No problem... Now come on. Let's get back to my place. I think we could both use a little sleep."

She grabbed onto Cheng's arm and led the way from the roof back into the building and down the stairs all way to her apartment with her boyfriend following closely behind.

They pushed through the front door of her house around three minutes later and the first thing to cross Jennifer's mind was to check the time. It was not too late. When she realized that her mom had been sound asleep the whole time and they still had enough time, she simply decided on taking a shower. She walked quickly back into her room and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulling it over her head in one quick motion before tossing it onto the floor and moving to her pants. As she fumbled with her jeans, Jennifer noticed Cheng walk into her room.

When Cheng first walked in and saw Jennifer fumbling with her jeans he immediately began to grin at the thought that ran through his head. Apparently Jennifer, caught on to what Cheng was smirking about because she began to chuckle.

"You want to help me out of this thing?"

Jennifer asked, returning a similar grin back towards Cheng.

After hearing her response, Cheng couldn't help but laugh too at the situation. He nodded and walked towards the younger girl before squatting down until his head was level to Jennifer's waist. It didn't take long for Cheng to loosen the zipper and once he was finished, he quickly stood up again before kissing his girlfriend's cheek. Cheng earned a smile from her in response. Jennifer began to pulled down her jeans below her waist, smiling. The denim fabric simply fell to the floor from its position and pooled around the younger girl's ankles.

"Thanks for the help wise guy. Now maybe we should take our showers before my mom wakes up."

"Yeah… I think you're right about that one."

The rest of the night was pretty much a blur. They took their separate showers and were in the bed in plenty of time before her mom heard anything. Cheng quickly fell asleep against Jennifer, but she found it nearly impossible to go sleep. She kept thinking back to that situation with Cheng earlier and it was impossible to get it out of her head.

She brushed her fingers through his hair. He opened his eyes a bit.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that in the past. If you ever need someone to talk to, I will always be here for you. "

"Yeah I know. I'm glad you said that babe."

And with that, Cheng snuggled Jennifer into his arms. They both fell fast asleep.