Hank waited the woman with the raven black and violet hair to return. He stood there trying to remember her name.
"What was it?" he thought, "E…. E… Eve!" His eyes brightened up and she soon came back with both his drink and snowcone.
"That'll be 5.25." she said with a half smile.
"Right, right." he searched for a ten and glanced up at her. "Uh, Eve, right?" He asked and handed her the ten.
"Well, that's for when I sing." she took the bill and cashed it into the register. She was about to get his change out, but he held up his hand.
"Keep the change." he said and smiled. She chuckled and shrugged, accepting the substantial tip. "So off stage, how do you go by? I mean, what do you go by." He quickly corrected.
"Evelyn. Name's Evelyn." She said and crossed her arms on the counter.
"Evelyn…" Hank echoed "Uh, nice to have met you!" he said and she nodded. "You too, you seem like a nice guy." she said and started to walk away from the window.
"Wait, I… my name's..." He called out, but she was gone. "...Hank..." he muttered, slightly disappointed. He walked off and sat in a chair nearby under an umbrella. He ate his snowcone quickly and sipped at his drink. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was fast asleep when Dory and the others came back.
"Hey Mr. Hank!" Nemo called and ran over to him, he was about to jump on his, but Marlin held him back at the last second, but that didn't stop Dory.
"Hank!" She said and ran over, grabbing his arm.
"Gah!" Hank's eyes shot open and he grumbled. "Jeez, kid! Don't do that!" He scolded.
"Oh, heh, sorry." she said and smiled apologetically and back up slightly. "We're going to go change and we'll all meet up outside the waterpark and go on another rollercoaster, okay?" Hank stretched out his arms and nodded. "Done already?" He asked and Charlie laughed.
"Hank, it's been two and a half hours! Have you been asleep this whole time?" He asked.
"Something like that." he said and got up.
"Well I'm glad you were able to take a nap!" Dory said and clapped her hands together. "You love naps!"
"Yep.." Hank un enthusiastically answered and got up. They all headed off to change. While they were walking, Nemo stopped Hank.
"Hey, Mr. Hank, what's that?" He asked and pointed at his beanie.
"Uh, my hat?" Hank asked as he turned around.
"No, that piece of paper tapped onto the side of your hat." Hank seemed confused and felt around his orange beanie in search of the paper. He found it and took it off. At first, he thought it was some dumb kid, but then he mumbled the note under his breath:
"6:20. Lighting. 7:30. Closing. 8:35. Leaving. -E"
"What's it say?" Nemo asked. Hank tried to play it off, so he crumbled it up and stuffed it in his bag.
"Nothing, just a piece of random paper." they continued walking, got to the bathrooms, changed and left the water park area. "What time is it?" Hank asked.
"4:28, why?" Marlin answered.
"Just wondering." Hank said and shrugged. As they continued to walk they were halted at Dory's sudden squeal.
"Oh look! Antique photo booth!" She stopped them and ran into a building. "Come on, guys!" they all quickly followed as she sprinted ahead.
"Ugh, I hate these…" Hank groaned, but Dory nudged him.
"Oh, don't be so grumpy. It'll be fun! Jenny confirmed as she went up to the front desk to talk to the photographer. They all got on 20s' outfits and all posed. Hank just crossed his arms like a brute, but dressed as he was, it worked. They spent some time there taking multiple photos until they decided on the ones to print. "Thank you so much!" Charlie said as they were about to leave.
"My pleasure!" The photographer said. "And don't forget about our firework show at 6:20!" Nemo tugged at his father's sleeve.
"Dad! We have to go!" he begged and Marlin chuckled.
"Alright, just calm down! What time did you say it was at?" he asked the woman.
"6:20" She answered with a bright smile, one that quickly vanished when Hank suddenly went up to the woman with the camera.
"What?" He demanded.
"Uh, our light show.. fireworks.. at 6:20?" she was startled and lost and Dory looked at Hank strangely.
"You.. you okay?" she asked.
"Wha-Yeah, I'm fine." he asked and walked away. The other simply watched him walk off and watched Dory follow him out.
"Hank.. is something up?" she cautiously asked.
"Nothing's up." he said as he stood with his back towards her. "Let's just hurry up so we can leave this park." the others slowly went to Dory and looked at Hank. "It's bad enough you convinced me to come, now we're going to stay until 6:20. Even later.." He then began to walk away and the other just stared.
"He's just… naturally upset." Dory figured and surprisingly left it at that.
The rest of the day was slow and hot. Hank didn't go out. A single ride, which was fine by him; the last thing he needed was to get sick. 6 o'clock rolled around and Nemo began increasingly excited as the minutes passed.
"Let's go find a good spot right now!" he pleaded. "It's going to be packed!"
"Okay!" Marlin laughed and began to lead the group to the best spot to watch the show. Hank could be caught ever now and again glancing around and looking confused. Dory had decided to leave him alone and the other silently agreed. They get settled as the lights at the park shut off.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for joining us!" Cheers arose then died out as the man continued to talk. "We now present Lighting the Skies!" Clapping and cheers were followed by loud music and stunning fiery lights. Hank sighed and leaned back. He laid on the blanket that Jenny had placed on the ground and attempted to tune out everything. The music, the lights, the people. He groaned and ignored it all for a good fifteen minutes. The music changed every so often, a different singer would come on and off stage. This went on and on, making it hard to just ignore it. Then the voice changed one last time
"I know you were worth it. And I know this could work if I could only let you in. But I'm freezing!"
Hank covered his ears and tried harder to tune it all out, maybe even fall asleep, but the singing wouldn't stop.
"I'm not running away, I'm not running away. I will feel the pain and stay!"
Hank sat up, he thought he was imagining it, wanting it to be her voice.
"I'm not running again. I'm not running again. Even though I'm scared, baby!"
He almost frantically searched for the stage.
"And I won't freeze you out! Like I have been. I won't freeze you out, I'm gonna let you in"
His eyes found it, a single spot light on her.
"And I won't freeze you out! Like I have been."
And her eyes found his, but they said a different message than the one she sang.
"I won't freeze you out, My heart is melting…"
