After a few hours, Eyeball approached Sadie and asked her to go outside with him. She obliged, and welcomed the cool night air on her skin. It had begun to get very hot in the small house with all of those people inside. Sadie had not touched a single drink to her lips. She wanted to be completely sober as her dangerous encounter was still yet to come. She had no idea why Richie wanted to talk to her. He was never likes this. Of course, he was also completely sloshed by this point in the night.

Richie took her hand in his and Sadie began to feel like the moon should be full and showering them in its glow. Instead, the moon was only a thin sliver, and the sky was so cloudy that its light was almost completely lost in the night. "Sadie, I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

Sadie smiled, confused, but pleased. "I love you too, Richie." She said quietly.

He smiled back at her, "I also wanted to tell you, that I think maybe we should get married."

Sadie's smile faltered for a moment, "I don't know, Richie. I don't know if I'm ready for that. I'm only sixteen. I have to finish highschool. Maybe go to college.." She trailed off.

Richie looked as if he had been prepared for this, and not hurt as she had expected. "I'll take care of you, babe. We'll figure all that out later, ok?" He kissed her hand.

Sadie was still unsure, "I…can we talk about this later? Tomorrow?" She asked him.

"Yeah. Sure thing, Sadie. Let's go back in, huh?" He kissed her hand again and led her back into the small building he called home.

Richie gave her a small kiss on the corner of her mouth before disappearing back into a crowd of drunken teenagers. Sadie sat down heavily in a stained recliner. Her mind was whirling. It was true that she had feelings for Richie, but she had no idea if he was the man she wanted to spend her entire life with. She didn't know that she wanted to be married to anyone this early in her life. She hoped that after a good night's rest she would have a better perspective on the situation. Or perhaps Richie would forget he had said anything at all. That would be nice. He was drunk, after all.

While Sadie was mulling all of this over, Ace was taking notice of the fact that she was away from Richie. Sadie's plan to finish the situation with Ace Merrill had totally left her mind for the first time that night. Richie making a half-assed marriage proposal to her under the night sky was not what she was expecting the night to hold for her. She began to chew on her fingernails, a habit she had mostly given up until lately. Richie looked over at her from his spot as host and dropped her a sly wink. She smiled at him, she couldn't help. While she was unsure just how serious her feelings were for him, she did know that he could make her heart melt with infatuation without even trying.

Ace Merrill had downed more alcohol than he could keep track of. The world was hazy and distorted through his vision. He could see Sadie Tessio sitting prettily in that dirty recliner. That was what drove him so crazy about her. She didn't even have to try to make herself attractive. She just was. Her personality was genuine and she had an air of innocence about her although she could never be mistaken for being naïve. He remembered the first time she had tagged along with Billy. He had noticed Eyeball watching her and making her laugh, but Ace hadn't given her a second glass. She had just been a kid back then, and she hadn't yet grown into herself. Her legs seemed too long for her and her curves hadn't yet emerged. He wondered how Eyeball had seen what she would grow into while he hadn't even considered her. As he watched her, she began to chew on her fingernails, unaware of his presence.

Ace struck a match and lit a cigarette. He looked around nonchalantly and then withdrew the cigarette and exhaled. He began to saunter over to the recliner where Sadie still sat.

"Sadie?" He asked her, expectantly.

"Hm?" Sadie asked, still thinking about what Richie had said and not realizing who was speaking to her.

"Sadie, I'd like to take you to bed." The alcohol and confidence that she wanted him had made him blunt.

Now he had her attention and Sadie was brought back to reality. "Um.." She said, and the slipped in the role she had to play, "Yes." She smiled, "I've been wondering when you'd get around to asking me." She touched her fingers lightly to his forearm.

She looked back at Richie, and saw that he was no longer paying attention to her. He was talking cars with a boy she did not recognize. She briefly considered crying out for him, but did not. It was no longer about whether or not he would believe her. She wanted revenge.