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Seaweed chuckled to himself as Link bolted out the door.

I must have more charisma than I thought, he thought to himself, gathering up the cards that Link had scattered all over the table in his rush, and packing them into a neat pile. He took more time than actually necessary, focusing on making sure that all the edges were perfectly aligned, not one corner protruding out of place. Continually trying to shut out the thought that he knew would come eventually.

Furrowing his brow, he added his cards to the pile, again, smoothing out all the edges, before leaning back in his chair, flipping the fifty-two cards back and forth between his dark hands.

He sighed, closing his eyes. Even now, when communications had ceased between them (thanks to her mother), he could still remember everything about her.

Penny Pingleton.

Seaweed's heart skipped a beat just thinking her name.

He could see her in his mind's eye, so clear that she could have been standing right in front of him. Her blonde pigtails, bouncing even when not in motion, her big, innocent doe-eyes, and the ever-present lollipop in between her lips.

Biting his lip, he chuckled to himself, "Boy, you got it bad."

He sat up then, opening his eyes. The image vanished as he slid the cards back into their box.

How he hated thinking of her! Knowing, knowing that she was so far away, in all senses. Even when they were together, during those few precious, fleeting moments, they were still apart. Not physically, or emotionally, for he always felt her, somehow. But in a different way, a way entirely based on their skin. No matter what, they could never, ever truly be together.

At least not now.

Standing up and stretching out his limbs, Seaweed looked around the empty record shop. By now, the moonlight flooded in from the curtainless windows, illuminating the multiple rows and rows of LP's and their titles.

Growing up here, he had listened to probably every single record in the place, three times over. Besides the fairly large step toward universal integration, that was one of the greatest things of having the Corny Collins Show officially integrated, he didn't have to wait a month to show off his memorization skills.

Thinking of this, Seaweed started humming his favorite melody, a jazz number from 1961, as he shuffled around the shop, putting the chairs and table in their respectable places. He didn't feel like going to sleep just yet, so he began re-alphabetizing the records.

...

Seaweed had just gotten to G when he heard a slight tapping, which he ignored. There were far too many troublemakers in this neighborhood for his liking. The tapping continued more urgently, which he still ignored, his head down, brow furrowed again in concentration. He had begun doing that more and more freqently, trying to avoid having all his thoughts about Penny. He had to maintain some level of independence from her, as much as he disliked it.

The tapping continued, increasing in urgency.

Reluctantly, Seaweed looked up to a pair of baby-blue eyes partly covered by stray blonde strands of hair, fear and anxiety etched into them. Her hand was still poised closely against the glass, ready to resume the tapping. He ran to the door, once the initial shock wore off, and yanked the key out of his pocket.

"Penny!" he whispered harshly, knowing she could hear him from behind the glass.

"What are you doin' here?" he demanded as he pushed the door back. Taking a quick glance in both directions, and seeing nothing threatening, he grabbed Penny's wrist and yanked her inside the shop.

"What? You said it was perfectly safe over on your side of the street." she said innocently.

Seaweed scoffed, "Yeah, durin' the day. Penny, it's dangerous out there."

Penny shook her head, "It didn't seem dangerous, plus I had to see you. I had to get out of my house, it took ages, but I got out."

He pursed his lips, trying not to smile at the statement. "Come on," he motioned to the back room with his head.

For the past month, the storage and inventory room in the back of Motormouth Maybelle's Record Shop had been their sanctuary. They did everything young lovers in the first blush of love do. Sometimes, most of the time, Seaweed would just hold her close to 'd just lie there, foreheads touching, not saying anything as they just held each other. Each and every moment they had was precious, and it wasn't wasted. And sometimes they talked, for hours, about anything they felt like.

Movies, books, mostly music. In fact, most of the time was spent with Seaweed introducing Penny to the numerous artists and bands he had grown up listening to. It took up most of their time, after all, Penny Pingleton was about sixteen years behind on a full music education.

Due to the extent of their discussion of music, it usually kept them from talking about the rather large elephant in the room. Or rather, elephants.

So many things seemed to be against them. The law citing interracial dating is grounds from imprisonment, segregation. They had to hide the one thing they both wanted to scream to the world from the rooftops of downtown Baltimore.

He loved Penny so much that it honestly hurt him to be away from her sometimes, how he couldn't just go and see her when he wanted, and most of all, how it annoyed him when he couldn't touch her, feel her safe in his arms, away from the things that made her afraid. They hadn't said those three words yet either, and in all honesty, he was prepared for her to run off at any moment. That the pressure would get to her, and she would choose safety over him.

And then, of course, there was the one elephant in the room that was so large, it was bigger than the room. No one was directly pressuring them, no one knew to begin with.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, he did, and he wanted it to be with Penny. But, in all honesty, he was scared. It just didn't seem like the best idea, especially at the present moment with that aggravating law.

"So," Seaweed said as they were back in the sanctuary, "what--"

He stopped mid-sentence as he turned to look back at her. Her bottom lip was quivering, and tears were welling up in her eyes, some had already spilled over, leaving streaks that glinted all the way to her chin in the dim light of the room. She fell to the pillows on the floor that Maybelle had provided earlier that month.

"What's the matter baby?" he said as he sat down to embrace her, worry in his voice.

Penny sobbed into his broad shoulder, her words distorted by her tears as Seaweed rubbed her back soothingly.

After a few minutes, Penny pulled back to look at him, sadness still in her eyes as Seaweed held her face in his hands.

"What's the matter?" he repeated as he wiped a trailing tear away with his thumb.

Penny swallowed in response before replying, "I don't know, I was at home listening to 'The Sounds of God' with Mom," here she paused to roll her eyes, Seaweed chuckled, "and, I don't know. I just had to get out of there. I had to see you. So I excused myself early, and ran here as fast as I could."

Seaweed caressed her cheek tenderly, "What was so important that it couldn't wait until mornin'? You could've gotten killed tonight Penny."

She bit her lip guiltily, "I know, and I'm sorry. But I had to see you. I hate this, Seaweed, I hate not being able to hold your hand in the halls, having to wait until we're safely out of sight to really see you."

"I hate it too." he replied softly.

Penny laid her head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat through his shirt. It was erratic and irregular, and even though she was upset, it pleased her to know she had this effect on him.

Seaweed sat back, placing his head atop hers as he tightened his arms around her small frame as they resumed that familiar position that they had done for so many days. Sitting in silence, enjoying the moments they had.

...

After a few moments, Penny snuggled closer against him, tucking her face inside his chest, "Seaweed?" she said tentatively, afraid he had fallen asleep.

"Hmm?" he mumbled softly, still absentmindedly stroking he arm.

"I love you."

"What?" Seaweed said as he sat up, sure he had heard wrong.

Penny sat back and looked into his face, "I love you." she sounded so sure of herself, so unlike how she normally was.

He sat and stared back in shock, "You do?"

At this Penny bit her lip, sure she had said something wrong. "Yes...is that bad?"

Seaweed chuckled without sound, "No, of course it ain't bad....I love you too, Penny."

She smiled, it spread across her features, "You do?"

He smiled back, "I do, so much."

Penny giggled as Seaweed leaned in and kissed her, it was different than all their others. It was completely uninhibited, it was as if they had pledged their souls to each other eternally.

On that summer night, four hearts were bound together by the undying love that only a month earlier had been brought into their lives. Through the winding streets of Baltimore, and then up, up over the bright city lights, four souls soared up into the heavens. Never to come down.

...

Hello readers! I'm sorry if some of this doesn't make sense, I'm a little sleep deprived that the moment, but I hope you all like it!