It is indeed a one street town. Like most small towns these days, mom and pop shops look extra dilapidated or are already shuttered closed, abandoned. We walk in silence along the main road through town. It's dark and it would be completely silent were it not for the cicadas. I close my eyes briefly and imagine myself in the rainforest Is it also this loud?

"This is a great place to dump a body." He looks at me with big eyes, convinced he's hilarious.

"Yeah, it is. The best part, nobody would ever suspect a girl like me."

"You would never." I wouldn't.

"Maybe I'll be an avenger vampire. I'll start with smart-asses."

He holds a hand up to his heart, and mouths an offended "me?!"

I nod, hands on my hips. "You heard right."

He blurs up to stand in front of me. "You'll have to catch me. Tag- You're it."

He zips across the empty street and I give chase. To the water tower- I chase, laughing. To the front porch of a store, behind a gas station, between some cars, and I've barely gotten a hand on him.

Something rises inside me, and I stop laughing. "Hey-Damon! Hey!" I'm still chasing him, and he's on top of a van. Why isn't he stopping?

"Damon?" I'm having some kind of panic attack. "Damon!" I feel a sob rise and I'm about to cry.

Suddenly he's in front of me with his hands on my arms. "Hey! What's wrong?"

I feel like an idiot. "I-I...I don't know." He's searching my face, taken aback by my change in mood.

"Hold me?" He wraps his arms around me and I work on catching my sobs as he talks me down, stroking my hair.

"I'm here, I'm here. Relax. It was just a game."

He's so patient with me. So, so patient.

"Hey." He nudges me. "Ice cream?"

There's a Dairy Queen open, glowing fluorescently in the night.

"Sure." Wild night, I think to myself. Ice cream after midnight!

I order two scoops of chocolate with chocolate sauce and chocolate sprinkles. He snickers.

"This is how I crisis," I say primly. He gets vanilla with some walnuts.

"At least I'm not boring.," I add, looking significantly at his selection.

"I am not. I'm the eternal mysterious bad boy. I can brood with the best of them."

I laugh. "You're a softie. I know you're all mush and feelings on the inside."

"Where you're concerned," he points a spoon at me, "maybe."

I move my chocolate around in my cup.

"So, you've known hundreds of women throughout your lifetime."

"Thousands actually." I roll my eyes.

"Right. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome," he grins.

"Anyways. These thousands of women. I'm sure there were many beautiful, smart, cool women that you've ...whatever."

He says nothing.

"Well, why me?" We are sitting on a bench outside the dairy queen, completely alone. The heat is rising up my back and starting to creep up my neck.

He sets his ice cream down next to him and looks out into the night.

"Having someone believe in you is a really powerful thing," he says slowly, "and that may not make sense to you because you have always been surrounded by people who believe in you. I haven't had that for a very long time."

"But you've said you don't like living up to people's expectations."

"And that's true. I don't like to. But sometimes I find myself doing it anyways. Gives me something to live for, I guess."

"Okay."

He laughs incredulously. "That's it? 'Okay'?"

I shrug, laughing. "You answered my question!"

"And I'm out here by myself, emotionally exposed. You're brutal, Gilbert."

I laugh and suck on my plastic spoon, blushing.

"I think you have ice cream on your face," I say.

"Are you serious right now?" I smirk and tap my spoon on his cheek. I lean forward and kiss him there, lingering for a moment.

I pull back and he's giving me that look. I'm braver this time and I tap his lips. I go for it and he grabs for me, swinging my legs over his lap and pulling me close. He threads his hand through my hair and I'm pushing my hands through the hair at the nape of his neck. Our kiss is close to frantic but not quite. He moves to my neck, the plane of my collarbone and I feel selfish but it feels good. So, so good.

I pull away. "I'm ready to go to the Kuntry Korner. With two Ks."

He laughs, breathless. "Yeah, with two Ks. Me too. Let's go." He looks sideways at me. "Let's race. You get a head start. I'll chase you," he winks, "it feels appropriate."

I blush guiltily. "Fine." I kiss him hard. "You better hurry."

It takes us less than a few minutes- it's a really small town, after all. I'm hanging all over him as he looks for the key card in his pants pockets, kissing his neck and taking a light bite of his ear.

"Jesus, woman, let me get us into the room!" I giggle and jump, wrapping my legs around his waist. I'm a barnacle. He opens the door.

"I'm a barnacle," I announce between kisses.

"More like a monkey. Why are your legs so long!?" He reaches down and squeezes my thighs.

"You like it," I whisper, and he grins. It's so good to see him happy...really happy. And it's because of me. My confidence soars and I'm pouring all of myself into him. I love every little piece of him, with my hands, with my mouth, and I bring myself to slow things down right when we get to the brink, because I want it to last. When we look at each other, it feels like a discovery, and I trust him more than I already do, over and over again.

We finish, and welcome the quiet. I break it.

"I'm on top," I say significantly.

He lets out a laugh and closes his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you are."

"I feel really good."

His eyes flip back open. "Come here."

He pulls me down next to him and leans his forehead on mine, taking my hand and bringing it up to his chest. I feel my instincts kicking in and, of course, I want to talk. I figure my window of opportunity is about twenty minutes before he falls asleep. He's a man, after all.

To my surprise, he starts talking.

"Elena." I love hearing him say my name. "I meant what I said about living up to other people's expectations. But I really might want to live up to yours. They may be the only ones I care about."

I stroke the side of his face. "Oh, honey. You do. You really do."

His eyes get dark. "Say that to me again. The first part."

"Honey," I say, smiling, and kiss him gently.

He clears his throat. "How's your crisis?"

Wow. I had forgotten I had one. "Right now, if I die tomorrow or live for five hundred years...I guess it doesn't really matter to me right now."

"Good," he closes his eyes, and pulls me close. "That's good."

And for now, it is good. I'm not afraid to fall asleep.

The End

And that's all she/I wrote because love conquers all! Clearly, I like writing dialogue. This has held me over through the two-week break. Here's to seeing something good and yet angsty happen on Thursday! WOO!