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"There must be something else we can do around here!" Brian said.
"There's a fair going on this weekend," Holly suggested. "We can go there, if you want. It's especially good at night, when all the rides light up."
Brian's face lit up with excitement. "That sounds great! Do they have roller coasters there?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I thought you were afraid of heights?" Holly asked, puzzled.
"No fear can keep this guy away from roller coasters!" he said defensively, thrusting his chest forward and putting his hands on his hips.
"Ok, Superman," Holly said, taking his hand. "Let's go to the fair."
**************************
Brian patted Holly's back as she leaned over the guardrail surrounding the fairground, losing her lunch to the bushes beyond it. She stood up slowly, then wiped her mouth with the napkin Brian handed her.
"I guess four times on the Tilt-A-Whirl was once too many!" Holly croaked before she spat on the pavement beneath her feet.
Brian rubbed the length of her back with his hand as he guided her toward a nearby picnic table. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked, concerned.
"Just give me a minute, I'll be fine," she answered, shivering in the cool evening air.
Brian thrust his new sweater over his head and handed it to her. 'Here. You're cold." He helped her put it on, then they sat there, admiring the sunset. She put one arm around his back and leaned in close to him. After a moment, she looked up at him and smiled.
"You look really different!" she said, tousling his newly burnt sienna hair. The warm brown shade made his blue eyes stand out, and they sparkled in the early-evening sunlight. Holly took a deep breath, inhaling the burnt summer air that drifted toward them from the bonfires beyond the fairground. She smiled and closed her eyes, trying to capture the moment forever. Before she had a chance to, Brian was pulling her to her feet. "What-where are we going?" she asked as he led her toward the opposite end of the fairground.
"To the Ferris wheel!" Brian said. "I thought it might make you feel better."
"Yeah, I think it just might," she said, moving closer to him.
They sat in silence, admiring the sunset from their high perch in the car that they had to themselves. Holly snuggled closer to Brian, her cheeks pink from the cool air that surrounded them. He put his arm around her, trying to warm her shivering body. She settled into the crook of his arm and laid her head on his shoulder.
"This is so beautiful," Holly said, staring off into the sunset, watching the sun slowly sink beneath the horizon. The sky surrounding it had turned a magnificent shade of magenta, bathing the clouds in a pinkish tint. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, breathing in deeply to capture the scent of Brian's woodsy cologne.
"I could stay here in this moment for the rest of my life and be the happiest girl on Earth," Holly whispered, snuggling even closer to him. Brian's body turned rigid as he remembered saying the same thing to Leighanne only days earlier. A mental war raged inside him as he confronted the feelings that had been battling within him. He was definitely in love with Leighanne and would have given anything to be with her at that moment, yet at the same time, he felt a strong connection to Holly. So strong, in fact, that he did something that surprised even him.
"Me too," he whispered, and turned his face toward hers. She opened her eyes, which were glistening with tears.
"You mean it?" she choked out in a strained whisper.
"Every word," he said, and moved his lips to hers. Their bodies raged with the fire that was unfolding between them as the sun sank beneath the horizon, all thoughts of Leighanne vanishing from Brian's mind.
Welcome The Darkness