“How did you see my wish anyways?”

“Michael put them all in a box and told Ryan to bury them behind the building. Ryan left the box in his car.” Kelly shrugged. “I couldn’t just leave them there, could I?”

“So you buried them?”

“After I read them, yes.”

“And you read everyone’s?”

Kelly nodded. “We work with some real psychos, did you know that? And almost everyone lied when we were talking about what we wished for. Creed asked for a laminating machine, who does that? And I can’t even repeat what Meredith actually asked for. It had to do with three of the guys in the office and a hot tub. I mean, I’ll tell you if you want me to, but—“

Pam held a hand up. “I’m good.” Kelly nodded and went back to sorting through Pam’s closet, where she was separating items first into seasons and then into daytime and nighttime. Pam waited to see if she was going to say anything else and threw her hands up in frustration when she realized that for once, the other woman had nothing to say. “Kelly!”

“What?” She looked up from the green sweater she held in her hands. “This is cute, you should wear it more.”

“Yeah, we can talk about that later. Did you see what Jim wished for? Did he really write down a million dollars?”

“That’s not what he wrote down.” Kelly held up a different shirt to Pam and shook her head. “You need to throw this one out.”

“Fine, whatever.” She resisted the urge to snap her fingers in front of Kelly’s face. “What did he wish for?” she asked again.

Finally, Kelly turned her full attention to her. “See, the thing is Pam; I’d love to tell you that. Because his wish was a really good one, as far as wishes go.” She hesitated, smiling gently. “But I’m not going to tell you. I think you need to ask him yourself.”

Pam shook her head. “Like he’s going to tell me.”

“He will,” Kelly said. “I really think he will. But okay. If you ask and he doesn’t tell you the truth, then I will tell you.” She squinted as she seemed to debate what she’d just said with herself. “Yeah, I think that’ll be okay.”

“How will I know if he’s telling the truth?”

Kelly shrugged. “All I can tell you is he didn’t wish for a million dollars. You’ll know.”

That conversation with Kelly was the only reason Pam didn’t cancel the double date. She had wanted to, and she had tried, but not only was Kelly persistent, she was bossy, and she was used to fighting ten rounds with Ryan so she didn’t give up easily.

When she had called Jim to confirm that she was still planning on going and what time should she meet them at the restaurant he had sounded surprised, which, she couldn’t blame him for that, but she also thought she heard a touch of reluctance or maybe disappointment in his voice. She wanted to spend more time figuring that out but Karen had grabbed the phone out of his hands and cheerfully told her that yep, Cugino’s at seven and Mike will be so glad. Also, sorry about that whole allergy thing.

So she was going. Not because she cared about Mike Tibbets, who probably really was a nice guy, but because she needed to know what Jim had wished for earlier in the week.

Now that she believed in wishes, Pam forgot to watch for the meteorites that came crashing down over the next several hours. And there were a lot of them.

The first person she saw at the restaurant was Karen. Karen, whose eyes swept over her almost dismissively before widening when she realized that Pam’s hives from earlier in the day had all but disappeared and the few stubborn ones were carefully concealed by makeup.

“Hey,” she said cautiously. “Where are the guys?”

“Jim’s parking the car and I don’t think Mike is here yet.” Her eyes snapped back up to Pam’s. “He’s not ditching you; he called and said he was stuck in traffic.”

Pam blinked. “Okay.” They stood there for a minute without saying anything. She was about to ask Karen a dumb question about work just to break the silence but was saved as Jim strolled up to the two of them and asked why they were still waiting outside.

“We were waiting for you,” Karen said as she slipped her hand around his arm. “Should we wait for Mike, or should we go in?”

“He’s still about ten minutes out, let’s go in.” Jim turned to Pam and raised an eyebrow at her. “Looking pretty fancy there, Beesly. Can’t even tell you almost found yourself on the receiving end of Dwight’s epi pen earlier today.”

“That was never going to happen,” she vowed as she brushed past him and into the restaurant. She ignored the fancy comment but noticed how Karen’s grip had tightened to the point she imagined Jim had four crescent shaped marks on his arm.

It wasn’t that Mike Tibbets was an unattractive guy. He just wasn’t her type. Hell, Roy hadn’t even been her type so looks alone wasn’t enough to discount him. And Mike was perfectly fine to look at. Sure, he was about two inches shorter than her, and okay, if she was honest with herself, the receding hairline was a little distracting; but he had a nice enough smile and friendly eyes.

Eyes that were blue. It wasn’t his fault that she preferred green. Or that lately her daydreams involved dark brown hair long enough to twist her fingers into.

No, it wasn’t because of his looks that Pam knew she wasn’t ever going to see Mike again after this night. It was the sneezing. The constant, loud, messy sneezing.

“I’m sorry,” he’d said, sneezing before he’d even said hello to everyone at the table. “It’s a high pollen count day and my allergies are going crazy.”

Pam found herself smiling sympathetically at his red-rimmed eyes. “Allergies are the worst,” she agreed. Her eyes landed on Karen over the rim of her wine glass. “I had my own allergic reaction this morning.”

Karen at least managed to blush at that. “I really am sorry about that. I could have sworn the list in the break room said peas, not pears.” Jim snorted at this, and she glared at him. “I’m just glad you’re okay,” she said, directing her attention back to Pam.

She smiled as graciously as she could. “I’m sure it was an honest mistake.” She faced Mike again. “Hi, I’m Pam.” She reached her hand out, frowning when he leaned away from her.

“I don’t—“ Sneeze. “Shake hands—“ Sneeze. “Because I’m also allergic to most common soaps and lotions.” Two sneezes. “Also flowers. Are you wearing perfume?” He looked between Jim and Karen. “Didn’t you tell her I’m highly scent sensitive?”

Pam’s felt herself blush as Jim and Karen exchanged looks that appeared to be guilty; however where Karen looked slightly stricken, Jim’s eyes had a hint of smugness in them. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “They didn’t say anything.”

“That’s my fault, I completely forgot.” Jim’s expression still didn’t match the contrite tone of his voice. Judging by the look on Karen’s face, Pam realized she wasn’t the only one to notice. “Can you power through, Buddy?”

“I’ll try.” Mike sneezed again. “It’s really strong though.”

“I’m sorry,” she offered, though she had no reason to apologize. She barely remembered even putting her perfume on so she found it doubtful that she’d doused herself in it. “It’s Gardenia,” she added as an afterthought even though it absolutely didn’t matter. She took another sip from the wine glass that was too close to being empty and laughed nervously. “This is a really weird start to dinner, isn’t it?”

“Let’s start over,” Karen suggested brightly. “Pam, this is Mike, obviously. And Mike, this is—“ She was interrupted as Mike fell into another fit of sneezing.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized again. “I really am.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his nose. “I hate to ask, but do you think you could maybe—“ He sneezed again. “Could you move your chair a little further that way?” He at least looked reluctant as he gestured away from himself. “Believe me, I hate asking that. It’s nice to meet you Pam, you’re even prettier than Jim said.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a small smile while inching her chair away from him, a move that only put her closer to Jim. Mike didn’t stop sneezing until her elbow was grazing Jim’s on the table. Displeasure had flickered over Karen’s features for a second before she lifted the corners of her mouth into a smile and Pam couldn’t help but wonder if it was from the compliment Mike had given her or her close proximity to Jim.

Their waiter came back, sparing everyone a couple of minutes of awkwardness.

Pam wasn’t sure if it was Mike’s drink request of “water, bottled only and no ice,” or that she was now sitting close enough to Jim that she could tell he was wearing something that smelled like a campfire, but she didn’t think twice about asking for a second glass of wine when Karen did.

Maybe she was crazy, but she felt like she’d need that second glass to get through dinner. Dinner that they hadn’t even ordered yet.”

When he wasn’t sneezing, Mike was a perfectly nice guy. He was funny enough that she laughed at his jokes, and he seemed interested when he asked her about her art (He would love to see some of her work but he was allergic to acrylic paints. Did she know they had trace amounts of formaldehyde in them?). As long as she stayed approximately a foot away from him, they were able to talk without his sneezing every two seconds. And while she wasn’t at all interested as he listed off every possible allergen at their table at that very moment, she was completely engrossed in the way the frown lines in Jim’s forehead deepened every time she reacted positively to something Mike said.

The whole chain reaction was fascinating, really. Mike would say something somewhat witty, Pam would laugh, Jim would either frown or try to make a funnier statement, and Karen would take another drink of her wine.

It was going to be a long night. Pam listened, fascinated, as Mike ordered the blandest, most boring item on the menu, and then managed to make it even less appealing with a laundry list of modifications that she was convinced made their waitress hate them all.

Mike grinned as the waitress walked away. “It’s obnoxious, right?” He laughed. “Believe me, I hate it as much as everyone else but I figure it’s either that or I don’t eat at all, and then everyone else at the table is left feeling really awkward.” He shrugged.

“No it’s fine,” she assured him. She shot a sideways look at Jim before continuing. “I just feel bad; we could have done something that wasn’t dinner if I had known it would be so dangerous for you.”

Mike shrugged. “Actually, dinner is the least dangerous. I can somewhat control things here. If we were say, mini golfing, I could get stung by a bee. Same for parks, plus the added unknowns of plant life and who knows what else? Don’t even get me started on bowling alleys.”

“So how do you date?” Pam shook her head. “That sounds rude, I don’t mean for it to, but like, how do you?” She leaned forward but immediately pulled back when his nose twitched.

“It’s pretty easy actually. At least, as long as I can get past the first date.” Mike chuckled as he reached into his coat pocket. It was the second time that day that someone had presented her with an epi pen. “The second date usually starts off with a practice session where I make sure she knows how to use one of these. From there, as long as one of us recognizes the signs of a fatal allergic reaction, we’re usually good to go. It’s the third date that I usually start to lose them at.”

Pam’s eyes were wide as she stared silently at Mike, who was oblivious as he tucked the pen back into his pocket. She looked around the table to see that Karen looked uncomfortable and Jim was struggling not to laugh.

“What happens on the third date?” She didn’t want to ask but she also couldn’t not ask.

Mike frowned slightly. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to scare you off.”

“No, please. Tell me.”

“Okay. Well, if things progress to a third date and seem to be moving forward, one of the first things I need to make sure happens is that my date sees my apartment. And while by that point it should be a given that she’s not wearing any lotion or hairspray or perfume, really, chemicals of any kind, I always ask that she take a quick shower in my guest bathroom with an approved non-allergenic soap and then we’re good to go.”

Pam flagged down their server and asked for another drink. “And you don’t think that’s extreme?” she asked.

“No, it’s definitely extreme, but so is my dying from an allergic reaction.” Mike nodded at the glass that was just set down in front of her. “How much do you like your white wine?” he asked.

“Oh, I—“ she stumbled over her words. “I mean, it’s not like I drink it all the time, but I do—“

“If we started dating, you wouldn’t be able to drink it around me.”

She took a healthy sip before setting the glass down again. She had no idea what to say to that but they were interrupted again as their dinners arrived.

It wasn’t three minutes before Mike’s eyes began to water and he started coughing along with the occasional sneeze.

“Better get that epi pen ready,” Jim murmured in her ear. She kicked him under the table just as he asked Mike if everything was okay.

She really didn’t want to have to stab him with epinephrine.

Mike insisted he was fine, but a particularly violent sneeze shook the entire table and tipped Karen’s drink into her lap. Both Mike and Karen leapt up from the table, one headed toward the kitchen to complain about the parsley flakes in his plain pasta and the other to the restroom to make sure the merlot didn’t stain her dress.

Pam waited until they were alone before she turned and pinched Jim’s arm. Hard.

“Ow!” He pulled away with a frown. “What was that for?”

Pam tilted her head to the side as she glared at him. “It’s just weird that when you were busy telling me what a nice guy Mike was, you didn’t think to mention that the man is allergic to life.”

“That’s a little dramatic.” He dodged her before she could pinch him again. “You’re right, I forgot.” His eyes crinkled at the corners and for the second time that night, she doubted his sincerity. “But to be fair Pam, his allergies aren’t the most interesting thing about him.”

“What is the most interesting thing about him then?” she shot back. “I’d ask him but he can’t seem to carry on a conversation for more than seven seconds before he starts sneezing again.”

“Hey, you’re the one who wore perfume that he’s allergic to.”

“You didn’t tell me not to!”

“I thought for sure Karen would have mentioned it.”

“When Jim? When she was busy poisoning me?”

“Hey, she said that was an accident. Besides, she likes Mike. I don’t think she’d try to poison him.”

Pam shook her head. “I… this was a mistake. We both knew this was a bad idea. I should just leave.”

Jim grabbed her by the arm to keep her from standing up. “Wait, wait. Pam, come on.” He squeezed her elbow lightly before his hand slid down to her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said when she made no attempt to move. “I am. You’re right, this night has been weird, but I think it’ll be weirder if you just leave. Let’s just get through dinner and then if you want to leave, I won’t try and stop you.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You know you can’t stop me, right? I could leave if I wanted to.”

“You could,” he agreed. “But we both know you won’t.”

She sighed because of course he was right. She wasn’t going to leave. “Fine,” she said reluctantly.

“Okay.” He let go of her hand and leaned back in his chair. “Toy trains.”

“What?”

“Toy trains,” he repeated with as much of a straight face as he could manage. “Mike has about five hundred of them. That is the most interesting thing about him.”

Pam nearly choked on her wine. “Stop it,” she admonished him gently. “Do I have to remind you that he’s your friend?”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Come on, Pam. It’s pretty obvious that he and I aren’t exactly playing basketball every weekend. I barely know the guy.”

Pam studied him for a minute. “Why am I here?” she asked finally. “Why are we doing this?”

For the first time that evening she believed the look of regret that crossed over his face. “Karen,” he admitted. “She might have noticed that you and I have started talking again in the office and I don’t know; for whatever reason she hates that. And I guess she thought that my setting you up with one of my friends would prove something.”

“Prove what?” she challenged.

Jim gave her an incredulous look. “You know what.”

“Well, how’s that working out for you?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “If Karen was jealous, reasonably or not, why go to the lengths of introducing me to someone you don’t even know? Why not a friend that you actually like? Or at least one that I can’t accidentally kill? Why am I the one paying for your girlfriend’s stupid insecurities?”

“I don’t want you dating one of my friends, Pam.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them and they just stared at each other.

“Right,” she said quietly. “Well, if we’re being choosy now, guess what? I don’t want you dating Karen but it’s not like either of us get any say in these matters, do we?”

“I didn’t mean—“

“You did though.” She laughed harshly and stared up at the ceiling as she tried not to cry in front of him. “You wanted tonight to be terrible. And this way, even if no great love match happened, at least you and Karen could go home at the end of the night and laugh about poor Pam and her terrible luck with men. Because at least you tried, right Jim? Karen asked you to find a friend and you put in the least amount of effort but you still look like you tried.”

“That’s not fair.”

“It’s really not,” she agreed. “It’s really not fair at all that you’re trying to use me to prove something to Karen.” She laughed again. “She’s not stupid. We both know what she sees at work. Neither of us has gotten any better at pretending. She knows, Jim. So again, what are we doing here?”

“Ugh, that took forever!” Karen was sliding back into her seat before Jim could answer her. “At least I managed to get most of the wine out. This is a new dress, I would have hated not being able to wear it again.” She looked between the two of them, understanding that she’d interrupted something as Jim pushed food around his plate with his fork and Pam all but chugged the rest of her wine. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Jim shook his head. “Did you see Mike on your way back to the table? He hasn’t come back yet.”

“Oh, no. But Pam can go look for him, right?” She smiled tentatively as she covered one of Jim’s hands with her own.

“She can’t,” Jim said, again speaking before Pam could even open her mouth. “She can’t get anywhere near him, remember?”

Karen’s hand moved again, a tiny fist clenched against the tablecloth. “What is fucking wrong with you?” she demanded quietly. She relaxed her hand and smiled weakly at Pam. “I swear, he’s been so grumpy with me all day long and I have no idea why.”

Grumpy. Pam was horrified as more tears sprang to her eyes at Karen’s use of adjectives. She had to get out of there before she made an even bigger fool of herself in front of either of them.

“You know what? I can’t do this.” She shook her head as the two of them stopped bickering long enough to look at her. “I’m still not feeling one hundred percent after this morning, and Mike has enough issues without my perfume or soap or whatever making things worse.” She slid her chair back. “I’m going to go. Please, just tell him I’m sorry.” She grabbed her coat and was gone from the table before either of them could say anything.

Once home, Pam wasted no time in changing into her favorite pajamas and rinsing all of the makeup off of her face. Her contacts came out, her hair went up, and she settled herself onto the couch; exhausted but too keyed up to sleep just yet.

So she texted Kelly. My date was Sneezy and Jim was 100% Grumpy. So much for fairy tales.

Kelly’s response was so quick that Pam wondered if she’d been waiting, phone in hand, for a play by play of her date. That sucks, I’m sorry. Did you ask Jim what he wished for?

In the crazed absurdity of the night, she had forgotten all about that. No. But it’s fine. It doesn’t really matter. The whole thing was silly.

It took a little longer for Kelly to respond this time, so Pam turned her TV on and found a rerun of Forensics Files. She jumped when Kelly’s next text finally came through.

It does matter. Promise me you’ll ask him.

If it mattered so much, why wouldn’t Kelly just tell her? She typed out several drafts of messages asking the same question in different ways but she knew Kelly wasn’t going to say anything. Kelly wasn’t one for keeping secrets; if she had wanted to be the one to tell her, she would have done it by now. She sighed and typed out one more message.

Okay. Good night, thanks for everything today.

Night Pam! Kelly signed off with a half dozen x’s and o’s.

Pam stared at her phone for a second longer before powering it off completely. She pulled the throw blanket from the back of the couch over herself and cocooned into the cushions as comfortably as she could. It wasn’t long before the heaviness of the blanket and the soothing voice of the crime show’s host, along with the wine and Benadryl still coursing through her system, had her drifting off into a light doze that quickly turned into one of the deepest sleeps she’d had in recent weeks.

It was the best sleep she’d had in weeks, so she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be jolted awake several hours later by an insistent pounding coming from somewhere in her apartment. She frowned as she sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. The TV was still on and she reached for the remote to turn it off before finally waking up enough to realize that someone was at her front door. And they weren’t going away.

She stood on tiptoe to look through the peephole even though she already knew who was standing there because honestly, who else was it going to be? He stopped knocking as soon as he heard the locks unclicking. She hesitated, took a steadying breath, and then opened the door. “It’s two in the morning, Jim.”

“Yeah, it is.” He didn’t look much happier than she felt. “I’ve been trying to call you for two hours. You said you weren’t feeling well and then you didn’t answer your phone. I thought you were dead.”

“Dead?” She rolled her eyes. “A few glasses of wine and a handful of Benadryl aren’t going to take me out. I’m fine, I was asleep.”

“Oh.” Jim frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—“ He shook his head. “You said you hadn’t been sleeping well lately, so I just assumed—“

“Look. I’m sorry if I worried you, but as you can see, I’m fine, so…good night, I guess.” She started to close the door but he stuck a foot out to block it.

“I broke up with Karen.”

She sighed and pressed her head to the doorframe for a second before stepping back to look up at him. “Okay.” She let go of the door and turned on her heel, retreating back into her apartment.

She didn’t invite him but he followed her anyways. “Okay? That’s all you’ve got to say? Did you hear what I said?”

“I heard you.” She stopped halfway into her living room and turned back to face him. “What am I supposed to say?” she asked finally, throwing her hands into the air.

“Ask me why.”

“No.” Pam shook her head incredulously. She didn’t know if she was annoyed with him because she was still half asleep, or because he was standing there in front of her, full of nervous energy and seemingly oblivious to the fact that they hadn’t ended the night on the best of terms. “Just tell me,” she said finally. “You’re the one who came here so you obviously have something to say.”

“You’re right. Okay.” He ran his hands through his hair before he finally stopped pacing and stood in front of her. “I shouldn’t have been with her, you know? I’ve been trying to pretend she was who I wanted, but I never really believed it. She was just…” he shrugged. “She was there. When you weren’t.”

“You’re the one who le—“

“I know.” Jim nodded. “I know. I left. But I also came back.” He sighed as his hands dropped to his sides helplessly. “I should have come back alone. I know that. These last few months haven’t been fair to any of us and I’m so sorry for the way I’ve been acting.”

Pam drew her lower lip between her teeth. “It wasn’t that you were mean or anything when you came back,” she said quietly. “But you were different. You are different,” she corrected herself. “And I hate it.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I have felt terrible every day since I came back. I knew coming back was going to be weird, and I knew that we weren’t going to be able to go back to how we were before I left, but I really didn’t think it was going to be this bad. I didn’t want it to be like this at all.”

“What do you want then?”

“You,” he said immediately. “God, Pam, it’s always been you. You have to know that. Karen knew. It’s why she’s been so weird lately and why she maybe tried to poison you today.” He grinned a little and she felt herself slowly thawing toward him.

“So you admit she did it on purpose?” Pam folded her arms across her chest, but allowed a small smile in his direction.

“I’m saying it probably wasn’t the accident she claims it was, no.” He took a step closer to her. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? I was really worried about you today.”

“I’m fine,” she promised. “But back to what you were saying. Jim, what does—“

“It’s always been you,” he repeated. “And I was too stubborn to give into that. Or afraid, maybe. I didn’t want to put everything out there and have you say no again. So I froze you out. And that was the wrong thing to do, I know that, but it was easy so it’s what I did. And I’m sorry.”

“I wouldn’t have said no again,” she said softly.

“I know.” He nodded. “I mean, I was pretty sure of that but then Karen was here and it was complicated and I was still being stubborn and kind of an asshole, so I didn’t do anything about it.” He cleared his throat as he took another step toward her. “But then, I don’t know Pam, things changed between us this week. Did you notice that? There was that moment of joking after Michael’s weird wish thing and it kind of seemed like we were the old us again. Didn’t it?” He looked relieved when she nodded in agreement.

“And then it got kind of weird again. I can’t explain it, but everything just felt so off this week.”

“How?”

He ducked his head as his neck turned a shade pinker than it had been. “Like, I’ve always noticed how pretty you are but this week, everyone else seemed to notice too and it drove me fucking crazy that they could all just say it to you and I couldn’t. And then all of a sudden you were paying attention to these guys and going out with them.” He shook his head. “You went out on a date with Toby,” he said ruefully. “That killed me.”

“It was just dinner,” she protested.

“Dinner with him and not with me. And I hated it. Kelly was coming in every day and talking about how you were getting out there and meeting new guys and I know, I know Pam, that I had no right to be jealous or mad but I was.” He laughed a little. “It’s completely ruined my week, if you really wanted to know. I’ve been so fucking frazzled over everything.” He made a face. “I hate that word. I’ve been so—“

“Grumpy?” she asked, her lips curving into a smile in spite of herself.

“Grumpy,” he agreed. “I’ve been absolutely grumpy all week long.”

Stop it. Stop it right now, Pam scolded herself. “He’s 6’3” for crying out loud. He’s not a fucking dwarf. Her heart practically stopped at his next words.

“And it’s just not that. I haven’t just been in a bad mood because you were moving on. I’ve felt…” he laughed, shaking his head again. “It sounds ridiculous but I’ve felt so small this week.”

“Small?” she croaked. Maybe she hadn’t heard him right.

“Small,” he said with a nod. “Jesus, you chose one of Ryan’s friends over me and I felt this big.” He held up his thumb and first finger, barely leaving a gap. “I didn’t think I was good enough and that sucked more than anything.”

She couldn’t breathe. “Well now you know how I felt with Karen around.”

“Well.” He was so close to her that he could only take a half step forward. “She’s not around anymore.”

“I didn’t want to go out with any of those guys,” she whispered as his fingers tangled with hers. “I just wanted you.”

“I’m right here.” He drew her into his arms and then released one of her hands, sliding his slowly up her arm, until his thumb stroked her jaw as he tilted her chin so her eyes were on his.

She nodded, setting her lips together in firm line as she debated her next move. And then she remembered. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.”

“What did you write down? Earlier this week. I know it wasn’t a million dollars, so.” She took a deep breath. “What did you wish for?”

Jim smiled down at her, the first genuine smile she’d seen all night from him. “What if I told you that it was for this?”

She wasn’t letting him off that easily. “I’d have to ask what specifically this is.”

“Pam.” He bent his head and brushed his lips against her cheek, dangerously close to her lips. It took everything in her not to turn into his kiss. He leaned even closer, touching his lips to her ear.

“I just wanted to be happy,” he whispered as she clutched him even closer. If he noticed she was crying as she pressed her lips to his, he didn’t let on.

“If you give me another chance to make this right, I’ll be so happy.”