It was a beautiful night.

In fact, that would be an understatement.  It was beautiful out that night.  It was so plainly perfect that it was just how indescribable how perfect it was for the both of them.  The dinner went off without a hitch—just a small bite down at the local burger joint sufficed.  The movie went off even better—just a showing of one of the better movies that they had seen in the past few weeks, The Truth about Lindley and Sam.

It was just a small drive out of town out onto the hill that overlooked the city, backed by the mountains.  He parked the car right at the top of the hill just as the sun started to set over the entire town, under the lone oak tree that spread its branches in all directions, grasping at the sky.   They had set up their entire little area right a small distance away from the car, laying out on the grass, side by side, looking up at the stars peeking through the tree branches.

It had been known for awhile that they had been going out.  It was in fact very obvious to anyone who went to Cutter High that the two were deeply in mushy, sticky love with each other.  Yes, there was a little teasing here, and little giggle there, but it was all innocent idiocy.  They were very much the class lovebirds, you could say.  Then again, one could say a lot about them, what with having little bouts of affection at the lockers between classes, the constant walking together between classes and, even in the most extreme cases, their giggling and smiles whenever they saw each other coming.

They didn’t even mind it.  All they knew was that they were in love, and they wanted to be like this forever.  He smiled, turning to face her.

She was beautiful.  No—she looked wonderful tonight.  Her bright blonde hair, cut short to her shoulders, was matched with her emerald eyes that shimmered like diamonds.  She was wearing low-rise jeans with a simple black leather belt.  She was wearing a long sleeved, black and white striped shirt over her frame, further covering herself with a black graphic tee.  Her white behind-head headphones curled around her, the wire tracing down to the encased black iPod in her hands.  It was playing Yellowcard’s album “Ocean Avenue”, track three.  She had fallen asleep, her right hand overhead wrapped around her iPod, her left resting lazily on her stomach.

He smiled at her through the setting sun, seeing the light bounce off her hair.  Wow, she’s gorgeous, he thought.  He shook his head in amazement as he watched his girlfriend rest on grass beside him.  Even when she’s sleeping, she’s pretty.  He looked back to the little box in his pocket and opened it.  In it were two identical necklace charms, oval-shaped shields with crosses centered in the middle.  They were Duo Bico charms, meaning “Unforsaken connection” or “Bond without boundaries”.  He smiled, looking at the charms, feeling over their surfaces with his fingertips as he was lying down.

He wasn’t so bad looking, either.  He’d been on the football team during their undefeated sweep of the championships and playoffs, but had still retained his originality and smart traits that made the girl next to him love her.  He’d grown out his raven black hair since that time, forming a slight sidebang that covered one of his dark brown eyes.  He was wearing a black graphic tee, covered up partially by a baggy black hoodie.  He had a pair of the same behind-head headphones resting around his neck as he had his iPod paused right on the beginning of Paramore’s album “All We Know is Falling,” track ten.

He heard a slight groan.  He turned, only to see her moan while she was dreaming, shifting slightly as she slept.  He sat up, straightened himself out, and looked at his partner.  “Izzie, can you wake up, please?”  He shook her shoulder timidly.

She let out a slight groan, brushing over her face with her free hand.  “Hnnng,” she moaned out, drowsily turning her gaze to her boyfriend.  “Rick, what’s up?”  The sun began to go down, and the night drew closer with cold coming along quicker on its heels.  She scooted closer to him, looking him in the eyes.  “It’s pretty late. Shouldn’t we be going home now?”  She lifted her headphones off her ears and let them rest on her neck.

“Yeah, but let’s just wait a sec, alright?”  He scrunched up his legs and smiled at the girl next to him.  She smiled back, her approval showing in her eyes.  He patted her head softly, tousling her hair.  “I’ve also got something for ya.”

“Really?”  Izzie looked up, pleading, “What is it?”

“Hold out your hand,” he said.  “And close your eyes.”

Izzie did so with quiet anticipation, her excitement causing her to almost fall over in sheer expectation.  She felt a little weight placed in the center of her palm.  She smiled, but held her voice as she imagined what it was that he was giving her.  She then felt the slight plump of rope on her palm.  “You can open your eyes now,” Rick whispered in her ear.

She opened her eyes, and gave a little squeal of surprise.  It was a small charm, a Sacred Shield charm, emplaced in a small black leather necklace rope.  She let out another giggle of surprise as she saw that Rick had an exact replicate.  “Oh, wow,” she gasped.  “But Rick, where—”

“We saw them at the mall, didn’t they?”  He answered, putting his necklace on.  “I remember seeing them, and I thought that, since they were a pair, we could each wear one, so that, no matter what, we’ll always have something to remind us of each other.”

She blushed, letting out a bit of a sigh as she bowed her head and fastened her necklace about her neck.  “Oh, Rick,” she whispered.

“What?” Rick returned.

Silence.

“Oh, I’m just so happy to have you!”  She launched herself at him, hugging him and landing on his body in full force.

Rick smiled as he fell, laughing at the girl on top of him.  He blinked, staring into her eyes.  “You do realize,” he said as he smirked, “I can throw you off, right?”

Izzie smiled back at him.  “So why don’t you?”

“I really don’t want to right now.”

Izzie giggled before leaning down to kiss him.