Her toes sank into the tanned sand and she couldn’t help but sigh. She seldom went to the local beach because it was often riddled with sticky toddlers with dimply knees and families eating soggy watermelon.

But not this night.

As the sun was setting it cast the sky into an array of purples, pinks, and oranges. The ocean sparkled under the fading sun and seemed to hug the shore with each crash of the waves. As the moon chased the sun out of the sky the absence of warmth became apparent. The wind tickled her shoulders but she didn’t dare shiver; she didn’t was to give the cold the satisfaction. Besides, she wasn’t that cold. It was hard to feel cold when he was there.

They were opposites like that. She, the perma-frozen, and him, the space heater. He was wearing his shoes because he refused to take them off in fear of the grainy sand inhabiting between in toes and burying into the fabric of his Nikes. She, on the other hand had no care. The sand shifted and her feet tunnelled under the crumbling grains and she was suddenly thankful that it had been sunny the day prior.

His fingers laced through her own and she felt the warmth he exuded running up her arm. The wind refused to give and her hair bustled around in the mindless gusts. The ocean responded by allowing the waves to crash closer and closer to her feet. With each roll rocks would overturn and crabs scuttled about the sand. The sun finally vanished behind their shoulders and the moon was their spotlight. The inky black sky was spattered with silver dots, like someone had scooped up a handful of stars and let them loose like fireworks in the expansive sky.

Her light show had begun.

The fireflies came out to play and danced around her head. The waves got close enough to trickle over her toes and she felt chills. She let go of his hand and stood ankle deep in the testing waters. She looked skyward, admiring the art work. She glanced to her side and saw he had shed his shoes and stood beside her, tucking his arm around her waist and resting his chin on her head. She leaned into him content breathing along with his heartbeats.

In that moment no one else existed and no one else really mattered. The crickets chirped behind them, the ocean churned relentlessly in front of them, and her light show was shining above them. She closed her eyes, savouring the moment; the taste of the sea on her tongue, the wind tickling her face, and the soft cotton of his shirt against her cheek. He seemed to sense her nostalgia and held her closer for a moment. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his cheek, the day-old facial hair scratched her but not enough to make her uncomfortable.

Breathing easy she took his hand in hers.

“Let’s go.”