"Did you want to talk about something?"

Tonie looked at me. "You're the one trespassing on our property. Was there something you wanted?"

I looked up at the budding trees. "Tonie..."

She sighed and stood beside me under a tree. The Melman Estate met the Harding one in many places, one of them being this ancient and beautiful forest. So full of life, yet at the same time so unutterably lonely. "You and Jamie seem to be doing great."

"It was just the one date. You can't really tell yet."

"Mike... Do you like her?"

"I wouldn't waste her time if I didn't."

"Do you care about her?"

"Maybe."

The wind whipped at her hair. Dust and loose soil swirled, carrying bits and pieces of dead twigs. The air was chilly and damp. There was the heavy sense of rain in the air. Rain again.

A fat drop landed on her nose and she wiped it away absently.

"We should get to some shelter," I said, picking twigs out of her dark hair.

"I like the rain."

"Oh, yes. I forgot you're the nutty girl who was overjoyed when it rained on her tenth birthday party."

She smiled. Then she poked me in the ribs. "You owe me a dance. How dare you not show up at the school dance and show me how you look in a suit."

I felt a slow smile spread across my face. "How thoughtless of me." I took her hand. "But I think it's good I didn't go. You'd have stared at me all night. Then your boyfriend would have murdered me on the spot."

She twined her fingers through mine, moving closer as the fat drops thinned out to a fine drizzle. "He'd murder you now."

I tucked her head under my chin. "And it'll be all your fault."

She hummed under her breath. It was a song I vaguely recognized and she pulled me into a dance.

"Giant," she muttered.

"Midget," I replied gaily. She was so close to me now. I could feel her hum, more than I could hear her. The sound vibrated through my chest, from where she had pressed her head, and into the rest of my body.

It was getting cold and very wet, but I didn't think it was time to go just yet. I could give her this at least. She was my first friend, and perhaps a little more than that. Whatever our relationship was, it was too special for anyone else to understand. No one else would understand just what it had been. No one else would understand just what it was now.

This moment was only fleeting. Stolen and unreal. We both had someone else and whatever chance we had had for us to be together, it had passed a long time ago. But still, some feelings are hard to forget or change, even with the passage of time.

She laughed a little. "Thanks for staying in the rain with me."

I smoothed her hair back. "Maybe I'm just as crazy as you."

She smiled and her eyes met mine. I had never kissed her. Never. And I wasn't going to now. It was never right. When she looked at me like that, kisses seemed to become a mockery – senseless and shallow. An empty gesture.

"I hope she takes care of you. Or I swear I'll start calling her 'The Airhead' again," she muttered, pressing her face back against my shirt.

I laughed. We were just friends again. The moment had passed. And still, we danced in the rain.