The night air smelled faintly of summer grass and the gas station coffee you’d picked up on the drive. Kevin’s beat-up car was parked at the edge of the empty lot behind the old movie theater, the kind of place no one bothered with anymore. You were sitting cross-legged on the roof, a joint burning slowly between your fingers, and Kevin was stretched out beside you, head tipped back, looking at the stars like they’d been put there just for him.

“You remember the first time we met?” you asked, letting the smoke curl lazily into the air.

Kevin’s mouth tugged into a grin. “Yeah. You were wearing that hoodie with the rip in the sleeve, and I thought you were ignoring me on purpose.”

“I was ignoring you on purpose,” you said with a laugh. “You were talking so loud in the hallway about Slayer that I thought, Who is this guy?”

“Hey, at least I was passionate,” he said, mock-offended.

You passed him the joint and watched as he took it, inhaled like he was stealing a moment for himself, then handed it back. “Honestly,” he admitted, “I noticed you way before that. I just didn’t think you’d ever talk to me.”

Something in his tone softened the air between you. “And now look at us,” you said quietly.

“Now look at us,” he repeated, turning his head to meet your eyes. The parking lot lights reflected faintly in them, little points of gold.

There was no rush to fill the silence. You let the night hum around you—distant traffic, a moth tapping against the streetlamp, the faint thud of Kevin’s fingers drumming against the metal roof.

“I’m really glad I met you,” he said finally, and there was no joking in it. Just truth. “Like… I don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I hadn’t.”

You smiled, feeling that familiar ache in your chest—the good kind, the kind that came from knowing someone saw you exactly as you were and stayed anyway. “I’m glad too. You make things feel… lighter.”

Kevin reached over and took your free hand, his thumb brushing along your knuckles. “You don’t have to be anything with me except you. You know that, right?”

You nodded, because you did know. You both let your guard down in a way that didn’t feel scary anymore.

The joint burned down to its last glowing inch, and Kevin flicked it away into the gravel. You leaned your head against his shoulder, and for a while, neither of you said anything—just sat there on the roof of his car, knowing that whatever came next, you’d face it together.