It was early evening when they walked outside, the sky the color of pink lemonade.

To think, after all this time, after all the searching and all the waiting, after all the regret and the time she'd spent away, she came back to find that happiness was right where she's left it. On a football field in Mullaby, North Carolina. Waiting for her.

Embarrassment felt a lot like eating chili peppers. It burned in the back of your throat and there was nothing you could do to make it go away. You just had to take it, suffer from it, until it eased off.

She'd fallen into the best part of her past.

...she was still water in his hands. He didn't know how to hold on.

It was early evening when they walked outside, the sky the color of pink lemonade.

She'd always known he didn't love her. But it was easier to bear when he didn't know she loved him. That way they were even. Now he knew he had all the power.