~3~

As we got closer, I glanced outside my window and saw Matthew standing near Baskin Robins alone against the brick wall. As soon as Beth put the car into park, I jumped out of the car. Beth told me that she'd give me two hours before she would call me to come pick me up. I nodded my head in acknowledgment.

Beth pulled away and Matthew and I made our way inside to get ice cream. "May I try your mint chocolate chip? Could I try your Cotton Candy? Ooo, how about a taste test of your Cherry Garcia. Delicious! I'll take it!" I looked over at Matthew and he was laughing at me.

"Was it hard to make up your mind?" He asked me.

"Yeah, kinda. They're all delicious."

"What may I get for you young man?" The employee asked Matthew.

"I'll have your mint chocolate chip ice cream please." He looked away from his ice cream being prepared and then back at me. Matthew paid for our ice cream with the 20 dollar bill I gave him and we walked out the door.

"You're so beautiful Holly."

"Aww, thank you. You're beautiful too." They shared a laughed. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face from that moment on. When we both sat down at a table and Matthew asked for a bite of mine. I was scooping up a piece when he grasped my hand with the spoon in it and brought it close to his mouth.

"Mmm. That's not too bad. Here." He offered a taste of his to me and stretched his arms towards me for a bite.

"That's pretty good." I told him. As we continued to finish our ice cream, cars passed by with different music playing.

Once we finished, we decided to walk over to the baseball field across the street. We found a baseball near center field and started to play catch with each other. As we caught the ball back and forth, we shared each other stories about past experiences, how life was going and a few other things. I found out that Matthew has been playing baseball since he was four years old. Then, we figured out that we both had stitches in the past. Mine was on my ankle and his was on his hand. He got his on accident from when his dad tossed a screw driver at his tool bag and didn't realize that Matthew was reaching for a glove in front of the bag. On the other hand, I got stitches from when my brother and I were wrestling in the grass and he had his baseball cleats on.

All of a sudden—while I was busy laughing at one of his stories—I wasn't paying attention to the ball that was coming at my face. Before I knew it, it was too late to even duck out of the way.

I fell to the ground so hard. I laid there with my eyes closed and waited for what felt like forever until I heard someone slide in the dirt nearby. They rolled me over and pushed my still body closer to them. They rested my head onto their lap. I opened my eyes up and saw Matthew's hazel eyes and worried face. He told me that everything was going to be just fine. "Trust me." I closed my eyes again and I could feel him slip away. I listened to his footsteps trailing away in the dirt in the direction of the ice cream shop.

Moments later, I felt my body being lifted off of the ground, but I knew I wasn't in control. Once I opened my eyes again, I realized that Matthew was carrying me. He was transporting me from the dirt to the grass outside the field. I felt useless, weak and above all, my head felt like a humungous bruise was growing fiercely. He gently pressed an ice bag onto my head where I was hit.

"Holly, please wake up. I need to know that you're okay. Holly!" I gradually opened my eyes. The lights surrounding the baseball field were so bright that it made it hard to keep them open.

"Could you scoot in front of the lights shining on me?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course." When I no longer felt the light hurting my eyes, I opened them again and let him know that I was fine. "I'm sorry I ruined our night."

"What do you mean ruined? I don't think it's ruined. It's still just me and you."

"I should have caught the ball." I confessed.

"I shouldn't have thrown it when you weren't watching. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted. You didn't need to carry me over here from the field. I can't move my head at the moment, but my legs work perfectly."

"I know. But you were worth it." I sat up and gazed into Matthew's eyes before he leaned in to kiss me. He slid his hands under my hair to my neck and moved his lips. We slowly separated and our eyes faded open.