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He stepped up to her, holding out his arms. She nodded, and laced her arms around his neck, beginning to sway to the music.

He rubbed his short hair and sighed, “Lately, I’ve been—I’ve been thinking,” he stuttered, trying to spit out his words, “I want you to be happier.” She raised an eyebrow, and he repeated, more adamantly, “I want you to be happier!”

She rolled her eyes and started to pull away, but he held her harder and started to speak quickly, “When the morning comes—When see what we’ve become…”

He scrambled to explain his metaphor when the woman dancing with him seemed to be confused, “In the cold light of day, we’re a flame in the wind, not the fire that we’ve begun. Every argument, every word we can’t take back. ‘Cause with all that has happened, I think that we both know the way that the story ends.”

Opening her mouth to speak—to argue with his true statement—but he stopped her, brushing a small bit of her silky hair behind her ear. “Then—only for a minute—I want to change my mind ‘cause this just don’t feel right to me. I want to raise your spirits, I want to see you smile, but I know that means I’ll have to leave.”

A tear rolled down one of her cheeks and ran through her perfect makeup. Eyes pleading with him not to let go, she clung to him harder.

“Lately, I’ve been—I’ve been thinking. I want you to be happier.”

She reached out as he pulled away.

He watched her as she smiled, laughing with friends as they walked away. She caught his eye and said something to the guy that was holding her hand, then made her way over to her former boyfriend.

“When the evening falls, and I’m left here with my thoughts, and the image of you being with someone else, well it’s eating me up inside. But we ran our course, we pretend that we’re okay. But if we jump together at least we can swim far away from the wreck we made.”

An angry look took over her face, and she started to push him away. He gripped her arms, “Then—only for a minute—I want to change my mind ‘cause this just don’t feel right to me. I want to raise your spirits, I want to see you smile, but I know that means I’ll have to leave. I want you to be happier,” he repeated it as if to make it cemented in his brain, “I want you to be happier.”

She pulled her arms out of his grasp and gave him a full-on slap.

“So, I’ll go. I’ll go,” he said, patting the air, then repeating it again, “I’ll go—go—go.”

She turned, and, without regret, left him on the spot as he had with her before.