The sun was bright and warm in the cloud-frees sky, with only a faint breeze to keep the summer heat from turning sweltering. Karina loved days like this. Her class had let out early, so she found herself walking through the park to enjoy some of the afternoon sunlight. The breeze was tossing her hair in her face and she chuckled and shook her head to shake some of it free from her eyes. Perhaps wearing it down was not the smartest idea if she wanted to take a walk, but it could not be helped now.

There were a couple of children clambering around on a large play structure of climbing bars, ramps, and swings, and Karina could see a few parents milling about supervising. She couldn’t blame them; it was a lovely day to be out and about.

Without thinking about where she was going, Karina found herself gravitating towards the currently unoccupied swing set. She smiled as she curled her fingers around the chains and sat down. She hadn’t played at a park in a long time, but she’d loved the swings the best when she was a child.

She tipped back, hanging onto the chains, and scuffed her feet against the ground to push herself into motion. She wasn’t moving fast, just rocking back and forth in the seat. She closed her eyes and enjoyed feeling the heat of the sun on her face.

Then a shadow fell over her and Karina squeaked with surprise as she felt someone press against her back. She would have fallen if it weren’t for the hands steadying her back. She opened her eyes and found a boy her age staring down at her. She sighed with relief.

His shaggy dark hair was hanging in his dark eyes, so Karina reached up and brushed some of it behind his ear, then giggled at the strange appearance it gave his bangs. “You startled me, Nero. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

A rusty coloured blush tinged his darker skin and he cast his gaze down. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Karina shook her head and smiled at him. “What are you doing here? I thought you worked today.” Nero worked extra shifts down at the wharf helping sort the catch and doing other odd jobs that they gave out. He didn’t need to – his family was in a decent financial situation – but he must be saving for something because he grabbed as much extra work as he could.

“Half-day,” Nero explained.

Karina’s smile widened. Quiet as he was, she liked Nero a lot. He was good company and incredibly sweet, even if he was shy and had only stuttered at her at first. “Hey, me too,” she replied. “I was taking the scenic route home from class. I didn’t expect to run into you at the park, though,” she admitted. It seemed like too many people for Nero’s comfort zone.

He jerked his chin beyond her, so Karina twisted to look for whatever he was indicating too. Then she noticed his younger sister – how she had missed her earlier, she didn’t know – but Kera was swinging from the monkey bars. She was only six, but Karina had met her a few times and she was polar opposite her brother in personality. She was energetic and outgoing, and a little blunt at times, but in an innocent way. Standing just out of the way, was Nero’s father – Ixion – who was watching his daughter carefully. “Oh, family gathering then?” she observed.

He hummed in agreement. The chains of the swing rattled as he grabbed them just below where she was holding on and pulled the swing back before releasing it. Karina couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled in her throat at the nostalgic feeling of flying through the air. As she swung back, Nero pressed his hands gently to her back and pushed her to keep her momentum going.

“You don’t have to do this,” she assured him. But when she glanced back at him, Nero was grinning at her and he shrugged but continued to push her. Karina hummed. It was perhaps a little frivolous, but it was fun and she was not going to complain.

They lapsed into silence for a bit while he continued pushing her on the swing. With anyone else, the lack of conversation might have felt awkward, but Karina knew Nero was just quiet by nature and she always felt comfortable around him regardless.

After a couple of minutes, Nero grabbed the chains and slowed her momentum to a halt, so she turned to look at him. His head was bowed and he was scuffing one shoe in the dirt. “Karina, I…” She saw a deep blush darken his cheeks as he hesitated. “I was wondering…that is…” He took a breath and sighed. Karina sat patiently while he gathered himself. It had been a while since he had been this flustered, but it tended to make him worse if she commented or tried to help him along, so she waited patiently for him to say what he wanted to. “My family is having a g-gathering…barbecuing…I was wondering if maybe you would want…w-want to come?”

“Are you sure that would be alright with your folks? I don’t want to intrude,” Karina checked.

Nero’s gaze flitted up to hers for a second and he nodded, before he flushed further and glanced back down at the ground.

Karina’s smile widened. Nero was possibly the sweetest guy she had ever met and a dear friend. Despite his social awkwardness, she found him to be a great listener, and he seemed to genuinely care about his friends and family. She enjoyed his company a lot. “I would love to come,” she agreed.

Nero glanced up again and flashed her with a crooked, toothy smile. “I c-could pick you up at n-noon if you wanted,” he offered.

She smiled again. “It’s a date, then,” she agreed. As she spoke, Nero turned cherry red and choked, but he bit his lip and nodded before pointedly looking anywhere except at her. She felt her face enflame too and she glanced away as well. She was normally not so bold – especially not with Nero – but she supposed part of her was hoping he would openly agree. She liked him a lot, but wasn’t sure it was fair to admit it. Sometimes it seemed like he might like her that way too, but she didn’t want to pressure or rush him if he just hadn’t worked up the courage yet. She’d come to learn that Nero needed to do things in his own time, and she enjoyed their friendship nonetheless.

In an attempt to ease the tension of the awkward silence that had fallen over them, Karina decided to probe for a few more details. “What time should-”

“Karina!”

Karina paused what she was saying and turned to look as Kera came racing over to her. Her long brown hair was tied up in twin braids on either side of her head, and she was wearing denim overalls over a baby blue tee, and her Velcro sneakers depicted little light-up stars all over them. The young girl danced eagerly from foot to foot in front of her. “Hello Kera,” Karina greeted.

The young girl grinned widely and waved. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

Karina shrugged. “I got a little distracted on my walk home,” she admitted.

Kera nodded at the explanation and chewed on the tip of my thumb. “Did my brother distract you? He talks about you a lot. He likes you. I like you too, you’re nice.”

“Kera,” Nero protested softly from behind them. Karina couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well I like the both of you too,” Karina agreed. “I think you’re nice too, and your brother is a really good friend of mine.”

The moment she said it, Kera frowned and shook her head. “Nuh-uh,” she protested. “He can’t be your friend, he’s my brother.”

Karina chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t want to take him from you,” she agreed. “Do you think you’d be willing to share?”

Kera paused and tapped her chin. “Okay,” she agreed after a moment. “I can share. But you get five minutes!”

“I don’t know how I feel about you bartering over me, Kera,” Nero scolded gently.

Kera’s tongue poked out of her mouth and she giggled in his direction. “Five minutes!” she reminded before racing off back to her father’s side.

“They’re getting ready to g-go,” Nero admitted. “If you were staying, I might stay with you?” he asked.

Karina nodded. “I don’t mind the company if you have nowhere to be,” she agreed. Nero hummed in response.

“I don’t,” he replied. “And when you are ready to leave…I could walk you home if that’s okay.”

Karina leaned back in the swing until she was staring up at him with a lopsided grin. “It’s absolutely okay, but you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” he responded. Her smile grew, but she sat back up straight in the swing. Nero was always a little awkward when they spoke, but with a little time, he’d grow more confident in the conversation. It was like a cycle with him, but as time went on, she had been noticing that the initial stammering stage was growing shorter and shorter. Except for today, but he had seemed exceptionally flustered, so she counted it as a fluke.

The silence was more comfortable this time, so Karina just enjoyed the breeze, the gentle creak of the swing chains, and the hooting and hollering of the children on the nearby play structure. His presence was nice, they didn’t need to always be talking to exist comfortably, and she appreciated it. Karina tended to talk a lot because with most of her peers, she felt like if she wasn’t talking or contributing, she wasn’t heard or noticed. Nero never made her feel like that. It was probably wishful thinking, but sometimes she felt like he only ever paid attention to her when they were around one another, no matter what else was going on. Even if it was only in her head, he made her feel special and she relished the notion almost as much as she simply enjoyed his company and personality.

“Karina?” Nero broke her from her thoughts and she twisted to straddle the swing sideways so that she could look at him better. He had his head down again, and the sound of his shoe scuffing returned. “I…I…” he sighed, but then surprised her by looking up and making direct eye contact. She maintained it and waited patiently while he chewed his lip. “I like you a lot…as…as m-more than a fr-fr-friend,” he stammered. Her heart skipped a beat. “Is…is that okay?”

Karina felt heat creep back into her cheeks and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she nodded. “Yes,” she agreed. “I like you too, Nero. A lot. For a while now, I just didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, so I never said anything.”

Nero leaned closer to her. He was still blushing, but he seemed to have found some more courage because he was maintaining steady eye contact and he was no longer stammering. “I wish you had,” he admitted. “I am sorry it took me so long to find the words.”

Karina shook her head. “It’s okay,” she assured him. “I didn’t know how to say it either.” She pulled her leg over to the other side so she was sitting facing him on the swing.

He leaned in even closer and her breath hitched in her chest. He was close enough now that she could feel his warm breath on her face and their noses were almost touching. “Is…is this okay too?” he asked.

She had barely finished nodding when he leaned in closer and pressed his lips to hers. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she froze for a moment, before leaning in closer against him too. She could feel his nervousness in the way his breathing quickened and how shyly he was pressing to her, but she would be a hypocrite for calling him on it when she was experiencing the same. Despite it being a little clumsy and awkward, when he pulled away, Karina had to stop herself from grabbing him and pulling him back close. She imagined her face was just as rosy as his looked, but she smiled at him so that he wouldn’t think she was embarrassed in a bad way.

He coughed and looked away, and Karina found the ground incredibly fascinating. After a moment, he walked behind her and resumed pushing her on the swing. She wasn’t sure if he just needed something to do or if he wanted to pretend the awkward part of their moment hadn’t happened, but she didn’t protest. She held onto the swing with one hand and brought the fingers of her free hand to her lips. Then her smile grew the biggest she imagined it ever had. Yes. It was definitely okay.