heart to a halt. "You're leaving?"

"Steven, I can't stay here. I just—I need to go home. I-I have to finish school, and I think I want to go to college, both things I can actually do now. And like you said I can't stay here forever." Evangeline's words make practical sense to Hyde as they flow in and out of his mind, but the sinking in his stomach accentuates the ringing in his ears and the ache in his chest.

"When are you going?" he asks dumbly, dropping his hand to his side and watching as she edges around towards the passenger side, following her slowly with lead feet.

"Right now, Steven."

"Right now? That's so—sudden." Hyde pulls his lips over his teeth, the corners of his lith turning down into a frown.

Evangeline shrugs, bracing herself against the car as Steven approaches her. "I just—I need to reset, you know? I'm gonna move in with my aunt in New York, finish high school, then head off to the city with my cousin and find a job or apply to go to school somewhere." Hyde shrinks back away from her at the sureness and finality of her gone. She's leaving, and it doesn't seem like she's planning on coming back. "I'm not sure what is I want to do yet, except get out of this town and away from everything."

Hyde scoffs, scuffing his boot against an imperceptible flaw in the driveway concrete. "Including me?"

Evangeline starts to reach for his hand, but hesitated and grabs her elbows, pulling her arms close to her chest. "Steven, I don't want to get away from you, but I can't just stay here pretending everything's okay when I feel like I'm dying on the inside." Evangeline pleads him with her eyes to understand. She doesn't want to leave him, but and at least back home, the only people who know anything won't ever mention it to her.

"So this is it then?" Hyde looks up at the girl he loves, any trace of her usual happiness gone.

"Yeah, it is."

Hyde's silent for a moment as memorizes her features, not wanting to forget a single thing, not the freckles splattered unevenly across her cheeks, or the dimple under her left eye, or the tiny scar on her nose from where Bilbo scratched her as a puppy. "I always had a feeling you were stronger than me," he finally says, pushing her golden hair back behind her ears and gazing into her eyes.Evangeline's eyelids flutter shut as he places a feathery kiss on her forehead, then under her eyes. "It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you."

Evangeline's eyes fly open and she stares at him in shock. "I—what?"

Hyde looks away from her, the tips of his ears turning pink. "I said, I always knew you were stronger than me."

"No," she says, biting her lower lip to stifle the sob threatening to break free from her throat, "the—the part after that. You said—"

"Fuck it," he mumbles, taking her hands and tugging her gently towards his body. She catches herself on his chest, hands splayed against his beloved black tee, worn to the quick showing its age and the love it's seen. "Evie, I love you." She opens her mouth to respond, but he shakes his head to stop her. "Please, don't say it back. I couldn't handle it if you did."

Evangeline can't hold the tears back anymore and a choked sob escapes it's prison, as she buries her head in his chest. "Why are you telling me this now, right before I leave?"

"Because it's true," he says, brushing his thumb over her lower lip, wiping the tears away as they fall slowly. "I love you, and I want you to know that no matter what happens, even if we never see each other again, I will always love you."

Evangeline takes a deep, shaky breath and shakes her head fervently. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"This one I will," he promises, smoothing his palm across her damp cheek as she leans into his touch. "I never thought I'd find someone who would make me care so much about them that the thought of losing them would physically hurt me, but I did—and it's you. And even though it might take a while, I'll be fine." Evie nods, settling her hand on top of his. He flips his around and brings her knuckles to his lips. "You're going to do great things, I know it."

Maggie pokes her head over the roof of the car, spying on their little moment for a brief second. "Evangeline, I hate to break up your goodbye, but your plane leaves in three hours and it takes one to get there."

Evangeline tells her grandma just a second and turns back to Steven. "I know we've only just begun, and now I'm leaving just after I finally got you to ask me to be your girlfriend." Steven laughs quietly, one side of his mouth quirking you into a lopsided smile. "I won't forget you either, Steven. I didn't the first time and I definitely can't now."

The two gaze at each other, not knowing when or if they'll ever see each other again. In that bittersweet moment, Hyde threads his fingers through the hair at the nose of her neck, coaxing Evangeline's lips towards his for one final kiss. Hyde pours all his love into their embrace, and, despite the urgency of their movements, he feels calm inside knowing she was his one great thing in his life, no matter how short their time spent together was. Her hands wander across his chest, burning the image of the boy in front of her and the feeling of his heart pounding under her fingers into her brain. She wouldn't forget him.

With a second prodding from Maggie reminding them of their short time, they pull away from each other, breathless and full of adrenaline. "I love you, Evangeline," Hyde says one more time, knowing it's probably the last.

He helps her into the passenger seat, shutting the door behind her. She rolls the window downs slowly and gestures with her pointer finger for him to crouch down to her level. When his face is right in front of her she pulls him in for another kiss, striding both Hyde and Maggie. "I know you don't want me to say it back, but just know that I do." Hyde swallows the lump forming in his throat and nods, slowly pulling away into standing. "Goodbye, Steven."

He returns her wave limply as they pull away into the street, turning in the direction of the highway and disappearing from his sight. "Goodbye, Evie," he says to the empty air as his hand drops to his side.

His once impermeable armor had been worn down and melted away all at once, by a girl who made him feel unlike anything he'd ever felt before, and now that he's gotten a taste of love, he never wants to live without it. As he heads back to the Forman home, reflecting on the girl he fell in love with and a summer he'll never forget, he knows he'll never be the same, and that's perfectly fine with him.