tommy continues to hold my hand even as we enter the restaurant, ignoring the smirk wilbur is throwing his way.

"hi guys," i say as i sit down in a chair next to niki. tommy sits on my other side, next to me and toby.

"we ordered drinks," toby says. "i got you pepsi, val, i remember you said you liked it."

"aww, you know me so well," i respond.

"what about me, big man?" tommy asks.

"what do you THINK i got you?" toby responds. everyone laughs.

"TOO TRUE, TOO TRUE." the two boys fist bump and i smile.

eventually, we order our food, and i end up getting chocolate chip pancakes for dinner since i didn't have any time to look at the menu. when our food comes, i practically inhale the pancakes because they taste so good.

"what's got you two so smiley?" wilbur asks, pointing at me and tommy. we look over at each other with wide eyes. i hadn't even realized i was smiling.

i say "nothing" at the same time tommy says "everything."

niki and wilbur give each other a knowing look.

"you guys are acting suspicious," toby says, narrowing his eyes.

"we aren't," i say with a mouthful of pancakes.

"you're gonna choke," wilbur says to me.

"nice."

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

"time?" i ask as soon as we pay for our food.

"7:45," niki says.

"what time do the lights turn on?"

"8:00."

"i'm so excited to see the lights..." i practically mutter to myself. tommy smiles.

we all decide to spend the rest of our time together, and maybe meet up with the rest of the crew later. we go on a few roller coasters (and tommy only holds my hand once, which slightly disappoints me for some reason?) and play a few games, as if tommy and i needed any more prizes. eventually, the clock ticks to 7:58 and we all run to an open spot to see the lights turn on.

and once they do, it's just about the most beautiful thing i've ever seen.

the lights are an assortment of colors, all glowing against the night sky. the ferris wheel is perfectly outlined in purple, white, red, and blue lights, and you can't make out any of the ride except the glowing parts. all the rides have lights around them, and the games are decorated in lights as well. i release a breath i didn't realize i was holding.

"oh my god," is all i can mutter. i turn my head towards tommy, who's also admiring the lights. i can see the shining colors reflect in his blue eyes, and his smile continues to grow wider. he catches me staring and looks at me, gently smiling and taking my hand.

we start to walk around again, our hands still interlocked. i hear giggling behind me, and suddenly the sound of a picture being taken. i groan and turn around, to see toby standing guiltily with his phone in his hands and wilbur and niki laughing hysterically.

"toby?" i ask, raising an eyebrow.

"it would make your twitter feed really aesthetic..." toby mutters, showing me the picture. my eyes widen in surprise and i nod.

"send that to me," i whisper in his ear.

after a few hours of messing around, it's midnight. the carnival is practically empty, and toby, wilbur, and niki all left to find everyone else.

leaving me and tommy alone. again.

"do you hear the music?" tommy asks after a few minutes of walking in silence. i listen closely and can hear soft music playing, unable to decipher which song is playing exactly. i nod. "well, since it's late, i'm thinking we can sneak into the booth where they play music and play our own music. everyone pretty much checks out at midnight."

"will that really work?" i ask, praying he'll say yes. i've been itching for an adrenaline rush ever since the roller coaster.

"yeah! and if it doesn't, oh well, wilbur will have to come pick us up and 'watch his children more carefully.'" i let out a snort.

"okay sick, where do we go?"

tommy grabs my hand and we bolt to a booth about a minute away from where we were standing. we duck next to the booth and check inside. sure enough, no one is there, only a computer with a long playlist.

we turn to the back of the booth and realize it's locked.

"well shit," tommy says. "any ideas?"

"i've picked locks before, but none like this," i say. there's no visible lock on the door, the handle just doesn't open the door when you pull it. "maybe the window's open?" we go back to the front and try to open the glass window, but it doesn't budge. as soon as we turn to walk away in defeat, there are footsteps approaching. we quickly duck behind a nearby abandoned food cart and watch. a man enters the booth, grabs something, and exits.

but he didn't lock the door behind him.

"jackpot," i mutter. tommy nods and we wait a few minutes before entering. once we do, we turn to each other and grin.

"what song are we playing?" i ask. tommy types away quickly at the computer and turns on wilbur's song, your new boyfriend. he turns the volume of the speakers at the carnival all the way up, and i can hear the song BLARING all around the carnival.

"put it on loop, put it on loop," i say while laughing. tommy loops the song through laughs.

LIFE ISN'T QUITE WHAT I THOUGHT I'D BE

we double over laughing as the song plays insanely loudly throughout the entire carnival. wilbur sends frantic texts to our group chat, freaking out and asking "what the hell is happening?!"

I THOUGHT WHEN I'D GET OLDER

there are a few bystanders walking around that stop in their tracks and either try to find the source of the noise or plug their ears.

NOW I'M TWENTY SIX AND I WORK IN AN OFFICE

tommy and i stop laughing for a second to look at each other, big smiles still plastered on our faces.

"you know the words?" he asks me.

"hell yeah," i say.

HE'S IN YOUR BED

we sing along to the lyrics and do air guitar, until we see men approaching.

"shit shit shit," tommy says through laughs. "we gotta go." he grabs my hand and we run as fast as we can, security guards and workers on our tails.

i smile. i've never felt such a rush.

tommy looks back at me and his smile is just as big.

"i hope you can keep up," he says, adjusting and tightening his grip on my hand while running faster.

"of course," i laugh. i can hear security yelling at us to stop and turn around, but we keep going. we turn many corners, and lose about two of the seven guards chasing us. however, they have walkie talkies, so the number of guards continues to grow.

"this way!" tommy shouts, pointing at a crack in the fence. he pulls me in front of him and guards my body as i sneak in, following me shortly after. we stand outside the carnival, and we bolt to the parking lot. the security guards stop at the gate, and turn around.

"success!" i say. we high five. i can still hear wilbur's song blasting from the parking lot.

"wasn't that fun?" tommy asks, smiling brightly. even in the dark, i can perfectly make out his white teeth.

"that was SO FUN. do you do that often?"

"uh... no. that was the first time."

"first time? damn, you're great at running from security, especially for a beginner." tommy laughs. i check the time, 12:55 AM.

"no one's texted in the group chat saying they want to go home, should we sneak back in or something?" i ask. tommy shakes his head.

"they saw our faces while we were in the booth, and they'll recognize our clothes. they'll escort us out again, and they probably told all the workers about us. let's just go over there." tommy points across the street to a convenience store. i nod and we walk over, smiles still stuck on our faces.