Talon got out of the car and rushed around the front to grab the door for Vanessa. The date may not have ended exactly how he thought it would, but he felt there was still time to fix things. Once her door was opened, Talon helped Vanessa out of the car. She left her arm wrapped through his and led him towards the elevator.

His heart raced inside his chest. Sparks of her touch sent tingles through his body, giving him the energy to keep going through all of the stress of the drive home. Things had been going well. The conversation flowed better than Talon had expected, but the random fog cloud nearly ruined everything.

Would this be a testament to how a relationship between these two would go?

"I live pretty close to the top, so it's a long elevator ride." Vanessa mumbled, smiling slightly in Talon's direction. "Unless you wanted to take the stairs? That's what I normally do."

Another flutter of his heart, as he watched her lips curl up at the ends. "I don't mind. I'll take all the time with you I can get." Talon wanted to smack himself after the words slipped out. He meant them, but didn't feel very suave in how he said them. Vanessa didn't seem to mind, though. She didn't tense up or pull away like Talon had expected her to.

Once they were in the elevator, Vanessa pressed the button for the fifteenth floor. Talon made a mental note of the three numbers after it. She was really close to the top. He couldn't imagine lugging groceries up this high, and was thankful that he lived in his mother's house.

"So you normally take the stairs?" Talon questioned. Vanessa rocked on her feet as she held her hands nervously in front of her.

"Yeah, I don't like small spaces, or not being in control." Talon shifted his weight so he could lean against the back wall of the elevator. "Plus this one is really old."

The small space grew quiet. Talon wasn't sure how to respond. He felt horrible that she'd taken the elevator on his behalf. He would have happily taken the stairs with her.

"Sorry about the way I was acting in the car." Vanessa broke the silence.

"You don't have to apologize for that. The fog was wild and honestly seemed like it came out of nowhere."

"I don't want to talk about it. I just wanted to apologize." Vanessa was quick to answer. Her words were more aggressive than the last ones muttered. She pulled her arm away from Talon, sending a panic through his whole body.

Shit! Did he just mess things up?

"So, how long have you lived here?" Talon, in a nervous panic, started asking questions. His fingers tapped against the metal bar lining the three walls of the elevator. He could see Vanessa's face contort in the metal's reflection, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I've been here for just under three years. I'm new to the city. My parents passed away not too long ago and when they did, I had to find somewhere new. I wanted to hide, to be somewhere that no one would see me, so I picked the big city." Vanessa turned and gave Talon a look that made him weak in his knees. He felt his body trembling as his stomach turned with nerves.

He was messing everything up.

"Man, I'm so sorry to hear that!" Talon's voice was caught in his throat, getting trapped behind the lump that had formed.

"I've moved past it now, but are you sure you really want to be talking about such dark things? Why don't you ask me what my favorite memory is or something?" Vanessa seemed to notice how stressed Talon was getting, and immediately her shoulders relaxed.

"Yeah, you're right. So Vanessa, what is your favorite memory?" Talon felt better that she was leading the conversation, at least enough that would help them get back on the right track. He wanted another date with her. Talon couldn't imagine this being the last time they hung out.

"I remember this one time, when I was like eight, my parents took me to the circus. Since I'm an only child, it was just the three of us. I had honestly thought circuses were fake, and something you only saw in movies. They bought me everything I could have wanted. Between the popcorn and the elephant stuffed animal, it was the most perfect day. I remember sitting there watching the trapeze artists twirl on their swings, while the animals walked beneath them in a circle. The smell of the circus tent still lingers in the back of my mind sometimes. Straw for the animals with a hint of popcorn from all the old time machines. I've never seen one advertised since then, and honestly, I'm not convinced it wasn't just a dream, considering I have a lot of those." While Vanessa spoke, the elevator door dinged, opening up to a long hallway with doors on either side. Talon followed her as she stepped out and walked down the hallway towards a door on the right.

He was captivated by the way she spoke and thrown off by her last comment. What did she mean she wasn't convinced it wasn't a dream?

"Do you have any childhood memories that have just stuck with you?" Vanessa asked, putting the key into the lock.

"Nothing as exciting as a circus. My dad used to take me fishing a lot before he passed away, but now it's just my mother and myself."

Vanessa took a step into her apartment. She leaned on the door, stopping to look at Talon.

"So, you are an only child as well?"

"Yes, I sure am." Talon replied.

"How sad. If we were to have kids, they would never have aunts or uncles, or even cousins." Vanessa's statement dumbfounded Talon. She smiled, still leaning against the door.

"Vanessa?" Talon paused, trying to figure out if he really had a chance with this girl.

"Yes, I would like to go out with you again." Vanessa answered his question before he could even ask it.

"Awesome. Can I get your number and I'll text you and we can figure out when you are available for another date?" Talon shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling awkward that he hadn't kissed her, but something in the back of his mind told him now wasn't the right time. He couldn't stop staring at her lips, though, wishing he could graze them with his.

Vanessa grabbed a pen from her purse and put her hand out waiting for Talon to react. Talon fumbled as he tried to pull his hand out of his pocket, nearly tripping once he got it free. He placed it in hers and watched as the smile grew on her face while she wrote her number down on the back of his hand. Talon nodded, wished her a good evening and turned to leave. He heard the door close behind him and soon after the click of multiple locks.

Talon took a moment to look at his hand. The warm place where she had touched was now cool in the hallway breeze, and he missed it. He wanted that warm feeling back. The butterflies danced in his stomach. Talon liked the idea of her writing her number on his hand instead of just putting it into his phone. It felt more personal this way. He would use any excuse he could to have hee touch him.

His focus drifted to the ugly carpet, a mess of red and yellows that looked like some cheap stuff they found out of a dumpster, and the tinge of yellow stain on the once tan walls. The lights weren't very bright, casting shadows down the hallway as Talon walked back towards the elevator.

Before he smeared the ink on his hand, Talon pulled out his phone and added Vanessa to his contacts. He couldn't believe she had agreed to go out with him again, especially after the way the date had gone.

Should he have kissed her?

Why did she panic so much in the fog?

What did she mean about her dreams?

Talon wasn't sure why that one comment had stuck with him throughout everything that had happened. But the way she panicked in the car over the fog made it seem like there was some kind of connection.

"She couldn't tell if the circus was real. Maybe she felt the fog wasn't real either? But that fog was most definitely real." Talon muttered to himself, talking to his reflection in the metal walls of the elevator.

Talon couldn't wait to get home to tell his mom all about his date. He was excited to share the good news that she agreed to go out with him again, but then he remembered Mindy wasn't there with his mother. Mindy had the night off, and wasn't able to come back in so that Talon could go on a date. So instead the agency had to send over one of the night nurses to stay with his mother.

A sense of dread washed over Talon, reminding him of what his life was. He couldn't go home and talk to his mother, because odds are she wouldn't remember. He could try to call up Marcus, but he usually had plans and was hanging out with friends. He didn't want to bother Mindy since she had the evening off, and had already worked a full day with his mother. Talon didn't have anyone he would call to chat about the nervousness and giddy excitement he felt in his chest.

There was too much that Talon needed to figure out and some days this would be overwhelming. He felt lonely in this big world. Talon couldn't be bothered by the negative thoughts in the back of his mind because he needed to come up with a date that would wow Vanessa, and prove to her that he wasn't some awkward guy that could only pull out the negative things.

Talon made a mental note to come up with some questions to ask her when he got home.

Looking back at the date, he realized he talked most of the night, trying to let her get to know him, taking no time to ask her questions in return. Part of him thought it seemed like she enjoyed that, as she wasn't too eager to talk about herself, but the other part cursed himself for not being more invested in her.

If he was so self absorbed in himself, then why would she agree to another date?

A brief flutter of happiness shot through Talon's body. She had pretty much asked him out on another date by answering the question before he could even ask it. To Talon, this meant she really wanted to go. So as long as he could stay away from fog, and the topic of dead parents, the next date should go much smoother.

That task alone seemed easy enough.

Once Talon was back to his car, and on the road he headed home, he was shocked to find the fog had disappeared. Leaving the sky clear, flooded with city lights and very faded stars in the distance.

It was almost as if the world hadn't been covered in a dreary cloud a mere thirty minutes ago. How could the weather change so quickly? Talon shook his head and was thankful for the clear drive home. But the lack of fog made him wonder more about how Vanessa had reacted to the sight of it.

She seemed terrified, nearly shaking out of her shoes in the passenger seat. She spent the majority of the drive home with her hands over her eyes, like there was something outside the window so terrifying she couldn't risk looking.

"She counted the lights in the parking lot at the restaurant, and couldn't look into the fog on the drive home." Talon said, as he tapped his fingers along the steering wheel. He listened to the silence of the night and the whir of the tires on the road. He had too much to think about for it to be muddled with music.

"Could she just be scared of everything?" Talon asked the air. The lights could have been just a safety thing, or maybe an OCD type behavior, but the reaction to the fog was something different. Maybe he didn't respond the way he needed to. If she was scared, he should have been more considerate of her feelings. Possibly, he should have just pulled over and focused on her instead of just rushing to get her to her house.

Talon shook his head and let out a 'tsk' noise, mentally scolding himself for how he had handled the situation. He thought this date was going to help him crack the mystery of Vanessa, but turns out all it did was add more questions and confusion.

Questions that Talon wanted answered.