"I don't know... It's just, what if he doesn't like me?" I worried, hunching over in worry, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth as my teeth dug into my lower lip.

"Girl, he literally asked you out a few hours ago!" My friend, Sarah, exclaimed, throwing her hands up in desperation.

But my fear of losing him wasn't going to go away that easily.

"What if it was a prank? Or he was just trying to make me feel better? Or maybe... Maybe he thought I was someone else! He is a bit blind sometimes,"

Taking a deep breath, I hugged my legs tighter, and realising I wasn't getting a reply from Sarah, I looked up.

She wasn't moving.

Stretching my legs, I stretched my arm towards her, my fingers barely touching her skin before a sparkle of crystals made me jump back.

"Sarah? What happened?"

No response.

Getting up from the bench, I leaned down to shake her, but my fingers retracted, as if electricity had burned through my nerves, making them clench towards my chest.

This had to be a sick joke.

"Sarah, get up! Come on..." Piercing my lips together, I tried touching her again, this time pushing her backwards, trying to unbalance her from her half bent position.

The force I had tried using on her bounced back, making me fall on the bench in a huff.

What was happening?

Getting up, I looked around, noticing for the first time all the stilled bodies around the public park, everyone, and everything, frozen in time.

Walking down the path, I looked around, amazed by the way the leaves were floating, the birds stuck in half flight, the child about to fall onto the floor from her skateboard centimetres from her hurtful ending.

"Hello! Is anyone here!" I screamed, trying to get a reaction from anyone.

Nobody moved.

Shaking, I took my phone out, my fingers ready to tap the number I had memorised by heart a few years back, just to make sure that I could use a time like this as an excuse to ring him.

But the phone was black, and every time I tried turning it on, the now familiar electricity would run through me, making my fingers retract from the device.

"Work, God dammit!" I screamed, using more force, the fear of living in this endless time starting to crawl into my mind, tears forming in my eyes as I came face to face with reality. "Come on!"

Shaking, I let go of my phone, my fingers hurting from trying to press the button so hard.

It was no use.

"What to do, what to do..."

I had no idea what to do.

Dropping to the floor, I let the tears slide down my face, the silent plea for everything to go back to normal making sobs form at the back of my throat.

"Rarity?"

I was even imagining someone calling my name out, and I hadn't even been in this situation for more than ten minutes!

"Rarity, snap out of it!" The voice was louder now, and followed by a hand pushing me back, exposing my red face to the unmoved sun.

"Thor?" I asked, not really believing what I was seeing.

Smiling, he pulled me up, hugging the air out of me, "Thank God you're okay," he whispered.

Suddenly, all the worries I had felt before the sudden time stop returned, my previous unfinished conversation with Sarah reminding me of the fragile state between me and the man I would one day want to marry, if it wasn't for those doubts and fears I had.

"What... How did you find me?" I asked, moving away from him, but still holding his hands in mine.

Smirking, he looked into my eyes, his deep brown ones making shivers run down my back, "Only one person in the whole world could sob so loudly,"

At that moment, my face was as red as a tomato, and for sure my ears were starting to turn the same shade of color as well.

"Yeah, well..." Suddenly, I realised we were both stuck in the same situation, "How can you be so calm?"

Furrowing my brows, I awaited for his answer, his face scrunching up in thought as he stared at me, deep in thought, "Honestly, I was on the brink of screaming before I heard you..."

Butterflies swelled up in my stomach, his innocent reply bringing joy to my worried being as I let go of his hands, turning around to look at the scene in front of us.

"So I'm not the only one emotionally affected then," I joked, trying to lighten up the mood, "Do you think there are other people out there?"

A small silence fell between us, and finally, after I had come to the conclusion he had frozen too, I turned around, only to find him looking at me, his eyes filled with something I couldn't fully identify.

"Honestly, I currently don't care. I'm just happy I've got you,"

My heart clenched once again, a small, shy smile appearing on my face as I fell into his arms, pulling him into yet another hug.

"By the way, I did mean what I said yesterday. I really do like you,"

Could it be true? Or was it just a sick joke?

Keeping still, I let his embrace keep me from imagining him laughing with his friends about me, or a small camera hidden behind a tree to capture this moment, ready to be added to his collection.

He wasn't like that, though, and deep down, I had always known that. I was just scared he would end up seeing how boring I was, and leave me.

"I like you too," I answered, my voice muffled by his shirt.

"What did you say?" He asked, surprised, pulling me back.

"I... I like you too,"

I knew my face was bright red from the heat, but I was sure it had turned three times deeper by the time our lips had connected, the electricity I had felt trying to touch other people acting the opposite was as before, pulling our bodies together.

Suddenly, the sound of traffic was back, the birds chirping in the sky had returned, and the cries of the girl that had just fallen over vibrant in my ears.

Everyone was moving again.