"And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name."

M A R K

I think It's safe to say that Tanni and I were on better terms than we were before. It's not like the usual bickering had ended or anything, we just managed not to hate each other for a few hours. Plus, she needed to be cheered up after that question about her brother. I was obliged to be nice to her, only a really cold-hearted person wouldn't be. Right?

Also, it turns out that Tanni's 'idea' was to visit every place in the village together. And I couldn't object. She looked so excited and hopeful and all smiley. And she wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I said no, so yeah, that's why I agreed.

As we walked through the park, she chattered endlessly about books and music and art and everything she loved and hated. She was an extremely expressive person, she flung her arms about when she was excited, and scrunched up her nose when she was confused or disgusted, and her gorgeous brown eyes practically bulged out of her head when she saw something she liked.

It was funny how spending two hours with someone could change your entire point of view about them.

"Mark!" Tanni waved her hand in front of my face. "You okay there?"

"Hm?" I snapped out of my daze, trying to make it look like I wasn't admiring her this whole time. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, why do you as––"

That's when I walked into a lamp-post. Idiot. "Never mind, I think I just lost five brain cells," I groaned, rubbing my head. My face flushed bright red. Oh god, I was hopeless.

I looked down at my feet, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tanni hold her breath as hard as she could, to stop herself from laughing.

She gave up eventually and burst into a fit of giggles.

Woah.

She had an adorable laugh.

Everything was suddenly perfect...Because she was happy. she was happy and laughing and fuck she had a beautiful laugh. It was sweet and pure and it sounded like sunlight and rainbows and rain all at one. And I remember thinking that if all the wonderful things in the world were a person, that person would be Tanni Evelyn."

I smiled sheepishly, even though I'd just made a complete fool of myself. But hey! She'd seen me covered head to toe in fizzy-drink, sleep deprived, with sand in my hair. It can't get worse than that, can it?

Actually, this was worse. I'll be remembering this interaction at three a.m., twenty years from now and it'll keep me from falling asleep.

But it was worth it, just to hear her laugh.

"Oooh, swings!" Tanni said happily when she saw the small park near us––once she'd finished laughing. She sat down on one of the old swings and began to push herself lightly. I'd never seen her this carefree and happy, it was adorable.

She patted the other swing beside her, inviting me to sit. I sat down, and we both watched the sunset, peacefully. Until someone decided to interrupt the silence.

"But Muuum, I'm tired! And I want to have something to eat, please," a young girl (about the age of six) wailed, as she and her mother walked by us.

"Nonsense!!" the girl's mother replied, loudly, "you ate yesterday, you don't need more food yet. And you don't want to be as fat as that girl on the swings there, do you? You don't want people to think you're ugly."

Tanni's face fell. Oh. No, she did not.

I got up and tapped the girl––Isabell––on the shoulder.

"Hey," I smiled at her. I reached into my pocket for a small pack of cookies I'd been saving and handed it to her. "Eat them all, okay?" The girl's eyes lit up when she saw the food, and she graciously thanked me, running away to eat them at a nearby bench. I turned to the mother.

"Starving your kids isn't very good parenting, you know?" I stated the obvious. "And I could stand here and point out every single thing that I find completely messed up about you, but that's just going to waste my energy. So instead, I want you to know I'll be calling child services tonight."

The woman was too stunned to speak. Ha! Victory.

"If I ever see you starving that poor kid again, I'll make sure to give the police a call," I said, making my way back to Tanni, but not before I gave a cheery goodbye to the little girl.

When I sat back down, Tanni was staring at me in awe.

"What?" I said.

"You were great there," she said, "with that kid, and her mum."

I shrugged. "She was being a prick, what else could I have done? No one should be starving their kids, she also tried to make you uncomfortable, so she deserved what she got."

"Insulting other people doesn't make you any better than them," Tanni whispered, "people like her still don't seem to get that."

"You're right," I said.

"My dad was like that," she continued, "he was a complete idiot when it came to stuff like that. It was all, 'Tanni, you shouldn't have eaten breakfast today!' Or 'Tanni, you should go weigh yourself again, you don't want to be bullied at school.' It hurt."

"Some people don't deserve to be parents," I said in a low voice.

"Exactly, and my mum, well she was a lost cause, I guess. Drinking all the freaking time, all that jazz. It still hurt when they died, I was so young. My brother was the only one I could rely on, until..." she trailed off. "Sorry, I ramble sometimes, I'll stop now."

"It's fine," I assured her. Nevertheless, I was worried. Worried about the fluttery feeling in my stomach. Worried about the way I focused hard on what she was saying. Worried about how comfortable I was around her.

No one can know I can't remember.

And the more people I got comfortable around, the more likely that was to happen.

We got off the swings.

"Where to next?" she said. I paused.

"To the bookstore?" I suggested, and as I expected, she looked positively delighted with the idea.

"To the bookstore!" She echoed my words. But as she said them, I felt our pinkies intertwine, linking together into a soft, silent promise. A promise that she didn't know had been made––but I knew, oh I knew. Because even though I was worried, I wouldn't always be. Hopefully.

So I made that promise, in hopes that it would ease my stress.

One day...you will know I can't remember, Tanni. When I'm ready.

a/n– afsgdsdfngn, I LOVE this chapter. sorry it was really short! question for any new readers: why do you think tanni was able to touch mark at the end of this chapter? if you've already read it, don't spoil!! I wanna know what you think! Please remember to vote and comment!