The warm and genuine sounds of laughter and giggling rising from the river echoed into the night sky as Tara and JT come up from the river onto to the bank to gather their stuff.

"...And then there was one time when I was in Coldwater and I was just kinda vibing in the water talking to the guys grilling on the bank and a fish scared me by nibbling on my bracelet." JT was recounting with his arm around Tara.

"You got scared by fish?" Tara and laughing heartily. "Some Florida man you are." Tara continued.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting it and it freaked me out." JT nudged her playfully.

"You're still a pussy. Scared by a fish. I've never heard of something like that." Tara giggled and snickered. 

The two get to their stuff and JT grabs his shirt and begins to put it on when he looks down and sees his gun still holstered. He internally gasps and his eyes widen to the size of the moon itself. Oh shit! I hope she didn't notice it. JT then quickly puts on and starts buttoning up his shirt from the bottom up. "Hey, let me see if I have a towel in my bag, you've gotta be cold." JT started to rummage through his backpack, an olive green Molle bag from SOG. 

"I hope you have one. We didn't think this through did we?" Tara giggled through a shivering breath.

"Not really, but that's what happens when you live in the moment. You stop thinking and you start feeling." JT pulled a towel out of his bag, neatly Ranger rolled to fit in the compact bag. "Here you go. Nice and warm." JT drapes the towel over Tara's shoulders.

"Oh my God. Warmth! Thank you." Tara exclaims as she snuggles into the towel. "Say that's pretty handy. Most people don't go and carry stuff like that in their backpacks, but you're not like most people now are you?"

"I guess not. Down in Florida, a lot of us usually like to try and be prepared for everything. Especially if you liked to be outdoors, you would carry as much as you can to be ready for anything. It wasn't uncommon to have a backpack with all kinds of gear." JT pulls out a first aid kit and a bag of toiletry items. "Case in point. We like to be ready for when shit hits the proverbial fan." JT said with a smirk before putting everything back into his bag.

"Can things really be that bad down there? I've heard stories and seen memes about it, but how bad is it really down there?" Tara asked before turning around and started to dry her hair the best she can with just a towel.

JT stops and stares off for a moment before answering. "Well there was one time I was in Naples and I watched a guy smoke a meth pipe then start a fight with a cop, who then called for more cops, who called more, and it was by then he was fighting off 15 cops. Oh while jerking off. I don't understand why no one just shot him at that point. Then again there was also the Miami zombie incident so that might be a reason why." 

"First off, that's fucking gross. Ugh. Why? Miami zombie? Zombies aren't a thing. Are they?" Tara questioned him with a worried tone.

"No zombies of course aren't real, but that's what they called it. It was some dude high on bath salts and he was walking the streets of Miami naked and attacked some homeless dude and was literally eating the man's face. The police were trying to get him to stop and when he started charging at them, they started shooting him. I think he took like 12 bullets to the chest before they put one in his brain pan and out like a light he was." JT looked down and shook his head. "Yeah, Florida is a bit more of a hellhole than people thing. Shit was wild."

"Ugh. That's sick and awful. What the fuck?" Tara covers her mouth in disgust. "I can see why you moved up here, but it's still not that much better. Apparently people get bit here more than there are shark attacks. Something I read about a couple years ago."

"Yeah that doesn't sound any better, but it sounds like it could be a common thing in south Florida. Unfortunate as it is." JT turns his head away from Tara and holds out her shirt to her. "Also I think you might want this." JT trying to hide his blushing face after realizing Tara was still only in her bra on the top half of her body. 

Tara blushed as she quickly grabs her shirt and puts it on. "Yeah, I think I might." Tara said as she reached for her sweatshirt and slid it over her head. "You can look now."

"Sorry about that. It took me a minute to realize-" 

"It's alright. I wasn't even thinking about it either. What was that you were saying? You stop thinking and start feeling?" Tara hands him back the towel.

"You got me there on that one." JT takes the tower and starts rolling it to put back in his bag. "Uh...what were we even talking about?" He let out a chuckle.

"I don't even remember, but this was fun." She hugged JT tightly, not wanting to let go. "Thank you, JT. I needed this."

JT hugged her back. Yeah, I think I needed this too. "You're welcome. There's a lot going on in this world and we just need to be reminded of the simple things in life."

"You talk like you're older than you are. What with your 'sage-like Mister Miyagi' thing going on." Tara gives a light nudge to JT's shoulder with her fist. "What are you like, twenty-five?"

"I'm twenty-two, so you were close." JT chuckled. "I've always been told I'm older than I seem. Ever since I was a teenager, I started to carry myself more like an adult. Whether it was appearance or how I spoke. An old soul is what my mom would always tell me."

"Your mom sounds smart. I take it she was the one teaching you all this?"

"Actually, my parents divorced when I was two months old and I was raised by my grandmother until I was six, then my dad had me my whole life. My mom taught me some stuff, but I was raised by my dad. Knowing what my dad was like, I'm kind of an exception with how I turned out." JT answered while putting on his backpack.

"What was your dad like? He couldn't have been that bad and you seem like a nice guy." Tara tilted her head slightly and crossed her arms.

"He was an alcoholic. He was always drinking beer when I saw him and when I got older, he would drink bottles of Jack and vodka. He wasn't a good drunk either. He never hit me, but you couldn't reason with him." JT answered coldly.

"What the-? I-I didn't know." Tara responded. Dropping her arms to her side and with a look of regret for asking.

"It's fine. He's still alive and he's recovered. He doesn't drink anymore after he nearly died and realized he still wanted to see me grow up. Going through all that, it made me realize I wanted to be a better man than he was." JT put a hand on Tara's shoulder. "It's all about the choices we make. That is what we are made up of. The past can shape you, but it's what you do now that can transform you from a marble slab, to an immaculate and recognizable statue." 

Tara's eyes locked with JT's. "I-I've never had anyone tell me that. No one has ever told me that." Tara put a hand on JT's chest.

Tara lean in closer to JT and he did the same. As they leaned in, the two shared a kiss that felt as though it lasted for an eternity. It was like stardust swirling and colliding to form a new star within the sky, blessing the galaxy with a new and wonderous glow.

They then back up from each other and gasped at what they had done. 

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking." Tara turned around and blushed a deep shade of red, nearly matching her sweatshirt. Holy shit I kissed him. I just met him and I kissed him. Oh. My. God. It wasn't bad, but what the fuck? 

"Y-you're good. I'm sorry. I came off a bit strong." JT had turned his head to the side and put his hand over his mouth, eyes widening after what happened. My first kiss in years. I'd forgotten what it was like. I've only known this woman for a few hours and we've already kissed. 

A moment passed and JT broke the silence. "Y-you uh...You wanna get out of here? How about I take you home?"

"Y-yeah I kinda like that idea. Let's do that. Can...can I bum another smoke first?" Tara asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, yeah absolute-" JT reached into his pocket and realized his pack of smokes were soaked. "Ah shit. I forgot these were in my pocket." JT chuckled. "I'm an idiot."

Tara giggled. "Maybe we can get you some get you some more? I could use a drink too anyways."

"Then what do you say we get outta here and head back to the city?" JT asked with an inviting smile.

Tara smiled back at him and replied. "Let's do it."

Tara and JT made their way back to JT's bike, hopped on and JT started playing "Die For You" by Starset on his speaker, unintentionally, and they sped off towards the concrete jungle of neon lights and skyscrapers.