“I had a feeling, but you’ll like this one.” He pushes his sunglasses up to his head. His green hair flops over the frames in a way that makes me want to fix it.

I grumble, but Xander just takes my hand and tugs me in the direction of those pink fluffy clouds captured in bags.

“I could go for some sweets.” He’s got money out and a bag of sky-blue cotton candy in his hand before I can protest. He undoes the tie and holds it out to me. I stare into it. At least it’s blue and not pink, but of course I still can’t help thinking of Roman. The look on his face when he watched me eat it, like he needed me to like it, like me being happy somehow made him happier.

Xander laughs at my hesitation. “It’s fine if you don’t like it.” He pulls it back and takes a big chunk, letting it crust around his mouth before he licks it off, leaving a faint trace of blue. He hums with happiness. He doesn’t need me to like it. He doesn’t need me to make him happy. He’s already found that peace.

He holds the bag out one more time. “You sure?”

I smile and shake my head. “That orange soda was too much sugar already.”

“No such thing.” He takes another big chunk as he watches the pink in the sky overtake the blue. I watch him. I can feel the smile on my face. I deserve someone who brings out my smiles, not someone who needs me to bring out their own. I watch him devour the whole bag himself before tossing the empty container in the trash. There’s still sugar on his mouth when he looks as me. “Time for that surprise.”

Xander yanks off his sweatshirt as we walk, and for a second I think that the surprise is a striptease, and I might be okay with it, but he grabs my hand in the next moment and pulls me so that I’m walking awkwardly in front of him. He wraps the sweatshirt around me.

“I’m really not cold,” I say, even though I like the salty ocean-breeze smell of it.

He pulls it back off without answering, and I almost gasp. My own sweatshirt is gone, and I wear a billowing black shirt I’ve never seen before. Strips of my sleeves are made from nothing but lace.

I laugh, stopping to spin like I’m Cinderella before coming to my senses and crossing my arms over my chest. “Okay, now I’m cold.”