EDEN: I’m not really. But flowers make me happy. Thank you.

ORION: What else makes you happy?

EDEN: Why do you want to know?

ORION: So I’ll know what to bring you tomorrow.

EDEN: Let’s see. Stars. Orange slices. Fresh snow on the ground.

ORION: I’ll do my best. But the snow might be tricky.

EDEN: Are you flirting with me?

Shit.

I’ve read this scene a million times, but saying that line out loud to Cole hits different. He looks up and catches me staring at him, but he doesn’t look back down at the script for the next line. He just says it from memory, with the beginnings of a smile.

ORION: If I say yes, will you flirt back?

I know the next line from memory, too, so I let myself fall into those gray eyes.

EDEN: What if I already am?

We sit there in silence for a few seconds, just watching each other, before Cole speaks again.

ORION: Come on. I want to show you something.

EDEN: Where are we going?

ORION: Just over there. Closer to the river.

Cole gets up and moves across the stage. And I follow him. We stand side by side and stare out into the rows of chairs.

ORION: Look at that, Eden. It goes on forever.

EDEN: It seems as wide as the sea, doesn’t it?

ORION: It looks so much different up close. So much stranger and deeper.

EDEN: Wilder. Darker.

Cole locks eyes with me. I hear Eden’s melody floating across the theatre, even though he hasn’t picked up the guitar. And he isn’t humming. I blink, and suddenly I’m standing in an ankle-deep ocean. It goes on for eternity, as far as I can see in any direction. I feel the water lapping around my bare feet—cold and wet. My heart is racing.

I make myself take a deep breath. Because I know I’m getting swept up in the moment. That’s all it is. To be standing here. In this barn. In my mother’s sweater. With Cole right there. So gorgeous. And so close. It’s too much.

ORION: It’s more beautiful.

EDEN: But also more dangerous.

ORION: More . . .

EDEN: Real.

ORION: It scares me sometimes when I stand this close. I wonder what would happen if I fell in.

There’s this ache in Cole’s voice. And it feels so familiar. Like an echo of my own heart. Without even thinking about it, I reach out and take his hand. It’s instinctive. An actor’s reflex.

EDEN: If you ever fall, I’ll save you.

Cole wraps his fingers around mine.

ORION: Maybe we can save each other.

It takes me a second to realize that the scene is over, but neither of us has let go.