"Why are we doing this, again?"

The boy beside you grinned, the kind of grin that carried with it all the reckless abandon you’d never known him to possess.

"Because you’re going to have fun." he replied, the low tone of his voice sending an involuntary chill down your spine, "And it’s my birthday, but that’s besides the point."

"Kai, I really don’t think we should-"

"Come on," he whined, his billowy lips turning down into a pout just childish enough to make it seem cute, "It’s not like we’re stealing it."

"Yeah, it is.” you scoffed, “It’s my dad’s car. And he gave absolutely no permission for us to take it for a joyride.”

He sighed dramatically, shifting in his position, kneeled on the floor, to retrieve the ring of keys from his back pocket. Shuffling through the numerous shapes, he stopped on a small golden key, stuffing it into the lock of the garage before you. “He’s all the way on the other side of the world for the next two weeks, he won’t even know.”

"You don’t know him." you replied ominously, "He’ll sense it all the way from across the ocean, I’d bet my life."

A loud, boyish laugh shook his shoulders, the grin on his lips stretching even further, if it were possible. With a glint of something between mischief and mirth in his eyes, he glanced up at you. “You’re funny.”

You ran a hand through your hair, turning around to gaze out at the street in defeat as he reached under the garage door, the small muscles of his arms taut beneath his t-shirt as he pushed the door up. The automatic lights clicked on as the door slid into place above the ceiling, showcasing the bright, candy red Lamborghini parked front and center in the otherwise empty garage.

"Wow." Kai’s eyes widened in humble admiration. He traced the tips of his fingers over the gleaming hood, a crooked smile curving his lips, "It’s so…. new."

"No. It’s not. He’s had it for two years and only drove it once, that’s why I’m saying, we shouldn’t-”

"Come on,” he turned to you, his hand reaching for yours, stopping your protests mid sentence, “You’ll have fun, I promise. We’ll just drive it for a bit and be back before morning.”

"Morning?! Where are we going- China?!"

"Just for ride, okay?"

Before you could respond, he stepped forward, dragging you by the hand to the passenger entrance. Letting go of you, he reached for the handle, opening the door, the scent of crisp, new leather greeting your nose. A sheepish grin dimpled his cheeks as he gestured for you to enter. “Ladies first.”

You placed your hands in the pockets of the leather jacket he’d lent you, chewing the inside of your cheek. A pleading pout puckered his lips, melting what little resolution had hardened your heart. With a sigh slumping your shoulders and a smile twitching your lips, you slid into the car, tucking your arms in close as if even sitting on the leather would tarnish its deep black hue. You could hear Kai’s excited giggling as he sprinted around the hood, the door slamming louder than you would have liked as he slid into the driver’s seat.

Again, he pulled out the keyring, singling the large black rounded one as he slipped it into the ignition. The seat beneath you barely trembled as the car hummed to life, something almost ethereal about the silent, smooth rumble of the engine beneath the hood, waiting patiently for the 21 year old child at it’s steering wheel to command it into action.

"How about some music?" he asked with a grin, pressing the large glowing button at the center of the dash. The LED screen flickered on as the title and artist accompanied a driving rock beat trembling through the speakers throughout the car.

You ran a hand through your hair, taking a slow breath. The boy glanced at you, his eyes gleaming in delight.

"Are you okay?" he asked, half-laughing, "Come on, it’s not gonna be bad. I promise, nothing’ll happen."

You nodded shortly, staring out the window as if there were more than just a blank gray wall to observe. The sound of his sigh overpowered the guitar solo.

"Please don’t be like that." his voice was soft, his hand rough, but warm as it reached for your own. "Just relax for once, okay? Have fun."

With much reluctance, you turned to face him, cursing yourself as you should have expected to be met with a pair of heart wrenching onyx eyes. You bit your lip, your eyes flickering between his. In all your years, you’d never known Kai to be so desirous.

"Fine." you consented, your shoulders relaxing. The pleading look transformed into one of pure glee, his grin causing the bright pupils of his eyes to disappear into small slits.

"Alright." he slammed his hand on the wheel, "Where do you wanna go?"

"I don’t know. I thought you had an idea.”

"Not really." he confessed, scratching his head bashfully, "To be honest, I didn’t think we’d get this far."

"What?"

"Nothing." he waved his hand quickly, "Let’s just go, huh? It doesn’t matter where. Right?"

With a vague shrug, you gestured for him to move. Kai curled his fingers around the gear shift, twisting the knob to face the glowing green “D”, his foot stepping ever so lightly onto the acceleration.

Your neck whipped against the seat as the car jutted forward instantly, almost swerving out of the boy’s control. Quickly, he placed both hands on the wheel, commanding the vehicle like a ship into submission. The Lamborghini purred, consenting, smoothly sliding across the paved streets. As you reached the main road, the anxiety eased, Kai’s confident stance and ever present grin calming your nerves. The lithe vehicle rushed down the roads gracefully, the eyes of passerbys and other drivers clinging to the candy red paint as you both flew past, switching lanes for the hell of it, turning this way and that throughout the city, lost in the rush of the music, the wheels, and the rebellion. For a moment, you found yourself slumping into the seat, finally, and for the first time that night, relaxed.

Until the bright green sign signaling the ramp onto the highway flashed by.

Before you could stop him, Kai clicked on the indicator, easing across the road to the ramp, the car hugging the pavement as it turned the circular path onto the streaming streets of the interstate.

"Kai!" you gripped onto the side of the door, "What are you doing?"

His left hand left the wheel, feeling the door handle until his fingers curled beneath the window control. The wind slapped your skin as the glass of the windows slid down, the icy air whipping your hair in a tumultuous dance.

"Kai-"

"Relax." he crooned, the grin stretching from mere happiness to pure mischief as his foot leaned heavier upon the acceleration, the car smoothly moving from 50 to 60, from 60 to 70, from 70 to 80 until the needle twitched nearly to the 90 mile mark. The sound of the wheels whirring against the pavement roared through your ears with the passing wind, the streetlights lining the interstate flashing by so quickly their yellow lights blended into one solid straight stream. Your eyes widened as the nearly empty highway zoomed past, your pulse pumping as if at the same speed as the Lamborghini. A loud, excited laugh danced through the wind. You turned to see Kai positively gleaming with delight, the contours of his face shifting with the changing range of shadows and light. He turned to face you, his lips moving in the form of your name, although the sound never quite made it to your ears.

"Don’t you feel it?" he shouted over the noise, his hand reaching for your own. You gripped his fingers tightly, turning to face the road again, your chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. At first you didn’t quite understand what it was he was expecting you to feel, until your eyes wandered from the street to the sky. The indigo veil of the night glimmered with a million flickering stars as the Sun barely lingered beneath the horizon, casting just enough light to make the silver of the stars seem almost golden, their light zooming by as if not even the light were fast enough  to keep up with your speed. For a moment, the pulse in your veins seemed to pound through your skin, your each and every nerve humming with the pumping of blood from your chest, the warmth of your flesh, the fleeting intake of breath. It was a feeling of more than just life and vitality, but of freedom, utter, complete, raw liberation. You turned to the boy again, his eyes flickering from the street to you, as if he sensed it, his deep onyx irises rich with the very same abandonment.

"Let’s stop." he said, so quietly, you wondered how you’d heard it over the surrounding noise, "I wanna see the sunset."

****************************************

"The sun set almost five minutes ago, Kai." you muttered, flicking through the weather app on your phone.

"So what?" he shrugged, pushing himself up onto the hood of the car, "There’s still a little light."

"Hardly." you placed the phone back in your pocket.

"We’ll just stay till it’s completely dark."

"It’s never completely dark."

He closed his eyes, the smile lingering like a ghost on his lips, “You know what I mean.”

You drew your knees up to your chest and watched him, feeling the warmth of the still hot engine beneath the hood. The jacket you’d returned to him hugged his shoulders, falling just enough to reveal his chest as it rose and fell in slow breaths. His hair, which had been impeccably coiffed earlier, now fell in a perfectly imperfect mop of curls about his gentle eyes, giving him the look of the kind of boy who would steal Lamborghinis and go for joy rides on their birthdays. You placed a hand on his chest, feeling his warm heart palpitate beneath your fingers.

"How’d you know about this place anyways?"

He peaked one eye open, then closed it, his hand reaching to rest above your own on his torso. “I didn’t.”

You turned to stare ahead, marveling at the sight of the city glimmering like a postcard photo from your view upon the hill. The sun was fully asleep by this point, leaving nothing but the constant flickering lights of the skyscrapers and stars to illuminate the night sky.

"Things always have a way of working out for you, don’t they, Kai?"

He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

"Who else gets away with these things?" you asked, turning to look at him again, "Who else finds places like these to watch the sunset from?"

His eyes creaked open, stealing your breath for a moment in their fresh stare. “Do you really think so?”

"Think what?"

His fingers intertwined with yours, drawing your hand from his chest to reach out before him, his eyes shifting over the curves of your palm and wrists, small and pale in comparison to his own.

"That things will work out for me?"

You shifted to lie down upon the hood beside him, bringing your hands down to get a clear view of the sky. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He didn’t respond for a moment and you heard him swallow.

"Don’t you think you’re wasting time not doing things you want?"

"Like what?" you furrowed your brow.

"Like, things you want to do." he shrugged, "Things like listening to your music really loud because your dad doesn’t like it, or working at that place you’re at when you’d much rather be at home. Or taking your dad’s car for a drive just for the hell of it."

He paused for a moment, shifting to face you. Your turned your head, meeting his gaze, bright and dark at the same time.

"I’m already 21." he said, "How much more time am I even gonna have to do things like this anymore?"

"Kai, don’t be silly-"

"It’s not being silly, though." he pouted, "Really, how much time do I have? To do stupid things like sneaking out with you and taking your dad’s car, and driving eleven exits to watch the sun set? What if I die tomorrow? What if I die when I get home? What if we get in a car crash before we even get your dad’s car back in the garage?"

He heaved a sigh, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at you. “I’ve barely done anything I want.”

Your eyes shifted between his, searching for any sign of jest. The pout upon his lips trembled slightly in what might have been fear. You frowned. “What do you want, Kai?”

"I don’t know."

"Then what are you so scared for?"

“Because I don’t know.”

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged, leaning his cheek upon his hand as the other reached for your hair, gently brushing it away from your temple. “What if I don’t figure it out in time? I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life without figuring it out. If I don’t do it now, I’ll never have time to do it later.”

You sat up, turning to face him. He followed, crossing his legs upon the hood, his hands falling to his lap.

"You’ve never thought like this before." you remarked, pulling your legs to your chest.

He shrugged, running a hand through his tousled tresses, the moonlight reflecting of his bronze skin. “Getting old changes your perspective on things, I guess.”

"You’re not old."

"You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re old.”

"No," you reiterated, ignoring his comment, "It’s because you’re not old."

"Older than I was.”

"And younger than you’ll be!"

"That doesn’t mean anything." he frowned.

"Neither does what you’re saying."

He gaped, almost as if the words had truly offended him. You smiled, reaching to run your fingers through his hair.

"You’re worrying over something that will just happen on its own, anyways, Kai."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You do know what you want, trust me. I’ve never seen anyone so sure of themselves in my life."

"Hey-"

"You’ll figure it out without even thinking about it, I promise." you sighed, "Just like what we did today. You don’t need to have something in mind for things to fall into place."

"But what if I don’t-"

"You’ll never figure it out completely, Kai." you cut him off, shifting to slide off the hood. He slid to the edge of the hood, leaning against it as he watched you stretch, a frown on his lips.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, not if you look at it like that." you turned to face him, "You were never so worried about it before. What does one more year of being alive do to change that? If you could be happy with it yesterday, you can be happy with it tomorrow, too. There’s no deadline to figuring out the meaning of life. It just happens."

He opened his mouth to speak, only to close it once more. He stared down at his sneakers,his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket.

"Do you really think so, then?"

"Think what?" you tilted your head.

He glanced up, his lip curled in a crooked smirk as he reached for your hands, pulling you to towards him. He placed your arms around his waist and leaned in, his hands holding onto your hips tightly, his forehead against your own. The thick scent of his cologne danced around you. A small smiled twitched his lips.

"That things have a way of working out for me?"

With a slight blush, you nodded, mumbling an almost incoherent “yes.”

His laugh rang loud and true against the silence of the night, tinkling with mirth.

"You know," he sighed, biting his lip, "Your dad’s definitely gonna know you snuck his car out."

"What-" you stammered, your head shooting up to meet his gaze. The warm sensation of his lips against yours silenced your protests, your pulse pumping almost faster than it had all night, coursing through your veins with the fire and ecstasy of his kiss. He smiled against your skin, his lips vibrating with the hum of laughter as he brought a hand up to caress your neck, his coarse, but gentle fingers delicately grazing your skin, sending tingles through your nerves. He pulled back slowly, his lips stretching to reveal a sparkling smile. Your head spun at the sight of the boy, his eyes focused on your own, gleaming brighter than any star or stream of light you’d seen yet. He chuckled shortly, cupping your cheeks.

"But thanks."

And with that, his lips clung to yours again.