As we pulled into the parking lot, I was instantly brought back to the summer nights our families would spend here together. What I loved most was the fact that it never changed; going to the carnival was like falling into our childhood time capsule.

Over the years, the parents started staying home as Jake and I got our licenses, always insistent on driving everyone everywhere. It was always fun, until one by one, they started bringing dates and then.. everything changed.

Jaime and I trailed behind the group as they walked hand in hand towards the ticket booth. How badly I wanted to be the guy who was brave enough to just reach out for her, but I don't think I could take it if she pulled away.

I peeked down at her hand, dangling by her side, almost inviting me to take it.. but I choked, quickly shoving my hands into my pockets. I heard her sigh, doing the same.

As we reached the booth, I quickly stepped in front of her, pulling out my wallet. Throughout the years, Mom had always given me extra money for Jaime's ticket. But as we got older, that just became something I wanted to do for her myself.

And I knew that deep down, Jaime needed a night out more than ever. Just one night where she didn't have to worry about anything other than having a good time. She took care of everyone, so I just wanted to be the one to take care of her.

"Two please." I said, sliding my cash under the plastic divider. She moved closer to me, taking out her wallet.

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"You know I always get your ticket." I said, smiling back at her. She nodded.

"O-okay." She muttered, moving closer. I felt my face get hot every time she got closer to me, for just a moment, making me feel like one of those guys who was able to do everything for his girl.

"So, where are we headed first?" I asked, turning to the rest of the group. I hoped we'd at least have some time together before they branched off and did god knows what.

"Well, we were gonna head over towards the games for a little while, and then try to get a good spot on the ferris wheel for the fireworks." Jake said, wrapping his arm around his date. She smirked up at him, playfully hitting his chest. My stomach dropped. I knew what that meant.

The ferris wheel was where everyone brought their dates at the end of the night, the only place you could have any privacy so everyone always went there to make out during the fireworks. I couldn't tell you how many times I fantasized about bringing Jaime and getting stuck with her at the top. My cheeks burned at the thought.

"Oh.." I finally said. "We'll, uh.. we'll catch up with you guys later then." I looked over at Jaime, motioning the other way. She nodded, following me closely as we made our way through the crowds. I did my best to try and ignore the fact that it seemed like everyone around us was linked up, arms around each other in some way or another and here we were, not touching in the slightest. It was killing me.

Tonight was the night.

I had to just suck it up and.. try.

We walked in silence for a bit, every second more excruciating than the next. I had never felt awkward around Jaime, but I could tell we both felt the pressure from everyone around us, even if it didn't actually exist. Finally, I heard one of our songs playing through the speakers. I couldn't help but smile, peeking over at her to see if she had noticed yet.

"Hey, you hear that?" I asked, motioning towards the speakers above us.

"It's from the playlist." She said cheerfully, flashing me a wide grin. I nodded, my smile growing. It was one of my favorites. I had curated the perfect driving playlist for us for our long afternoon and late night drives where we'd spend hours, aimlessly coasting around talking about everything and anything. And every day I wondered if she'd ever pick up on the fact that every song I chose, confessed my feelings for her.

I started singing along, putting on one of my usual shows that was meant for her and only her.

"Try to stop my hands from shaking

But something in my mind's not making sense

It's been a while since we were all alone

I can't hide the way I'm feeling.."

In a way, it was hard to believe she had no idea how I felt about her. I guess Jake was right, sometimes I was far from subtle.

I could feel my heart beating faster as her eyes stayed glued on me while I danced my way through the dirt paths, eventually leading her over towards one of the booths.

"Hungry?" I asked. She nodded, going for her wallet again. I shot her a look, shaking my head. She hesitated for a moment before finally putting it away.

"Josh, you don't have to-"

"I'm gonna get it for myself. And.. if you happen to have some, well then I can't really stop you, can I?" I giggled, feeling my cheeks burn at just the thought of us sharing an ice cream cone together. Our mouths just close enough to touch..

"One large cone." I said, snapping out of it. "Chocolate on the bottom, strawberry on top." I peeked down at her, not wanting to miss a second of her smiling back up at me. My heart jumped as she moved in closer to me. I wanted nothing more than for her to just lean her head on my shoulder, holding onto my arm like all the girls did with their boyfriends. I just wanted to be someone she felt safe enough to be that way with.

I finally turned back to her, handing her the cone.

"I thought this was for you." She laughed, taking the first lick. My eyes moved down to her lips where a small trickle of pink ice cream lingered. I shrugged.

"Yeah, but.. I don't like strawberry. And the chocolate is on the bottom so.. you're gonna have to finish that first."

But I didn't care what flavor it was, anything I got to kiss from her lips would be my favorite.

She followed me closely as I lead us around, quickly searching for the next thing for us to do in order to fill the silence. I finally stopped at one of the games, smiling back at her.

"You think you can beat me?" I asked. She shook her head, giggling to herself.

"You know I've never been able to beat you."

"Well, maybe you've gotten better." I joked, sitting down at the game. I could feel her eyes on me as she sat down next to me. I just hoped she couldn't tell how badly I was blushing at this point.

This used to be our favorite game when we were kids. And despite me always trying to let her win, she really was just that bad. It never worked out without it looking too obvious. But I knew regardless, she'd be the one going home with the prize anyway.

"Two please." I said, peeking back over at her.

"Well that's not fair I have to hold this!" She laughed, licking the ice cream that had begun melting down the side of the cone.

"Oh, yeah please get that off, you know the cone is my favorite part." She smirked back at me, shaking her head as she grabbed the water gun with her one free hand.

"Ready, set, go!"

And I hit the bullseye instantly. I tried my best to contain my smile as I watched her struggle just to get the water to go, and by the time she had hit the center, the game was already half over. I was happy I was good enough to make sure she at least had something to bring home.

"And we have a winner!" I heard as the bells rang around us. I heard her sigh as she looked over at me, her face dropping a bit. "What's your prize?"

"Which one do you want?" I asked, turning to her and motioning towards the shelf. She stared back at me wide-eyed, her smile growing into an excited grin. Her eyes quickly scanned the shelf before finally pointing to the pink stuffed seahorse. I was handed the prize, and instantly placed it in her arms. But I knew if I was going to try anything, now was the time.

I then leaned in close, taking a bite out of the ice cream as I nonchalantly wrapped my arm around her, hoping she wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I could already feel my heart beating faster as she moved in closer, her body up against me now.

"Ugh, I don't know how you like this." I laughed. "Come on, I need something to get this taste out of my mouth."

She stayed quiet as I lead us through the rest of the booths, slowly leaning in closer and closer to me. I wondered what she was thinking right now, if she was thinking anything at all. Friends put their arms around each other, right? Why was there any reason to over think anything?

But when it came to Jaime, I overthought everything. The last thing I wanted to do was make her uncomfortable if she didn't feel like this about me. And.. if anything, I was happy with how we were right now. As badly as I wanted something to happen between us, was it really worth risking everything we have if things didn't work out?

"You still like cotton candy, right?" I asked, leading her over to one of the carts. She nodded, peeking up at me with that same smile. It was contagious. I reached into my pocket, pulling out my wallet, trying my best to maneuver without having to take my arm off of her. It took me this long to get this far, the last thing I wanted to do was to screw anything up now.

"The pink one, please." I said, now watching them spin the paper cone around and around. Jaime was always the most excited about the cotton candy when we were kids. I remember the sugar staining the outside of her mouth, eventually melting onto her overalls, coating her hands for the rest of the night. I didn't even mind her sticky fingers brushing up against mine on the car ride home.

"And here you go."

I heard her sigh as I eventually had to pull my arm away, taking the cotton candy and handing it over to her.

"Thank you!" I said cheerfully, turning to her and motioning back towards the parking lot. Because the last thing I was going to do was push my luck with the ferris wheel.

"The car?" She asked. I nodded, reaching my arm out for her again, hoping she was okay with it. Her smile grew as she instantly repositioned herself against me, peeking up at me with a giddy smile. I could feel my heart melting in my chest.

Maybe.. something was finally happening.

"I've always liked the view from over here much better than the ferris wheel anyway." I lied, slowly guiding us through the parking lot until we reached my car. Everyone knew the best view in the park was on the ferris wheel, but I knew that out here we'd have the most privacy.. just in case.

I took the ice cream and motioned to the hood, where she climbed up and grabbed it from me as I lied down next to her.

I couldn't tell you how many times I imagined this exact scenario playing out in my head. Just us, alone together, and finally, I'm brave enough to make the move. I don't know how I'd do it, but I told myself if the moment presented itself.. I would just know.

She then reached over, handing me back the cone with the rest of my ice cream. I turned to her, holding my stare for a moment before finally taking it. But I just couldn't look away. Something in me was telling me.. tonight was the night. All I had to do was.. say it. Say something. Do something. Anything.

It wasn't until the first firework went off where our stare was broken with a sudden jump, my eyes instantly shooting back up at the sky, trying my hardest to appreciate vibrant explosions when I knew the most beautiful thing in the world was lying right next to me.

"Remember that year we had to leave early because Jake started to cry?" I laughed, turning back to face her. I needed any excuse just to talk to her. If I was stuck in this silence any longer I was going to explode.

"He said that part of the firework landed on him meanwhile.. we were all the way on the other side of the field." She giggled. I nodded, laughing harder.

"I miss those summers."

"Me too."

Looking back up at the sky, I stared blankly as my mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out what I could do when suddenly, my heart jumped, feeling her hand brush against mine. I waited for a minute, wondering how long until she would pull it away, but she didn't.

Was this it? Was she making the first move? Or was I just making it all up? There was only one way to find out..

I then slowly moved my hand over hers, very gently holding it in mine, just waiting for her to react. But she didn't. I waited a moment before slowly starting to intertwine our fingers when-

"There they are, they're at the car already." My stomach dropped. Jake. I quickly pulled my hand away, sitting up to face them as they made their way over to the car, all of them wrapped around each other.

How badly I wished that was us.

I was so close.

"Hey, you guys are back early." I said. I heard Jaime sigh as she sat up, flashing them a smile.

"Yeah, they let us on quicker than expected, so figured we'd get a head start before we're stuck in this traffic for an hour." I nodded, hopping off the hood of the car and holding my hand out to help Jaime down. She grabbed on tight, sliding off, flashing me another smile before climbing into the passengers seat.

"You guys have fun?" Sam asked, smirking over at me. I felt my face get hot, nodding as I avoided his eyes, and quickly making my way into the driver's seat.

The drive home was quiet for the most part, aside from the occasional giggles and whispers I heard from the backseat. What I would give to know how they felt. And I knew if they had just given us a little more time, maybe I could have.

I just had to do it. I would drop them all off first and then Jaime and I could have a moment alone when I walked her to her door, and then.. I'd just.. I'd tell her. I was going to tell her.

But just when I thought our luck couldn't get any worse, as we pulled down our road, we were faced with the familiar glaring lights of the ambulance.