Archer drove them to a carnival in his beat up 2000 Ford pickup truck and lent her one of his gray jackets since it was a little chilly- typical Seattle weather for July.
"What are we doing here?" she asked him.
"As much fun as it would be to see you hitting a punching bag with a pair of boxing gloves," he said with a boyish grin. "I think this would be relatively safer for all parties involved."
Sydney frowned. "I feel as though I'm supposed to be offended."
He laughed and took her hand, tugging her towards the entrance. "Come on, Sunshine. A day full of fun awaits."
And it actually was fun. Sydney found herself laughing and smiling a lot with Archer. It felt as if there was a small weight lifting off her shoulders every time her lips curved up into a smile. She felt like herself again.
And Archer...
Archer made her feel like there was more to look forward to at the end of the day than just than just getting over her father's death. It was the way he smiled at her, the way he'd held her as he helped her play one of the games, or the way he insisted on holding her hand all throughout the day. It gave her a taste of something more. Something bliss.
Now, they sat next to each other at the top of the steering wheel, hand in hand.
"Thank you," she said sincerely. "Today was the most fun u e bad since..."
"Since your father passed," he finished for her.
Sydney nodded. "It was so unexpected. I had just saw him that morning. He smiled at me, kissed me goodbye, and left for work. It was a Saturday, so there was no school and I was home alone." She blinked a couple times to get rid of the moisture in her eyes. She refused to cry. "Next thing I knew, my mother was home followed by a few cops and everyone was telling me that my father wasn't coming home that night. That he'd never eat dinner with his family again, never again kiss my mother goodnight, never go to my college graduation."
Archer turned her face and brushed away the few traitor tears that leaked down her face with his thumb. "You've grieved, Sydney. And now it's time to lay him to rest." And unable to resist, he laid a single kiss on her lips.
She gave him a small smile. "There's one more thing I need to do tonight, Archer."
"Wherever you're going, Sunshine, I'm bound to follow."
