Meeting the young man’s sincere gaze, Mia Grant’s heart fluttered.
It was like being on a roller coaster, suspended at the peak for a few seconds before a sudden, rapid descent.
At this thought, a glint appeared in Mia’s eyes.
She turned her head to glance at the sky outside.
Night came a bit later this time of year, and the horizon still held a faint glow.
Mia’s eyes lit up. She immediately tossed aside her controller. "It’s still early. Let’s go out."
Felix Sinclair turned to look out the window. "Okay."
He put down his controller and turned off the console. "Where do you want to go?"
He didn’t know if she wanted to just walk around or drive somewhere farther away.
"Is there an amusement park nearby?"
"An amusement park?" Felix wasn’t familiar with any, so he took out his phone to search. But she grabbed his hand. "Let’s go! We can look on the way!"
Once in the car, Mia found an amusement park. She was surprised to see it was close by, only five kilometers away.
However, they happened to hit the evening rush hour, so the traffic was a bit heavy.
Mia checked. It probably wasn’t closed yet.
"What do you want to ride? I’ll buy tickets now."
Felix asked.
"No need," Mia said. "I already bought them."
"Will we make it in time if we head over now?" Felix hesitantly pulled out his phone, wanting to contact the amusement park staff.
"We’ll make it. I just suddenly feel like riding the roller coaster. I’m not that interested in anything else."
Hearing this, Felix didn’t find it strange at all.
His expression was perfectly natural. Mia stared at him for a long moment before it dawned on her, and she asked, "Don’t you think I’m being weird?"
"No," Felix said. "Doing whatever you want, whenever you want, without any restrictions—that’s a good way to be."
Mia let out a laugh.
"Actually, I used to be someone who liked to plan everything. I’d get anxious if I didn’t have a plan."
"I always held a kind of pessimistic longing for whatever the future held."
"I met with Dr. Quinlan a few days ago, and we had another chat. He recommended that I try not being so strict with myself, to live for a few days without a plan, starting with small things."
"He said I’m always talking about wanting freedom, but I love trapping myself in boxes."
"I’m finally starting to understand how Yates Donovan can live so freely and happily."
Mia sighed.
After a pause, a thought occurred to her, and she subconsciously glanced at Felix. His expression was normal, as if he hadn’t heard the name at all.
Noticing her glance out of the corner of his eye, Felix took a moment to look at her. As if he knew what she was thinking, he said softly, "I know him."
"..."
Mia looked embarrassed and guiltily rubbed her nose. "Sorry."
Felix silently accelerated. After a moment, he said, "You don’t need to apologize."
"You haven’t done anything wrong."
’She just mentioned someone else’s name by accident, that’s all.’
Felix’s emotional resilience had grown a lot recently.
After all, he could even remain expressionless when he heard Ian Sinclair’s name from her lips.
As for anyone else, it naturally didn’t matter.
"You don’t have to be so cautious. We can talk about anything. You told me your biggest secret without holding anything back, so all the other stuff, important or not, doesn’t matter."
Mia gazed at his profile and sighed silently.
’Her conviction remained unshaken. If she were to ever consider marriage, the young man before her was still her best choice.’
’At first, she’d found him so staid he was almost boring, but she had slowly come to realize that his love was anything but rigid.’
As the last rays of the setting sun faded from the horizon, the two of them finally arrived at the amusement park.
The moment they got out of the car and had their tickets quickly scanned, Mia pulled Felix along, breaking into a run.
She had carefully studied the map on the way, so she expertly found the roller coaster by moving against the flow of the crowd.
But to her surprise, there was still a line even at this hour. Fortunately, Mia had bought fast passes.
The moment she sat down, something occurred to her. She glanced at the young man sitting ramrod straight beside her. "Are you scared? If you’re afraid of heights, you can still get off now."
Felix gently shook his head. "I’ll be fine."
Just as the ride was about to start, Mia gently took his hand. "Don’t be nervous."
Felix froze for a second, then smiled and squeezed her slightly trembling hand in return. "Okay."
’It was hard to tell who was actually the nervous one.’
Felix had been to an amusement park when he was a child, but he’d been too young at the time. He couldn’t go on the more thrilling, high-in-the-air rides; it was against the rules.
But Ian Sinclair had grown faster than him. Despite being the same age, Ian was a whole head taller.
So back then, he could only watch as his father took Ian on the rides. He would stand below, counting the seats from afar, trying to spot them.
Felix still remembered when she had found out about his illness. She had tried all sorts of things to lift his spirits, to try and counsel him.
Back then, she’d said she would take him to this newly opened amusement park.
Now, it felt like he was finally cashing in a prize ticket.
He was a little nervous, too, but more than anything, he was filled with anticipation.
He anticipated the rare resonance their heartbeats would share during the fall.
The roller coaster started up. They were in the first row.
And so, on that sunset ride, in the instant they plummeted together, it wasn’t just their hearts that connected. Their fingers were tightly intertwined, and it felt as if their very souls merged into one.
They were like an inseparable whole, their hearts pounding away, yet they didn’t forget to steal a fiery glance at one another.
—
When they got off, Mia felt dizzy and unsteady on her feet.
Luckily, Felix was there to steady her, catching her just as her body started to sway.
Felix had thought he would be the one throwing up after the ride, but unexpectedly, he was fine. It was someone else who got sick.
Mia threw up nearly her entire dinner.
Felix bought water and tissues and stood beside her like a statue, silently watching over her.
After she was done, Mia’s face was deathly pale, but she still put on a brave front, waving her hand and insisting she was fine.
"I ate too much tonight."
It was the truth.
Felix frowned. "Let’s head back. I’ll carry you."
"No need." Mia rinsed her mouth and said after a moment, "I can walk on my own."
Mia had originally wanted to go on the ride again, but she hadn’t expected to end up in such a sorry state. After a moment’s thought, she dismissed the idea.
As they were walking toward the exit, they saw a lot of people running in the same direction. Mia looked toward the crowd and heard someone say the fireworks show was about to start over there.
The sky had grown completely dark.
Felix seemed to sense what she was thinking and said, "Let’s go take a look, too."
Sure enough, Mia smiled and nodded. "Okay!"
It was too crowded to get to the front, so they ended up just watching from a distance, which would make it easier to leave later anyway.
’The sky is huge. Once the fireworks are up there, it’s not like they only put on a show for the people in the front row.’
While they waited for the fireworks, Mia took a photo from her pocket and handed it to him.
Felix was taken aback.
By the faint light of a nearby streetlamp, he made out the two people in the photo.
At the highest point of the sunset ride, the two of them were looking at each other and smiling, the moment frozen in time.