Jane was standing in Columbus Circle,  in the same place as before, watching the curb, waiting for the black SUV to pull up, when she felt a tap on on her shoulder. She turned around to find Charlie, hair tucked into a beanie, grinning at her. He held his arms wide, and Jane stepped into them, feeling momentarily strange until she felt his arms close around her. Even from having done it just once before, it felt comfortable to her; even the swooning feeling from being so close to him was familiar and welcome.

He looked at Jane as he released her, his expression changing to one of concern. "Do you have a coat?" he asked. "It's kind of cold today, you know?" He rubbed her arm. "I thought we could just go for a walk in the park, then get something to eat, but you're going to freeze."

"I'm okay," she responded. The truth was that she'd been so full of anticipatory nerves that she'd forgotten to bring her coat when she'd left her house, but she wasn't about to tell Charlie that. "The sun was shining in Jersey," she said with a little shrug.

"Why don't we pop 'round to a shop, buy you a coat?" he suggested, looking around. It was a blustery day, and clouds were scudding in from over the Hudson.

"Charlie, no," she responded with a laugh. "You're not going to buy me a coat because I was stupid and left mine." She turned toward the park. "Come on, let's get walking, hm?" She walked a few steps and turned back to him.

He was still looking at her blue pinstriped shirt, which she was wearing with jeans and sneakers. He started to unzip his jacket.

"Stop!" she said with a smile, pulling the zipper back up, all the way to his chin, which made him smile. "Keep your coat, I'm fine, honest."

Charlie finally gave up, and they entered the park, and Jane really felt okay, as long as they kept moving. They walked briskly, with Charlie shortening his stride just a little to accommodate Jane.

"So, how was your week?" he asked. "You never said anything about your calculus test, was it?" They'd continued to exchange texts throughout the week, just little snatches of conversation here and there, between classes and his shooting schedule. He looked over at her, enjoying the way her eyes moved over the landscape of the park, taking everything with those sea-glass eyes before flicking briefly to his face.

"I got a hundred and six percent," she said with a dismissive shrug. At his look she added, "Extra credit."

"Oh." He shrugged. "Why didn't you get the other one, then?"

"Didn't see it," she answered, before realizing what he'd asked. "How did you know there was another extra credit question?" she asked, stopping walking to look at him.

"One hundred and six percent?" he replied. "Felt like an odd number, that's all, I assumed there was another."

"Makes sense," she said grudgingly.

"Come on, genius, let's keep walking so we don't freeze," he said, grabbing her arm to get her going. He smiled at her.

"And how was your week, Charlie?" she asked. "Sorry, I keep calling you that," she continued. "It's just that I first learned your name when you were called 'Charlie'," she explained.

"No, I actually prefer 'Charlie'," he replied, again with the heart-melting grin. "I think of myself as Charlie, too," he said. "And to answer your question, my week was bollocks-numbingly boring."

"I don't have any of those, yeah, so I don't know what that's like," Jane responded with a laugh.

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" He laughed along with her. A few dead leaves blew across their path, making a scraping sound. "I'm glad you don't have them, they wouldn't suit you. Plus, they'd make you a man, so..." He let the sentence dangle. They were on the other side of the reservoir now, and the sky had turned almost completely gray.

Jane sniffed appreciatively.

"What are you smelling?" Charlie asked curiously.

"The wet concrete," Jane replied, continuing to sniff. "I love the smell in the air, you know?"

Charlie sniffed. "Don't smell anything," he said, looking at her.

"Oh, come on, Charlie," she said, nudging him with her shoulder. "It smells like wet cement."

"I thought you said 'concrete'," he reminded her with a little smile, hazel eyes twinkling.

She huffed a breath of exasperation. "Concrete, cement, all of it," she insisted. "The leaves, the earth, it smells like fall, you know? Like when you were a little kid?"

"What, because you're so old now?" he teased.

She shook her head at him, smiling. "Forget it," she said, walking away.

"No, hold up, hold up," he begged, chasing after her, grabbing her arm and turning her. They were standing in the middle of the path, staring at each other. He still held her by her elbow.

He was standing so close to her that Jane could see the little dark flecks in his eyes, golden highlights that made his eyes hazel instead of plain blue. She could see the fine chain that was around his neck, and wondered fleetingly what, if anything, was hanging from it. The bottom of the chain disappeared into his shirt, which just showed under his puffy jacket. Little bits of his black hair curled out from under the beanie, softening his angular good looks, and Jane resisted the urge to touch them, to tuck them back under his beanie.

Charlie could feel Jane's breaths against his chin and neck, and her breath again smelled so sweet, even though she didn't seem to be chewing gum or eating candy or anything. Her straw-like hair was lifted off her shoulders, blowing around her face, and she shook her head, trying to keep the strands from getting in her eyes.

Boundaries, Charlie.

Know your boundaries.

This girl had nothing to gain from him, and nothing good could come of this. He could claim her now with a kiss or whatever, and eventually he'd ruin her loving heart, her gentle, happy life in the suburbs of New Jersey.

Charlie let her go and smiled at her.

Jane was confused. She could've sworn for a second that he was going to kiss her. She'd never been kissed before (who'd want to kiss a beanpole?); the closest she'd ever come was when Rodney Haliburton had tried to hold her hand in the eighth grade during the slow-skate at the rink in Paramus. His hand had been sweaty, and he'd smiled at her when she released it, braces twinkling in the light reflecting off the disco ball which had been hung over the rink.

Charlie stepped back, continuing to smile at her. Jane smiled back, not sure what to do with what she was feeling. She was still leaning toward him, her face turned up to his. Charlie took another step back.

They were facing each other in the middle of the path when the first, huge, raindrops splattered the ground around them. Charlie was looking for the source of the sound when another one hit him in the face. He looked comically surprised.

Jane laughed out loud, grabbing his hand and running off the path and across the grass, to a gazebo, which offered the only real shelter. Even with both of them flying, they were still drenched by the time they reached it. They stumbled up the steps, still laughing, collapsing into each other.

"We should've known it was coming," Jane gasped. "The whole fucking park's empty!" She held on to Charlie as she laughed. "We're so stupid, oh my god."

He pulled his drenched beanie off his head, shaking his head, sending water flying, laughing with Jane. "You're soaked," he declared. Her pale hair was plastered to her head, making her eyes look huge.

She looked at him, mirth in her eyes. "Hello, kettle? This is pot. You're black," she announced, looking like she was making a pretend telephone call.

He looked her up and down, his laughing reply dying on his lips.

Jane looked down at herself. The rain had soaked her shirt to her body, and turned it see-through. She looked back up at Charlie, biting her lips together, blinking.

Charlie tried to keep his eyes on her face, he really did. He reminded himself about boundaries, about not crossing them, about having a little fucking discipline, for Christ's sake. He could make one phone call and have a dozen women who'd be willing to do anything he wanted, to him, to each other.

But nothing worked. His glance drifted down her front again. Her little pink bra with the lace edging showed through the shirt, even down to the pert little bow in the middle. And the rain had been so drenching, and the shirt so thin, that he could even see her pale nipples shading the middle of each small breast.

Again, Charlie tried. Those were so small that they hardly qualified as breasts, did they? The sopping wet girl shivering in front of him looked like a child.

An adorable, cold, seventeen-year-old child with huge eyes, tiny breasts, and pale lips that looked wet and so, imminently kissable.

Charlie leaned forward, blinking the last of the water from his eyelashes as he gently grasped her arm. He brushed a piece of hair out of her face, letting his fingers trail down her cheek. He could feel her sweet breaths on his mouth now. He could see her chest moving up and down in jerky breaths because she was so nervous with anticipation.

Fuck boundaries.

He tipped her chin up and placed his lips on hers, and oh, her lips were so soft, and so warm, considering how cold it was, considering the fact that she was shivering.

Jane placed a hand on Charlie's chest, and he could feel it, even through the jacket. He slid his hand down around her throat and neck, while moving the other to her waist. Without thinking, he lifted the wet shirt so he could rest his hand on the goose-fleshed skin of her hip.

His brain was yelling at him not to push it, to stop now. But while his brain was shouting those thoughts, his mouth was opening on hers, his tongue gently licking her lips, asking her to open up.

Jane felt his tongue on her mouth and thought she would faint from the sensation. She opened her mouth to him, wanting more of him, and his tongue was in her mouth, soft, wet, and foreign, again, making her feel lightheaded, like she was going to faint.

Just when Charlie felt like he could stop and not die, Jane made a little sound, part whimper, part moan, and her hand moved to the back of his neck. She scratched gently at the short hairs there, and the feeling of her fingers on his skin felt like an electric current that shot straight through his body to his toes, his groin. Her mouth tasted so sweet, just like her breath.

Fuck.

He moved his hand farther up Jane's body, under her wet shirt, fingers spreading and sliding up her torso as he deepened the kiss still further, tilting her head back. She opened her mouth even more, touching his tongue with her own, hoping to god she was doing it right.

Finally a loud crack of thunder caused them to pull apart. Jane jumped at the sound, looking around at the deserted park, the roiled reservoir. She looked back at Charlie, hoping she wouldn't see regret or mockery in his eyes. All she saw was happiness, joy, and concern.

"You're shivering so hard your teeth are chattering," he murmured, and this time when he unzipped his jacket she didn't stop him. He opened it, exposing the relatively dry sweater underneath. He folded his arms around her, pulling the sides of the jacket around her, placing her arms around him with a small smile.

Charlie's mind was reeling with the nearness of her. While Jane was worried about her hipbones poking him, he was worried about poking her back, with something else. He shifted, but she didn't seem to have noticed, or maybe she just didn't know what it was? This thought made him smile.

They stayed there, under the gazebo, until the rain stopped, twenty minutes later, arms wrapped around each other.