Car Crash Hearts,

It was early morning by the time they left the neon lights of the club,
The streets still lit by the street lamps.
The air had grown cold but it felt nice on her bare skin,
still glistening from dancing all night.
His curly hair lay almost straight with sweat along the sides of his face,
under the wool beanie he always wore,
more out of habit than to keep himself warm.
They walked silently for a while,
still entranced by the spell of each other.
After a few minutes she pulled out a menthol cigarette from the pack in her purse,
pressing it to her lips and lighting it expertly with her pink zippo.
He stared at her with a look of curiosity in his face as she exhaled smoke,
watching it mix with the steam from his own hot breath.
He looked down embarrassed when she noticed his gaze and turned to him.
"You know smoking can kill you" he said, now looking at the pavement
She laughed, "A lot of things can kill me. A bus as i'm crossing the street, a stranger i meet at a bar." she slanted her eyes at him furtively, the smoke curling around her plump red lips (which he couldn't help but notice), "He could turn out to be a psychopathic serial killer!"
"Well that's true about the bus thing," He replied with a chuckle,"and for legal purposes, we'll just say that the second part isn't true." he lifted his eyes to hers deviously, twisting his lips into a crooked smile, "With the stranger there is so much possibility for something great to begin. But with smoking, it is proven to be bad for you, no matter what. There's never a choice for a happy ending."
She took a last drag from her cigarette and flicked it to the street, stomping it out with her heel.
"But you see, that's not true either. You believe what you hear and what you see, what they tell you is rational, because any normal person would see the effects of smoking, like lung cancer for example, as certain misery and death."
" But what if getting lung cancer is the best thing that ever happens to me? That I find the friends and family i never had in the support groups and doctors and nurses in the hospitals? what if i find god in my last few months of life and for the first time find peace in my soul and the world?" Her voice grew louder and her eyes seemed far away as she looked up at the sky.
"Whether i died or lived, i would be better. I would die happy, or i would live more grateful for life than i had ever felt before."
She then stopped walking and turned to stand in front of him.
Her eyes seemed to plead for an answer,
to be understood and accepted,
as if they had never seen a day of peace in their life.
They were standing on top of the bridge over the Chicago River,
The few stars that glittered in the night sky over the city reflecting off the dark water below.
He was staring at her with complete amazement in his eyes.
In all his life he had never met a girl like her, so honest and trusting,
and he knew at that moment he could never go another day without her.
She dropped her eyes, her face now flushed with the cold air and slight embarrassment,
She couldn't understand the look on his face,
or the sudden electricity in the air.
it was far different than the atmosphere that had been between them in the club,
full of curiosity and desire.
This was thicker, deeper, almost tangible.
He took a step closer to her, and then another, and when the gap was closed between them,
he gently lifted her hung head with his finger tips.
His bright green eyes locked with hers and she knew what was about to happen.
She opened her mouth to say something, but her words were lost as their lips touched.
The kiss was soft, gentle.
It was the kiss of two people who wanted each other,
but also needed something from the other.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer,
curling her fingers around the ends of his damp hair as he wrapped his arms around her thin waist.
After a moment they pulled away, still not letting go of the other,
and in that embrace she too realized,
her life was about to change forever.