When they finally let go of each other, John felt embarrassed by his behavior. He was, after all, a man, and he was taught that men don't cry, they don't show any signs of weakness.

"I am sorry. It must be awful to have to deal with a grown man crying on your shoulder like a little girl," he said.

"Don't you ever dare apologize for crying, for feeling. All of these are normal, human reactions to pain. Being a man doesn't make you immune to suffering." She said, guessing where his mind was at.

Hearing her firm voice chiding him for being too harsh on himself somehow managed to make him feel a bit better.

"Thank you," he said, and left a gentle kiss on her pink lips, unable to resist the urge.

Although she deeply blushed, surprised by the action, she didn't run away.

"You're welcome to tell me all your troubles, any time you feel the need to talk with someone," she said.

"So you will be something like my therapist?" He asked, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Well, you are helping me with exposure therapy. It's going quite well if I dare say so myself. I am just offering to return the favor, to be there for you when you need me." She said, smiling at him with one of those shy smiles that he simply adored.

Looking at her, he realized that, in her, he had something that he thought he would never have, someone who accepted him and supported him, no matter what. For a moment, he got lost in her loving eyes and realized that he wouldn't have been able to live without her.

It was such a cliche, but he felt he needed her as much as he needed the air to breathe. She showed him how to live fully, how to be himself.

As he looked in her eyes, he saw that she was able to, at least partially, feel his pain, and that had never happened before. No one showed him sympathy, she was the only one, but he didn't want her to suffer by sharing his pain.

We all have our burdens to bear, and he thought that people shouldn't have to bear others' burdens, as well. So, he decided to change the subject.

"What do you think about us doing something fun tonight?" He asked.

He needed the distraction as much as he needed to see her happy. Also, spending time with her always brought him immense joy, so it was a win-win situation.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked, intrigued.

"I have no idea." He said, laughing out loud.

"I just came up with the idea! What would you like to do? Your wish is my command. Is there something you always wanted to do but hadn't had the courage or the time?" He asked.

"Well, there is this one thing..." She trailed off.

"Yes? What is it?" He asked upon noticing her hesitation.

She shook her head off as if dismissing the idea.

"You'll think it's a stupid idea. You won't like it." She finally said.

"I can promise you that I would never think that anything that came out of your mouth is stupid. As for liking it or not, we can't know either way, if you don't tell me what it is." He said gently.

"I've always wanted to learn how to dance salsa, but felt too embarrassed to take the lessons. It always seemed too personal to be dancing with someone I didn't know. There are salsa lessons for beginners tonight." She blurted out in one breath.

"Hm..." John started to say.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to." She quickly interrupted him.

"What I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted," he said giving her a broad smile, "is that it sounds fun. But, I must warn you, I have two left feet." He said.

He felt privileged that she wanted to share something she considered personal with him, and there was no way he would refuse something like that.

"It sounds fun to you? Really? Most guys would find it off-putting." She said, barely keeping herself from bouncing up and down, more energetic than John had ever seen her before.

"As you can see, I am not like most guys." He said smirking.

It seemed impossible to him that she didn't see that he would do anything to make her eyes shine with elation.

"As for two left feet, that's not a problem. I am the same, but this dance school encourages people like us to join in. I guess they love a challenge." She said, bursting with energy.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She added, sounding like a small child who was promised their dream toy for Christmas, but unsure if the present would truly be received.

"I am sure. It will do me good to know something as cool as dancing salsa." He said, winking at her.

She was so excited that she jumped on him, and gave him a butterfly kiss on his left cheek, then his right cheek, his nose, his mouth. The moment she realized what she was doing, she stopped, embarrassed, but she still maintained the same level of energy he had never seen before.

Happiness looked good on her. He wondered how often it brightened her face. If he had to guess, he would have to say that the sun that now shone on her face was quite a rare one.

"But are you okay now?" She asked, feeling guilty that she was so jittery while he was going through a tough time.

"More than okay. Seeing you like this is a sight for sore eyes." He said, honestly.

They stayed in the park for a while longer, just chatting about fun things, movies, music, food preferences, trying to forget about the bad stuff.

Finally, they had to say goodbye, and go back to their respective homes. They arranged to meet a bit before the dance lessons so that they could spend some more time chatting, and to be able to prepare for what was bound to be an embarrassing experience.

Their goodbye kiss was sweet and full of promises and gentleness, both of them wanting more, but needing to go slowly.

As they went their separate ways, they both felt like the burden they always carried with them was a bit lighter after time spent together.