Two weeks later, Diana was seated on her balcony, a notebook in her lap, and a pen in one hand. Her other hand was wrapped around a warm mug of spice tea. She tapped the pen idly against the page, trying to come up with the a new sentence, but it was useless, her brain was a million miles away.

The chilly autumn breeze ruffled her straight, caramel-colored hair. The sun was beginning to set and it painted the horizon with varying shades of pinks and oranges. Soft colors danced across her tan skin, light blue sweater, and jeans. Her blue eyes showed imminent frustration. Finally she let out a sigh. "This isn't going to work."

She stared into the distance at the tall trees, which were slowly losing all of their colorful leaves.

"You look like you could use some cheering up." A loud voice broke the silence. Startled, Diana jumped up, dropping the mug, which clattered loudly as it landed, but thankfully didn't shatter. However tea sloshed between the slats of wood, and her notebook went sailing over the balcony railing.

"Ow! What the hell?! Isn't this considered assault or something?" The same masculine voice exclaimed. Diana peered over the railing, her eyes widening in disbelief. "What are YOU doing here?!"

Jason stood down below her, rubbing the side of his face. The lovely projectile lay at his feet, and there was tea dripping from his hair. "Well I did come to say hello, and also to ask you to go on a walk with me. But if this is how you welcome people, I'm not so sure I want your company anymore.

"You scared me." Diana pointed out.

"Good point." He smiled ruefully, raking a hand through his messy, brown hair. "So...how about that walk?"

Diana stared at him pointedly for a moment, trying to make up her mind. "Walk? Where?"

"Just..around. Maybe down to that pond over there or something."

"Umm..okay, give me a minute." Diana turned to go inside, and grabbed a kitchen towel.  Several minutes  and three flights of stairs later, she joined him on the grassy lawn. He held her notebook out to her as she approached.

"I promise I didn't read it. But what's in it?" Jason questioned.

Now it was Diana's turn to smirk and wink at him. "That's a secret."

Jason chuckled, and Diana tucked her precious notebook under her arm as she followed him. Today he was wearing a large, black hoodie, jeans, and the same old pair of ratty tennis shoes.

The apartment complex consisted of two buildings, situated relatively close to each other. They surrounded a large lawn, which was bordered on one side with a line of trees. There was also a pond about a hundred feet from the woods. They were currently on their way towards this.

"So is there a reason you just showed up at my apartment to take a walk?" Diana spoke up.

Jason shrugged. "I wanted to hang out with you. You never showed up at the shop, and you seem like a nice person and I'd like to get to know you better."

Diana laughed softly. "There's not much to know."

"You know I don't believe that." Jason gazed at her with strange look in his eyes.

They reached the edge of the pond, and sat down in the dying grass. Staring out across the empty space, for a while neither of them spoke. The sun had already set, and darkness was settling over the sky like a protective blanket for the night.

"It's funny, you know." Diana whispered. "No matter what, the sun always sets in the evening."

"Yeah, and every time he goes down, his lady friend, the moon, gets cold and lonely." Jason explained.

Diana paused for a moment, trying to absorb what he'd just said. The man in front of her had suddenly turned deep and thoughtful. Was this still the same man she met just a few weeks ago? A small stutter escaped her lips. "H-he...?"

"Yeah, and every time he's up in the sky, he keeps her company."

"I've never really looked at it that way before. That's an interesting perspective." Diana commented. Her guard went down a little bit. She laid back in the grass and gazed up at the sky. "Man, it's a beautiful night."

"The only beauty I can see in the night are the stars. They shine like little beacons of hope. Otherwise, the night is just black."

"Oh, but you're missing the whole concept of night, don't you see?" She pointed a slender finger into the sky. "Night isn't just black. It's a mixture of grays, blues, and purples. It's the shadows and the darkness, the things you never expect. It's the curves of the imagination put to sleep. It's the thing that is always anticipated. Night is when some things come to life. Night, my friend, is a completely different world."

Jason gazed down at her with a shocked expression on his face. "Dang. No wonder you write." He breathed.

A small smile curled on the corner of Diana's lips. "Yeah, but Journalism isn't fiction writing. I really wanna write and publish a book someday."

"Go for it. Heck, I'd read it." Jason smiled.

"So you'd be what? My number one fan?" Diana teased.

"You better believe it." Jason laid down beside her. "Do-do you ever wonder." He began softly. "What the hell you're doing with your life?"

"Every day." Diana replied. "I don't just want to live. I want to do something with my life, ya know?"

There was silence from beside her. "Jason?"

Silence.

She propped herself up on her elbow and peered over at him. "Jason, what's wrong?"

His face appeared so somber, yet at the same time, sort of expressionless, like his mind was a million miles away. She shook his shoulder. "Jason?"

His head slowly tilted to look up at her. "Even if no one else believes in you, if you have a dream, you should go for it, right?" He whispered so softly, she almost didn't hear it.

"Of course, if it's something you really want to do."

"There's something I haven't told you. You know when you asked me about college..."

"Jason, you don't have to tell me." Diana interrupted. "It's getting late. We should probably head back."

"Okay, but next time, I'll tell you." His blue eyes held a yearning, for what, she wasn't sure. He stood up quickly and offered her a hand. She grasped it and stood up. When their hands detached, her hand felt all too cold again. Slowly, they walked back towards the apartment, the wind rustling the loose leaves on the trees.

"Thanks for tonight." Jason mumbled. "It was nice."

Diana smiled, her eyes flitting shyly to the ground. "I had a good time too."

As they reached the apartment, Jason turned towards her, the soft porch lights illuminating his face. "I'll be by again soon if I don't see you at the shop."

"Just don't try the Romeo approach next time. I'm starting to understand how Juliet felt when he stepped out of the shadows, under her balcony."

Jason laughed softly, his eyes lighting up. "I'll do my best." He mock saluted her. "Have a nice night, Diana."

New A/N: This chapter has been edited once.