It starts like this.

On a night that smells like cut grass and bonfire smoke, with the lingering taste of rain and the sound of thunder in the distance. My feet are bare against the cold concrete of the driveway, and the breeze tickles my neck, but that isn't why I'm shivering. The boy in front of me is unsteady and wild and beautiful, the way a storm is.

Right before it destroys you.

"Don't do this," I whisper, but somehow I can't bring myself to move.

He reaches out and latches his hands onto my shoulders, anchoring me. I will myself to push him off, to say no, to run away before everything gets ruined. I know, I know that this will not end well. But I've wanted it for so long, I can't bring myself to stop it. I stay frozen in place.

"You're so beautiful," he murmurs, just barely audible.

His head ducks down, his hair brushing against mine. I feel his breath on my forehead, then my cheek. My heart races so fast it makes me breathless. I shut my eyes instinctively, waiting for what I know happens next. As the first crack of lightning splits the sky, the white burst painting itself along the inside of my eyelids, his lips meets mine.

It's the end of the freaking world.