Joey climbs up to the top of the hill to find her waiting for him. The wind swirls her brown hair around so that he can't see her face, but he knows it's her. He races across the grass as fast as he can, leaping into her outstretched arms.
She hugs him and then kisses the top of his head. "I didn't think you were coming," he says.
"Of course I was. I would never miss seeing you."
"I've missed you so much," he says. "Why did you have to leave me? Why can't you stay?"
"They need me," she says. "I can't abandon them."
"But what about me? You can abandon me?"
She sets him down on the ground and brushes the hair from her face so that he can look into her blue eyes. "You know that isn't true. I would never abandon you."
"I'm tired of this," he says. "Someday you're going to have to choose: them or me."
"Joe, please, don't ask me to do that. What we have is special, but I can't forget about them. I can't act like they don't exist. Try to understand."
"I am trying, but I don't see why you have to keep it all such a secret," he says. He plucks a handful of grass and then hurls it into the winds. She sits down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"It's a difficult situation, Joe. I need to know I can count on you to support me."
"I'll always support you," he says. "It's just that sometimes I don't think I'm all that important to you."
"Joseph, you're the most important person in my life. Nothing can ever change that." She leans down to kiss him on the cheek this time. "Do you understand?"
"Then why do you have to go?" Tears come to his eyes. "We hardly ever get to see each other anymore. And as soon as we do, you have to go again. Why can't you stay with me?"
"Joe, please, we've been over this. I don't have a choice. I don't want to go, but I have to. Try to understand."
"Then let me come with you. I won't get in your way."
"I know you won't, but it's a very difficult situation there. I don't want to get you involved with it."
"I'm not scared. Whatever is going on there, I can handle it." He takes her pudgy hand and gives it a squeeze. "I want to help you through all this. Why won't you let me?"
"It's complicated." She squeezes his hand back. "Let's enjoy the time we have left instead of arguing."