"Because..." He ducked his head, and he could feel himself smiling despite his best efforts to stifle the smile. But she was pleased by his answer, and he was inexorably pleased that he had pleased her. He had done something right. Doing right by others was new, but somehow with her he managed it.

He reached for her, placed his hand on her forearm. "Because it was with you," he admitted quietly. It sounded so cheesy that he winced, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. It was the truth. "It's different with you."

He watched her, the colors of the fireworks played over her beautiful face. He wished he had better words for what he had felt, but he didn't.