It Burns So Bright, This Flame Will Never Die.

The date with Andy went absolutely perfect. He was so sweet, funny, and charming. I loved being around him and talking with him, it helped get my mind off of everything that was currently going on in my life.

"Right after you, madam." He said in a very proper voice as he held the door open. I laughed and playfully curtsied. "Thank you, good sir." He winked at me, making me giggle. We'd been very flirty with each other the whole night, and to be honest with you, I absolutely loved it.

"So, looks like we missed the sunset since we talked for approximately 10 hours in there," Andy sighed, laughing a little at the end as he looked up to the now pitch black sky. "so what do you wanna do now?"

"Go down to the beach and talk some more!" I exclaimed happily, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the beach.

"Sounds like a plan." He chuckled, following me.

We got down to the beach and went on the side where there weren't too many people also enjoying the pretty sight of the water at night. We both sat down in the sand, and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"So what should we talk about now? Actually, is there anything to talk about?" I laughed, nodding. We had talked about anything and everything in the restaurant. The only thing I don't think we talked about was the damn weather.

"I don't know! We basically told each other our freakin' life stories!" I exclaimed.

"I know!" I started giggling like a crazy woman when his voice went a few octaves higher than usual when he said this. "What're you laughing at?" He joked, making me giggle even more and bury my face in his shoulder.

"Your voice sounded like a chipmunk!" I managed to get out through all of the giggles. I looked up at him and laughed at the expression on his face, which resembled the "-_-" face.

"A chipmunk? Really?" I nodded. "Out of all animals, you chose a chipmunk?!"

"You sounded like one!" I argued, still giggling like a moron.

"Unbelievable...this is just unreal." He pretended to be mad, shaking his head and turned away from me slightly.

"Well, you yourself actually remind me more of a giraffe or gazelle, to be honest..." He laughed and turned back to me, making me grin. "Yeah, NEVER heard that one before! Not with these fucking gazelle legs I'm armed with, oh no!" He kicked his foot up in the air, making me laugh again.

"You're like, 10 feet tall." He nodded.

"And you're like, 2 feet tall. You're an elf." He laughed as I narrowed my eyes at him, punching him lightly on the arm. "Owwwwww." He whined, starting to fake cry as he rubbed his arm. "You're so mean!"

"Big baby." He stopped his fake crying and put on an offended facial expression, making me crack up again. "You're a baby chipmunk!" I cooed, pinching his cheeks. He did the "-_-" face again, and I copied it.

"Your face looks funny when you do that." He chuckled.

"Your face looks funny regardless of whether or not you do that." His eyes widened and I shrieked, jumping up and running away from him.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK, YOU ELF!" I heard him yell behind me.

"NEVER, CHIPMUNK BOY!" I laughed manically as people stared at me like I had gone off the deep end. I looked behind me and squealed in surprise when I saw Andy coming right up on me.

"DON'T TACKLE ME I'M PREGNANT!" He laughed and I squealed again when his arms went around my waist from behind, pulling me into him.

"I'd never do that to you, baby." He smiled and kissed my cheek, making me giggle and blush.

"You're too sweet." I smiled, lacing our fingers together and walking back towards the boardwalk to find his car. After about 10 minutes of walking, swinging our hands together in between us, and searching, we finally found it because Andy kept pressing the button on his key chain, making his car honk obnoxiously every time he pressed it.

"I think we found it, Andy." I laughed as he kept making it honk even though we were right in front of it.

"Just making sure you knew, didn't know if you could see it or not since you're an elf and all." He grinned at me and quickly got in the drivers seat. I scoffed and opened the passenger side's door, getting in and punching his arm again.

"Quit abusing me, woman!" He groaned, rubbing his arm.

"I am not an elf!" I huffed. He laughed when I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. "You're my elf, how about that?"

"Oh whoopee." He laughed again and I smiled at him. "As long as you're my baby gazelle chipmunk!"

"...Baby gazelle chipmunk...?" He stared at me and I nodded, smiling. "Alright, whatever you say, darling." He chuckled, starting his car and pulling out of the parking space. Once we were on the open road, he reached over and laced our fingers together again, squeezing my hand.

We talked lightly throughout the drive, and far too soon enough we were pulling into my sub. "This sucks," I whined, making him laugh as he came closer and closer to where my car was parked. "I don't want this to end."

"I don't either." He sighed, parking behind my car. He took his seat belt off, lacing our hands back together. "I had a really good time tonight, Scarlet. I love being with you." I looked at him and smiled, feeling my heart start to melt.

"I did too. I loved tonight, it was perfect."

"Glad I could make you happy, you deserve it." I smiled, looking down at my lap to try and hide the blush that was growing on my cheeks. "I just don't like being sneaky about this, though...but if I told Ronnie, he'd flip the fuck out." I sighed.

"Well, I'm not taking his side or anything...but if I found out my soon to be ex wife went out on a date with some other guy so soon after deciding to get a divorce, I'd be upset too." I looked at him and frowned.

"You think it's too soon for me to be going out?" He shrugged. "If it's with me I don't mind." I rolled my eyes and he laughed slightly. "Honestly, everyone's different. Some people move on faster than others do."

"Thing is, I haven't moved on." I sighed. "I just...I need someone around. I like being in a relationship, I like loving someone...but apparently me doing this so soon makes me a whore or a slut." I grumbled the last part.

"Who said that?" Andy said quickly, staring at me. I noticed how his usual light baby blue eyes turned a bit darker and I shook my head, squeezing his hand. "No, hon...no one said that. It's just I know that's what people will think."

"Fuck what people think," He groaned, putting his head against the seat. "if you're happy then that's all that matters. You shouldn't have to be all depressed and mopey and sad, you deserve to have happiness. And besides, you went out on a simple date with a guy. That doesn't make you a whore. You'd be a whore if you fucked a guy, or multiple guys, so soon after deciding to get a divorce."

"Is it too soon?" I repeated. "Should I just focus on this whole mess I have going on right now?"

"The only person who will be able to tell you it's too soon is yourself. If you think it is, it is. If you don't, then do whatever you want." I nodded, staying silent for a minute. "Although I hope you don't think it's too soon, because I really like being with you." He chuckled, somewhat nervously. I looked at him again and smiled softly. "I like being with you too, Andy."

He smiled and leaned over, lightly pressing our foreheads together. "So I guess you wouldn't mind if I did this?" I giggled and shook my head, knowing what he meant. He pressed his lips against mine softly, and I instantly kissed back. I reached my hand over and placed it on his arm as his reached up to cup my neck. I smiled as we pulled apart for a split second before pressing our lips back together. His tongue licked my bottom lip and I opened my mouth, letting his tongue touch mine. A jolt of electricity felt like it shocked me when it happened, and I reached my hand up to tangle it in his hair, pulling him closer despite having the stupid glove box in the way.

"Mmmm..." I smiled into our kiss, making him smile too. We pulled apart after a couple of minutes, smiling at each other like idiots.

"Well this sucks. Your kisses are amazing." I laughed, cocking my head to the side slightly in confusion. "I won't be able to get enough of them." He grinned, making me laugh again.

"You're cute." I grinned also, pressing another kiss to his lips, but this time it was short and sweet.

"I think I'd better get going, even though I really don't want to." I sighed.

"Would it make you feel better if I said I might swing by tomorrow afternoon?" He smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear. I squealed and nodded excitedly, causing him to laugh again. "I will, then."

"You better." I joked. He leaned over and gave me another kiss, lingering a little longer than our last. "I'll see you tomorrow." He whispered while we were mere centimeters apart.

"Mmm-hmm." I pressed my lips to his one last time, savoring the feeling. We pulled away and he kissed my forehead before smiling and saying goodbye to me. I got out reluctantly and got into my car. I sighed happily and started it, driving the very short distance to my house.

I slowly got out of my car and walked up to the front door, nervous for some reason. I fumbled with my key and unlocked it, opening it and walking in, closing it behind me. Ronnie walked over to me, his arms crossed.

"So how was your date with Andy?" He spat, glaring intensely at me.

"How'd you find out...?" I whispered, staring at him. I really just wanted to be with Andy right now.

"Your brother." I rolled my eyes, remembering when Max called during our dinner. "What the fuck, Scarlet?! Honestly?!"

"You and I aren't together anymore, so who says I can't go and hang out with a guy for a little while and enjoy myself?"

"WE'RE NOT EVEN DIVORCED YET!" He yelled right in my face. I closed my eyes and stood there, taking a deep breath. "Where's my son." I stated more than asked.

"Asleep. He went to bed almost 2 hours ago, since it's almost 11-fucking-30 at night now."

"Well you yelling will probably wake him up." I said calmly. I tried to walk past him, but he blocked my way. "Ronnie, you really want to do this right now?"

"You fucking lied to me!" He exclaimed. "How long has this shit with Andy been going on?!"

"This is our first date, Ronald. I haven't known him for that long, but we hit it off really quickly."

"When did you meet him?" He glared.

"I went over to Max's the day of that stupid fucking meeting you and I had," He glared even harder at me once I mentioned that. "and he was there."

"So he's been around my son?" He asked, sounding disgusted.

"Yes, he has. And he's great with him. Travis really likes him."

That was something I shouldn't have said.

"WHAT?!" He yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK, WAS HE OVER HERE OR SOMETHING?!"

"Stop yelling!" I groaned. "And yes, he was! And you know what, there's absolutely shit you can do about it!"

"LIKE HELL THERE IS! I'LL FUCKING TAKE TRAVIS AWAY FROM YOU!" I stared at him and he smirked. "And don't think that's a fucking empty threat. I will do it."

I slapped him as hard as I could across the face, oh so tempted to murder him right here and now. "You will never fucking take my son away from me. Ever."

"If it boils down to it, yes, I will. I'll get full custody of him." I started laughing right in his face. "Do you live in lala land, or something?! Why the fuck would you want to take him away from me anyways? Because I'm stronger than you and can actually move on and get on with my life, unlike you?"

Lies.

"You mean because you're a whore and you're already going out with guys so soon?" He smiled.

Irony.

"I don't give a fuck anymore, Scar. I really don't. I don't give a shit if I hurt you with what I say, I want my fucking son away from you, and I will get him."

"Why're you doing this to me?!" I started crying. He showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

"If all you're going to do is bring guys around him and go and whore yourself around, then he needs to be with me."

"I DON'T BRING GUYS AROUND HIM, RONNIE! ANDY'S THE ONLY FUCKING GUY! AND IT'S OUR FIRST DATE!" I screamed. "I'm not whoring myself around, I'm not fucking guys left and right because I miss you, I'm only trying to make myself happy! I can't fucking have happiness anymore?!"

"Do you even know how long I've been unhappy, Scar?!" His voice cracked as he got closer to me, right in front of my face.

"It's not my fault!" I cried.

He didn't say anything, he just looked at me. "You know I'm a perfectly fit mother. I don't bring random dudes over here all the time, I'm not whoring around, you know all of that! Why would you try to take my son away from me?!"

"I'm leaving." He said simply, pushing past me.

"Ronnie!" He'd already walked out the door, but I wasn't giving up just yet. "Ronnie, get back here!" I went after him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back. "Look, I don't want to fight with you-"

"And I don't want to talk to you!" He exclaimed, ripping his wrist from my grip. "So I suggest you leave me the fuck alone!" I let him walk away from me and to his car. I turned around, shaking my head and walking back into my house. I closed the door and sat down on the floor against it, proceeding to cry.