The Only Rule

You and Dominic had blended seamlessly into the crowd, your hands gripping the front railing with the perfect view—thank God artist privileges. Music pulsed through the night, and vibrant lights flared overhead. While you lost yourself in the rhythm, swaying carefree to the music, Dominic's anxious glances kept flickering down at his phone, fingers tapping nervously. He kept sneaking peeks at his screen, occasionally typing something, his foot bouncing anxiously to a completely different beat—when an LED displayed a proposal on-screen.

"Ugh, that's so cringe." you groaned, wincing, completely oblivious to the gradual look of horror taking over Dominic's face. He froze, eyes widening in horror as the words sank in—just as drones buzzed above them, about to give a spectacular show in neon lights. A panicked look crossed his face, and he fumbled with his phone, typing furiously:

"ABORT. ABORT."

Still blissfully unaware, you went on, "Seriously—one time Talia's boyfriend pulled a whole scene like that? Almost gagged right there. It's waaaay too much—"

Desperation etched into his features, Dominic's fingers flew over the screen, his face visibly paling as he typed, "DON'T DO IT."

"Oh! And there was this one guy—he tried to pull something like that with me. I bolted out of that date so fast," you laughed, mocking the gesture with all your heart.

Dominic was on the verge of collapsing, but he kept typing furiously, his eyes glazed with a look of utter defeat as he typed, "DO NOT."

Meanwhile.. up in the sky, you saw drones start malfunctioning—zigzagging awkwardly. Almost creating a shaky H—flickering erratically between 'Abort' and 'Do Not' in a chaotic, glitching pattern. Dominic's eyes followed the skyward spectacle, a resigned smile written all over his face as the drone sputtered—then collided in the air with a loud boom, igniting an unexpected explosion of color overhead like fireworks.

The crowd gasped, and you looked up, eyes wide in amazement. "Wow.. that's so beautiful.." you mumbled. Dominic, who had been on the verge of a meltdown a second ago, glanced over at you. Your face lit up with awe as you stared at the sky—and he found himself more captivated by you than the fireworks—drones. Your eyes reflected the colors of the explosion, a soft smile playing at your lips, and for a moment, he just watched you.. and he felt a soft smile perked on his lips.

But then he watched your expression scrunched. "Wait—is that.. fire?" you asked, pointing to the drones' wreckage still smoldering in the sky.

Dominic's gaze darted toward the flames, eyes wide. "Uh—nope! Definitely not!" he stammered, clearly trying to cover up the disaster. "It's, uh, the latest firework technology, super cutting-edge. You know, AR and all that—"

But as the crowd's awe turned to nervous gasps, a legitimate flame blossomed up above, curling like a plume of smoke from a small inferno. Dominic deflated, smiling with a twitch of desperation. His eyes reflected the fire about to swallow him whole like Drogon pulled a Dracarys on him—

Just as the sky opened up with rain! The unexpected shower doused the flames, sending the crowd into wild cheers of relief. With a busted face, Dominic glanced around, before exhaling, "Well that went well."

The rain began pouring down harder, drenching you both in seconds. Dominic's eyes widened, and he gave a quick, bouncing nod before grabbing your hand.

"What are you doing?" you asked, confusion clear on your face.

With an even dumbfounded expression on his face, he shouted back, "What? It's raining!"

"We're already in the front! You're such a whiny kid," you teased, smirking as you turned back toward the stage, signaling for him to stay and enjoy the show. Behind you, he scoffed, shaking his head but grinning.