“Why is the car slowing down?” I ask. “Umm, I don’t know, this is weird.” We pull over to the side near a beautifully dark sky scraper. “Ennnnn.” “The car won’t start?” I ask. “I guess not,” he replies. It’s one o’clock in the morning on a cold, windy night in the windy city. “Jeez, this week couldn’t get any worse. You were supposed to help me run from the stress, not bring it to me.” His plain corduroy pants and striped sweater reflect his attitude. Calm. Nonchalant. “Hey, it’s just us here together. We’ll be fine. Let’s go walk.” I sigh heavily exhaling my stress and exit the beat up car. In the dark night, the city still glows. Neon bar lights reflect off of the black sky scraper windows like sunlight bouncing off of the ocean. We are a part of the skyline.

Like a gentleman, he walks on the outer edge of the sidewalk, anything to protect me. I snuggle myself into his cape of a jacket and walk by his side. “So where are we going?” I ask, always wanting to know where I’m going. “I don’t know, let’s just walk. It’s not like we have anything else to do.” I stare down as we walk, watching his feet, following his direction as he leads me in our dance downtown. We walk with hesitance, his hands in his pockets, my arms in the sleeves of his jacket, him watching the sidewalk, my watching his feet. I sense his fear, his vulnerability, hesitant to be truly known. “I appreciate you getting me away from the stress at home. I… I know I don’t say it much and have too humble of a way of showing it. But everything you do means the world to me.” “It’s nothing. No need to thank me.” His eyes detach from the concrete below us and he starts to stare forward as we continue to walk on this cool autumn night. His head rising shows his newfound comfort, but I still see he is on his guard, as he keeps glancing over at me to see if I’m watching him. I see his vulnerability out of the corner of his eye.

“So you were born here right?” I ask with curiosity. “Yep, I sure was,” he answers. “Well show me.” “Show you what?” he asks with confusion. “Everything. Anything here that made you the amazing, beautiful guy that you are.” A smile crept over his face, brighter than any neon light that could be shining in Chicago. My leading man takes me by the hand and we speed waltz into Millennium Park. “I used to run through these fountains every weekend when I was a little boy during the summer. It was my own little water park.” We stroll past the turned off fountains and onto our reflection. His fingers intertwined with mine, we stare into our silver reflection. A simple silver bean shaped statue captures our mirror image, as well as the skyline. Once again, we are a part of the skyline. “So what’s next?” I wonder aloud. “Oh you’re gonna love this one.” I giggle nervously as he pulls me close to his side, running underground. “Wait, I’ve never been on a train before, this seems kind of sketchy.” “Hey, look at me. You’re with me, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” I stare at the beautiful golden brown eyes before me and snatch his hand, trust sliding off my fingertips into his, leading him onto the train he says we’re supposed to get on.

“I figured you might be able to relate to this place.” I smile, feeling the Latin flavor in the air and the pride of the Puerto Rican flags around me in Humboldt Park. We parade down the streets quickly, salsa dancing under the street lights. I dance alone, showing him all of me, then reach for his hands and teach him how to move his hips. A shy smirk is exposed on the curve of his lips as he loosens up and gives me all of his trust. I lead this dance that is being watch by my native people smiling, smoking cigars, yelling “¡Wepa!” in the dark city at two o’clock in the morning.

We laugh and smile, stumbling to catch a cold breath. He nods his head to the side, gesturing that it’s time to head to the next location. He gives me a goofy looking serious facial expression, grabbing my hand and reaching for the side of my hip with the other. “This is the Navy Pier. I skipped a lot of school to hang here and drink with my friends while we were on the Ferris wheel!” We giggle at his anecdotes as we foxtrot around the pier, feeling cooler by the water. He wraps his arm around me as we dance to keep me warm.

The orange and pink skies show that the sun is ready to rise as we walk down a busy street. I’m mesmerized by all the stores, all the shopping I could do. As I attempt to plan a splurging spree, he grabs my hand pulling me back. He steadily places my hands on his neck and puts his hand on my hips. “Let’s just take our time,” he says, giving me a stomach full of butterflies. We take a slow dance stroll down Michigan Avenue. We dance towards a tall building. As he leads me into the building I stop him. “We can’t just walk in here it’s an important looking building.” “Watch us.” He snatches me up, making us tango dance all the way to the tippy top. Our tango dance of two turns into an intimate hug of one. One love, from one heart and one soul. A dance of two has lead us to become one.