Sam is a senior; Charlie is a freshman. She is damaged by a past assault; he is recovering from his aunt’s abuse. Their romance isn't about sex. It is about the tunnel. The scene where they stand in the back of the pickup truck driving through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, with David Bowie’s "Heroes" blasting, and Sam reaches for Charlie’s hand—that is the storyline. Love here is a stabilizer. When Sam finally tells Charlie, "I want to make sure the first person you kiss loves you," she becomes his savior. The tragedy is timing: she graduates and leaves, but the love remains.