A Shallow Sunrise
( Oneshot )
"Fang, do you remember last fall?" It wasn't something necessarily engaged in my thoughts at every moment, but I knew that there was some importance, some warmth to the thought and I heard him chuckle softly next to me.
"Yes," he said it lightly, then he spoke again and I was neither startled or surprised. "But, not really.
"It's changed," It was a statement, but not one filled with sadness nor of possibilities.
"I know," he said simply and I nodded with a reflecting puzzlement on my face. "How?"
"Life goes on, love goes on. You let it sit on the porch for too long and it will seep through the cracks."
"Love doesn't fade." Fang sounded somewhat stifled.
"Life does." he didn't answer for a moment and then he finally took a breath.
"You loved me."
"Loved, love, same thing."
"Not really," his eyebrows were arched high and I gave him a bemused look.
"God Fang. Define love." He looked up for a moment, to something past the outline of my hair, to a distance neither of us could see.
"Love isn't definite."
"Yes it is."
"Can you feel it? Can you touch it?"
"Sometimes."
"How?" I reached out and grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it gently, then silently withdrew, a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Max?" He looked me straight in the eye, not a glare, more like a familiar probe. "Do you love me?"
I frowned slightly and then nodded, "I think so, but not the kind of love lovers share. The kind you share when an old friend walks into the room. The kind an old worn letter kindles in you, when caressing your hand. A safety net that cannot be seen, but is felt in everything I do and hear."
"You sure?"
"No, but life's just like that."
"I love you," if their was a pause between this sentence and his other one, I wasn't sure, but it was said levelly, not with overflowing compassion and not with any watery smiles and wondering eyes. He was simply stoic and said it as if it were natural to his lips.
"Play with that word awhile and see what you can come up with," I said gently and walked away, leaving him not to wallow in self pity, but to ponder in self thoughts.
AN: I wrote this a long time ago and was experimenting with how I could update on my new computer ( it has issues with putting documents on). It worked though ( after much poking and prodding) and I hope that some people review; it would make me ever so happy. Thank-you for reading.
Flamingflie