The stars above Paris twinkled brightly, winking down at anybody caring enough to stop by and say hello. A light breeze danced by and Selena instinctively pulled her coat tighter around her body, finding solace in its warm grip.
Meet me beneath the willow tree after everybody's gone to bed.
The note stared her dead in the face once more, the soft, flowing words twisting a smile onto her face. She let out a puff of frosty air, watching it disperse into the night before carrying on down the path, the rhythmic tap of her shoes against the pavement lulling her into a trance.
She was immersed in thought when she heard a voice calling to her. Not just any voice; her voice. A thousand butterflies fluttered in her stomach simultaneously.
As she neared her destination, Selena could feel the butterflies getting worse. Her palms began to sweat, causing her to periodically wipe them across her jeans. A particularly cold gust of air came on spontaneously, chilling the poor girl to the bone.
"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come," the voice said softly.
Selena slowly approached the small figure, captivated by her beauty. Even at this odd hour in the night, even with the wind constantly blowing in her face, Vanessa was almost inhumanly beautiful. She clutched at her jacket, shivering ever so slightly. A smile fell across her face upon seeing Selena.
She sat on a gray marble bench, situated beneath a dormant willow tree. There was scarcely room for Selena to slide herself next to her, their trembling bodies clinging to each other for warmth in the chilly night.
The silence wrapped its arms around them, tightened them, squeezed them. The solemn ambiance went undisturbed for several seconds, which then morphed into minutes.
"I.. I want to talk to you about something," Vanessa spoke, watching tendrils of Selena's long hair flutter in the wind. She reached out and softly took hold of it, pushing it behind Selena's ear.
"Yeah, I do too," Selena responded, pushing her tongue through her lips to moisten them. Snow had started to fall, leaving its white kisses across the landscape.
"It's just, ever since Florida, I've felt something. It's been eating me alive ever since and I haven't been able to shake the feeling. It consumes me; overpowers me. And the thing about it is that I've never had the courage to come out and say it," Vanessa paused, searching Selena's eyes for any type of emotion.
Her brown eyes twinkled, mimicking the stars above. They focused intently on Vanessa's own. She was captivated, mesmerized. Vanessa let out a deep sigh and put her head in her hands, averting her gaze to the ground.
"Nessa," Selena's gentle voice picked up where Vanessa's had never continued. "I know what you mean. I feel it too; every time we're near each other it's like this magnetic pull. I can't escape it, neither can you."
When she got no response, Selena reached her hand out towards Vanessa. She grazed two fingers across her cheek before reaching her chin, lifting it to face her. Vanessa corrected her posture, sitting straight.
"I want to try something," Vanessa now stared into the shivering girl's doe eyes, intrigued by her innocence. "Don't run off, please."
In a single fluid movement, Vanessa leaned forward and caught Selena's lips between her own. Selena let out a gasp of surprise and found herself enjoying it. She kissed back feverishly, tasting her, wanting her, needing her.
Vanessa stopped abruptly, pulling back to see Selena's eyes still shut. "We should head back now," She paused, licking her lips. "I don't want the others to get worried and come looking for us," She added, remembering that Ashley had a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night.
Selena slowly opened her eyes, savoring the moment. The snow had since picked up, coating the two in a soft blanket of white. "Yeah," she nodded, "I think that's a good idea." She slowly rose from the bench, holding out a hand for Vanessa. Her cheeks were flushed, contrasting the pale snow sticking to her face.
Hand in hand, the two young women crunched through the snow back to their hotel, their rendezvous beneath the willow tree to be kept a secret for all eternity.
Never in her life would Selena have imagined this.