Just a little drabble I wrote. Previously posted on Tumblr under the same username.
Enjoy.
…
The meadow is quiet as we sit together. The winter sun beats down on our skin. Birds chirp in the distance. Cars move off in the distance. His heart beating underneath his shirt.
Thump, thump, thump.
We sit on a blanket overlooking the meadow. Our bodies are closely touching, no distance present. We're silent for a short while.
"Do you want to go?" I ask him.
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." He says with a soft smile. "Besides, traffic will be a nightmare." He looks at me with a smile and sighs. "I'm so happy we finally decided to do this."
"It really has been the perfect first date." I admit, pushing the loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"Well… I wish we had done this sooner."
"No don't. It was my fault to. I thought that I would lose you as a friend." I tell him.
He looks at me with a soft smile and leans in towards my lips, kissing me briefly. I pull away, my eyes remaining on him.
"Three years we've danced around this." He says as a plane appears in the sky, the noise getting louder as it passes overhead. "I always wondered what regret felt like."
"You don't have any others?" I ask him.
"What?"
"Regrets."
"No. No." He says shaking his head.
"That's awesome."
"You?"
"When I was five, my mother took me to piano lessons and I kicked and screamed and cried so much that by the fourth one we ended up not going and now, I just really wish I could play piano."
"That really sucks." He says. "Do you want to know a secret?"
"Always." I say causing him to chuckle as he leans in towards my ear.
"I iron my underwear." He whispers as a distant siren sounds in the background.
"You do not?"
"No, I do."
"That's so anal." I say. "I drink milk straight from the carton."
"Ohh." He says chuckling.
"Oh, I know but I promise it tastes so much better that way."
"I… I cry like a baby every time I watch Titanic."
"I actually like Britney Spears."
"Wow."
"I haven't told anyone that before. It feels like this great weight has been lifted off my chest."
We chuckle together.
"Your sense of humour is definitely one of my favourite things about you."
"The way that your lips curl, just before you smile. That's one of my favourite things." I tell him his cheeks blushing slightly.
"Am I blushing?"
"A little."
"You always had that effect on me."
"Do you remember that time a bunch of us stayed over at your house and in the morning I walked in on you naked in the shower?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"That's when I knew."
"That you had that effect on me?"
I shake my head. "That I felt the same way that you did."
We stare at each other for a moment and he turns away, look out through the meadow.
"I always wanted to live in New York."
"I did."
"Really?"
"Three months when I was 22. I had this tiny apartment in Soho before it became fashionable."
"That's so cool. I wouldn't have known that."
"Given enough time, I could tell you everything." I say with my heart clenching.
We're silent for a moment.
"I want to ask you something." He says. "But, it's kind of personal."
"I think we're way beyond that, don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess so." He says. "Do you believe in God?"
"Maybe. Do you?"
"I don't know what I believe anymore." He says staring off into the distance.
Another plane flies over us as we remain silent.
"How long?" I ask him.
"8 inches."
"Seriously." I say nudging him.
He checks his watch and drops his hand back down to his side. "7 inches."
I chuckle. "I love you for trying to distract me."
"I love you for making me feel invincible." He says.
"Hmm." I say. "I swear by my life and my love of it, I have never lived for another nor allowed another to live for me."
We stare at each other and the pain is starting to fill our eyes as time nears.
"Turn it back on." I tell him.
He turns the radio back on slowly with the repeated warning sounding.
'Emergency broadcast. This is not a test. An unknown number of nuclear weapons have been detected. All civilians are required to evacuate the great metropolitan area immediately. This is not a test. Repeat this is an emergency broadcast system. This is not a test. An unknown number….
The signal cuts out as people run by and a flash lights up the sky in the distance. Screams of horror escaping their mouths.
I lean my head on his shoulder and hope that my family got out safely. I chose to stay behind. I chose my fate. He chose his fate. I shouldn't think about that now. I should just think about the man. The man I've been in love with for years and the moment we've just shared together.
A perfect first and last date together.
Smoke fills the air, moving closure to us as people run, as people stop and watch the explosion. People embrace each other. Mother's cover their children for the last time.
I pick up the drawing he gave me and stare at it for a moment, my heart clenching at our hypothetical future. Us sitting right here watching our children play. This would never be.
"Together." We agreed that morning.
He kisses my temple and I bite my lip.
"Stay with me." I say squeezing his hand.
He kisses my forehead and pulls me tighter to his body. "Always." He tells me and kisses me, not letting go as another explosion happens setting the meadow alight.
This was it. We're both in each other's arms like we always planned to be.
I know in that moment, we've left nothing unspoken as the world swallows us into darkness together.