Disclaimer: Don't own a thing
Written as a birthday present for a friend.
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I walk slowly along the beach, so close to the water that it licks my feet with every wave that rolls onto the shore with a soft, whispering sound. It isn't often I go to the beach but I like to be here, especially now in the evening when no other people are around and it feels like I have the beach all to myself. I go here when I need a break from everything, if just for a little while, and it helps, sometimes even more than my writing or a good book. Mostly I go here alone, but not this time.
Not even twenty steps from me I can see Abby's silhouette where she sits in the sand with her arms around my dog's neck, looking out towards the darkening horizon where stars already begin to sprinkle the sky. My heart takes a leap of joy at the sight of her and a small smile begins to play on my lips when I once again realize that she is mine. She is finally mine. And I am hers. Heart, body and soul, everything that's me belongs to her.
Jethro looks up when I approach and begins to wag his tail slowly, just enough for me to see that he's recognizing my presence. I ruffle the fur between his big ears gently and then I go to sit down beside Abby. I put an arm around her waist and she snuggles closer to me. I put my forehead against her temple and breathe in her unique scent, a scent that is so much her that I no longer can imagine her without it.
"Wanna go home?" I ask and I feel her shake her head.
"No", she says and smiles playfully at me. "I want to watch the stars."
I smile back and nod, then I pull her even closer to me and she puts her head against my shoulder as we watch the sky together. More and more stars emerge as the last rays of the sun disappear behind us and it doesn't take long before the entire sky is covered with them. There aren't as many as there could be, considering that the faintest stars can't shine through the glow from the city, but there are still many of them. Out of habit I search out the constellations I know and point them out for her, and she tells me the legends of how they got up there, in her own, special way. I know those myths and legends by heart, I have since I was little boy, but I like to listen to Abby's voice so I let her. We talk and we laugh for hours, just sitting there in the sand, but then I notice that Jethro is getting bored. We decide that it's time to head home.
We walk slowly back to the car, Jethro running back and forth around us, happy that we're finally up walking again. He bark at the water and we laugh when he jumps at the waves, growling as if he wants to show the water who's the boss. When I whistle he immediately comes to my side and after that he keeps himself near us until we get to the car. I let him into the back seat, which has been covered with old towels to protect them from his damp fur and sandy paws, and then I hold the door open for Abby. She gives me that special smile of hers as she gets in and in that moment it feels like I can conquer the world just because she smiled at me.
We drive home in silence, non of us having any need to talk. Her music is blasting from the stereo, even though it's not as loud as it usually is down in her lab. I have never really got to understand why she likes that kind of music, but she wouldn't be her if she didn't listen to it. It's just something I have to accept, and I don't want her to change for anything in the world.
We come home to my place and Abby more or less jumps through my apartment door together with Jethro after I've unlocked it. She rushes into the bathroom and soon comes out with a clean towel. She sits down on the floor and calls Jethro over to her and then she begins to rub his still damp fur thoroughly. I listen to her talking to him and I can see that he's listening carefully to every word that she's saying, even though I doubt that he understands them, at least not most of them. Nevertheless he seems to enjoy the attention. In one way he's Abby's dog just as much as mine. She saved his life and then she made me take him just because her landlord said no. Thinking back, I can hardly believe now that I actually was afraid of him in the beginning. He's such a nice dog and he's become a great companion to me, and I'm glad that Abby didn't lose faith in him.
I go to fill Jethro's bowl with food and make sure that he's got clean water. He almost reluctantly rise from his place beside Abby to go and eat and I affectionately ruffle his fur, telling him what good a good boy he is. I look up at Abby and return the smile she's giving me. I straight my back and walk over to her to do something I've wanted to do for some time now: pull her into my arms to give her a deep kiss.
"What was that for?" she asks when we break apart, a broad smile lighting up her face as she looks up at me.
"I just felt like it", I reply and return her smile before I bend down to kiss her again. Suddenly she jumps into my arms, her legs wrapped around my waist. I put my arms around her tighter to support her weight and without a word I carry her into the bedroom, closing the door after us so that we won't be disturbed by Jethro.
Now, a couple of hours later, she's lying in my arms, her slender body pressed against mine as she rests her head on my chest. I could stay like this forever, just lying here watching her sleep while the soft, warm light from the candles on the bedside tables flickers across her face. I'm reluctant to blow them out, because then this moment will be gone forever. We will probably have a moment like this another time, but it will be nothing like this and I want it to last for as long as possible. I pull my fingers through her soft, black hair and watch the satisfied smile on her face. I want to kiss her again, but that would probably wake her up.
Instead I press my lips to the top of hear head before wrapping my arms even tighter around her. Sometimes I can't believe that I actually can call her mine. The events that led us here are still a bit blurry to me, but those are not so important anymore. What is important though is that I can do this every night and keep doing it possibly for the rest of my life.
I lie there for a little while longer before I feel that sleep is really about to overpower me now. Carefully so not to awake my beautiful, sleeping Goth, I blow out the candles and then I snuggle a little closer to her in the dark before I close my eyes. The last thing I am aware of before I let sleep take over me is her special scent in my nose and the sound of her slow, peaceful breathing and puffs of her warm breath on my naked chest. I sigh deeply and then I let my self drift of to the land of dreams.
In that moment I know I've never been happier.
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The End