"She thinks she loves him." A pause. "What a load."
"Excuse me?"
"She thinks she loves him," he mimics, dramatically placing a hand over his heart. A minute later he is crumbling from laughter. She glares and waits for him to calm down.
"Are you finished?"
"Yup," he says wiping a stray tear from his eyes. Noticing her look, his face becomes somber and then curious just as fast. He couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to. "What's this for?"
"None of your business." She shifts slightly to the sun so that her back is to him. He comes around so that they are facing again. She moves a second time.
"Oh come on, you can't write something like that and expect me not to say anything."
"Well that's what normal people would do," she fires back.
"Well I'm not normal people." She stares at him. "Anyway," he continues, "it's such a cliche. I think you'd know if you loved someone or not."
"Nope."
"No?"
"No. That's not how it happens, at least, that's not what I believe."
"What about love at first sight? Come on, you have to believe in that."
"I do," she says and smiles at the way he becomes confused.
"But you said no one would know if they fell in love."
"Yeah, people don't." She grabs his hands and places one over his heart. Then, she rests one against the side of his head. "Love starts here." She squeezes his hand on his heart. "It finishes here." She squeezes the hand on his head. He blushes at their proximity and pulls away.
"I don't follow," he finally manages.
"Love isn't all in the heart. Sure, it recognizes the emotions, but none of that is expressed until you recognize it. Love at first sight exists for everyone, but not everyone sees it when it happens. It's dumb to think that everyone has that immediate connection. Some people hate each other the first time they meet, but even then there's love. It just hasn't connected." She looks at him earnestly. Throughout the whole explanation her eyes had been downcast, nervous. But now, now she is looking at him. He hopes he doesn't screw up.
"So it's a connection problem?" She nods relieved and he sighs.
"They're like wires," she says drawing an invisible line from her heart to her head. "Sometimes it's fast, and sometimes it takes time." She lays back, staring at the clouds. "I know it's used a lot in the wrong way, when it's so obvious already two people are in love. Like why even bother, when it's already obvious, and they're having dinner or doing something romantic? That's not when that moment happens. It's almost always something simple, just like the thought." She pauses. "Nothing is more honest than that moment when your heart and your head connect." She traces an imaginary line between the clouds. "Logic and passion unite."
He lays down next to her. She looks at him expectantly. Her hand stills in the air and then drops next to his. They are hesitating, stretched, but rooted in place. He glances at the gap between them and closes it. She smiles.
He thinks he loves her.