"Do all movies look this fantastic?" Jem asked.
It was late at night. They were lying on top of the bed sheets, still in the clothes they had worn earlier that day. Tessa's head was on Jem's chest, and Jem was running his fingers through her long, brown hair.
"Some are, others are not as visually-appealing, and some look even better," she replied.
"Better. How is that even possible?" Jem mused. "Humans have made so much progress over the last century. All these bright lights, vehicles, buildings and cities are unbelievable. I still get amazed when I see a colored photograph, not to mention these moving pictures. Everything, simply everything, in this century is just so fascinating."
"Then you must not have heard the music," Tessa said, lifting her head to look at him.
"Well, almost everything then. I don't even know how people call some of it music."
"You know, some would get very mad at you for insulting their favorite songs," she said smiling.
"I'm sorry for upsetting them, but I just don't understand it. I came from the time of classical music. A time where people spent their whole lives learning to play instruments, learning how to write music and conduct orchestras. A time where people traveled across the world by boat for a chance to hear what they called the next 'Mozart' or 'Beethoven'. Now, people used computer generated sounds and repeat the same words and call it music. Some of it is good I guess, but as for the rest, I think I will stick with the classics."
"The music is hard to get used to," she admitted. "But you'll still play for me, right?"
"My darling, Tessa. There is no one else I'd rather play for." He kissed her then, softly and slowly. Tessa smiled into the kiss and she felt Jem smile back.
When they finally broke apart, Jem looked at her and said, "You know, I very much enjoyed this day."
"You must have really liked the movie."
Tessa felt Jem's laugh under her head. "It wasn't just the movie, or even the experience that made this day for me. It was sharing the experience with you."
Tessa pecked his cheek. "We could do it again you know. Perhaps next Friday?"
"I would be delighted," Jem whispered, placing a kiss at the top of her head. "And this time I'll pay for the tickets."
Tessa yawned softly. "Okay, but then I'm paying for the food." She felt her eyelids get heavy.
Jem chuckled, and he too began to feel drowsy. "I'm fine with that." He placed a last kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, my love."
They fell asleep like that, Jem's arms wrapped around Tessa, his hands over hers and her head on his chest
And the next Friday, they did in fact return to the cinema. And the following Friday after that. It soon became a custom. Every Friday they had free, they would go to the movie theaters. Sometimes they would catch premiers of movies (especially if it was based on a book Tessa read) or go early in the mourning when barely anyone was there and they'd have the whole theater to themselves.
But no matter what or when, Jem was true to what he told Tessa before his first movie. Whatever film they saw, Jem enjoyed it, and not because that was how much he loved movies. It was because he was watching it with Tessa. It was because for every film he saw, he got to be with the girl he loved, the girl he planned be with for the rest of his life.