Tomorrow
In which Lily finds the words to say what she's wanted to for quite a while.
When Lily and Ethan stepped out of the hospital after their shifts, they both immediately shivered. The temperature had dropped a good three or four degrees since they'd last felt fresh air, at lunchtime. Now, the light was fading too and it was undeniably cold.
"Well, there's no confusing the seasons now," Lily remarked, buttoning her coat right up as they walked away from the E.D. "It's definitely autumn." She put her hands in her pockets, in the absence of gloves.
The last few days had seen the weather err between summer and autumn, temperatures and weather conditions fluctuating wildly. But tonight, there was no warmth left in the air whatsoever: the wind whistling between rows of terraced houses was bitter.
"Don't you just love it, though?" Ethan said wistfully, watching his breath rise in reluctant puffs in front of his face before hiding back behind his thick scarf. "It's so crisp, and it's almost Christmas." He looped his arm around Lily's before putting his hands in his pockets too.
"We haven't even had Halloween, yet. How can you be excited for Christmas?" Lily asked, slightly disbelieving. She hunched her shoulders, vowing to wear better clothes tomorrow.
"I'm always excited for Christmas," Ethan replied firmly.
They walked on, chatting mundanely about their day, Ethan arguing his case for why Christmas was the best time of year and why autumn came a close second.
"It's all the good parts of Christmas: hot drinks, warm jumpers and rained off plans –"
"You'd do anything for rained-off plans," Lily countered, wishing she was wearing a warm jumper right now. She wouldn't say no to wearing one of Ethan's jumpers, either. She pulled her arm free of Ethan's then wriggled her hand into his pocket until their palms touched and their fingers found their familiar linked position. "Anything to stay in with a good book."
"Anything to stay in with you and a good book," Ethan corrected. "Autumn is all the best bits of Christmas, minus the chaos. It's so pure and cold."
Having reached the point where their paths parted, they stopped walking. They hesitated on this street corner, feeling a little like love-struck teenagers in their permanent uncertainty over what to do next and their reluctance to separate.
"I'll give you the victory, autumn is very nice," Lily said, her teeth beginning to chatter lightly, "but the key part of what you just said, is cold. I'll see you in the morning." She hated that Ethan seemed to have this wonderful way with words and she seemed so heartless and boring by comparison.
"You really are cold, aren't you?" Ethan said, concerned.
"I'll be fine."
She let go of Ethan's hand and took a step away, before he called her back.
"Wait a second," he said, before pulling his scarf out from the top of his coat and wrapping it around his girlfriend's neck, tying it securely.
Lily shivered, but not because she was cold. The scarf held some residual heat from Ethan. She wanted to keep it on and never take it off, but – "Won't you be cold now?"
"Maybe, but my walk is shorter than yours, and you're already cold," he said, shrugging a little as he adjusted his coat collar.
"Thank you," Lily breathed. "I think this is just about the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. You're … you're unbelievable, but you're excellent." Her assessment of him could have been so much better, but she couldn't help herself being slightly starstruck by his kindness.
"Excellent? You think so?" Ethan said, biting his lip and raising his eyebrows.
Lily smiled. The scarf smelled like him in all the right ways. "I think so."
"Tomorrow, then?"
"Tomorrow, and the next day, and the next."
At last, after the briefest of kisses, they parted for the evening. The streetlights were almost all on, glowing weakly in the less-than-half light.
About ten paces down the road, Lily had a sudden flash of inspiration. She turned back around and ran the short distance until she had caught up with Ethan.
"What are you doing?" he said, letting out a tiny laugh. They were standing by a set of traffic lights beside a busy road.
Lily was slightly breathless, her heart beating with anticipation more than exertion. "I had to tell you… you said all the things you love about autumn. And you have to know, that my best thing about autumn…" She looked down at her shoes, bashful although this was an emotion she felt so rarely. "I get to share it with you." For a second, there was silence. And then Ethan hugged her so hard that he lifted her a few inches off the ground. Lily kissed him properly, her hands in his hair. Their noses were still touching, both of them cold now from being outside for so long, when Lily whispered, "tomorrow."