In Love, Spin Atoms (AU)
Love is confusing.
He's known it for a while. At first, he didn't realise it, and he was fine. His enthusiasm just carried him forwards without faltering, an unstoppable force in the face of insurmountable odds.
But when he finally came to rest, riddled with bullets, he realised exactly what had happened to him. He was in love. And, even if he could move his legs, he wouldn't, because he felt so damn dizzy, like the atoms in his brain had suddenly all been dumped on a turntable and whizzed a couple hundred times.
By the time he could move his legs again without collapsing, the dizzyness had disappeared. It was the beginning of a great, yawning void in his life, a time of recovery from massive illnesses. He forgot a lot of things, and, in his absence, forgot what love was like, even if he never forgot the one who gave it to him.
"Zack, that's got no relevance at all, you know," she says, pulling her gloves back on. "I asked why you were so bad at sparring today."
"No relevance? Well, as an old friend used to say, there's no loss in not knowing," he grins, nursing his jaw.
He gets to his feet again, and dusts himself down. He got rusty when he was in recovery. Before he can put up a guard, she's already upon him. He feels her glove hit him once, twice, three times in the face, and staggers back. The world swims in front of his eyes.
In love, or just punch drunk? He sometimes wonders if there's any difference.