"It's cute how ya expected me not to know already."
Caitlin smirked as Seth flushed a light shade of red. "It was that obvious?"
"Just a bit... What made ya come 'round?"
He shrugged. "You only live once, I guess."
"Aye... endings are shite, but everything ends eventually. Might as well make the beginnings as good as we can, right?"
He nodded and smiled.
"Funny how it takes us so long to figure that out... I think it's incredible that all this crap in the world goes on, like war and crime and pain... when the truth is that we really need each other. All of us do. All of us. I wouldn't be able to live alone, in a world full o' hate like this... There'd be no point in livin'. But here, we get held back by so much. Fear, uncertainty, doubt, mistrust... even though we need each other. Crazy, yeah?"
"...that is crazy... I never really looked at it like that..."
"There's a theory out there that says we try to distract ourselves from death too much... that hiding it from our awareness and making these medicines to help us live longer are just attempts to distract us from the fact that we'll all die at some point. And it works on a lot of people. But the problem is that we're still unconsciously aware that we'll die, even if we don't consciously acknowledge it. It's that unconscious awareness that causes anxiety and dread that end up turning into things like aggression and hatred."
"I guess that makes sense..."
"Aye. Just a theory, but a fair interesting one."
"Yeah..."
"But anyway." She grinned and looked over at him, the midday sun producing a slight glow in her blonde hair. "Time is short. We shouldn't be spendin' it talkin' about stuff like this. Whaya say?"
"Couldn't agree more," he said, grinning at her.
- - -
Keely softly cleared her throat as she walked alongside Phil on a path in St. Stephen's Green. The sun reflected off small ponds by the side of the narrow paved paths
"So... I know you were thinking I forgot for the whole day, but.... I got you a li'l something. For your bi- ahh, NIRDay," she self-corrected, as she reached into her pocket. He grinned at her as she procured a brilliant silver ring from her pocket. "I know, it's jewelry and not manly and all that, but everything else just seemed contrived, and I didn't want to get you something stupid, so I thought...."
"Ohh, wow, Keel..." he gasped, gently taking it in his hands and inspecting it closely. It bore the inscription grá anois agus go deo. He butchered the pronunciation as he tried to read it aloud. She giggled and taught him how to say it properly.
"It means 'love now and forever'," she explained.
"I love it," he grinned, and gave her a kiss.
She smiled at him in return before watching her shoes as they ambled along.
"What's up?" he asked, upon seeing her expression.
"Oh, nothing, it's just... This whole Tia drama has got me thinking, Phil..."
"About what?" he asked hesitantly.
"Like... I know they weren't the best couple in the first place, but..."
"You're worried we're gonna grow tired of each other..." he deduced in a resigned tone.
"Y...yeah?" she forced out, after biting her lip over it. "I mean, it's just that we're really different, you and I. I mean, you come from the future," she reminded him, dropping her voice. "I just... seeing Owen go after that Siobhan girl just got me thinking...."
"Keel—"
"I mean, I could see why he did; she was really pretty, and from the two sentences I heard her say, she seemed kind of nice, but...
He chuckled. "That's my Keel. Always so quick to judge."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You- you know what I mean...."
"I just... I don't get it."
"It's Owen."
"No, not that..."
"Then what?"
"...why me?"
"Oh, Keel..." he said, sighing and rubbing his chin.
"I mean, I'm not the prettiest girl in the world! I'm not the nicest! I'm definitely not the smartest! Why me, Phil? Why would a person like you, who's used to all the sophisticated girls from the future, go after a small-town girl like me?"
"Okay, first off," he said with a slight laugh, "teenage girls have not changed in the future—"
"So there's still... There's still Vias and Taras and Alices in the future though!"
"Okay, I never liked Tara. She is an ice queen. Alice turned me into somebody I wasn't... and Via..." He paused as he thought of a nice way to phrase his thoughts. "Via is not exactly what I'd consider girlfriend material. She's a bit..."
Keely raised her eyebrows, waiting for Phil to finish his sentence.
"It doesn't matter," he said, waving his hand. "Look... I could seriously go on for hours about why I love you, Keel... you know me better than anyone I've ever met, and you're willing to accept me for the things I am, and the things I'm not."
She watched him silently, not wanting to interrupt the flow.
"It just.... it feels right when I'm with you, Keely. That's really the only way to explain it. It feels right to me. You feel right to me."
She sighed and stopped walking, glancing around.
"Is that not good enough?"
She shrugged and opened her mouth, only managing to get out, "I.... I..."
"Okay.... okay," he said, nodding and pacing around in front of her. "Okay. The other night. When we were outside the hotel. Remember that?"
"...Yeah..."
"We were just outside the front door, and as you were talking, our eyes locked. My breathing stopped. And just for that one moment, it was just you and I in the world, and nobody else existed. I could no longer feel the cold, or the wind. Look at me. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't feel that way about me."
His brown eyes made contact with her watery ones, and a grin broke out across his face. "Phil...." she cooed, smiling at him as she clasped her hands together and pressed them to her left cheek.
"That's why, Keel..."
She nodded and let out a small laugh. "Good enough for me."