"The aim of every human being is to understand the meaning of total love." – Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes.

Autumn swept over quickly. The sight of falling orange leaves was changed to leafless trees, just lonely branches waiting for some company over the cold. Austin was so used to Miami's heat, the coldness of Miami's winter was unfriendly to him.

His fingers turned numb as he strutted along the sidewalk, people who had winter much worse than him would mock him, but the chilly breeze blew on him making his heart bitter every minute. Different people passed by him with different coloured coats, push past him unwantedly, wanting to feel the warmth of their home.

Austin didn't understand those people. How warm and welcoming were their homes, really? Would their families greet them with kisses and hot coffees? Would they watch TV together as a family? The thoughts seemed so foreign in his mind. Every time he goes home, he was always greeted with the sight of his mother crying, and everyday, he watched his heart break from small pieces to big ones.

She told him not to worry, but of course he did.

He was so lost in his tangled thoughts he forgot how the evening turned so stinging. He blew hot breaths on his hands for warmth and looked at the coffee shop he saw by the end of the street. Austin was about to enter the oh-so-warm-looking café when a voice was heard from his opposite direction.

"Excuse me, do you mind helping me cross the street?"

Anyone would expect an old lady to ask for such thing, and she was the last person he had thought he would see around a random street. His lips curved into a smile and it felt so alien because he hadn't done that for a while. He decided to please himself.

"I would, young lady, but I need to drink some coffee first, or I might freeze to death."

Ally laughed to her best effort to look right where he was, but he knew he had appreciated just that. "Okay, Austin, I'll wait."

"You think I'm going to let you stay outside? No, you're coming with me." He took her cold hand and guided her to the coffee shop.

As Austin and Ally opened the door, the ringing of bells welcomed them, signaling the café that a customer – or two in this case – had arrived. The shop was cozy, with the strong smell of coffee beans and wood. Austin sat Ally on the counter as he sat himself beside her.

The barista had poured their cups with black coffees as complementary and Ally warmed her numb fingers on the curves of the white cup. Austin sipped his cup and cringed at the bitterness.

No wonder they gave it out for free, it's horrible.

He took two spoonful of sugar when Ally started to break the silence.

"I don't like black coffees." She pushed aside her unwanted cup of coffee a little further from her.

"Neither do I." And their laughs filled the emptiness of the shop.

Drizzles started to drip from the sky and they both stayed silent listening to the sound of rain.

Austin glanced at Ally, who sat with her short legs dangling down from the chair. She wore a cute cat sweater and a loose skirt that reached her knee, her hair was not in her usual ponytail but was more relaxed as she let her hair down, and it reminded him of chocolate. And he looked at her sleek fingers and hand on the counter, it looked so soft and all he wanted was to –

"I guess we're stuck here for a while, huh?" Ally said, breaking any thoughts Austin had of her. He was flushed red that the previous barista tried hard not to laugh at him.

"Huh? Y-yeah."

"You know, I really like you Austin. You're always so nice trying to help me when no one else want to."

He didn't know if he could get redder than he already was, but if he could he would. Why was he even feeling all these weird sensations? It was probably from the bitter coffee. "You're w-wel-welcome."

The coffee in his cup slowly turned cold as the rain grew heavier, he didn't know how much longer he was going to stay with Ally but it didn't mean he minded.

He looked at her and saw that here he was, with this beautiful girl who he had known nothing about, and yet he was so loss at words.

"How long have you been, you know, visually…impaired?" Austin tried to choose his words carefully; he didn't want her to feel offended.

Ally took a while to answer, and Austin suddenly felt ashamed of asking such question, he knew he had no right to pry. Besides, she might feel embarrassed or maybe angry that he asked that. "Since I was born."

He gulped in guilt and drank his cold coffee.

"But I know that I was blind for a reason. It wasn't a curse; I accept it as a gift. I have something that other people don't. I can do things other people can't. I can hear and feel. Whether others can only see, but not know what's behind what they saw."

Austin involuntarily played with her sleek fingers and he was surprised she didn't sweep his hand away. "I'm sorry I asked, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, I'm glad you asked, actually. It's rare to find someone who bothers to ask." It was Ally's turn to put her hand above his, and held it firmly.

Her hand was soft, as he had predicted, and he glimpsed at Ally, who was smiling and somewhere, deep down his heart, he was hoping it was because of him. But he quickly brushed that theory off.

"If you were able to see, what would you want to see the most?" Austin questioned very deliberately that it almost sounded like a whisper.

"The sunset and sunrise. I hear it's beautiful." She sighed, "and love. I want to see love. I want to see the expression of love. I want to see how people express their love to one another."

Austin took his hand away from hers and scoffed. "Why would you ever want to see love? It's devastating. I must tell you that people cry because of love, not smile. It brings sadness, hardly happiness."

She titled her head to the side and shook her head helplessly at him. "That's a rather cynical comment about love."

"I'm cynical about love."

They sat in muteness as the barista took the cold cups of black coffee and replaced them with fresh cups that they hardly touched.

"Why? Isn't love a wonderful thing?" she finally dared herself to ask. He sounded so determined about his statement; she felt all those thoughts about the beauty of love to whisper themselves away.

He felt bad about saying what he had said, after all, it was her dream and he crushed it with his harsh words. "I'm sorry, it's just…I can't see love bringing anything good for now. My parents are divorced, it shows me that love ends, it isn't timeless. It has expiration dates."

Ally took his hand. " But what about those couples that are happily married?"

He shrugged in defeat. " I don't know what magic they use to stay in love." Austin said in a childlike manner.

She grinned and held his arm. She couldn't help notice how leaned he was and Austin was amused.

"You know what they say; when one door closes, another one opens."

/

Not only did he help her cross the street, he pretty much walked her all the way home. Austin came home with a wet self and a bunch of questions from his mother.

"I'm fine, mum." He told her.

He couldn't fully distinguish what Ally had said the other night: "You know what they say; when one door closes, another one opens."

What did that mean? He had to google the sentence to get it. One answer was that it meant when you finish with one aspect of your life, another one would take it place, whether if it were good or bad.

Ally might not be able to see the good and bad things in life, but she could feel them. How could someone with the lack of sight believe such beauties of life when he couldn't?

So, for the next few days, all that was there in Austin's mind were Ally's words and…Ally.

thanks for reading :) and thank you so much for the lovely reviews (and follows and favourites) they encourage me to keep on writing.

*also, thanks to the anonymous reviewer who suggest i write with contractions, i took your advice, thank you :)