The rain beat down upon our heads, but still we stood, unmoving. You towards the train, me towards my car. Above us, the
faint rumble of lightning could be heard.
"So..." you said, shifting slightly.
So, yes, it had come to this. You must leave and being again in a new city, and I must stay behind here.
Our lives were pulling us apart, but still we stood here. Stalling the inevitable. Pretending that we would still be lovers after this day. Pretending that our lives would ever be the same again.
"
I don't know how to do this."
No shit. How do you say goodbye to someone like you? You're not alone in this ignorance, trust me. This feeling is new to me as well.
How easy it is to speak of being emotionally strong when you're emotionally comfortable. I'd definitely learned that this past week, as the realization that
we would no longer be we. It would be you and I.
"We just need to say
goodbye."
We just need to build a
time machine. We just need to travel
faster than light. We just need to pretend that this isn't going to hurt. We just need to choke back our tears.
She was going to say something more, but I just shook my head.
"I still love you."
I pity the man who hears this from the woman that he knows must walk away from him.
"I always will."
You have exactly two minutes to board the train, I say.
Her eyes plead with me.
Tell me something, they say. Anything. Ease this. Make it easier. Please.
I blink.
The crash of more thunder.
We were both soaked.
She sees my tears, as if for the first time, mingling with the rain.
One minute until her train leaves. She has to go. Now. Zero hour.
She moves closer.
Fifty-five seconds.
I feel her breath on my face, and I get flashbacks. I remember feeling that same breath as I awoke in the morning to see her looking at me. The times I truly recognized how much she cared; those times when I caught her at caring.
Earnest in a way that one can only be when unobserved.
Forty-five seconds.
I tell her so.
She puts her arms around me.
"Do you still love me?"
I want to tell her yes. I want to shout this at the top of my lungs, so everyone can hear.
I nod. The
rain pours over us.
"
So just kiss me."
fiction...
This was inspired by the node title of
so just kiss me.