Tonight is ours.
So I ditch the thought quickly, scrunching the foil into a ball.
???
It’s happening.
The gentle chirring of frogs at dusk is the opening act.
Then the first scattering of stars appear.
Only a few hours to go before we see them in all their glory.
We lay back to watch my galaxy blanket unfold across the ether.
This ancient cosmos that I’ve missed so dearly.
Still the same.
Still mine.
Now ours.
My voice is hushed, in case I scare them away.
“Even if we left right now, it’d be worth every minute to have seen this one last time.”
Amos holds out his hand, raising me to my feet.
There we stand, two souls held captive by a majestic velvet array.
And for the longest time, neither of us utter a word.
“Almost your birthday,” he whispers at last.
His lips trace their way from ear to shoulder, then meet my mouth softly.
Something about the way this man kisses me makes me burn with desire.
But beneath all that, I realise that this is the safest I’ve ever felt in this town.
Not just his protective arms around me, or the fact that I’m now grown.
It’s the way that Amos trulyseesme.
The way he's taught me to see myself.
God, those words are so close on the tip of my tongue.
I love you.
I imagine saying it out loud.
You have no idea how much I love you.
“All those stars you drew in pencil in that notebook every time you missed her,” he sighs. “That kid was brave as hell. And he'sstillbrave as hell.”
“Sometimes he's brave,” I confess. “Not always.”
