My phone vibrates in my hand and our fingers disconnect as he walks forward to study the painting in front of us. When I glance down at the name painted across the screen, my eyebrows draw down with curiosity. After clicking on the message, I open the picture and immediately my eyes widen in shock. The image of Dominic skydiving with his thumb up has me chuckling in surprise. I didn't think he would actually do it. Last week, he told me he would, but I didn't take him seriously.
"What is it?" Kai muses, trying to peek over at my phone curiously.
I turn it over and show him the picture.
"Holy," he exclaims, grabbing my phone to take a closer look. "He went skydiving? I did not think he was actually going to do it."
"Mm-hmm."
"We should go skydiving," he suggests after handing me my phone back and before switching it off, I grin down at my wallpaper, a boy who is distractedly smiling at a bird underneath a lone streetlight in front of a tree.
When his words hit me, I blink in astonishment and look at him like he has just grown a second head before violently shaking my head from side to side while stuffing my phone back into the back pocket of my trousers.
He smiles in amusement. "By the way, are you still taking me to the place?"
"Yeah, of course." After cautiously glancing around, I ask him, "Wanna bail?"
"Oh, God. I thought you'd never ask."
He grabs my hand and together we run out of the gallery while giggling like a pair of mischievous teenagers. Sabina is definitely going to tear us a new one when she next sees us, but I don't think either of us can sit through the opening of her gallery. I'm proud of her for this accomplishment, she truly worked hard, but this shit is too boring for me to sit through. As an apology, I'll take some of the lunch money I receive from my bursary and send her a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Once we get to his car, he tosses me the keys and jogs over to the passenger seat. I crouch down into the driver seat and as usual, he leans over to buckle my seatbelt on for me because I still forget that it's a necessary safety precaution that I need to have one on before turning the engine on.
The GPS lady announces that the drive from the gallery to Radcliffe Observatory isn't going to take very long being that the observatory is in the same city.
To fill in the silence, Kai turns the radio on and the sound of a familiar Miley Cyrus song emits from the speakers.
As the sun is beginning to set on the horizon, creating a warm orange hue across the sky, the pink on my right vividly reminds me of something delectable like pink cotton candy, my gaze quickly flickers to my peripheral vision to see him hanging his head out of the window, his eyes fluttering closed and a subconscious, easy-going smile on his face. The breeze rushing by ruffles through his hair. He looks truly at peace.
Upon arrival, we get checked by security and when we show her our document indicating written permission from the university and tell her that we're here for the special event, she nods and waves us in through the entrance.
At some point, I grow tired of steering the car through the filled-up car park. Finding a parking space seems almost impossible but when Kai directs me around since he has been here before, we eventually manage to find one. Surprisingly, my parking job isn't as sloppy as it usually is. Gripped by the excited jitters, he struggles to get his door open and after coming over to my side of the car, he grips my hand and intertwines our fingers. The look on his face has me feeling a bit of the same excitement.
"This is going to be so sick. We're about to see the Perseid meteor shower."
Even though I haven't got a scooby about what he is speaking about, I nod my head in agreement. Impatiently, he drags me along with him into the observatory.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to see this," he says to me, breathless from rushing all the way up to the center of the observatory where the telescope mount is positioned.
Around us, a few people and students alike, steal their spots against the railing and stare up into the darkening night sky with bated breath. We too step up to nab a spot for ourselves. Kai says something about wanting a go on the telescope later on when the crowd thins and then he pulls his glasses out of their case along with the familiar colourful handkerchief that he once used to dry my shirt when he spilt my slushy on me all those years ago. At least, I thought it was a handkerchief back then. I didn't realise it was a microfibre cloth.
"Why do you still have that ugly cloth?" I muse teasingly as he fits his glasses over the bridge of his nose and wordlessly, he wrinkles his nose at my comment.
"Shut up, the meteor shower is about to begin." He grabs my arm and shakes me about while bursting with excitement.
I glance up just in time to see the first flash of light darting brightly across the black blanket of the sky. Gasps and chatter begin to grow among the crowd, and it draws my gaze back down onto Kai's face to see what he thinks of the start of the meteor shower.
His eyes light up like a child on Christmas day seeing presents underneath the tree for the very first time. I can't help but think about how beautiful he is. This year has been kind to him.
"If you keep staring at me, you're gonna miss the meteor shower," he says to me with a cheeky grin without even having to take his eyes off the sky.
I guess he could feel my stare on his face from how long I was watching him. Even after he tells me that I'm missing the meteor shower, my gaze remains stuck on his face. I don't want to miss his reaction to the meteor shower. Bun off the meteor shower itself, I don't care for it. I only went out of my way to research and plan my schedule around this event for him, because I knew how long and how highly anticipated this was for him; not because I wanted to see the Perseid meteor shower.
As the sliver of light from both the moon and stars dance across his heterochromatic eyes, his dark hair flutters in the gentle breeze that the night carries through the air. My heart beats in rhythm with the golden flutter of butterflies in the depths of my thoracic cavity. For in this delicate moment, a feeling sparks up inside me. A familiar feeling. It lingers within me, growing stronger with each passing second—an irresistible desire to confess boundless something to him.
The longer my eyes travel across the lines of his beautiful, soft features, the heart-fluttering dimples on his cheeks and the slight crinkles in the corners of his eyes, the surer I am about the feeling growing within the expense of my chest.
Autumn warmth.
"I love you."
My words are quiet and almost whispered, but he hears me because instantly, his eyes widen and the placid smile on his face drops. Then his head turns to face me and the intensity in his gaze causes me to gulp nervously.
My heart skips a beat either out of fear or something else entirely. It could be because I just confessed to loving someone for the first time. Each syllable held the weight of my deepest emotions and the louder our silence grows, the more affirming these feelings get and I realise I have longed to express them. Then I begin to grow anxious, waiting to hear what his response will be. I don't expect him to say it back. As long as he acknowledges my feelings for him, I will be satisfied with just that.
"Did you just say what I think you said?" he stammers, seemingly stunned out of his mind.
I slowly bob my head up and down, knowing that if I even attempted to speak, I'd probably squeak like a mouse.
A large smile breaks out over his face which has the tension escaping my body and I almost melt into a puddle before him from relief.
He's not angry. That's a good start.
He brings his hand up to my cheek and the tips of his fingers dance around my face. Teasing feathery touches. When he fully cups the side of my face, his palm feels warm against my usually freezing skin. I don't fail to notice the slight tremor in his grasp and calmly, I bring my hand up to envelope his in mine. My eyes meet his sincere gaze and, in his eyes, I find the reflection of my own affection. In between us, an electric fervency simmers and an immense amount of energy crackles loudly.
Then he smashes his lips on mine, desperately moving his mouth against mine. I inhale the familiar scent of old spice coming from him, melting into the tingling on my lips as I deepen the kiss between us, pouring my entire heart into it. It is his, after all, I've just given it to him, fragile and held in his hands. He can do with it whatever he pleases. At this very moment, I feel everything around us is getting swallowed into an abyss of nothingness, leaving just the two of us floating above the chasm.
His hands on me are tender and send waves of warmth coursing through my veins, igniting that familiar fluttering passion in my stomach. He pulls me in closer to him, trying to get rid of whatever distance remains between us. My hands come up to cup his face; they tremble with vulnerability yet brim with unwavering certainty.
When he eventually pulls away, his sweet kiss still lingers on my mouth. This time it's not him who has to close his eyes to gather himself.
"I love you too," he softly whispers in the gentle breeze.
For the first few seconds, I have a hard time processing what he just said to me. His words, though delicate like petals falling from a rose to softly land everywhere around me, sound almost foreign. I merely stand there in the darkness of my blind state, nervous tension still gripping me in its clammy hands, filling me with a cumbersome feeling. But the second it sinks in that he just told me that he loves me too, the words create a tender melody that dances upon my ears. Loudly, until it is all I hear.
After fluttering my eyes open, I press my forehead against his and a wide smile breaks out on my face. With a light heat burning along the lines of my nose and cheeks, I muse, seeking confirmation, "You do?"
With a hint of amusement glimmering in his beautiful eyes, he lets out a little chuckle and muses, "Why do you sound so surprised?"
Instead of responding to his enquiry, I immediately happily lean into him to kiss him again, my smile staining his lips with the feeling of joy coursing through my body.
And in the end, we both miss the Perseid meteor shower, but I think, I would rather soak up the enchantment of this ethereal instant instead.
Forever.