Home

In that instant I was completely unaware of whether or not I was breathing. There was only him.

“Hi.” He said nervously.

I watched the way his mouth moved as the words flowed off of them, his eyes astray, unsure. His voice ran through me like electricity.

“Hi.” I answered, more strength in my voice than I had anticipated.

We didn’t need permission, we hardly needed to hesitate as we both walked forward and wrapped our arms around each other. His head was on mine and I relaxed further into his chest, then his arms tightened around me.

We breathed. The deep breath we had been holding escaped slowly and freely, breaking down the last wall. I closed my eyes and took in his scent. He rubbed my back a moment with his hands then they moved up, resting on my neck.

I looked up and he rested his forehead on mine. No words were spoken. He kissed me soft and quick and I returned it. Then he kissed me again, longer, fuller, leaving a breath behind.

Despite everything I was feeling at that moment, there was only one word that I could describe it all with: home.

He stopped and lowered his hands to my waist and I gingerly took them in mine as he took a deep breath.

He looked me in the eyes, nervousness gone, a bright light in its place.

“Let’s go somewhere.” He whispered.

I couldn’t resist the huge smile that spread across my face.

“Okay.”

I was surprised by how we nearly rushed to his car, smiling the whole time. The radio came on loudly once he started the car, but he turned it down enough that it became background noise. Nevertheless, we didn’t speak.

I didn’t know where we were going and I didn’t care, just as long as he stayed with me.