His finger lifted, and my eyes struggled to see where his gesture would lead. They lifted higher in the dim twilight, past a few flecks of light on the deep color of the horizon. It finally halted, and I smiled softly.
“Every time I see it, I see you,” he said softly, the night breeze carrying the words towards me before they could disappear.
We stood there, close enough to touch, the warmth of the summer air around us and the humidity breathing moisture left over from showers earlier that day. My fingers tingled, butterflies dancing on my sensitive skin rather than settling in my stomach. I wanted his hand in mine, but we both knew our boundaries. Some things, when started, could never be stopped.
A thick crescent, the moon poured down light, and I looked over at him, his head tilted back slightly as he looked to the night sky. Not at all the person I expected to stand here beside me at this moment in time, but perhaps that made it all the sweeter. Something I hadn't asked for or even thought I needed. Still, I wasn't quite sure what label to put on him.
“If I am the moon, then what does that make you?” I asked him.
He looked at me, and his expression caught me off guard. He'd always been so readable, his lips quick to smile or laugh, his eyes full of whatever emotion he felt. In that moment, it felt like the entire weight of his existence and mine, the power of it forcing my heart to race as I relived our shared past with him. The laughter, the tears, the joy, the sorrow, the affection... How could so much be conveyed with a glance? Still, he managed to do so, his features finally settling into that soft, fond gaze he always seemed to have for me.
“Well, I'm definitely not the sun,” he laughed, running his hand over his head. “I'm not bright enough for that.”
He shot me a look just as I parted my lips to say something, closing them reluctantly. A bad habit of his, and sometimes I wish the humility was false.
“Then you are the earth,” I replied. “Holding me in close to you with your pull, letting me influence you as I may.”
“So you'll always be just close enough, but never too close, huh?”
The words stung a little as most of them tended to. Truth always seemed to have a bittersweet flavor when he fed it to me.
“For now, perhaps. But all it really takes is for something to shift...to change... and who knows what the future might bring.”
Our eyes met once more, briefly, since I knew I probably couldn't stand to see what was there. All I really wanted at this moment was to keep standing here, the moon slowly dancing across the sky with its celestial entourage. The only thing that was missing was his hand in mine.
