I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

don’t know if the stars will shine or if the sun will be here tomorrow,
but I trust the stars. I trust the sun too.”
“I don’t understand,” I breathe.
Sam’s heart beats against mine. The rush of blood coursing through
his neck, the pulse I can feel calms me. His aliveness, his heat–it all
feels so uncertain, but his heart, even if I fear it will stop, keeps
going.
“I hoped for you, once,” Sam says after a while. “I dreamt, with all my
heart, for someone, anyone in the world to be mine.” He holds me
tighter. His hand snakes through my hair, and a tear rolls down his
face to mimic.
I can only think as he touches me that his hands are mine, as he
kisses my cheek that his lips are mine, as he talks that his words are
mine. That he is mine. My light, my reason. I wonder if my wish for
answers came true. I wonder if we were each other’s wishes.
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s okay,” Sam whispers. “It doesn’t have to make sense.”
We don’t talk anymore after that.
He just kisses my face till the sun rises.
now
Autumn descends upon our city. Jaded greens fade into tan oranges
and sulky reds, tinges of yellow blooming in the cold.
I wrap my arms around Hikari’s waist. Melodies like piano notes
escape her in mumbles, a loose fabric dress fanning her bare legs.
She folds Neo’s freshly washed shirts and hoodies (most of which
aren’t his), dropping each item onto the windowsill.