I love you

Dante sat next to Amelia on the floor and just stayed there in silence while she cried. That was exactly what she needed from him, to be there, to let her know she could open her mouth and blur it all out, or just remain silent and allow him to pick up the little pieces of her soul that he knew she lost every time she was sad. Dante was very much aware of Amelia's emotional map, and he followed her trails and her back roads with ease, and entered every village and every single town knowing he was always welcome there. And Amelia loved that about him. She needed it. A very much unspoken truth that only they knew about, and hardly anybody else could comprehend.

It all probably went back to the days when they met six years ago. They were both relatively new to town and had been struggling to fit in for months. Amelia missed the ocean she used to be able to see from home, and she missed her friends, her cousins, her city. Dante missed the peaceful, linear view of his own city. And like Amelia, he missed his rowdy cousins and the friends he left behind when his parents decided to uproot him and move further north. When they met in class they saw in each other what the other was missing. Their friendship was inevitable.

Dante wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently squeezed her. "Do you want some water? I heard people offer that when someone cries". She then laughed. Dante then wrapped his other arm around her making it a complete hug. Amelia closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out" he said. Amelia moved and slowly pushed him away. He looked at her. She looked at him. The room got very quiet. And somehow Dante leaned forward just enough to grace her lips with his. Amelia's heart was beating so hard she thought it was going to burst. Their lips barely touched at first, and then the mouths slowly open at the same time and his hands moved to her back and gently pushed her against his chest as the lips began to feel each other and discover each other. Amelia had never felt like this before. She could touch his soul. And the most amazing thing for her was that he could touch hers - the untouchable Amelia Bernard's inner world was set on fire and lit to never stop burning again. Love had finally entered the picture.

For a brief second she even wondered if his name hadn't been a thing fate had planned from the start. And she would have stayed in that thought a while longer if it weren't because Dante's fire was not hell-bound; instead it held a milliard of butterflies and whatever else it was that could describe each and everything that was good in life and good for the spirit. He was all of that to her. "I had wanted to do this since I first saw you six years ago" she heard him say. She pulled away and looked at him "Really?" "Yes". She looked at him in the eyes. He was telling the truth. Before she could even think about what she was doing she removed her tank top and then the bra and looked at him. His eyes did not abandon hers. "Are you sure?" He asked. "Make love to me" she gave him as a reply. He then removed his shirt. And pulled her close until her breasts were pressed against his chest, and kissed her with the gentle weight of a million Universes in flight. She removed her pants and underwear as he did the same with his and as he laid her down on the floor and laid on top of her, he stopped kissing her for a second and said "are you really sure? Because my heart has left my chest...". She smiled. He then stopped, as if he knew what she was thinking.

"I love you", he said as he laid next to her. "But never let a man say that to you while he is lying horizontally", he added. She laughed and concurred. "We should wait", he then said. "I think God is shaking His head right now", he added. "I don't want Him to shake His head at us", he concluded. "Me neither", Amelia whispered. She wanted to wait. She wanted to get married and have a honeymoon. She wanted everything. She wanted to do it right, and she was relieved he knew her this much.

They closed their eyes at the same time and held hands in silence in the dark. Amelia wondered if this was going to change their relationship. Dante held her hand tighter and said "I am going nowhere". "You can read my mind, can't you?" "Pretty much" he grinned. "I love you too" she said. "I know", he said. She smiled and fell asleep by his side.

Excerpt from "Love" ©