real tears over fake photographs.

[Riel]

real tears over fake photographs.

part one- beginnings

“i wish that things could stay like this forever,” she said to me, rolling on her side to look me dead in the eye. she was wearing that jacket, the one that was all blue with a light yellow stripe slashing her upper body in half. i was wearing my plain, all-black fleece jacket. we were lying there on a red-and-white checkered blanket among the orange and yellow and red leaves, just laying there and staring up at the sky.

“i know what you mean,” i said back, smiling a little bit. every time i looked at her my heart would beat a little faster, and my breath would catch a little bit. i couldn’t tell if she knew or not, but that’s just the way that things were. “nothing lasts forever, though,” i told her, trying to keep my voice as upbeat as possible.

she looked at me for a minute before she responded. when she did i could see that her eyes were sad, and that something had just changed a little bit. “that’s why i said, i wish they could. still… it’s nice to think that maybe we will last.”

i didn’t know what to say to that. on the one hand, i was afraid that one or both of us would get hurt. on the other, i knew that this was a turning point, a moment that would always be in my mind, like a photograph.

“i love you,” i said, looking deep into her eyes.

“i love you too,” she said, before snuggling into me a little bit and staring at the sky again. i know that she said it back, but…

when she said it, she almost seemed sad.

[Riel]

part two- autumn

the leaves were crunching underneath our feet, crisp little brown things that littered the entire sidewalk. it was getting colder and colder, to the point where i wore a coat with a hood and she was actually wearing gloves. other people were walking around as well, but they were walking as if they had a clear goal in mind; we were walking just to walk.

“i love the fall,” she said, kicking her feet through a large pile of leaves. i was a little bit worried that someone had just raked them up, but i guess that it didn’t really matter. “all of the colors and the smells and sounds and everything,” she added.

“i know what you mean,” i said, listening to the scratch that the leaves made as they were dragged across the sidewalk by the wind and by our feet. the air was just so much more…alive in the fall. i looked over at her, and i saw that she was biting her lip- even then, i knew that it meant she was thinking something that she didn’t want to say. “what’s wrong?” i asked her.

“nothing, it’s just…” she half-said, half-mumbled. i stopped walking, and i could feel her debate letting go of my hand so that she could continue on her way. looking her dead in the eye, i repeated the question.

“i wish that you had more to say, that’s all,” she confessed, blushing slightly and biting her lip again.

truth be told, i didn’t know what to say to that.

[khfreak17]

epic :)