The Numbers We Defy

Chapter 18

"I don't think the snow is stopping anytime soon," I said, looking out the window. 

"Yeah, looks like we might be here for a while. Want something to eat?"

I was just about to say no when my stomach grumbled. He let out a small laugh and made his way towards the kitchen. 

I noticed the book on the coffee table. The Picture of Dorian Grey, it read. 

"You're reading this?" I called out. 

"Yeah, it's incredible." 

"It's dark, though."

"You didn't like it?"

"Never said I didn't like it. I just thought it was too dark and twisted, which doesn't make it any less of a work of genius."

"So what books do you like?"

"Wuthering Heights has been my personal favorite for years now."

"Wuthering Heights isn't too dark for you?" he mocked. 

"There is a difference between dark human nature and dark love."

"Love shouldn't be like that. It should be light and easy. Emily Bronte had it wrong."

"I think that Catherine and Heathcliff's problem was that they loved each other more than they loved themselves, even though they were both really selfish people. They kept hurting themselves to make the other happy, but that only made the other feel worse when they saw them in pain. It was a downwards spiral."

"Their problem was that they never actually told each other that they wanted to be together until one of them was married and nothing could actually happen between them. I mean, if Heathcliff had just told Catherine that he wanted to marry her before Edgar got a chance to, she could have married him and they would have been happy."

"Maybe, but Catherine might have not married Heathcliff because he had no money to his name," I pointed out.

"They would have figured it out if they just talked about it. Heathcliff did manage to get rich eventually. If they really loved each other they could have figured it out."

"They loved each other too much to actually be with each other, which is why Catherine and Edgar ended up getting married."

"Bullshit," he scoffed. "If two people love each other, they would have been together." 

"You know damn well that they loved each other. Catherine loved him, not Edgar."

"Then why couldn't have they have been together?"

"Because the world doesn't work like that!" I yelled, knowing that I was no longer talking about Wuthering Heights. 

"Why not, Maya? Why can't love conquer all? Why can't it work that way?"

"Because there are other factors that..."

"Those don't mean shit!" he interrupted. "All those other factors are so insignificant!"

"Love can't just conquer all! It's not a fairytale!"

In our arguing, we somehow managed to move closer to each other, out thighs pressing against each other's. Sparks were flying through my body and I took deep breaths to try to calm myself down. Our breaths were heavy because of the yelling. 

The next thing I know, his hand grabbed my cheek and his lips were pressed onto mine. 

It was like thousands of fireworks were set off all at once in this small apartment and they all exploded in my body. 

It was like everything that has happened in the past two years has been wrong and this was the first right. 

It was like I had forgotten this feeling and now that I remembered it, I don't know how I could live without it. 

It was like love.