Love Like Ghost

my mind turns your life into folklore

We walked a couple more blocks before he stopped in front of an old ice cream parlor. "Ahh this feels like home." It had large bulbs around the red and white awning. It had two small tables outside in a patio area where one couple was already sitting.

"Ice cream?"

He rolled his eyes. "No the 40s. What do you want?"

"We can split something." I took a seat at one of the tables outside. "Surprise me." He walked away for a moment to order allowing me time to dig through my bag. My fingers grazed over the carvings in the cheap plastic. I don't even know why I stole it; some part of me just needed to have it I guess. '32557038' My fingers traced over the numbers. I dropped them back into my purse as the door bell chimed open.

Steve appeared moments later, "I got a bit of everything." He sat down next to me. "Except mint chocolate I know you do like that because it taste like toothpaste."

I stared at him taken aback. "Im surprised you remembered that."

"I get injured a lot." He told me as if it answered why he remembered that. It was such a pointless detail of my life I told him on our many session in the medical rooms. "Did you like the exhibit? Was it too much me?"

I chuckled shaking my head glad to change the subject. "Just the right amount of you." I took a bite of ice cream. "I like seeing what it looked like back then. Everything now is just so...now." He put ice cream in his mouth to hide a sense of pride. "I liked my gift too."

"You seemed quiet in there towards the middle." My back straightened. "Did something happen?"

I shook my head. "I-I just felt sad. You lost your friend." It sounded okay. "He just looked familiar; maybe I seen him in photos with you." Yeah that sounded better. "That must have been really hard and then to not really get time to grieve him and then you wake up and everyone is gone." He dug around in his ice cream the mood successfully killed. "I'm sorry that was too much." He gave me a sheepish smile, "Have you guys found the boat you're looking for?"

Steve nodded leaning back a new weight lifted off of us. "Yes we head out tomorrow with the squad."

"Nervous?" I asked before we both began to laugh a bit.

"In all honestly sometimes I always get nervous. I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone, but at the same time I know I need to get the job done so nobody dies." He glanced over at me. "You have..." He trailed off making a gesture to my face.

I gave him a confused look before he was already moving towards me swiping his thumb along my bottom lip. White, sticky ice cream sat on the pad of his thumb holding it up to me to let me know it was on my face, and then he stuck his thumb in his mouth to clean it off. "Oh," I breathed out realizing what was happening. He stared at me eyes flickering to my now puffed lips with my ice cream spit in his mouth. He pulled his thumb out of his mouth, placed his hand on the table edge, and leaned forward planting his mouth to mine. It was sweet from the ice cream and salty as our saliva mixed together. I sat there frozen in that moment with his lips pressed against mine once again. I stared at his closed eyes in a sort of panic, but with enough enjoyment to stay rooted to his lips. I felt like I couldn't move my brain was stuck between decisions leaving me paralyzed to making any move towards one. He took my stillness as a sign and pulled away resting his forehead on mine. We sat like that for a moment as the gears turned in my head.

"That guy isnt coming back," I saw her face. "Just...see what happens."

"Maybe we can help each other let them go." His sweet face

My fingers grazed the side of his face as he pulled away sightly more to look in my half curious eyes. Im not sure if I as ready for this; Im not sure if I was even ready to think about this. I wasn't sure, but I leaned in anyways pressing my lips back into his feeling the small smile in his kiss. My chair skidded closer to him pressing into his mouth firmer into mine forcing him to open in response. His hand grabbed my hip holding on tightly as the other one had a hold on my ribcage. With one hand on his face and the other on his thigh I couldn't stop instinct from kicking in as his began to make its way up his bulk of a thigh. "Kitty." his hand grabbed my wrist yanking it away from him holding it still in the air. 'Not-' My eyes were dark and searched for what he wanted to say. 'not now?' 'not here?' 'not yet?' Im not sure he even knew what he didn't want me to do.