He stood there, his cap concealing the eyes I had always found comfort in. His hands in his sweater pockets, he leaned against the sole streetlight in the sleeping neighbourhood. Waiting for me.
It had been so long since I last saw him, working single-mindedly to leave the country he despised. He was a genius, though he dismissed the claim as absurd, saying that he would have been able to leave earlier if he truly was one. He always understood things that were deemed beyond us, and yet he never proved them wrong. All he cared about was leaving, and now he was back in town.
I had never expected it to be him when I lifted the call.
After all these years.
I couldn't understand what I had felt when I heard his voice. I recognised it immediately, and I was surprised at myself for doing so.
It was a very short call. He asked me if I wanted to go out on a walk, and I nodded before I answered.
Here he was now, in front of my eyes, his lips turning up as I walked toward him. Without a word, he turned as I crossed him by, and fell into step beside me. Just like how it was in the sweet memories of old familiarity I had fought time to protect.
The streetlight's fading glow made the broad walkway look more ominous than it really was. In the distance lay a deserted intersection, illuminated by a lone lamp.
"How have you been?"
"Good."
The sound of our shoes in sync was the only thing breaking the silence of the night.
"Did you ever think about me?"
"What? No, why would I do that?"
"It's okay, I tend to have that effect on women AND men."
"I'm neither, remember?"
He laughed. His voice was exactly as I remembered it. His new height bothered me, as I only came up to his shoulders, and now that his voice had remained the same, I was soothed.
"I haven't been in touch with anyone ever since I left."
"Why's that?"
"You know that I never really had any friends, and that you're practically the only one who can be placed in that category."
"Well, I'd say we're more than friends."
"Ooh, does that mean we're-"
"No, stop trying to stick labels onto things. If everything was just either a shade of black or white, our world be monochromatic."
