constellations

we lived in the night

Jonah is the last man standing. It's the end of the world, and Jonah is the only one on the never ending road that stretches out in front of him.

The scientists had stated it was a solar flare. A freak misfortune in nature that is going to lead the Sun to swallow up the Earth. For the English major that Jonah is, the science and the calculations would never make sense to him. He shakes his head, brown curls fall in front of his eyes as he drives.

For the English major that Jonah was. He edits the thought, because in a few hours, Jonah wouldn't be anything. Everything he'd ever known, including himself, would cease to exist. Including Jasmine.

Jasmine with her silky ebony hair and rich brown skin. Jasmine with her loving smile and ethereal laughter. Jasmine, who Jonah hadn't seen in years.

He follows the bend of the road, the gravel popping underneath the car. The world around him is a sea of midnight blue, and there's nothing comforting about the inevitable doom that is coming in the morning.

Jonah believes he's aimlessly driving around, but a familiar street sign makes him realize the destination his subconscious had brought him straight to. A cobalt blue Italian style complex that sits on the cusp of the Marina del Rey harbor.

Time feels infinite as he remains parked on the street outside. His body moves before he has time to process the fact that he's standing at the bottom of the staircase. He thinks about leaving. She wouldn't want to see him. Especially when the last time they were together, Jonah abandoned Jasmine the same way he's thinking about doing now.

The predicament sits in his mind for a little longer, but then the warm porch light flickers on, and Jonah's feet refuse to move from the pavement. Someone opens the door, nighttime blurring their face, but he can tell it's her standing at the top of the stairs just by her presence alone.

"Hello? Isaac?" She asks, a charming smile is laced through her voice as she inches out the door. "Isaac is that you? I heard your car pull up, stop acting like a creep and come ins-"

Jonah walks closer to the house, the porch light illuminates him, and the smile from Jasmine's face is gone so fast that Jonah feels like he might die way before the sun has a chance to kill him.

Jasmine studies him, staring from the tips of his shoes all the way to his jade green eyes. She utters a single word as if it's a swear, "Jonah."

He can't speak, he can't even breathe, because when Jasmine says his name for the first time in three years it ignites something so deep within Jonah.

"What are you doing here?" The question is demanding.

"I-" Jonah's mouth feels unbelievably dry. "The world is ending."

"So I've heard." Jasmine scoffs. "That doesn't answer my question. Why, after three years of silence, are you standing in front of my house, Jonah?"

"I don't know." He admits the truth.

"You never do."

"I needed to see you." he starts. It was this very moment that Jonah has been envisioning for years, but as he faces the reality of the situation all the right words seem to escape him. "I can try and understand how difficult this is for you, and I'm sorry that it took the end of the world for me to be here, but I just had to see you, Jas."

"You don't get to call me that. You lost the privilege of calling me anything when you packed your bags and left without saying goodbye." She's pointing an accusing finger at him.

It takes a minute for Jonah to move again. He stands foolishly on the bottom of the staircase feeling like an idiot. "I was hoping you'd spend tonight with me."