Look After You {Completed}

XII. December continued

~December~

            Ebony colored hair.

            My breath comes out in icicles, delicate and frail within the air.

            I walk faster, my breath coming out harder as I approach her.

            The forest trees loom high above and small mounds of snow crunch beneath my feet as the sun filters slightly through the air.

            Maybe I am dreaming.

            After all, I was in the middle of the forest.

            But if this was a dream and I was crazy, this is what I have been waiting for all those cursed night lying awake.

            My lips part open and the cold rushes into my lungs in a frightful speed.

            “Mina?”

            ~*~

            Her emerald eyes stare into mine with something akin to fear and surprise as I stare at her, taking in her flushed cheeks and hair blowing freely in the wind.

            “Mina,” I say softly, taking a step towards her in disbelief.

            She steps back and I hear the soft shuffle of ice and we both look to see she has stepped on the outer part of a frozen lake.

            I stop in my tracks, my hand dropping weightily to my side.

            “W-When did you get back?” I ask, my voice husky from the cold.

            “A couple days ago,” She responds, her eyes still wide as she stares at me.

            She clutches a thick bundle of something within her hands, holding it to her chest.

            I briefly wonder if she is cold.

            Thought jumbled, words lost and heart aching, I take another step towards her.

            “Have you gotten my letters?” I ask, my eyes never leaving her face.

            Her lips part slightly in surprise, her eyes dropping from my gaze to the bundle in her hands.

            She shuffles back and I grip my arm tightly to refrain from going to her.

            “Some.”

            I nod, the chilling air settling before us.

            Staring at the girl who I had kept alive in my mind for months is starting to take a toll on my thought process. I ache to run my thumb over her lips and to kiss her cheek.

            “How are you?” Mina quivers, her voice wavering in the air.

            I swallow hard.

            My heart ached with a pain that felt like if I didn’t say the three words I have wanted to say, I would burst at the seams.

            “I love you,” I blurt out, the sincerity and honesty in my tone filing the air.

            Mina’s eyes fill with tears.

            “You’re joking. In the future, you will date other girls and i-“