The Lighthouse

The ocean waves crashed against the beach, while cool salty air whipped past them from atop the old lighthouse. The stars shimmered brightly against the dark canvas of the black, They glimmered like pristine rubies, sapphires, and emeralds in the sky above the two figures. The girl sniffled as she sat back, watching the glinting colors above. The boy sat across from her, silent, observing her every action. The way the occasional tear escaped her eyes, rolling down her face, drying up on her cheek before it could fall away.

He watched the way her rhythmic breathing caused her chest to slowly rise and fall.He watched her, the quiver in her lips, the way she wrapped her arms around herself as if to hold the broken pieces together. In the dim light, her eyes were distant seas, stormy and deep. He shifted closer, not close enough to invade her solitude, but enough to share the warmth of his presence. His gaze lingered on the tear that traced a silent path down her cheek, an ache for her sorrow, for the distance between them, for all the words he couldn't say.

He wished he could reach out and brush away the tears that obscured her soft beautiful features. But how could he? They weren't friends, in fact they were barely more than strangers. Even though he knew everything about her. They way she laughed and how bright her smile showed on the darkest of days. But those feelings of joy she once had seemed to have gone hollow. He felt her presence every time she walked into a room before he even was able to lay eyes on her.

His favorite days were the ones where he got to watch her eyes light up brighter than the stars that twinkled above, when she spoke to her friends about her favorite books or this story she recently read. The same books and stories that he also cherished, the same stories that helped him escape reality when he watched her lover wrap his arm around her. But against his heart's deepest wishes he's kept his distance from her for she was already spoken for.

For how could he grow close to her, when she was already so far away? They might be, at this moment, sitting close to each other, but they were no further than that of worlds apart. His reality was a delusion of a life with her, while her reality was crashing in on itself. He took a steady breath, He made the decision before, that she would never know his heart, that she would never be anything more than strangers. He grabbed his thermos and poured her a cup of tea. She takes it with shaky hands and sips it, a single drop escapes her lips, reactively he wipes the drop from off her chin with his thumb. She looks at him, and in the soft light her dazzling azure eyes meet his own. Her gaze pierced through the darkness within him. As if trying to guide him towards its light.

No, nothing more than strangers...

He breaks her gaze, picking up the blanket that he kept up here for those cold nights and wrapped it around her.

Yes... nothing more than strangers, but tonight he will be the light that helps her out of the darkness that enshrouds her.