A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

11

The music blares out of the speaker, the sound loud, volume cranked.

It's so loud that I can feel the bass beneath my feet, the vibrations from the sound waves rocking the room.

It's so joyous.

We laugh like children, prancing around the room, completely in the moment. It's surreal. The electricity of it all is rejuvenating to feel; the power of the music being an undying force that compels us to do nothing but move.

My ears hurt slightly from the noise, but I don't care. I am in love, and it's all I can feel.

We're sweaty, and the room is humid, and were tiring, but we're not stopping. We don't care.

Something about the music is making us jump, making us move, ecstatic and excitable.

It's not just the room, or the music, or the moment. It's the fact that I'm not alone. It's the fact that I'm jumping around like a child, enjoying myself with the company of the one I love most.

It's him. It's always been him. He matches my energy, no matter what I'm doing.

It makes the music more us, in a way.

"I saw her shadow in the darkness

Awaiting me like the night awaits the day

Standing silent smiling at my presence

A black candle holds the only light"

The lyrics halt, a ferocious solo ensues as the music picks up pace, before falling into an abrupt acoustic section, the speed of the song grinding to a halt, allowing us some solace to breathe.

Five minutes into a thirteen minute song and we're already clearly done, panting, out of breath.

"In mist she was standing" is playing, a song by a band called Opeth. He got me into the more progressive side of metal music, dragging me out of my early seventies doom and heavy metal craze.
(Although, I'm still a sucker for my Sabbath. Ozzy's solo career is also very good, but I digress.)

And god am I in love with it. I'm in love with how it sounds, how it makes me feel; makes me move.

I'm in love with the music just as I am in love with the person that introduced me to it.

The music halts it's tempo. It slows, the acoustics grinding the speed to a halt. The sound becomes ever more melancholic, impressive for an Opeth song. They're never happy regardless.

We stop dancing to catch our breath, and we catch looks. Eyes lock onto eyes, and we're alone together again, tunnel vision locking us into our own little corner of hell; of the universe.

It's just us, and it's all I want.

We close the gap, rushing into an embrace, one so strong we knock the wind out of eachother, giggling like idiots. Happy, little idiots.

Locking gazes, held close enough within our embrace the reek of musk and sweat drips off us like water, but we don't care. It's us, and that's all that matters.

I feel his slender frame under my paws, clasped behind his back and my arms wrapped around his sides.

His arms wrap around my neck, pulling me in closer and closer.

I'm so, so in love. It almost hurts.

We lock gazes one more time, maintaining eye contact. The deep, blue haze of his eyes is something truly spectacular. His pupils glisten with intrigue, and his irises are so full of vibrancy and colour it's hard to drag my own eyes away from them.