Imagining Us

Ch.71- If the world would stay still

Esi never wanted to leave. 

Never wanted to lose this moment with Porte.

They had come back from the boat ride and freshened up before dinner. Now they were lounging together enjoying each other's company. There didn't need to be any words spoken between them.

The cool summer evening breeze gently sang over their skins as she reclined against Porte's bare chest, his arms loosely around her middle. Esi ran her fingers gently up and down his torso, across his tattoo of Venice on his lower abdomen, and upwards flicking against that piercing that he got because of a dare. She was in awe of his tattoo, the intricacy of it, and the meaning behind it. She'd seen his worn copy of "The Merchant of Venice" that belonged to his mother, Nerissa.

He had shared the annotations with Esi—His mother had named him Porte in light of the friendship between Portia and Nerissa in the Shakespearean work.

Esi wished that she could take the guilt away from him. That she could bear his burdens for him. She wished that he could see himself like she saw him. She wished that he could believe that he was worthy of love.

The sky above was painted in hues of dark blue and deep violet. They could see a few boats meandering along the river. She had been hesitant to go on it earlier, but after seeing how comfortable Porte was, his appreciation of creation, she would love to go back out on the river with him.

The embers from the softly crackling fire pit contrasted the darkness around them, but the world was alive in the form of frogs on the river bank and crickets in the shrubbery. They were being serenaded by nature.

It was eerily similar to the English countryside.

Neither of them had to speak. Not because there was nothing for them to talk about, but because they were appreciating the moment of just being.

Together.

If she could just stay here. If the world would just stay still.

Her right hand reached back to gently run her fingers along his jaw. Her hands were moving of their own accord, but they always had to be touching him. Making sure that he was there. That he was real.

"It's so beautiful," Esi breathed out. She hadn't meant to say the words, but the feeling had been overwhelming her.

Porte hummed in agreement.

"More than beautiful," he said softly. There was something about the way that he said those words–the reverence in which he said them that caused Esi to tilt her head back and look up at him.

Porte was already looking at her. She didn't have to ask what he'd really been referring to when he'd said those words. His eyes spoke for him.

Her fingers reached to gently play across his cheek, and she thought that he was the most beautiful person that she'd ever seen.

"More than beautiful," she whispered back to him.

Porte bent his head and gently brushed a kiss across her lips and one across her forehead. She couldn't help but smile, and she turned around to burrow into him again.

Still, the gears in her mind kept turning. She was her own worst enemy.

She thought about him, about when they met, about the issues that they'd had to broker.

It wasn't just about the fact that he was physically breathtaking. She'd come to know his heart, his dreams, and beneath that sharp exterior– how he loved.

Porte Danvers inspired her to believe that she had a place. 

That she belonged.

He was everything that she wasn't looking for. That she'd never expected.

Esi didn't know how she'd gotten to this place so quickly, but she wanted to revel in the feeling. 

Revel in the surety.

She'd never been more scared or more hopeful in her entire life, and it was a struggle to not think that it could all end in the blink of an eye.

A warmth brushed against her temple–Porte's lips again.

"Breathe, sweetheart," he whispered, even though it was just the two of them. "I'm right here...I'm still here."

He lay his hand on top of hers, and she hadn't realized that she was unconsciously clutching at him. As if she was trying to hold on to him. 

Afraid that he would disappear. 

Afraid that he would realize that she didn't belong here with him.

It funny how one unsure thought can threaten to tear down a whole moment.

But Porte knew. He had sensed it.

He squeezed his arms around her tighter.

"It scares me too," he confessed. "But here you are and here I am.."

"Together," Esi offered, easily switching into her preferred role of being the encourager.

"Together," Porte echoed.

She prayed that it would be enough to weather any storm that would come their way.

*

*

*

*

*

A/N

More cute moments. I would love for it to stay like this, but I think some things are still unanswered and unaccounted for.

Also, I think that updates will be every other week until August so that I can also focus on Book 2(which hopefully we can start to update in the late fall [The Thought of Us]) and a unfinished fanfic that I'm working on. So by the end of August we'll go back to weekly updates. Although this books is kind of long. I wrote over 175,000 words that I have to be editing.

Anyway, thanks for the support. I really appreciate it.

Enjoy!

Xx