How Could This Be Real?

103. Ours

About an hour later, I sat down in the middle of the bed with a huff and surveyed our handiwork. So far we'd taken down and ripped up nearly all the pictures and also put some of our own belongings around the place. David had brought his Valentine's bear and set it on the desk next to the computer he'd claimed. I had a few of my own things scattered around as well and I smiled seeing this place start to come together.

"It's incredible," I murmured to myself, but apparently he still heard me.

"What is?" he asked, peeling a couple more images off the wall.

"That we get to be here, together. That this room is ours. Not yours or mine, but ours."

"I do love the way that sounds," he said happily.

"I just wish it could be that way forever," I whispered, my gaze absentmindedly drifting out the window to the orange and pink sky.

"Me too..." He shook his head and returned his attention to the few remaining pictures in front of him. His eyes softened as they landed on one and he was extra careful as he extracted it from the wall. He lightly brushed over it with his fingertips and asked quietly, "Can I keep this one?"

"Which one is it?" I asked and he held it up for me to see. It was me with a ridiculously big grin on my face and my blue eyes bright with genuine happiness. I was giving the camera a little wave and I tried to recall when that picture had been taken. I finally remembered that it was from a month ago when I'd surprised him with a random weekend visit. He'd been so happy to see me that he'd made it his mission to document as much of those two days as possible. This particular picture wasn't that great and didn't really show me off at all, so I wasn't sure why he would want to keep it.

"Why that one?" I asked curiously. "And don't you already have it on your phone?"

"Yeah, I do, but I like how it's life-size." He held it out at arm's length as if comparing it to me, "It's the exact right proportions."

I chuckled and asked again, "But what's so special about that one? There were loads of better ones around here."

He stared at it intently, his mind seemingly in a different place. "I'm not sure... I guess you just look so real, so relaxed... so you. There's just something about it..."

He trailed off so I shrugged, "If you really want it. I mean it's not one of the seductive ones so it's fine by me."

He smiled and whispered, "Thank you."

I looked around the room again and a sort of contentedness settled over me. "A whole summer here..."

He tossed the last of the little pieces into the trash and brushed off his hands, walking over to sit next to me on the bed. "Are you excited?" he asked, a giddy glint in his eyes like a kid in a candy store.

I grinned and said, "More than you could imagine."

He gently took my hand and smiled down at it, the magical buzz of our touch traveling along our arms. "Ninety days..." he marveled. "Ninety glorious days..."

"What ever are we going to do with ourselves?" I teased.

His eyes flickered up to meet mine and a smirk threatened to show on his features. "Oh, I don't know," he said with a little shrug. "Maybe something like... this?" He leaned forward and I eagerly met his lips, sighing in delight as we kissed with passionate devotion.

The amount of love and admiration I felt for him just couldn't be described. He made me feel like I didn't have a thing to worry about, that my life was as simple as the ABCs and that the only thing I needed was this one moment, this fascinating and intricate feeling that appeared whenever our lips connected. It was chemistry, art, history, and just a bit of the supernatural, and to be quite honest I didn't really understand it. What I did know was that it was completely unique, and completely ours.