Tearing Paper

Leaving

Staring at the bottom of your glass

Hoping one day, you'll make a dream last

"You're going back to work today?"

Nate smiled as he saw the mug that Dianne served in front of him. It had the warm scent of tea and ginger. He never liked herb-infused beverages, but he became familiar with how the local Namiri people liked their tea and tried it anyway. He brought it close to his lips, but placed it down again at its strong smell and laughed. "I can't."

"It's good for you," Dianne squeezed his shoulders slightly.

"Ah-" Giving in, Nate sipped his morning tea slowly. "And, yes. I don't think Xavier will tolerate me missing work for another day. I hope TV stations don't catch us running like idiots towards our kites last night."

"At least you're idiots together." Dianne and Nate turned to the source of the voice, and realized Devon was eavesdropping them from outside the hut. He was relaxfully roasting some fresh shrimps.

"Shoo," Dianne closed the windows and the room turned much quieter. She looked into Nate's deep green eyes-inside their orbs were mixed feelings she could not interpret.

"What happens to us now?" Nate dared himself to ask.

Dianne folded her hands under her chest. "What we had was beautiful, Nate, believe me... But don't you think we both need-"

"Space?"

"Space," Dianne sighed. "It's not easy... for me... to forget everything about Lucio. I hate him... but I used to love him-and now, without him-"

"I get it," Nate reflected those words back to his own relationship with Ella. "I totally get it. And do you think you'll ever forget him?"

"Going home does magical things," Dianne looked around her. "I know this hut looks like nothing to you, but I've fallen in love with this place, this island, although I've never known how I got here, or why. It's all I've ever wanted when I lost myself in town-and found you."

"And what about me?" Nate asked her. Suddenly, the ginger tea tasted much blander. He took more chugs to clear his throat and collect his voice.

"You wanna be a journalist. Be one. Write life-changing articles. Explore places bigger than Namiri Island," Dianne held his hands under hers. "And I... I will write books greater than before. I'll be my own writer-my own person. I promise."

"That was hard," Nate breathed, his heart suddenly filled with an indescribable emptiness. "But I promise, too."

"And I promise that once we've achieved all our dreams, my heart will still be here, with you," he stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her beauty was everything he was curious about a few months ago, when they were strangers struggling with their dreams in the same café. Seeing her from such distance warmed his heart-it made him believe that miracles really do happen.

"I can count on that." He felt Dianne smiling while burying her head in his chest.

"Breakfast's ready!" Devon screamed from outside, but none of them cared to listen. Their lips were drowned in what felt like the longest yet the shortest kiss, the sweetest yet the bitterest touch they would ever cherish until they met again.

But dreams come slow

and they go so fast