Night on the Bridge

Chapter 4

She jumped. It was the only logical thing to do. He was going to jump. And she couldn't let him. She couldn't let him go. At least not without trying. At least not without doing everything in her power to bring him back. So she jumped and she grabbed him and she pulled him back with all her might just as he was about to go flying over the railing and into the waters below. And despite of all his strength and all his training, his mind in that moment was weak, and his body surrendered, and he fell with her, onto the hard sidewalk of the bridge.

She hissed as she felt her skin being torn away at contact with the pavement. Next to her, he didn't make a sound. For a second they both laid there in stunned silence. Their gazes connected. Neither blinked. She was holding onto him and he was completely still.

Then he started to get up.

"No, no, no. I've got to do this." His gaze was far away now, as if in another world. A world of dark grays and blues, and blacks. Lots and lots of blacks. His body followed his mind in its quest to come closer to the world of black. To immerse itself finally in complete and utter darkness, and shut off the pounding in his head and the ringing in his ears and the pain that seeped through his blood like surges of electricity through copper wires. But his mind was too slow and she was quicker and she jumped on top of him and held him down. He kept trying to get up, kept reaching for the railing, but she stopped him.

Then he began to cry.

Sharna had seen Val cry only three times since she'd met him. Only a few tears at the appropriate time, showing just enough emotions to deem him cute but still manly. Showing just enough emotion to let those around him know that he cared, that he was passionate, that he was willing to fight for those he loved. That he wanted to be the best for them.

These tears were completely different. These were large and loud and flowed from his eyes in the hundreds. His body shook as the pain left his mind. His hands balled into fists and hit the ground below him. Again and again and again his skin hit the pavement and bounced up only to be slammed back down seconds later. Quickly she grabbed his hands and stopped their downward movement, but they were already bleeding. He started to shake his head, as if by moving his head from side to side he would somehow push away the situation entirely. Or was he trying to push her away? She couldn't tell. But then she moved her hands to his face and she held them there and he stopped moving. His eyes closed. His fists relaxed. He stopped fighting. She knew he would. She knew, eventually, he would stop fighting her.

When she was sure he was done fighting, she rolled off of him, and pulled him to her, and held him as he cried. He was still crying. She cried too.

Neither spoke. The water rushed quietly below them. The sweeping lights of a few passing cars reflected off the railings. The pavement was cold below them. But still they sat.

And for a minute the world was gone around them. For a minute there was no water, no passing cars, no bridge to hold them up or gravity to hold them down. For a minute they were floating in an infinity comprised of just the two of them. Just two people clinging to one another as if their lives depended on it, and in a way, they did.

She thought back to the time they'd first met. It was season 13. She was new on the troupe. And for the opening they did a dance together. He came up to her and took her hand and kissed it. For a second she was taken aback. Who did this guys think he was? But then he smiled, and called her princess, and although it bothered her a little bit, she soon learned that that was just how Val was. Very kind, very loving, very Val.

Eventually their bodies stopped shaking. Eventually they took deep breathes.

"We should go." He said after a while. "We probably don't want people to see us here."

"True." She said, pulling away from him. "They'd probably be a bit confused as to why two adults were cuddling on the sidewalk of a bridge."

He smiled for the first time tonight. She loved seeing him smile. "We were cuddling? Ew."

She hit his shoulder. "Hey! You were holding me as much as I was holding you."

He tilted his head up at the sky. "I think you should know, Sharna Burgess, that I've been aware that you've had a crush on me for the longest time and that, while I do respect your taste in men, it will never work. Our babies would be much more attractive than us, and I just couldn't handle that."

"What?" They were both laughing now. "Where did the babies come from?"

He grinned. "Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much-"

"Dear God Val."

"Come on." He said, standing and reaching back to help her up. "Let's get back to the others."

They started walking. She didn't want to, but she knew she had to ask. "We'll talk about this later?"

"Yes, yes I suppose we should." He paused for a moment then continued. "In fact, I'd like that very much."

"Good. I'm glad I don't have to fight you on that."

"No, no. I suppose I'm done fighting for a while. I'm just ready to get back and dance."

"Good to hear. Apparently our audience is sold out tonight."

"You ready to give them a good show?"

"Of course."

As they reached the end of the bridge and Sharna pulled out her phone to call another taxi, she felt him grab her hand.

"Thank you." His eyes were clear now. The sky was beginning to shift from black to blue.

She covered his hand with hers. "Always."