The Truth About Love

Reminisce

Warm sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating the old books and dusty shelves. 

She sighed, sliding her books away from her. She rested her heavy head in her hands, trying to retain all the information that she had just tried to read.

She leaned back, adjusting her glasses when out of the corner of her gaze, she caught a familiar glimpse of a curly brown mop. 

A flash of reminiscence ran through her. 

Memories of days, just like this one at the library; spent hours and hours together with their heads close together, trying desperately to absorb some information before mid terms. 

Memories of laying bed, without even touching, but feeling the contented feeling of companionship. 

Memories of running her fingers through that curly brown hair just to rouse a response from him.

And then all at once, the beautiful, rose-colored memories were overshadowed by the memory of the end of it all. 

All she could remember was the rain, pouring down hard over the both of them. Although neither of them could care to find shelter. The intensity of their situation outweighed any external factors. That beautiful chocolate coloured hair, dripping wet, shielding his weary eyes from her disappointed gaze. Both of them stood in confrontation stance, ready to battle it out and scream out all their accusations.

But suddenly, maybe it was the look in his eyes or the roar of nearby thunder, that brought them both to simultaneous realization. His tall, lanky figure slouched as if his shoulders could no longer bear the brunt of their problems any longer. And slowly, as if they had an eternity, he lifted his gaze to hers, stopping to push away that beloved hair. His gaze met hers, he was tired, dark circles rimming his usually bright eyes. 

That was when she too understood. This was when they gave up. There was no longer any point to screaming at each other about their bevy of problems. There was no reward to battling it out anymore, no make-up, no happy end. Life had gotten to be too much and unlike any fairy tale or story, love was not enough to save them anymore. 

The words that followed afterwards were just a blur to her, they were rushing to finish off the very thing that had kept them happy for so long. Anyone could see from a mile away that, even in this uncomfortable situation, they adored each other. So to prevent the inevitable onslaught of tears and the realization that they would no longer be around to make each happy as they used to, they quickly broke it off.

And that brings us to now. 

With sudden determination, she straightened her back, sitting up in seat. She steadily brought her gaze over to him until she was sure he was looking back. His eyes met hers, and she could see the immediate surprise then to her astonishment, he sheepishly glanced over at a small, blonde woman, roughly their age that was chatting away on the phone next to him. Ah, so this is his new girlfriend, she realized. 

He looked almost apologetic but, from the way they leaned closely against each other and the brightness in his stare, she knew he wasn't sorry. She could see, plain as day,  he was happy in a way that she hadn't been able to make him and that came as a bittersweet realization. He had moved on, he was happy but this time, it was without her. 

He uncomfortably slid his gaze between his girlfriend and her, maybe hoping that his girlfriend wouldn't notice. His hands fidgeting his hair, nervously. She continued to look upon him, finding some amusement in his discomfort. Suddenly, she saw the blonde with her body still involved in the phone conversation, gently put her hand over his, lowering it to the desk in a tender caress. His attentions fully shifted on to her, with a soft smile that she had never seen before grace his lips. 

Without a second thought, she cleared her throat causing him to swing his gaze over to her in confusion. She allowed herself one second to look deeply into those familiar eyes and she felt a sense of acceptance spread through her chest. Holding his stare, she smiled brightly at him to say, I'm happy for you. 

Immediately his lips curved into a smile too, as if to say, 

"I hope you're happy too."