I wish I could say the night was quiet, and beautiful, but it wasn't. The motorbikes revved their raucous engines, and people screamed their drunken chorus. We stood, just two on an empty walkway, leaning on cold railings. He looked at me and grinned, an odd look in his eye.
"So…what'd you want to talk about?" I breached the silence between us, slightly awkwardly.
"Well…I'm leaving in 2 weeks. You know that, I know that. I just wanted to thank you for an awesome semester. It's been such an experience, and having you around has certainly made it all the more enjoyable. I'd like to think we've become pretty good mates, too, don't you think?"
"Of course!" I smiled, a little sadly, thinking of the short space of time it would be before he and the others would be gone.
"Yeah, we're good mates. And, you know…if I was staying, or if you were coming back too, I'd like to think we could've been something more than good mates," he paused, and looked at me. I couldn't quite figure him out, so I laughed a little nervously.
"Like great mates?"
He looked at me and then laughed back, before shaking his head.
"No, like…us being together. I think we would've been awesome together."
I looked over the railings into the darkness, listening to the sounds of the evening, letting the words sink in and trying to stop my stomach from doing olympic standard gymnastics.
"I…I didn't know you'd thought about us like that," I ventured, keeping my reaction guarded.
"I didn't know what you thought, and I knew nothing could happen due the shortness of my stay. It wouldn't be fair to either of us. Just lately I've thought about 'what if…', and I figured I had to say something, know for real, before I went home," he turned to look at me, "you haven't thought of us? As more?"
I sighed. "Okay, yes. Lately I've regretted that I hadn't perhaps said something to you and tried for more between us. I wanted more, I just figured we were only ever gonna be friends. Definitely didn't think you were in the least bit interested."
"And I you," he paused as the door to the elevator opened and someone drunkenly stumbled out, loudly collapsing into their apartment.
"So…" I said, looking at him.
"So. I don't know what else to say. Other than…when you get back, I know it sounds cheesy, and I know it's 8 months away. But look me up, okay? And maybe, if we're both single and it works out, I could take you on a date. Or something," he tapped his foot nervously, and someone somewhere shrieked in laughter.
"That…sounds good, I'll definitely come looking. But…if that's going to happen, I want something real from this."
"What do you mean?" he asked me, quizzically.
"I mean…" I paused, nervous, "kiss me. We may have missed out on something here, but I want to know that there's a chance for us, somewhere down the line," I turned away, embarrassed for myself and my forwardness. Suddenly I felt a hand on my cheek, and he was turning my face towards his and kissing me. And it was beautiful.
I caught my breath.
"Well now I wanna do that again…" I looked at him shyly and laughed. And we kissed again. And again. And in that moment I never wanted to stop. Not until he walked onto his plane and I had to kiss him for the last time.
