Brightest Night

11 pm. You're awoken by a loud knock on your front door. Your room is upstairs, far away from the front of the house so it must've been the loudest knock ever for it to wake you.
You walk down the stairs apprehensively and approach the front door. You ask,

"who's there?!" groggily and almost scared.

"A burglar!" you hear a voice shriek with a thick accent through the door.

The voice echoes in your head and you immediately know who it is. You open the door to the back of Josh's curly head of hair.

"Ha ha you're hilarious!" you say in the most sarcastic tone possible.

He turns with a grin on his face that sparks up a grin of your own.

"Come on!" he says popping his head to the side motioning towards his car.

As he pops his head quickly to the side his hair bounces and your grin turned into a full on smile. Although you're happy to see him, you're extremely confused and still half asleep.

"What? where? Do you know what Time it is?" You ask a little frantically.
He answers only one of the three questions with

"It's a surprise."

You didn't know it until he said it but that was the exact answer you needed.

Flashing yet another smile, there's no holding those back when you're in his presence, you go to dress according to the weather you felt gust in as you opened the door. You're not going through the trouble of changing your leggings or your long sleeve shirt you'd worn to bed. You simply slide on some boots over your fuzzy socks and throw on a jacket.

Walking towards the door, still open with Josh standing looking inside, you ask,

"Do you want to come in or..." he interrupts you with "No time! We must embark on this journey as soon as possible!" he says like the theater kid he is.

"Well alright then let's go!"

You walk down your driveway to his car he parked next to the mailbox. The passenger side was facing your house and as you went straight for the door handle, he took your hand and held you close while he opened the door for you. You look up from his chest he'd pressed you against and respond with a sweet look in your eyes. He lets you go slowly. You slip into the seat and he closes the door.
As he turned on the car music began to play at the lowest volume possible but you could tell it was John Denver. The song barely reached the minute mark before he turned and started driving down this long narrow path through the woods. You're officially confused but more intrigued than anything.

"Where are we going!?" you ask impatiently.

"Almost there babe." The words escaped his lips slowly and deeply, relaxing you.

He pulled up in the middle of the forest with nothing around and you were once again confused! He hopped out and practically ran around the passenger side of the car to open your door.

"Alright so we're gonna have to walk just a bit but you don't mind right?" he said grabbing your hand and leaning on the roof slightly.

"Let's go!" you say hopping out of the car.

You begin walking and you're slightly in front of him. you can feel him looking at you. He comes up behind you, grabbing your waist. You almost want to stop and kiss him right there but you wait.

"Go to the left through these trees but close your eyes before you get to the other side, I'll guide you!" He said enthusiastically.

You might have been scared if it weren't for the stars and the full moon bouncing off the waxy leaves that surrounded you.
You go to turn and he immediately comes behind you and put his hands over your eyes, guiding you on the other side of the trees.

"Almost there..." he said softly next to your right ear.

"Okay keep your eyes closed." he said as he slowly took his hands off your eyes and walked in front of you.

You heard the leaves crack and twigs break beneath his feet as he walked further.

"Okay should I be worried?" you ask laughing with your eyes still closed. You heard him chuckle.

From a distance he says,

"Okay on three open your eyes. 1... 2... 3...!"

You open your eyes and immediately the clearing is flooded with lights. Little warm colored twinkly lights were strung from surrounding trees. In front of you there's a little trailer and inside sits a record player beginning to play the slowest music as he places the needle down. In the middle of the clearing there was a giant square of blankets and pillows just right in the middle all roughly put together, making it look cozy and inviting.
He stands in the doorway of that little trailer and he watches you as you stand in awe staring at the twinkle lights he'd managed to string up on the branches above. You look over and don't know what to say.

"How? what is this for!? Oh my god this is so beautiful!" you say still in disbelief.

"I just wanted to do something special for you. I figured we needed some time together, you know, in nature with the stars above, blankets, music. The fresh cool air blowing through each and every strand of your perfect hair." he says while slowly running his fingers through your hair. "The only warmth being my hand on your soft rosy cheeks." he moves his hand from your hair to your face, gently. sending a chill through your entire being. "Seeing those tiny twinkly lights shine in your eyes as you admire them really just makes me feel like I'm somewhere completely different. Like you're the only person I've ever laid my eyes on."

You try to take in his poetic words as best as you can. As you stand there just maintaining perfect eye contact, He grabs you and pulls you into a sweet embrace. A hug from Josh is like sitting by a roaring fire, warm and the most comforting thing in the world. Involuntarily, you both begin to sway to the soft smooth beat of the music drifting out from the trailer. He lifts his head off yours to plant the most gentle kiss on your forehead. As you look up at him you say nothing but your smile says everything. Almost immediately, he kissed you. Just as soft and as tender as the one he left, the one you can still feel, on your forehead. As your lips unlock he grabs your shoulders.

"Do you wanna lay down in this giant mound of blankets!?" he asks as he slides his hands down from your shoulders, to your arms, to your hands where he stops and interlocks his fingers with yours.

"I would love to." you say looking up at him.

You both lay down and get comfortable in the fluffy blankets. You prop your heads up with pillows, not too much to where you can't see above you but just enough so he can put his arm around you comfortably. In unison you both look up at the sky to stargaze. There were no trees over your heads, just a full moon and the twinkling stars.
You look over at him and in his eyes you see the brightest stars dancing in the big brown eyes he has. You don't want to look away.

"I see what you mean." You say to him.

He turns his head and asks,

"What do you mean?"

"You said that when you look into my eyes you feel like you're somewhere completely different. I get it. I'm looking at you and I can't believe I'm here. It's surreal and I never want it to end."

"It never will." He says with certainty as you lock gazes and share one final kiss before snuggling closer and looking up at the stars once again.

The brightest most beautiful night to go along with the bright beautiful soul laying next to you.