"A penny for your thoughts?" She swooped closer to Chad, whose mind had been wandering off for a while. "You're totally missing the view."
Realizing that he had been staring at his friend for too long, he quickly turned away out of embarrassment. His ears flashed a warm shade of pink, and she could not help but chuckle. "I-" He stuttered. "I'm sorry."
Clementine gave him a small, reassuring smile, and looked up to the clear blue sky. "This day is so beautiful." She whispered under her breath as if nature had taken it away. Chad couldn't help but steal a glance into her eyes, they were as blue as the sea infront of them. Her dark, auburn hair shone against the sun.
He stared at her as she was so indulged with the view. Chad ignored the sky and the sea before them, as to him none could compare to Clementine. "For if they could speak, they would praise her." He thought.
Chad used to be a lonely little boy who dreamed to walk with the stars one day. He enjoyed the company of being alone, as he fell in love with the cloudless skies and blew dandelions to make wishes. He ran by the shore, away from his home when he felt upset by his father who never seemed to ever care about him. But his love for nature did not fully ease the void inside him, he still felt empty at times.
He was alone. He loved his own company but as time passes it turns into long, lonely hours. It used to be, until Clementine met him under a shady tree in summer, and he forgot how loneliness felt since then. It was as if she had filled his empty spaces with flowers and eternal sunshine. She counted endless stars with him at nights he could not fall asleep, and promised to walk in them one day. They left footprints on the sand as they ran away from the cruel world that had bound them, and sat together every afternoon to watch the tides. She made him feel everything for the first time.
She was his sky.
Now there they were, sitting beside each other on a small bridge under the sun, listening to the music offered by the waves like it's a silent call. A silent call to Chad.
Suddenly her hands brushed into his, so Chad quickly moved away, afraid that it might make her uncomfortable. Since he learned of what he really felt for her, he started being uneasy. He did not want to lose her because of it, so he kept it to himself.
Clementine chuckled, "It's okay." Slowly, she intertwined her fingers with his, and held his hands gently with hers. She looked into his eyes saying that everything will be fine, promising that she'll always be with him no matter what. That she will never leave.
He did not want to lose her. He didn't mean to.
He felt something fall to his cheeks, which made Clementine's expression turn worried, "Chad?" She wiped it away and looked into his eyes. "What's wrong?" She asked with a gentle tone.
He did not respond, instead he smiled and held her hand down from his face. He stood up, and started walking towards the shore. "Chad? Where are you going?" Confusion and worry were evident in Clementine's voice, but she knew well what he would do.
He continued to ignore her voice. It still haunts him until now. She fulfilled her promise of always being with him, even in another life. Now it will be his time to return the favor.
When he had finally reached the wet sand and felt the cold on his feet, he turned around to look at his dear friend once again. His dear friend that he had loved like no other. He let out a sad but comforting smile, as Clementine's face started to blur into another one of his fading memories. Her figure disappeared, and her voice went quiet.
He lied his back to the cold water, and let the waves take him home. "Clementine is gone." He told himself, but he felt hopeful. The sun's rays flashed in his eyes that it had almost blinded him, until he closed them shut. He took a deep breath of air before being one with the sea, hoping that the remorse would drown along with him.
"I can't wait to see you again, Clementine."
