The Story of Tonight

Prologue

I heard the dimmed voices of my fellow students from inside, chatting, laughing and simply celebrating their graduation.

As I slowly began to walk off the building, I pulled my phone out to check for some new messages. Nothing. Has he forgotten to text me? But... He promised...

I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket, not without turning the notification value up. I continued my walk, constantly staring at the dark night sky, covered in dark blue clouds, prohibiting me to spot a single star. Nonetheless, the blurred, lightly silver halo of the moon behind the clouds was of a unique beauty.

Since I felt like I had no reason to stay at this party any longer, I headed back home and, though aware of the unmuted notifications, constantly checking my phone.

What was he doing right now? Has his plane already landed?

I felt my nervousness growing step by step, steadily asking myself the same questions, over and over again.

He can't have forgotten me, can he? On the other hand, his flight might have been pretty stressful as well, I can't blame him for not texting me instantly after he landed.

I barely noticed what happened around me, as my view reduced to what was right in front of me. I had to keep going, nearly ran, for I knew, as soon as I gave the thoughts enough room to develop, to grow, they'd use it. They'd destroy me. And that wasn't something I wanted to go through again. Tears ran down my cheeks, and I tried my best to blame it on the wind. Or the cold.

No matter, just keep going. My head felt incredibly crowded, though empty at the same time. I felt like overheating, but also freezing. I couldn't grasp a single clear thought.

Suddenly I stopped, as I recalled the memory of his goodbye. Interrupting all doubts, I remembered the sentence that would give me the strength to survive without him.

I know, I will be far away, but only look up, and we'll always look at the same stars.

At this exact moment two things happened at once.

The clouds thinned out a tiny bit, and a single star was to be seen amidst the dark background. At the same time, the typical vibration and short ring tone of my phone went off, indicating an incoming message. With shaking fingers I opened the message and barely a demi-second later ran towards my apartment, a grin on my face that couldn't have been wider, and inner singing in not just my head, but my entire body.

The world wasn't over yet.