***
maybe there's nothing after midnight,
that could make you stay
- jet black heart
5 seconds of summer
***
It was a beautiful night.
The view from the roof was ecstatic, beautified even further by the bright light of the extravagant full moon. The wind was gentle, as expected on an early spring night, causing my hair to fall on my face very often. It wasn't annoying though.
"Well, I still think Pikachu is better than Raichu."
Even though the words he said annoyed me, his voice did extraordinary things. His voice was like the soothing sound of the rain when you sit near the window, drinking from a steaming mug of hot chocolate, with your favourite book in hand. His voice was like the crackling of the fireplace, the only source of warmth on a cold winter evening, dominating over the sound of your noisy relatives at home. It was like a rapidly receding tide that dragged me along with it, no way to escape. His voice calmed me in a way nothing else could.
"Yeah, whatever. Suicune is the best."
My statement made his not-so-perfect eyebrows furrow in disagreement. His hair was not perfect. It was always in a mess, like he just got out of bed. His messy brown hair that he ran his hand through every time he was nervous were not perfect. His eyes were not perfect. His eyes were a very striking shade, somewhere in between all the shades of brown eyes imaginable. You could never put a finger on what emotion went through his eyes, even though they shone so beautifully every time something made him happy. His glistening brown eyes were not perfect.
His nose was not perfect. I still remember the day he broke his nose like it was yesterday. We had been intensely arguing over what topping tasted best on pizza. He had furiously walked away from me when I disagreed with him, and slammed face-first into the tree in his backyard. His crooked nose was not perfect. His lips were not perfect. He had been made fun of the naturally pink shade his lips had. Every time I told him that I liked his lips because they reminded me of strawberry, he would break into that dazzling smile of his that made everyone melt. His terribly soft pink lips were not perfect.
Yet, in that moment, all his not-so-perfect features coordinated so beautifully, which made him look so fucking perfect to me.
"Nah. That's where Charizard comes in."
He countered, as he lay on the roof, folding his arms beneath his head. He wasn't all that into muscles and fitness. He was just your simple, lean, teenage boy, nothing extraordinary. He was pretty tall, always giving him an advantage over my really short height. He towered over me every time we stood together, engulfing me in a protective little bubble, where I knew I was safe from the evils of the cynical world.
He made me feel safe. He made me feel happy. He made me feel comfortable. He made me feel home.
Everything felt right as I lay down next to him, underneath the starry night, on the roof of my house. Occasionally, whenever either of us couldn't fall asleep, we would meet on the roof of either of our houses, and talk about sweet nothings and watch the sunrise together. Those were my favourite nights. And tonight was one of them.
I gazed at his beautiful features as he recited the attacks and powers of his favourite Pokémon. I paid no attention to his words, just memorising every little detail about him. The way he looked up every time he was in deep thought. The way he smirked whenever he realised that he had outsmarted me. The way his laugh-lines adorned his face every time he heard something nice. The way he melodiously laughed whenever I embarrassed myself. The way he fiddled with his hands, playing with his fingers, whenever he tried to lie. The way his cheeks flushed with colour every time I teased him.
He was beautiful.
Everything around me fell silent, as silent as it could go on an already very silent night. All of my attention was directed towards him, not focusing on anything besides him.
Him. Him. Him.
In that very moment, the breeze, the silence, the moonlight, and him beside me, something clicked inside of me. It ignited my body, setting fire to places I didn't even know existed.
In that moment, I knew I was done for.
He became my salvation. My reason to live. And also, my destruction.
Every single moment I had spent with him, from the day we met, to this beautiful night, it all came down to this.
***
"Hey! You can't take my ice cream like that!" The little boy cried, running after the cute little girl that had run off with his favourite ice cream.
"Of course I can," the girl countered. She loved that ice cream flavour, and that stupid boy had taken the last one. She didn't want to let her ice cream go.
"But... but that's not fair. That's my ice cream!" The boy said, with a little pout.
"Everything is fair in love and war, pookie. And this is war."
Saying this, the girl lightly tapped the boy on his head, and ran away, leaving him confused and flustered.
That evening, when the boy walked out of his house to go to play, he saw the same little girl who had stolen his precious ice cream standing with her parents in the yard of the house next to his.
That's where it all began.
***
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, bringing me back to my senses. His face highlighted amusement as he saw my flustered form come back to reality.
"Yea, I'm perfectly fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? I'm okay," I hurriedly replied, thoroughly embarrassed because of my actions.
"You're cute when you blush, pookie," he said with his killer smile that melted my insides.
The same smile that sealed my fate.
He got up, and climbed back down the roof of my house without waiting for my reply. Right before entering his room through his window, he looked back at my flushed face, and said in his gentle, calming voice.
"See you here again tomorrow at midnight, love."
It was a beautiful night.
