Always

forty-nine

K Y L E R
"Hold on, I still want you.
Come back, I still need you."

There was a ridiculous grin etched onto my face as I stared out at the billions of lights dotting the city. My thoughts helplessly kept drifting back to this morning and my cheeks began to hurt from how much I was grinning.

The last thing I had expected was for Luna to show up right in front of my bedroom door today, but I was so, so glad that she did. The feeling of seeing her face after what felt like forever was unexplainable. Seeing her made something in me clicked and all I wanted to do was pull her to my chest and wrap my arms around her forever.

And that's exactly what I did.

There was no way that I could have held myself back from that. I needed to touch her, needed to remember how it felt holding her in my arms, needed to remember the way she laid her head on my chest in an oddly comforting way.

I plucked the guitar strings and let out a sigh. For the first time in a long time, I was finally able to play without having to force myself to do so. Every chord, every melody, came to me as naturally as it used to when I started playing. Closing my eyes, I let my fingers dance on the guitar strings and in seconds, I had created the perfect tune.

And as I continued playing, my eyes snapped open when I realized that every single chord matched up to create the melody of that very song Luna and I had danced to under the stars that night. It felt like forever ago but even then, that memory caused a huge smile to appear on my face and I closed my eyes, remembering every second of it; how I had pulled her as close to me as I possibly could because the only thing I craved was her body pressed to mine, how the both of us were completely off beat but we didn't care, how every five seconds we would somehow end up staring at each other's lips, and how I so, so badly wanted to kiss her right there and then.

I remembered how that was the moment when I knew there was no turning back. Hell, there wasn't ever any turning back. I should have known that when I saw her for the first time in front of my house and tied my heart down to her without thinking twice.

How could I not? I was completely enchanted by the sight of her white-blonde hair and bright jade eyes the second I saw her. And even if I tried to resist it—which I was sure I wouldn't have done—something about her forcefully captivated me and I just couldn't pull myself out of her spell.

Sighing, I leaned my head back so it gently rested against the brick wall of the rooftop. Everything that happened today didn't feel real. Nothing about it felt real. Mainly because I had thought I lost Luna forever and seeing her right by my door was a huge relief for me.

But then, at the same time, she wasn't really acting like herself. She had been acting completely distant and closed off today, more than ever before. And it was worrying me too much. She gave vague, weird answers to my questions, didn't talk much otherwise and was constantly rubbing at the sleeves of her sweatshirt restlessly. A dreadful feeling settled in my chest but I couldn't pin any single reason for it. It felt like even though I physical had her, I still had somehow lost her.

Quickly fishing out my phone from my pocket, I clicked it open and disappointment flashed through me when I saw no calls or messages from her. And that also didn't help my anxiousness much.

Clicking her contact name, I pressed the phone to my ear and closed my eyes as I silently listened to the sound of the dial tone for what felt like forever. My eyebrows drew together and just when I thought she wasn't going to answer, the low sound cut off, being replaced by a small shuffling noise.