Omnia Vincit Amor

XXI.

"Nunc scio quid sit Amor." -Virgil

Now I know what Love is.

Both men did not know that they ended up sleeping after they had the conversation. Brett was the first to be awoken, the sun was yet to rise. The younger man was on his arms and he did not want to awaken him.

So, what he did was observe.

Brett noticed how his lashes are scattered, featherlike in texture. His lips were parted and his hair was all over the place. His quiet snores resonate around the room as the older felt his inhales and exhales. Brett took the moment to let this seep in.

Yes, they have been closer than this before. They had seen every part of each other while making love. They had seen each other bare and vulnerable but they never had the opportunity to be this close and vulnerable. It felt like heaven even if the world was simply hellish.

Brett used the side of his hand to graze Eddy's skin. He was beautiful, terrifingly so. Brett was watching the way Eddy's chest rise and fall as he breathes. He was not perfect at this stage but Brett does not care. He only wants this type of bliss right now.

He loved this bliss of seeing the normally anxious man in peace with himself. It brought Brett at ease with himself, at ease with everything else. He need not to worry about anything because this man is by his side.

The moment that the sun rose, Eddy's skin glowed in the glory of gold. Brett felt his windpipe close up a little, his chest constricting and his mind blank. Eddy Chen was an ethereal beauty.

The shadows and the light made his facial structure sharper. His collarbones were exposed and the way his eyelashes are scattered and its obsidian black color, Edward Chen in his glory. Brett might have forgotten what it felt like to breathe.

That was the moment that Eddy Chen opened his eyes and found his lover looking at him with so much love and oh, those eyes. Those beautiful, beautiful eyes that he might just as well drown in. Brett Yang's cheek turn a beautiful, blushing pink like the clouds outside.

Honey, chocolate, coffee, hazel, amber... It does not matter what the color of Brett's eyes are, he just knew that he's lucky that they're always looking at him and after him. His pupils have expanded and his lips were terrible inviting.

That was the moment that they need not care about what was happening outside of this heaven they have. This sanctuary, this comfort, this abode; it is only Brett and Eddy. Eddy and Brett.

Us. Ours. Yours. Mine. Me. I.

Those are just mere titles of human possession, but the two men felt like they are beyond that. So, all it takes is a kiss to seal it in. They need not a raconteur or an outstanding listener, for their love would be best told by themselves.

Eddy pecked Brett's lips lightly and pulled away immediately. Brett whined at the quick lost of contact and pulled Eddy back in for a longer and passionate kiss. They did not nor could not care at the moment, it was special to them. This was the first time they woke up in the same bed, under the same blankets, on top of a soft mattress and in each other's arms.

"That was one hell of a way to wake up, was it not?" Brett asked, lips still red from their previous kiss.

"Y-yes, it w-was..." Eddy said, still weak and euphoric about their kiss.

"Need not to be shy, Edward Chen... I love you with all of me." Brett professed.

"I love you, too..." Eddy said, holding on to Brett a bit tighter.

They stayed at the same position for what felt like an eternity. Well, not an eternity because Brett's arm was already cramping.

"Eddy, as much as I hate to pull away from you, my arm is now cramping up." Brett said with a chuckle, almost a nervous laugh.

Eddy laughed along and kissed Brett's cheek.

"Allow me to hold you, then. Turn around..." Eddy commanded.

"Lovely, you really do not have to." Brett coaxed.

"But I want to. You always hold me close and I think it would be fair if I did so as well." Eddy said, tapping on the older man's shoulder.

"If you really insist, my darling." Brett said as he gave in to the younger man's request.

He could feel his back pressed against Eddy's chest. Brett sighed in content as Eddy pulled him in closer. Eddy tangled his fingers in Brett's hair and he could feel the older man relax.

This was a perfect position for them since Eddy was taller. Nothing much was said between them at that moment, they were contented as they are. It was quite the beauty even if the opportunity that they will have a morning like this again was little to none.

They were both in love, yes. They cannot deny that very much but this gave them a deeper enlightenment. A deeper knowing of what it might truly mean to love someone. It was possible that Brett might have just fallen harder for Eddy and Eddy too.

At first, they were afraid and cared too much about what other people thought of their relationship. Now, it does not seem to bother them. Hey, if they were in so love then who should care? Only they could have a say in their relationship.

Eddy finally knew that this is definitely love. Love is not perfect, love is not, love is not the butterflies on your stomach or the electric shock when they touch, love is not something for public's eye, love is not the physicality between two people and love does not need much but each other. Both Edward Chen and Brett Yang was hoping to get this love to last beyond their lifetimes now.

May 17, 1861

The last few notes of a concerto serves as its resolution, its resolve in its own glory. His glory, his flaws, his everything... I am ready to accept it with all my heart and might. I do not care what he has been, what he is now and what he will be in the near future. I just want to be with him.

I see myself with no one else but this magnetic love of mine. This newfound love, this understanding which such depth. I know it, I know it all too well. Whatever it might be.

Have you ever had a goal set only to find out that you would not follow through it? I came to the conservatory and finished my lectures in two years so I could be a soloist already. It turned out that the universe had something better in store for me.

Something that had made me feel more like a human. Someone to remind me that even someone like me deserves a love. He is that someone who can ground me, pull me back in with my head in the clouds. Someone who loves me with all that I ever am.

He reminds me that I am human, too. That I sometimes bite off more than I can chew. He brings me back to exactly where I am and what I am and every thing that I should be. I am in his arms, his lover and not just a talent.

I am much more than I think I am. He loves me more than I could ever think of loving myself. He is reassured that I am forever his. I do not know everything in this world but I am certain that I am very much in love with him.

I need not philosophy or natural science to know this fact. My heart could only know. Whatever obstacle we must face, I know we can conquer it. Love conquers all, after all. After years, I have believed in love again. I am in love again and I do not regret.

Now, I know what love is. It is not perfection or the uplifting feeling of electric shocks when we touch. The physicality or the safest bet. This is not what love is. This is merely lust and longing combined together. All these things could eventually transform to love overtime, though.

Love is the realness, the truest form of yourself when you are with them. I need not to lie about anything or his anything from him. I am only who I really am and he is who he truly is. Love is the opposite of everything you ever had expected.

I am so in love with him. Words cannot and will not comprehend what I truly feel for him. I love him and only him. I need him more than I could ever tell him. How could I ever get him out of my mind now. Not anytime soon, too, no.