A Reunion of Lips

XIV

The night air was cool against his face. He was sitting alone in a ball on the balcony of the tower, back pressed to the wall. The door opened slightly to his right, and he saw Kirstie's head poke out.

"Can I join you?" she asked softly.

He shrugged. He wasn't going to stop her from joining him.

She sighed and sat down next to him. The door clicked shut behind her, and for a minute, the only sounds were their breathing and hair rustling in the slight breeze. Kirstie looked away from the stars sharply when he spoke. He wasn't really planning on talking, but it just kind of happened.

"This is where we sat when I confessed my feelings two years ago. He was sitting where you are now when I first told him I love him."

Kirstie reached out and took Scott's hand, but didn't interrupt.

"I guess it wasn't really the first time, 'cause he heard me when I told my parents at that brunch, but it was the first time I said it to his face."

He looked up at the moon, a golden orb hanging amongst the clouds, and took a deep breath.

"I don't know if I ever thanked you for pushing me to tell him."

Kirstie shook her head and opened her mouth to argue but Scott didn't let her.

"You can brush it off all you want, but I'll forever be grateful for how you convinced me to tell him and quit pining."

"I didn't do anything. You did it all yourself."

"I did it with him. Because of you."

She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. "He would be making fun of you right now for saying that you did it with him."

Scott smiled. "Yeah, he would."

"He's out there somewhere, Scott. We just haven't found him yet—"

"You mean none of the bodies have been his, yet."

"Scott." Kirstie smacked his arm with her free hand. "Don't say that."

He looked down at his bare feet. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"He's a tough little bastard, you know that. He'll come waltzing in the front doors of the palace and right into your arms someday soon."

"I can't wait for 'soon', Kirstie." Scott pulled his hand away from Kirstie and rubbed at his eyes. "I can't keep doing this without him. I need him."

"We all do." Kirstie leaned back against the wall and looked back out at the city.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Tell me about when you told him you loved him?" Kirstie turned her head to look at him. "I've only ever heard the story from him."

Scott smiled slowly, remembering Mitch's wide eyes and shaky breathing as Scott spilled his guts to him. "Yeah—yeah, sure." He took a deep breath, and the smile on his face actually managed to last until Kirstie started crying.