My Place- Randall Carpio Love Story

Something

Remi's arms throbbed from the excessive motion of scrubbing blood from a stone altar. Her well toned muscles shook from the hours and hours of dragging a bristle through every crack and crevice of the stone. 

As she scaled down the steps of the Temple, she pushed her headphones in her ears and played the first song that popped up on her playlist. 

"Something in the way she moves attracts me like no other lover. Something in the way she woos me..."

The sweet, sweet voice flowed carefully through her headphones, lulling her into a trance as she fled the temple ground and headed towards her dorm. It wouldn't be a refuge- only her den was a refuge- but her dorm would do... it would have to do.

The cool breeze twisted around her bare limbs, exposing goosebumps that trailed the length of her calves and infiltrated her biceps. Though there was a chill, the night was young and beautiful and filled Remi with hope for a better tomorrow. 

A presence stepped up beside her, and she craned her neck to see Randall fall in step alongside her. 

"We can't be seen together," she whispered as she admired the way the moonlight softly basked along his skin. She stopped in her spot as she found herself unable to look at anything but him. 

Randall stopped and turned back towards her. With the moon to his back, his face enveloped in a deep shadow that perfectly represented the mourning in his eyes. 

"I don't want to keep hiding this," even through the music she could hear the resentment in his voice. It flowed freely like water through a coursing river, and as such, it chilled her to the very bone. 

Remi gulped and nodded as she understood perfectly. 

"I don't want to leave her now... You know I believe and how..."

The music continued despite the somber mood. Her eyes lifted to watch the moon wash through his dark curls. The tones of silver and brown reminded her of soft waves crashing over blackened sand.

She found herself incapable of putting distance between them. Instead her right foot lifted and brought her closer to him until she could feel the heat radiate off her chest. The warmth chased her goosebumps away with ease. 

The music sung through her veins, pulling her towards Randall like Icarus to the sun, and just like him, she wasn't scared of falling. No... she knew Randall would always be there to catch her.

"Somewhere in her smile she knows that I don't need no other lover. Something in her style that shows me..."

She watched Randall's Adam's Apple bob up and down as he stared longingly at her. Her heart hammered in her chest, going faster than the beat of the song as she lifted her hand to gently rest on his shoulder, then she pulled him towards her before she rested her forehead over his collar bone. 

Randall's arms wove around her waist, pulling her closer until there was no space between them. She swayed to the music in her head and held him close as she became overwhelmed with a dire sensation of love.

She didn't need to share the headphones with him. She knew he could hear it perfectly fine without one, so she kept both, and let the music consume her.

"Don't want to leave her now... You know I believe and how. You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know..."

Randall bowed down to press his lips to her cheek. Her curls got in the way, making her only feel part of his lips against her cheek. But it was enough to ignite a fire under her skin that traveled down her neck and planted itself firmly in her heart. It furrowed there, and found a home among the quick beating of her heart. Each beat reached out for Randall, hoping to latch onto him and never let go.