Reborn

We were reborn into something new without the sting of old scars, without the wavering trust of a friendly enemy. All cards were on the table. I didn’t have to decipher the conflicted secrets behind his eyes or the wonder what cold prophecies were left behind in the silence. I didn’t have to fill my head with guesswork as to why he felt so far away. There’s no room to guess between laughter and the genuine beams cast in my direction that once were few and far between. In a bed once feeling a continent apart, now we tangle like vines grown together. He clings to the back of me, arms locked across my chest. When I ask to leave he says, “No, never,” pressing his lips to the base of my neck and I fall back into him. This was what I wanted.

I stared at his silver silhouette in the dark, studying the outlines of his face, listening to the soft hum of his patterned breath against the pillow. How strange it was that we had met, that I was here in his bed now. He grew up on a tropical island across the sea, only to end up in my hometown of all the obscure cities in this world. We coasted under the radar, never crossing paths until the moment when we needed each other most. Maybe we both took a few wrong turns to get to this place, but nothing about us was lost.

Photo Credit: Alex Iby