I wonder why you even said good-bye; your hello had slipped through my fingers a few days earlier. I could still hear it in my ears when you were to leave, to never cross paths again. Confusion sifted around in my mind, mixed with disappointment, sadness, and a bit of longing. You wrapped your arms around my waist, my neck prickles. Our skin is laced together, like you are roots and I am the ground. You were soft and warm, and I counted the ends of the universe and the sparkling of stars in your steel gray eyes. Your nails ran into my back, and I still have figurative scars. I found constellations in your freckles. I pressed my lips against your forehead, whispering amor over and over again. love.

Then you gradually pulled away, my heart matched to your heart, our faces flushed. Seconds or hours, how much passed? You pulled on my fingers one last time, blinked slowly, and stepped out. Too far to come back.