Standing on the tree branch, Alex stared at the all too familiar wooden house, his eyes glimmering in the darkness and the ice that had formed around them started to melt.
He jumped off the tree branch, landing on the ground with a soft thud, and started walking towards the house. He looked up at the black hills ahead and he clenched his fists and he halted, suddenly unsure if he should take another step closer. But when he looked at the small house again, he couldn’t stop himself from moving forward. He let out a deep and quiet sigh, letting his emotions get the better of him.
Swift and silent as a cat, Alex approached the house and finally entered. The lights were off so he knew that Abigail had gone already to bed.
His heart was beating wildly in his chest, thudding hard against his ribs from the anticipation of being able to see her face again. Oh how he had missed her beautiful eyes and her sweet, sweet smiles.
The moment he stood beside her bed, Alex simply watched her sleeping face. The moonlight was shining on her, kissing her jade skin as she slept so peacefully. He didn’t move. He just let himself bask in this feeling of being able to see her face finally, after being away for so long.
His hand inched closer to face, wanting to caress her cheeks like he used to, but it was shaking so he stopped and let his hand fall to his side. Just the sight of her was enough to shake his world. His iron-like façade crumbled in the darkness. How many nights had he been dreaming to see her? How many times did he freeze his heart to stop himself from running back to this place, to her arms?
His days had become cold and dark since he left her. The last time he saw his world being bright and sunny was that day before he left her. Every day since then was winter, where blizzards and storms raged without mercy causing him to become numb and cold from their torment. He had become so cold that he was afraid he could no longer give her any warmth.
Yet here he was, eyes welling as he slowly sat down on the edge of her bed, taking care not to move the bed too much in case it woke her up. He was so close to her and he wanted to hug her so damn bad. He had missed her so much. Every night, every silent moment, was nothing but torture for him.
His hands landed on either side of her face, holding him up as he leaned down. Their faces were so close that he could smell that familiar sweet and flowery scent of hers. He leaned ever closer but Alex stopped himself. He didn’t want to wake her because he knew he would only have to leave her again, so he just stayed there, silent as the night with his eyes glued to her face.
But a few seconds later, the sleeping girl’s brows creased and she moved, causing Alexander to immediately pull away. He was about to step back when suddenly…
“Alex… Alexander…” she uttered in her sleep. “I miss you.”
Those words made Alex halt and his entire body froze.
And then, as if something in her dream jolted Abigail awake, she suddenly sat up with eyes wide open.
“Alexander!” she exclaimed. Her eyes flew towards him. The moonlight was very bright and it illuminated Alex’s face as Abi gazed at him. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had conjured him up and when he turned to leave, Abigail immediately jumped on him, hugging his back tightly.
“Y-you’re finally here!” she cried as her grip tightened around him. “Where have you been? Why did you take so long? I thought… I thought you weren’t going to come back anymore,” she sobbed and Alex turned to face her and hugged her back just as hard.
As she hugged him, she noticed that he had grown even taller and that his body had become so chiseled. His strong arms embraced her and she couldn’t help but bury her face in his chest. She could feel his warmth enveloping her, warming her up like nothing else had done since the day he left her.
She had no idea that Alex felt exactly the same. She didn’t know how much he had missed this. Even though Abigail had hugged him only a few times before, he could never forget how warm her embraces were. She was like his lone fire in winter.
He didn’t speak and just let his actions do the talking. He leaned against the wall not letting her go and then he slid down to the ground, taking Abigail along with him. He suddenly felt like his strength had left him. No, it was like his body was finally able to relax again, as if he was a frozen ice that had finally been melted. His numb heart and soul started to feel these sweet emotions and life finally glimmered in his eyes again.
“Abigail…” he uttered her namealmost religiously.
She pulled away slightly to look at his face. Cupping his face, she stared at him. His appearance had become more masculine and his aura felt so strong and dominant. Even the look in his eyes screamed power and vigor. He had changed so much in such a short period of time that he was almost unrecognizable but under all that, he was still the Alex that she knew.
She smiled at him. She felt like she was dreaming as she touched his face. “Oh Alexander, I missed you so much,” she uttered and then she suddenly kissed him. Oh, how she missed his warm lips.
Alex was surprised for a moment. But then, he pulled her into him and kissed her back. Their lips collided and tasted each other like two souls that were indescribably starved of each other.
