We were lying on the bed, as we often did. It was different, though.
“Jack?” I asked.
He rubbed my arm.
“Will you be honest with me?” I kept.
“Yes,” he said, because he always was.
“What are you feeling.. about.. earlier?” I was being cautious.
“I love you,” he said, “No matter who you kiss, where you go, where you are from.. I love you. Now, if you were to say something, then that’s all it would take. It’d get out of your life..”
I clung to him in the evening’s dusk. “No,” I whispered.
“Okay, then,” he confirmed, “I’m here. Always and forever.”
“Forever..” I mused, “is a very long time.”
“Thank God,” he whispered, “any shorter than eternity and I think I’d nearly die without you. Sometimes I miss you just because I can’t hear your voice.. even if you’re right next to me.”
My heart restarted.
“I love you, Jack.”
He traced my lips with his and we stared through slightly open eyes. I saw him that night, and I let all my walls fall down. I let Jack see Ashley.
“I still love you.” he said.