The Journey of You and I, Together, Pt. 2

To my dismay, time did not stop for us and I realized that I had to hold on to every present moment for the time it was there and no longer. Every moment that I dwelled on the past, I lost a touch of our present. Being stuck like this limited the new precious moments I could make with you. We came to the edge of a forest. It had rained right over the forest as if in anticipation of our arrival. Glances were exchanged as we move forward. The smell of the forest seeped into my lungs, and life entered me and my senses felt so alive! The greens of the forest seemed so much greener, and the soft dirt like a bed of growth. I hadn't realized that my eyes were closed until I felt your hands on the side of my face, your thumbs rolling over my eyelids. You moved your thumbs so tenderly as if you were overcome with fear of destroying a delicate flower in lieu of my eyes. You brushed your thumbs over my eyelashes, and I could feel them flicker back down onto my face. Your heart was racing. I had moved my hands to hold your forearms parallel to each other on either side of my face, and through your wrists I could feel the thump of your pulse. I could feel the blood moving up and down your arm through your fingertips and back to your heart. Your breathing, however, was steadier than a sniper's. Your ability to maintain calm was commendable and I could never match it. I opened my eyes slowly so not to startle or interrupt you. The way you were looking at me...was puzzling. You were slightly stooped down, very close to me, as if observing me. You finally spoke to me saying, "I can see your spirit dancing behind your eyes.", he continued, "The passion you're emitting is indescribable." I smiled a bit as I looked down then away. Your hands were still on my face, but you loosened them, allowing me to moved my head as I pleased. I dropped my arms to my side. With my hands feeling your pulse, I could already feel my body trying to match it. The musician in me enjoyed keeping in time. I had to stop. This already felt too cliche, although it was quite funny in some ways. You never thought of me as the outdoors inclined person, and I wasn't. But I wasn't incapable of enjoying myself. We weren't exactly at trekking speed; It was more of a less than casual stroll. Every few seconds I felt my eyes flicker open and closed as a new image of you clicked in my mind. I was taking mental pictures...getting stuck in the moment. You were still studying me. Your fingertips glided along my cheek bones, down to my collarbone, to my shoulder where they stopped. I slumped and your hands floated in the air where my shoulders had been. "Clever there, aren't you?", you quickly interjected. You smirked and lowered your arms  to your side and at that very moment we just looked at each other. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in that head of yours. What did you think about our adventure so far? How was I possibly supposed to figure that out?! Just as I was readying myself to muscle up and ask you, you spoke. Gently first, then clearing your throat to add clarity, "This is strange. This excursion, this forest, this...everything. I alwasy thought, when I was young, that I would love things right out with such ease. It's just that easy when you're a kid; I thought it would carry along with me as I grew up. But now I've grown to find that one must be accustomed to something before you can fully understand it. With understanding comes that love. With that love comes the fire and passion." I was speechless. I don't remember saying anything in reply to you, but I sense that you heard it all. And that's the moment that everything changed. Again. Things were constantly changing with you and I. I was happy that we weren't becoming just one as a whole instead of a you and I. When there's just a whole, one can miss what the other has to offer, to teach, to be taught. Things were good. We continued walking, when it started to rain again.