Eastern Lights (Compass 2)

“You should’ve told me you were a millionaire, then I would’ve allowed you to pay,” I joked. “I should’ve asked you to buy me that extremely rare comic behind the counter.”

He started to stand. “I mean, maybe we can head back that way and—”

“Shut up.” I laughed as I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. “I’m just kidding.”

“Next time, I’ll get it for you.”

“I wish there was a next time,” I said without thought. He stared my way for a moment before looking out at the sky.

“You know what’s weird, Red? You’re still here, and I already miss you.”

I smiled, he smiled, and I loved the way we smiled together.

He pulled out a comic book and began to read to me. His thumb brushed against his upper lip before turning the pages, and I became fixated on watching every movement he made. At that moment, my heart decided it would beat for him for the remainder of the night. Probably into the next morning, too.

Unfortunately, the sun began to rise, and I hated that the good was coming to an end.

I hated the sun. I hated how it couldn’t shift its schedule for one day to allow me a few more hours with him. I should’ve felt tired, but if anything, all I felt was sad. The lighter it grew, the sadder I became.

How had a stranger become so important in such a short period?

“Remind me again why we aren’t allowing ourselves to fall for one another tomorrow and the day after that, too,” he said, his voice low and shaky. He was becoming more anxious about the impending end of whatever connection we’d formed, too.

I sighed. “Because you’re too busy building an empire, and I’m a girl who hasn’t unpacked the past baggage and insecurities from my previous relationship enough to truly engage in a new one this fast.”

“Ah, yes. Reality.”

“I hate it here,” I joked, biting back the emotions sitting behind my eyes. Did I desire more nights like the one we’d shared together? Yes. Did I understand that we both weren’t truly ready for more? Also yes. I had never believed you could meet the right person at the wrong time until this very night.

“We have to make a few promises,” Captain said as he placed the comic book down. He turned to sit face-to-face with me and took my hands in his. “This night was special and I don’t want to jinx it in any way, shape, or form. I like the idea of us crossing paths again, with destiny tossing a coin into that chance encounter. So we have to avoid the places we’ve gone to tonight. We can’t force the universe to push us together. We gotta trust the stars that somehow we’ll cross paths again.”

“And if we don’t?”

He turned my palm up. “Well then, Red”—he kissed my palm, causing a wave of butterflies to flutter through my system—“thank you for the happiest night of my life.”

My eyes felt like watering because he’d done the same—given me the happiest experience, which I needed more than words.

He kept holding my hands and stared down at our fingers, which were now intertwined. “I have a confession to make to you.”

“A confession?”

“Yes. I knew you wouldn’t fall in love with me in five hours.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think I love you?” I asked. We hadn’t even discussed the challenge we’d created about falling in love. We’d simply spent the past five hours laughing, diving deep, and connecting. Honestly, I’d forgotten all about it until he brought it up.

“No, I don’t.” He shrugged. “And I’m okay with that because I might have had an ulterior motive.”

“And what was that?”

“All I wanted to do was make you happy, remind you that no matter how bad your heart can hurt, you can find happiness again. You can love yourself enough to find joy in life. You can get back up again after feeling defeated. I knew it would be impossible to make you fall in love with me—I mean, I’m just some guy from Kentucky—but I also knew it was possible to make you fall in love with yourself again. Because that kind of love never strays too far.”

“I don’t think you know how much I needed you tonight.”

“The feeling goes both ways, Red. But just in case you forget again tomorrow, here’s a list I compiled tonight, of things about you that are worth loving.” He cleared his throat and pretended to pull out a piece of paper from his invisible pocket, which he read from. “The way you wrinkle your nose when displeased. The way you dance when no one is looking. The way you nerd out about comics is worth every second of loving you. The way you feel things deeply—that’s a gift. So many people in the world are closed off and disconnected from their feelings. Your emotions live loudly inside you—the good ones and the bad—which makes you balanced. You should love the way you smile. That smile is worthy of all the love. And your eyes, the way they drink people in and are filled with kindness. The way you love others who probably don’t deserve your love. The way you live. The way you breathe. The way that outside of all those things, you deserve to be loved because you exist. Your mere existence is reason enough for you to be loved.”