Eventually

24 | acidifying

2 4

A C I D I F Y I N G

I woke up with a sudden jolt and rubbed my eyes. The speed breaker was unexpected and Luke had forgotten to step on the brake. Realising that I was awake, Luke smiled at me and mumbled an apology to which I laughed and replied, "Good Morning."

"It's actually eight and the sky is dark. What ever made you greet me a good morning?" Luke chuckled.

"'Cause I just woke up?"

Luke laughed and shook his head. He smiled and informed me, "You look beautiful when you sleep."

I faked offence at that statement and gasp as Luke roared out laughing again. I shouted as I pulled down the window, "I look crappy. You're probably blind."

"No, I'm not and you are beautiful."

The pre existing blush deepened and I hit my head on the dashboard, "You're hopeless."

"You make me hopeless."

"Just shut up and drive."

The sky around us was almost breathtakingly. The Stars twinkled above us and the moon lit up the sky brightly. Every night was a different experience – with no sexual innuendo intended – and I truly yearned to cherish it. Because you know, who knew how long each one of us were to live?

I've always believed that it was the night that made us the most vulnerable — the most transparent. The night made everyone's every word so raw and truthful and often, it was a mixed set of reaction one truly gets.

You could be chatting with your best friend whom you've had a crush on since fourth grade at one in the morning and his every sweet word would be the reason why you would have professed your love for him, that is if you belonged to the gutsy category of the people.

Or for people like me, who shut their mouth as they watch their crush fall in love and live life; the night would be our only companion as we cried our night away.

Either way, the night was something raw, beautiful and the night was definitely why magic was created. Needless to say that that night was the time of the day when I professed how much I loved Luke. Absolutely, with burning passion and the rawest of appreciation to each and every flaw of his.

That was what I did that night in the car. I told Luke that I loved him and that I would cherish him as long as I lived. With every cell in my body and with every fibre of my heart, I promised that I would love him and would never leave him. That was my oath that night – an oath I was willing to take.

Luke's face lit up, which eventually resulted in me being overjoyed. I was lucky here, not him. Luke was the reason why I was finally having my happily ever after. He was the reason why I didn't quit on love. He was the reason why I yearned to be free of this disease. He was the reason why I hoped I could live like this – carefree and joyous – every single day. He was the reason why I was happy and he was all that matter to me now.

"Thank you," Luke whispered after everything. My head whipped in his direction with my eyes widened.

"What ever for?"

"For everything," he told. His hands were tightly wrapped around the steering wheel as he drove the car. After another minute of broken silence, he continued, "Thank you for walking into my life. I was never good with words but I hope this one works. So, Danielle, Amor, Ellie – my world and my sunshine – thank you for everything."