Are you okay?

23:23PM

We passed by the dimly lit hospital carpark as the arrows began leading us out of the hospital grounds, onto the quiet road that lead up to the hospital. The road was void of cars while we strolled along the pavement, with railing along the sides since the road overlooked a large stretch of darkness to the side of us. I couldn't make out what was out in the darkness, but further in the distance there seemed to be the familiar twinkle of city lights, still visible from miles away.

The further we walked, the more monochrome the arrows became, until there was no sight of any multi-coloured spray paint anymore. It left behind a somewhat soothing blend of the three colours: the same ones that Romeo had carried with him on our previous night together as well.

"Do you mind if I ask what it's about?"

Romeo's gaze returned to mine upon hearing my words, the corners of his lips tilting upwards before he spared another glance to the stretch of arrows on the pavement before us. "What do you think it's about?"

"Making choices," I answered honestly, "And not knowing where they'll lead you. Or the opposite: making a decision even though you know it won't have the best outcome – like me picking this path despite knowing that all of the colour fades along the way."

Romeo hummed in response, nodding slowly to himself. "So why pick the path that leads to no colour?" He paused in his steps, threading his fingers through mine to point at the edges of the path as he guided my gaze to follow his. "Look closely, Cass, there, along the sides."

His words brushed past the tip of my nose as I willed myself to pay attention, transiently caught up in the vibrations of his voice that rippled across my skin as his cold hands around mine seemed to ignite flutters of warmth. Following the direction of our conjoined hands, I noticed that every so often, a few arrows were facing backwards, leading the other way; some were fully rotated while others were only half painted, not revealing which direction they pointed to.

"We don't know where we're going, do we?" I questioned aloud rhetorically, a small smile tugging at my lips as a brief laugh escaped me. "That's why I chose this path. The colourful arrows seemed like we would already know where they would lead us: in a circle around the hospital probably, before the trail would end. But this path seemed darker, more uncertain, yet blissful – sort of like you and I."

Romeo nodded at my words as I spoke, a pensive glaze in his eyes before they darted down to focus on the arrows. "Like Russian roulette," he added on, reminding me of one of our first conversations where we had referenced the game while talking about one of his graffiti pieces. "We're just hoping for the best outcome, despite the thoughts of taking it all back and choosing the brighter pathway."

Some of the arrows began losing their white borders, leaving behind only grey and black arrows that were hard to make out against the darkness of the night. Only a few white-speckled arrows remained, but for the most part they all seemed to be composed of greys and blacks the further on that we embarked.

"But what did you have in mind when you were spray painting this?" I still probed further, wanting to know what Romeo's meaning behind the design was.

"It can mean absolutely anything, Cass," he replied vaguely, swinging our hands in the small distance between us as he shot me an innocent grin. "Arrows can mean whatever you want them to mean. It could be about Romeo and Juliet, continuing to love each other even when every inch of colour seemed to have faded; it could be about living, and having to continue even when there seems to be no reason to keep breathing; it could be about me and you, finding light amongst the darkness no matter how hopeless it seems."

I stared up at him, mesmerised by all his answers as my cheeks begun to hurt from all the smiling I was doing. "That's beautiful," I whispered, forgetting to pay any notice to the arrows when Romeo's dark brown swirls were intently focused on me, neither of us paying attention to where we walked as time seemed to slow just for us.