An Interesting Love

The world is broken

Word Count: 2,023

"Why do you have magic?" I ask.

Henry chuckles, "It took you this long to ask. I'm impressed!"

Confused, I ask, "Has it been that long?"

He just shakes his head.

"I don't actually know why. One day I just kind of appeared here. You know, like how you just wind up in the middle of a dream in your sleep. I just kind of began to exist from nothing, and I haven't met anyone that could explain it to me," he says.

"So, you were never raised by anyone? Did you go to school?" I ask.

"I have a past like everyone else, I remember going to school and leaving home, but I also know that none of it actually happened. It's hard to explain; I know everything I need to know, I remember having a life, but it was kind of implanted into me somehow. Like, I wasn't here, but everyone thinks I was and I know everything that they think has happened involving me," he says.

"No, I understand, it's like you kind of came into a life that was already being lived," I say.

"Yeah, like that," he says, turning his head to kiss me on the cheek.

We are sitting on the top of a mountain. The climb was quick and easy, but we got so high. We must be a mile above the ground. Shoulder to shoulder on a small patch of short grass, we stare at one another. His eyes are so perfect. They stretch upward when he smiles. I can see a bit of the skin under the hair on his cheeks. He has acne scars. His body went through puberty, I'm sure. Did he take someone else's body?

"When I came here, I was just walking down the street, going home. I knew where my home was, somehow. When I got into my apartment, a cup was floating in the middle of the kitchen. I wasn't freaked out at all, I just made the cup land on the table. I had no idea how my powers worked, I just knew that I had them. Now I have a slight idea, and I can do a lot with them, but I still don't know where they came from or if other people have them," he says.

"Wow. Um..."

"Yeah, it's confusing," he says with a smile. Beautiful eyes.

I smile back and say, "it's pretty fucking awesome."

He puts his forehead on mine, shading my eyes from the sun. Despite the significant cloud coverage, it is very bright up here. The sky is nearly white and the colors only appear about half a mile down the mountainside. We are up near the snow, but it's not cold at all. It's the perfect temperature, and I don't feel uncomfortably warm after spending a while in Henry's arms. He knows how to hold me and make me feel close to him. Most times, I crave physical affection, but I'm always too nervous to actually enjoy it when I'm receiving it. I don't feel nervous at all now. He doesn't feel nervous at all either.

"Do you like it up here, Charlotte?"

"I do, Henry. I also really like looking at you this closely."

He pushes his forehead into mine, forcing me to lean back a bit before pushing back. He takes my face in his hands and I mimic his action, taking his. We stay in this position for a while.

I feel so at peace with you.

"What?" I ask.

Before I hear an answer, my eyes are brought to the horizon where a large fracture appears in the sky. It's a large purple crack, glowing. It provides a great contrast to the plain sky behind it. It looks like the large swaths of bright dust I saw behind the earth when we were looking at it from Mars. It's like the sky is breaking. Is the sky breaking? Is this world breaking?

"What is that?" I ask.

Henry stands up and takes a step back, bringing me with him.

"I don't know what's happening. I'm not doing that," he responds.