This Love is Ours

Chapter 18: The Moments of Night

We get in our car, and close the doors behind us.

The silence is beautiful, and Patrick's gaze falls on me.

"Thanks for coming with me tonight." He says, half-smiling, his mouth partly open.

I look back at him, smiling.

"Absolutely. I'm glad they won." I laugh, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Man, so am I." Patrick laughs, as he backs out of the parking spot.

Patrick and I drive through Downtown, and I admire the city as we do so.

It's still fairly early, and it's Friday night, so certain streets are busier than others.

The nightlife in Buffalo has always been pretty alive, and that's one of my favorite things about this city.

I look over at Patrick, as he drives.

The streetlights make occasional appearances on his face as we pass under them, and his eyes are like glimmering moonlight.

They shimmer, reflecting the road in front of him.

The lane markings are in his eyes, and he taps his fingers on the steering wheel quietly.

I've always loved the silence that overtakes Patrick and I sometimes.

The silence is never too loud, it's always quiet and calm.

It's never silent because we don't have anything to say.

We don't have anything to say because it's silent.

The silence is too beautiful to break, and we just like being in each other's presence.

It's soothing.

Patrick merges onto the highway that takes us out of the city.

As we get further and further away, Downtown Buffalo becomes blurry blobs of light in the rear-view mirror.

The highway is quiet, and the headlights illuminate the pavement in front of us.

Surrounding us, are open fields, and for a second it really hits me just how small we are.

One car, two humans, rolling down the smooth pavement in this vast world.

So much is unknown in our lives, but the one thing that will forever remain certain is that I love the boy beside me.

I love him with everything I am made of.

After about twenty-five minutes, Patrick rolls up on the driveway of the lakehouse, and we make our way inside.

"Do you want to go hang out by the pool?" Patrick suggests, as we move through the house.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." I nod, smiling.

The two of us make our way into the backyard, and to the pool.

We both sit down on the ledge of the pool, dipping our feet in the water.

The water is cool and crisp against my skin.

It's dark out, and the pool lights are on, creating a body of water that is illuminated blue.

The reflection of some house-lights sit on the lake outside the backyard, and everything is once again, quiet.

The water in the pool laps the sides quietly, and everything is so calming.

Patrick takes my hands, and puts them in his lap.

"This week has been really nice, Abby. Thank-you for coming with me." Pat says, looking out at the water in front of him.