A New Life (River Phoenix)

Star Gazing

My heart was racing a mile a minute. Why am I so happy?

I watched as River collapsed to the ground, laughter seeping from his mouth. I walked over to him and laid next to him, staring at the stars above us.

Have you ever noticed how amazing the stars look when you're far from the city? It's like you can see each individual one so perfectly, you almost lose yourself in them.

I glanced at River only to see him admiring the stars as well; his mouth was slightly parted and his eyes darted all over the sky.

I turned my attention back to the world until I heard him speak.

"I adore you." He admitted calmly.

I stopped.

What the hell just happened, I wondered. My eyes refused to move from the sky but my mind shuffled in all directions. Did he actually say that, or am I tripping?

"Wait, sorry. What did you just say?" I asked, hoping not to sound like the idiot I felt like.

I heard River shuffle and watched as he sat up. He crossed his legs but looked back at me, emotionless.

"I like you," he began, unsure. "That's what I said."

I took one final look at the sky before sitting up next to him. His eyes met mine and I watched as he examined my face, especially my mouth.

Oh god, is he going to kiss me?

I looked away, still shocked at what happened. There was a short silence before he spoke again.

"I hope I didn't say the wrong thing. I just wanted to say what I felt." He told me.

I looked back at him and smiled, realizing that acting confused was only wrecking my chance.

"You didn't say anything wrong." I assured him.

He sent me a light smile before we both turned our attention to the stars. Minutes went by until I could feel words beginning to slide off of my tongue.

"I adore you too." I said randomly. He didn't move at first, but then he looked at me and smiled. It wasn't one of his half smiles, though; it was the real thing.

In a split second, his silhouette got bigger and bigger until I felt two gentle hands on each of my shoulders.

I sat confused until I felt a pair of lips brush against mine.

Suddenly, everything clicked in my head. He was kissing me.

Hesitantly, I started to kiss back, hoping that I was successful at keeping our lips in a steady motion.

We stayed like that for while until I finally pulled back.

"Did I do something?" He asked, his hair revealing itself to be messed up.

I adjusted his hair for him and noticed the slight blush on his face as I did. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty cute.

"You didn't do anything," I started. "But are you sure about this? Like, me?" I finished. Honestly, I felt pretty bad saying it. You know, questioning him on what he would see in me.

"Why would you question me?" He asked. "I don't just run around telling everyone I adore them or something."

"I know." I replied.

"But yes, I'm sure about you. I always have been." He reassured me.

We shared a slow glance until I put my head down, pulling out patches of grass by my feet.

"This all sounds so crazy, doesn't it?" River asked, a sound of astonishment in his voice.

"I don't know a lot about relationships; I've only been in one." He said quietly. "I don't know a lot of things, truthfully. But I know that I adore you and I know it's good to say how I feel. I think as long as I know that, nothing else matters." He finished.

I smiled to myself and hugged him, tackling him onto his back against the grass.

"I don't know anything either," I assured. "But we can figure it out."