FOR ALL TIME

8. 2300 Jackson Street

Michael and Jasmine walked in the room and Michael closed the door behind him. He looked really sad. They walked in his bathroom and he turned the light on then she stopped to stare at him.

"Babe?" she called to him softly.

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.

"I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable in any way so I'll just shower in one of the other bathrooms, okay?"  

She kissed him on the cheek, grabbed a towel and began walking out but he said, "Hold on" and pulled her towards him. "I'm just shy about showing my body."

"I know," Jasmine said smiling.

"It's for a good reason...I have to tell you something," he said sadly.

"What?"  She grabbed his hand.

"I have a skin condition & I have these..."  He paused for a sec.

"Patches?"

"It's a depigmentation of my skin."

"Have you ever heard of vitiligo?"  

He snickered.  "Yes, I was diagnosed with that in '86."

"Oh, well I already figured you may have something like that. I've noticed how lighter you are."

"How did you figure vitiligo though?" he asked feeling relieved.

"I'm gonna be a nurse, I know these things."  She laughed. "So you still don't want me to see it?"

"Ummm...."  He shrugged his shoulders.

"Honey, when I become a nurse I'm gonna see a lot worse things than vitiligo."

He smiled and knew it was the truth. "Can we turn the light off?"

"That might be a hazard," Jasmine said laughing.

"Very true," he said as he ran to run bath water.

After that, he finally found his courage and just let her see, removing all of his clothing and she did the same. In that moment seeing her nude, he fell more attracted to her, but not because of her curves or the glow of her honeyed skin. It was her confidence. 

They stepped into the bubble filled bath. They enjoyed each other's company without any awkwardness. As they took turns washing each other's hair, they chit chatted more about his vitiligo. He shared his journey thus far, from discovery to diagnosis. And she shared all that she knew of it from her schooling. 

Jasmine got out to dry off and made it back to the room way before Michael did. When he came in, she was already dressed and in bed reading one of her text books for school. She had a notebook next to her and seemed to be taking notes. Without saying anything to her, he went to grab their cupcakes from the kitchen which he had someone finish up icing for them. He walked in with them and she smiled at him. He had them on a tray and he set it on the bed in front of her. She put her pen down and ate one with him.

"Yummy." She ate one cupcake, moaning from the deliciousness, and then set her crumpled paper cup on the tray. Back to the textbook it was.

"Just one?" Michael asked.

"Got to watch my figure." She winked at him and went back to reading.

"Do they have pictures of vitiligo in there?" he asked looking over her book.

"Yes."  She flipped the pages and showed him.

He read the article to himself in his head.  "Does it bother you that one day I might look like this?" he asked examining the photos of before-and-after patients.