Just Talkin'

Clutch

My little hands gripped onto his, clutching his large ones with a tightness that only conveyed how afraid I really was. "Hey, you're gonna be alright," he whispered softly to me, but I didn't feel the comfort that he portrayed in his tone.

"They'll get me." It was a childish remark to make, but it was what I truly felt. I felt like they were going to get me. Whoever they were. He grabbed my chin and lifted my face up to him, our eyes meeting for the first time in what felt like an eternity. "No one can get you as long as I'm here. I'm going to protect you." And just like that, he leaned down and brushed his soft lips against my own, testing the waters before briefly looking in my eyes for any conviction.

He found none.

And so our lips connected once again, both of us kissing harder with a little more confidence. My hands gripped his shoulders, his holding me by my waist.

Despite how he had me in his clutches, the inevitable intercom came on announcing it was time to go. The voice that signalled my ultimate demise of my heart. "I don't want to go." I whimpered. He sighed, his hand sliding some loose, brown hair behind my ears. "There's nowhere you can go where I won't be with you. As long as I'm in your heart, we'll get back to each other again." Somehow that was the only thing I truly believed. We'll get back to each other again.

And just like that, he watched his soulmate slip from where he had her in his clutches and into a crowd of noise as she made her way to the terminal. His heart followed her, but he stayed rooted in place. His heart was bleeding from the fresh wound of her upcoming absence.

She wouldn't be there when he finished his last song. She wouldn't be there as he packed his bags, bringing only the essentials before heading off into service. She wouldn't be there to give him one last agonizing kiss before watching him get on the train to boot camp, her eyes swollen and red from fresh tears. No, they did that today.

He wanted to be 100% for her and for the many that loved him. He wanted to shine so brightly for those that needed him, and he was going to pour out everything he felt for her so that the world will hear his last message to the one he lived for. But he couldn't do that if he saw her face. No, he'd choke on his words. There were too many important ones to keep them locked away.

So he watched as she stopped in place and turned around to catch a glimpse of him one last time before placing a kiss to her palm and blowing softly at him. He smiled and pretended to catch the kiss before placing it over his heart, a warm smile on his face, a tear sliding and sticking to his dimple. She waved and then turned around slowly and walked away from him.

In this moment, he wished he could yell her name and bring her back and hold her so tightly in his clutches so that they are never apart.