"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
- Emily Bronte
Earth was right here in front of him so close, so young, so ghostly pale yet still so gorgeous. Mix had imagined Earth many times, but never like this. Never with ebony brown eyes, perfectly defined jawline, tempting lips and dark brown hair looking soft, but longer than Mix had expected. Earth was beautiful.
Mix knew for a while already, that Earth was beautiful from the inside; he was kind, caring, smart and funny...but to finally see Earth and see how beautiful he was even from the outside, made Mix wonder whether he should be the one to have a chance to bring Earth back to life. Earth deserved someone better.
"I...I can see you," Mix repeated, his hand with the mind on its own rosed up to touch the man in front of him. Fingers lingered above the silky hair, almost touching and then realizing it was still impossible.
A small awkward laugh escaped Mix's lips as his hand fall back to his side, "but still no touching I guess."
Earth was looking at Mix as if he was the one who saw Mix for the first time, not the other way around. This boy in front of him was looking into his eyes, right into his eyes. He was finally looking at the place where Earth was, not because he assumed that that's where Earth was, but because he saw him.
There was once again someone in the world who could see Earth. But this time it was someone who Earth wanted to be seen by. Praewa was his friend, but she could never be anything more. But Mix...Mix said he liked Earth.
The strong overwhelming feeling fell down on Earth. For the first time in fifty-six years, there was a person who liked him. Earth knew that just liking wasn't enough but, it was more than enough for Earth. At least for now.
Mix liked him. Earth wasn't the only one that felt the pull, the connection, the subtle electricity between them. This was the happiest Earth felt in a really long time. He didn't even remember when he felt that happy. If he even did.
"You like me?" A genuine big smile illuminated Earth's face.
And Mix could swear that everything was good and well in the world right at that moment. The moment he saw Earth's smile for the first time.
For everyone else in the world they must have looked crazy — standing there, not saying anything just starring at each other with too much of a smile on their faces. But for Mix, this was the only thing that made sense to do at that moment. The only thing he could do. Looking at Earth because he was finally able to. So now, Mix was going to look at Earth as much as he wanted. Even Earth will get annoyed by it. And that was okay.
Mix bit his lips, finally averting his gaze away for a moment, "yeah, I like you."
Earth stepped even closer to Mix, even though they couldn't touch. At least they could be close to each other. That was enough. "I like you, too. I..." Earth chuckled, "I honestly can't believe it's happening."
"What? That I like you or that I can see you," Mix asked, he was already getting used to saying that he liked Earth. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.
"Actually, both," Earth said, but then his smile disappeared. "Mix, I'm sorry for pressuring you to tell me how you feel. I don't know why I've done it. I pushed you into a corner." Earth took one step away from Mix, catching Mix's frowned expression when he did it. "If you said it only because I pressured you, it's okay I'll understand."
Mix shook his head, and now he was the one who made a step closer to Earth, "if I said it just because you pressured me, do you think that I would be able to see you right after that? I swear I didn't say it because I felt pressured to do it. I said it because that's how I feel. Yes, I was confused and scared to admit that I have feelings for a ghost," Mix laughed. "But, you are not just a ghost. You are a person. You might not be alive right now, but there is hope. There is always hope for the future." Mix smiled and his eyes playfully sparkled, "Earth, I like you and I wanna hug you so damn much right now." Mix's smile turned into a pout, "but I can't and I'm sorry for that."
Earth shook his head, frowning, "no, don't say sorry; everything needs time. I definitely learned that one, staying the same age for so long."
Mix giggled, "wait I just realized; Do I like someone who is sixty-one years older than me? Eww, that's gross," Mix theatrically shook his body, making a weird face. "You know what that makes me, don't you? A gold digger."
Earth rolled his eyes, chuckling, "where do you come up with those ideas? Let's clear something here. I'm not sixty-one years older than you. I'm only four years older than you. And second of all, you can't be a gold digger if I don't have any money that you can spend."
"Ghosts don't have money?" Mix gasped. "Well, you know, Earth, it was fun; you and me, but I don't think I like you anymore. Sorry."
Earth laughed, "one thing is for sure. You can't lie. It was awful."
A shy half-smile appeared on Mix's face, "really? That bad?"
"The worst," Earth said while laughing.
"I like this," Mix suddenly said, making Earth halt his laugh.
"What? Me laughing at your poor lying skills?"
Mix smiled, "yeah that too. But I mean this. Us, just having a conversation about random stuff, laughing, standing so close..." Mix took a deep breath, "you know, I thought that...I mean, we basically just said that we like each other...I don't know, I was worried that it will be awkward. I'm just glad it isn't. It's just all so new to me; liking a ghost," Mix looked into Earth's eyes, "seeing a ghost. I guess it's good to know that nothing has changed between us. We are the same as we were before we started this whole conversation." Mix smiled brightly, "it's nice, it's very nice."
Earth smiled back, the smile equally beautiful and equally bright, "I like us, too."
Nothing has changed. Yet everything has changed.
To be continued...
P.S. so they confessed...and now what? 🤔