To The Moon and Back

𝟑𝟗 | 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲

E T E R N I T Y

a state to which time has no application; timelessness.

T O T H E

M O O N & B A C K

RORY PLACES HER weight on my stomach, her thighs straddling my sides as she stares down at me, wearing one of my T-shirts and a pair of my sweats—and if that wasn't enough, she's wearing my Nike socks too, her palms pressed against my bare chest as she peers down at me, her dark irises glistening.

"I love you." I say, the three words leaving a strange but welcomed taste on the tip of my tongue.

I'm still getting used to saying it.

A genuine smile tugs at her lips—something I haven't seen all that much of lately—and she leans down, pressing a delicate kiss to my lips, then, before I can kiss her back, she pulls away, pressing her nose to mine. "I love you, too."

She moves back to her original position and I bring the joint, which rests between my thumb and index finger, to my lips, inhaling, holding it in for a few seconds, then exhaling, causing a thick cloud of smoke to surround Rory.

I stare up at her with glassy eyes, my entire body ignited beneath her—or maybe I'm just really fucking high—and I just can't help but think about how I'm leaving tomorrow.

I still haven't told her. I was going to but then she passed out in the shower and after that, she was just really quiet and distant. She insisted that I left not long after but I refused. I made sure that she had something to drink and eat but not long after eating, she felt even worse than before, so I cuddled her, for hours, until she eventually fell asleep, and then I followed not too shortly after.

I awoke to her alarm at five AM but she got up and left. I fell asleep again and sometime later, she came back covered in sweat, her chest rising and falling as she pants, trying her hardest to control her breaths. She had a shower that lasted almost an entire hour, and then got ready for school, so we had no time to talk.

Then I went to work, and now I'm back here. With her. My last day with her for who knows how long and there is so much unsaid.

"What happened with your mother?"

Her eyes widen, caught off guard by my question and I internally cringe at how outright I was but I need to know. When I saw her last before I hit rock bottom again, her mother was back, and now that I am back, the family photographs in the hallway have been taken down, the television is cracked, and the dent in the couch where her mother last laid in before her departure remains the same.

"Nothing happened." she says, averting eye contact.

I narrow my eyes, tilting my head back to see her better. "Nothing happened?" I repeat, inhaling another puff of smoke, and then blowing it out.

Finally, her eyes meet mine and I think I see something actually shattering behind her eyes. "Yes," she confirms. "That's what my dad keeps saying. Nothing happened, Aurora. Like I didn't get woken up at two AM to my phone ringing. Guess who it was?" she pauses, laughing. "I unlocked the front door, and in came my mum. Her hair was a mess, she reeked of booze and she kept calling me Luna. I followed her around as she scoured the house—the junk drawers in the kitchen, under the couch. Eventually, my father awoke to the sound of things being shifted around and stormed downstairs. That was the last I saw of her before I went into my room and closed the door. Dad said the next morning that nothing happened but I saw the damage--I heard it. That was last Thursday. She left and never came back. I've tried calling but it goes straight to voicemail. She's probably too drunk to charge her phone."