Firefly (Short Stories)

I would still Dance with You

She saw him move to the beats of the night, the slight nudges, the hidden stares, the smooth escapes to get away from her presence didn't miss the beats of her eyes and in that moment the sync of their two hearts felt distant and cold.

She watched the cryptic tone of all his desires play out in the low light but every time the lights hit on, the gravity of his pull no matter how magnetic, died down to nothing.

She felt her heart sink for every minute they spent on the dance floor, like strangers fighting for the end of every chapter they wrote, every second crippled her feet and caged her dying need to be close to him.

She lost track of the hours and the heat of the night, her messy hair no longer stayed strayed. She pulled her hair back and lost herself in the trance of the moments that no longer belonged to her.

He stole all the chances to look at her as slyly as he could, but his mind and heart were determined not to participate in the madness of her chaos.

He watched the swirls of every turn and every move she made and craved to be in the space of her presence, but he set his boundaries high to stray away from the abyss of pain they eventually became a part of. He didn't have the nerve to be the reason for another tear sliding down her cheek or feel the strains of his chest explode when she could never be his.

He was here for her, and she didn't even know the impact she had on him despite all the ignorance he displayed, because no matter how much he tried, she mattered, she mattered the most to him but situations, circumstances, miscommunications, and every part of their love was a hoax to the world and people around him but not for them, not for her and not for him, but no one understood, no one chose to be in their shoes and see the love that blossomed and stayed true for the months and years they spent together.

He wanted their hearts to be one tonight, but the soles of his feet stayed put and crossed away all the possibilities, to not feel too much, to not touch, to not sync, to not be with her even for a minute because their love was too powerful for either of them to take a step back.

The slow reverbs of everyone around died down, as the time elapsed and she felt the strings of all their moments and memories play over and over in her head. She needed a drink, she needed to be sloshed and dead from within to see the night end, but nothing worked, nothing ever worked to get him out of her system.

She walked away from the music and took a seat. They all looked happy and elated and nothing could possibly pull over the mirage of the big wall that stood between him and her and no one knew, no one knew how grueling it was to be there, sighting him with every shred of happiness grappling onto the ends of his face but the naked truth of how unhappy they truly were was masked up with fake smiles and laughs.

He was beginning to feel the exhaustion of the night take over, he was tired pretending and the drink in his hand was nothing more than an excuse to feel indifferent, but it didn't work, nothing worked.

The set list ended, and the dance floor paused for a while, they all went back to the booth. She followed the group. He took a seat, the thrill of the night messed with his head. He felt slight heaviness take over his mind and the next thing he felt was a glass of water being placed in his hand by her.

Her again.

He couldn't stand the idea of her in that moment and tried his best to not feel affected, but it was her and her concern was beginning to down him and she felt it and backed away, back to the floor.

She didn't know why his well being mattered so much to her; she felt her feet glue to the dance floor to avoid his space but every time they thought they were done being with each other and felt the ending get closer, the chimes of the present pulled them closer one way or the other and just like that the music was back on and the song that played, ran chills down her skin and without a thought she took a step forward, looked straight at him and without wasting a second asked him to join her.