Down to the Riptide

| S I X |

"I remember when we used to laugh,
       And now I wish those nights would last."
              -Those Nights, Skillet

      It wasn't a one time thing. And when she saw his bruised body, she almost cried. It had been a while since she had cried, and the sting in the back of her eyes was like an ex-lover, so painful, yet so despairingly familiar.

      Over the next three months, he made many calls, and they grew closer, much to his dismay, but he couldn't help himself. She was addictive.

      Eventually, they began to spend time with each other, outside of the visits to the hospital. He became less wary of her. And she became more and more happy, truly happy, her heart was defrosting, and both their walls were crumbling down.

      They never talked about the bad stuff in their lives. They didn't want to, but it was hanging around them like a blanket, uncomfortably itchy and hot.

       She picked him up from the street corner, she never picked him up from his house directly. That day, they planned to have a picnic lunch down at the alcove where they met. She had named it R i p t i d e; she enjoyed the special ring the name carried, he didn't mind, and secretly enjoyed the whimsical look on her face when she used the name.

      They both had given each other nicknames. He had decided quietly, to call her Cam. She hated it when people called her 'Ang,' she hated the sound, claiming it reminded her of oranges, and she hated oranges. Even though that was the color of her hair.

She didn't understand why he called her Cam, so she asked. His answer was short, and straight to the point, spoken in his soft tenor; -she had never heard him raise his voice- "Because you always carry around your camera."

She chattered animatedly with him about nicknames, and eventually settled on Avi. He didn't like 'Dave.'

Cam and Avi were close. They spent many hours talking over text and phone, and that day down at the Riptide they talked well into the evening, although, he mostly listened as she talked.

Her smile reached her stormy gray eyes.

His laugh, was a deep rumble in his belly, that was infectious.

Oh yes, they were close. But something was coming.

That something, was t r u t h, neither were prepared, but both would have to make a decision, would they accept the other even with all the imperfections?