Noah listened silently and solemnly. At last, when all the words had left me and I was at a loss for words, he reached out to me and took a deep breath to whisper back, "Cartier...that's awful. I wish that weren't how it was. I wish I could say more. Cartier...." My eyes began to burn, and I abruptly pulled him into a fierce embrace. His eyes widened at first, but then he too felt overwhelmed by emotion and fell into the warmth of my touch.
"You." I whispered, my breath warm on his ear. "As long as you're here, I...I can make it." We held each other as tears trickled down my cheeks and dripped onto the shifting sands to be carried away into the sea. Our pain dissipated into a mist swept out by the ocean breeze and toward the setting sun, where dark clouds began to shadow into sight.
We basked in each other's quiet compainonship for a few moments.
