" I love the way your stubble slightly grazes my skin, it makes me feel funny".
He bit the corner of his full lips and smiled. Suddenly, his blue eyes grew bluer and I knew he was about to move in for another kiss. This time he kissed me harder than before.
"want me to do it again?"
He thrust his cheek out to threaten a prickly stubble attack, and I gasped. He chuckled then and the smile faded. A serious expression replaced his earlier mischievous demeanor. He spoke clearly and with authority.
"You have to stop, Dahlia. This isn't healthy, you know."
He began to fade then and I could feel the heavy stones within my heart grow even heavier. I didn't want to open my eyes. I didn't want to let go of his rough hands, which were now slipping through my fingers.
"Don't go, not now...please."
I reached out and managed to grasp his elbow which had not yet faded into nothing. It was the last thing I touched from before. His ghostly face held softness then and his eyes pierced the firmament between my reality and his own. I knew what his last words would be even as his eyes remained fixed with mine.
"It's midnight Cinderella"
And it was. In fact, it had been midnight for a very long time. But a part of me would never go home.
