You and I

Everyone around us is sweaty. Not the normal kind of beaded-sweat-sweaty, the drenched and stinking sweaty–typical of a concert, really. The smell of weed permeates the air, fogging our senses. The deafening beat echoes throughout, the ground practically trembling. I’m not claustrophobic or anything; in fact, I love crowds. I just don’t like the prospect of going into one alone. But, I’m not alone. You’re with me and for some reason, you’ve been able to talk me into it.

We head into the crowd, you–always the leader–pushing forward into the first barrier of people. I sigh, peel my hair back from my sticky forehead and head in right behind you. All of a sudden, my oxygen cuts off. People around me are tall and imposing and oh-so-loud. I contemplate heading back out and I’m just about to turn to do so when you grab my hand.

I see this twinkle in your eye–you’re excited to be here, I can’t deny you that. You gesture with your head, nodding towards the stage as if to ask me, “You coming?” I would never say no to you so of course, I nod, gripping your hand minimally tighter.

That makes you smile. You give me your characteristic ‘you ready?’ look and I nod, “Just don’t let go.”

Your face splits open in a smile and you whisper–but for some reason, I can hear it louder than the bass and the screaming and the singing–“Never.”

The world freezes around us and in this moment, it’s you and I. Nothing around us moves; not the people, not the air and not a blade of grass. We are frozen in this moment, you and I–just two people who were going to be more in love than we could have imagined in that second. Your smile encompasses your face and that twinkle in your eye is brighter than the floodlights. You look at me like you’ll always have my back, like you’ll always take care of me. And I? I look at you as if I've already found some semblance of home. My usually stoic eyes melt away and they’re softer–the kind of soft they will only ever be around you.

What I will never forget is that in that moment, you gripped my hand like it was your lifeline but really, it was mine. What I will never think about though, is that in that moment, we’d already fallen in love. We may not have known it and we may not admit it now but when the sound of that barely-audible ‘never’ resonated through the arena, we’d sealed our fate in stone and promised each other that we would never, ever let go.

It’s a shame we did really, because I would bask in the glory of that moment for the rest of my life. Your cheeky smile and matted hair, shirt drooping slightly over your shoulders because you loathe tight-fitting clothes. My admiring eyes and sweaty palms. You and I. Always, you and I.

We hold on to different people now but that moment, that was everything.