I walked across the grass towards you. You were in shadow under a tree and I was childishly disappointed. I had waited so long to see you; it seemed unfair that even now I should be made to wait longer to see your face. Then you stepped into the sun and I no longer cared how long I had waited.
You smiled and I smiled back, wanting to please you. It was an automatic reaction that still hadn’t faded after our time apart. It was a struggle for me to take those few steps without running: now it was not hundreds of miles that separated us, but instead only metres. You moved awkwardly and I guessed that you were having the same problem.
After seconds that sent my heart racing to a thundering crescendo, we met and embraced. Once again I was lost in the soft security of your arms. It was like I had never left. When you squeezed me hard so that I would squeal and you would laugh it was like time and distance had never carved their way between us. Though, truthfully, they never really posed much of a barrier: distance had not stopped us talking and time had not stopped me yearning for you. And now, when you held me, time and distance bent around us, meaning nothing.
Eventually, after long, sweet minutes we broke our embrace so we could see each other. I noticed small changes: you were older looking, there was a small scar on your eyebrow and your hair had lightened, probably from the sun. Changes were, of course, inevitable but these small things bothered me. You were still the same – so much that the blood still rushed to my head and made me dizzy – but I regretted that I hadn’t been there to see these changes.
I pouted slightly, unhappy with what I had missed. You gently ran your thumb over my mouth, trying to smudge my pout away. I had forgotten how sensitive to one another – our reflex action was to make the other happy. Like we were connected. I bit your thumb affectionately and you responded by poking me. Just like old times.
I still loved you. It was still surprising when my heart struggled to beat around you, shuddering and jumping as though about to fail. Now it was racing ahead with joy: I would never have to leave you again.
I shut my eyes and savoured the shuddering of my happy heart.