The dinosaurs couldn’t prevent their untimely demise; that meteor was going to hit Earth no matter what. The stars can’t stop themselves from burning out. Every light in the sky will eventually fade and die. It’s an inevitability that cannot and will not be stopped. My position is just as helpless when I find myself descending, tumbling further down the giant gaping hole in the ground labelled, “Caution: this way lies heartbreak.” Dashiell lets out a steady, audible breath, and the warmth of it skates over the skin at the base of my neck—air that’s been inside of him, touching and caressing
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