This and Every Life

by Emmy Sanders

I think it would be rather easy to be friends with Abraham Morris.

Oh, but he’s beautiful. I’m well aware men are not meant to think such things about each other, but I can’t help it. I’ve never set eyes on someone as absolutely lovely as him. His hair is golden in the sun. His skin pale and near flawless. He’s fine-featured and fine-boned. And his eyes…the deepest, most fathomless blue. If he knew what I thought of him, would he still smile at me so?

“Do you know you have stars in your eyes?” Abraham’s words are soft. Spoken low. “I can see them clearly. Your wishes.”

“Do you wish for me to kiss you again?” Surely he must know? “I wish for you never to stop.”

I fear I did not weigh the full effect of kissing Jasper Sinclair. He’s far more potent than I imagined. A luxury so indulgent I know not how I will ever quit his taste. If this is ruin, let me be a man in shambles.

“Will you think of me while you’re away?” His response nearly sets my heart on fire. “How could I not? Forgetting you must mean I am dead, for I cannot see how it would be possible otherwise.”

But Jasper is meant to be mine. I know it the same way I know the sun will rise every day and the stars will return at night. He was made for me. Or me for him. I’m meant to cherish him. I’m sure of it.

“I think you’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever set eyes on,” I tell him seriously. “But even if I didn’t have eyes, I would want you just the same.”

“Jasper.” He rocks me, his face buried in my hair. “My heart. My star. My love. Whoever it was that wove the fabric of my being did it with you in mind. I was made to love you. And I will do so no matter where on this earth you are. My love for you will never, ever flicker out.” “Then I will look at the stars,” I say, voice catching, “and be reminded of it every day.”

I suppose the stars are always there, even if we can’t see their light.

“And what of our love, dear heart?” Charlie’s head turns my way, his eyes specks of light in the dark. “It will outlast all the stars, Arthur. Every last one of them.”

“I didn’t fall in love with you for your petals, my dear heart. So let them fall. Summer is but a season, and I suspect it’s long since passed.”

“Do you know what I felt when I first met Gray? It was like I’d found a piece of myself that had been living outside of my body. And I didn’t even know it until he was close enough to bring it home. If soulmates are a thing, he’s mine. It’s not romantic. It doesn’t have to be. He’s part of me, and I would no sooner cut out my own lungs than be without that man in my life.”

“I would say I’d have loved you in whatever form you came to me. In whatever time. I would defend you with my dying breath, and I would follow you wherever it is you go. The pieces of us were made to fit, Gray. To be drawn together and shared. You told me once bound stars are destined to go out together. And I’m glad for it. Because I can’t imagine a life, now or ever, without you in it.”