The Kiss

You kneel there for a long quiet moment, your arms hung limply by your sides, your head bowed.

Then you slowly raise your head, you get to your feet. In the reflection from the window you see a look of indomitable determination on your face.

You look down at the screen. One line standing out from the rest. The rest of the words blurring to your super focused gaze, providing a frame to this one life changing phrase. The one sentence that meant everything. The words that shook you to your core.

I love you Jonathan Spencer.

He loved you too! He loved you too!

You felt your emotions swell. You would move heaven and earth. You would go to Canada and beyond. NOTHING would stop you from finding your true love. There was no obstacle you would not overcome.

You start to think. Charlie didn't think you'd get this until tomorrow. He wouldn't expect for you to have read it tonight. He might still be on campus. You'd look for him. If you couldn't find him you'd try the airport and the bus station.

Heading out to the common room you ask around. "Anyone seen Charlie?"

Most of the guys shrug. Charlie was so quiet and unassuming he usually came and went without anyone noticing. Luiz finally says, "He left a little after you did. Not sure where he was heading."

Shit, that was no help. You head down stairs. You knock on Mama Rose's door.

She opens it and looks at you, there was concern in her eyes. "Have you seen Charlie?" You ask.

She nods. "He was here, he turned in his key. He, he was crying. What's going on with him?" She asks with genuine concern.

"He's having a hard time. Just...hold onto that key. I'll get him back." You assure her.

She smiles. "Good. It can be tough, first year away from home. If he needs anything, I'm here to help."

"I'll let him know." You say. She nods as you turn to leave.

You head out into the yard and peer around. If he was still here...he'd want somewhere quiet. Somewhere he could be alone. The ponds? Perhaps. The field where you'd watched the bats? Unlikely, too much foot traffic now that the semester was in full swing. Some of those quiet little dead ends the pair of you had discovered? Nah, nowhere to sit or....

You slowly turn your head as a possibility hits you...

You walk up the stairs to the old chapel. The old building that was always open yet you'd never seen hardly anyone come into or out of. You grab the solid brass handle on the heavy oaken door and you pull it open. The chapel was dimly lit. It was old but in good shape. A great crucifix hangs at the head of the room. Stepping inside you see a hunched little figure sitting alone in the middle of the pews. Thick wavy raven black hair peeking above the old wooden seats.

You walk quietly up the center aisle. You see him shift uncomfortably as he sensed someone else in the chapel with him. He turns slightly away from you, not wanting to interact with whoever this was intruding on his loneliness. You walk to the the row he sat in and made your way down. You see him start to fidget, obviously unhappy with someone approaching him during this painful time.

You sit beside him. You wait.

With only the two of you in this whole big room he can no longer ignore you. He slowly slowly turns and looks up at you. Through his hair you see surprise in those magical chestnut brown eyes as he recognizes you.

He gasps quietly as he whispers. "Jonathan! What are you....?"

With your right hand you reach around and cup the back of his head, your fingers through his soft hair, your inner arm along his fine jaw. Before another word can be uttered you pull him into you. Plunging your face through his curtain of bangs.

Your lips meet his, those full soft lush lips. You kiss him. You kiss him deeply, you kiss him tenderly, you kiss him...like you've never kissed anyone before. It was everything you'd imagined and so much more. You taste him, you savor him. It was not a kiss of passion or friendship or family. This was true love's first kiss. A moment only possible once in a lifetime. With two weeks of building desire behind you and a whole life together ahead, you kiss the beautiful little man that had stolen your heart with every ounce of love your overflowing spirit could muster.

He stiffens just for a moment...and then he melts to your touch. His arms wrap around your shoulders as yours go around his. You pull yourselves together, becoming one interlinked being. You hold each other and everything else melts away around you. There is only you and Charlie now. You smell him, you feel him, you taste him and hear him. You drink him in with your every sense.

There in the quiet century old chapel the pair of you continue to share the longest most intimate kiss ever known.