Love Song

Jared was the prettiest rose on the float, his dark bangs falling across his forehead as he glanced at his guitar, his fingers picking out a melting progression, the grin claiming his brown eyes as he looked... and found... me.

Mark tugged me close. "You see those costumes, Med?" he asked. "You want to be up there on that float?"

"Sure," I moved closer to the colossal bouquet of roses on wheels.

"I didn't mean it," he laughed.

The brown eyes shifted seasons as they saw the arm wrapped around me, the thumb stroking my arm. I hadn't told him about Mark. I hadn't had a chance to tell him, much less break things off. Mark thought I was his.

I raised my hands, pleading for the boy on the float to understand. He'd disappeared two summers ago. How did I know he'd come back? Our reunion a few hours ago was insane but sweet, then he let me go--again--as he was called off to his performance, a laugh in his eyes.

My best friend had come back as a god. Famous. Smelling like roses.

Grey eyes, he sang, his fingers modulating into a new, darker tune.

Rolling as thunder

Flashing like lightning

As I kiss your girl

All winds

You'll see

His voice, directed but mellow, held me in a spell.

Your hands

Clenching like steel

Shaking like chain link

As I kiss your girl

All desires

You'll see

You think

Darkest of shadows

Bloody as Mary

As I kiss your girl

I frowned as Mark pulled at me, but I shrugged him off. What was this song?

All forces

You'll see

Jared brought his finger to his lips impossibly fast before he launched into the next verse.

You kill

Twisting like jumpropes

Quenching like ice cream

As I kiss your girl

All knowledge

You'll see

His voice wrapped me in a bubble and I couldn't feel Mark's hands anymore. I could only hear Jared's awful verses, beckoning me forward in time with the float.

You fly

Waltzing like fireflies

Chanting with summer

As I kiss my girl

All souls

You'll see

You see

Liquid like sunlight

Clear as reflection

That I kiss my girl

All kisses

You'll see

All winds, all desires

All forces, all knowledge

All souls, all kisses

You'll see

End with me

I met him at the end of the road, on the far side of the park. Somehow, I'd maneuvered to the front of the vying crowd surrounding him. "Did you like it?" Jared asked me, as he handed his guitar up and dismounted the rose throne.

"I didn't understand your song," I admitted.

The dark boy smiled, lacing our fingers together. I struggled under the flood of twin memories that felt as smooth, as invincible, as correct. He led the way through the crowd.

"It's what your lover is thinking at this exact moment," he said.

"He's not my lover," I said.

He nodded, accepting. "He thinks he is. I showed him what would happen if he tried to reclaim you."

I frowned, replaying the lyrics in my mind. "You'd kill him?" I said.

He laughed. "You think I would kill anyone? No, that was his thought. I simply informed him how the battle would end if he actually engaged in his purpose."

"But he'd still die," I concluded.

Jared grabbed my shoulders, turning me to face him. He stared seriously into my eyes. "I don't want him to die. It's why I warned him. Do you remember, Med? When there's something I want... I can't help getting my way."

Another memory burst across my mind. My cat, run over by a car. Jared gently taking the mangled form from me. His brown eyes assuring mine, then closing as a frown furrowed his brow. "What I want..." he whispered. And then a white ball of fluff, still red, jumping from his arms to dash under the porch, where he licked himself furiously.

"What are you?" I whispered.

He shrugged, his fingertips touching my cheek, and I felt heat warm my flesh. "What I left to become. Yours."

"But I already was yours," I said, confused. "You didn't have to leave."

His eyelashes lowered as he raised my chin. "I didn't know."

Our lips brushed, but I couldn't close my eyes. Behind him, Mark was watching.

___

Happy Valentine's Day!  I love you, my friends. :)