a strange land, seeing a city I’d only ever dreamt of, and refusing to think about the fact that at some point I’d have to leave her and return home.
That night, I slept on the couch again, and this time I actually did sleep—partially because I was too tired to stay awake for one second longer. Partially because Erika piled so many blankets on top of me that it was nearly impossible not to succumb to the warmth and comfort of it all.
The next morning, we both slept long past sunrise, and by the time we rose and decided that we needed to get breakfast, that breakfast was something more like lunch. We still managed a brunch, complete with potatoes, sausage, biscuits, eggs, pancakes, and champagne—mixed with orange juice so that it seemed more responsible, Erika said with a laugh— and then we went out to explore the city in the day.
It was something I hadn’t done up to this point, having arrived and immediately taken to the nightlife, and I was amazed at the beauty of the place, and the views that changed with every step. We saw a park that was themed like The Wizard of Oz, and an observatory filled with plants and even trees. We walked through a few art museums—stopping for something Erika called ‘Chicago barbecue’ in the afternoon—and then walked through more famous parks of the city.
By the time the evening rolled around, I felt as if I must have seen everything the city could possibly offer. When I said so, though, Erika shook her head.
“Not quite yet,” she murmured, a smile hidden at the corner of her mouth.
When I asked her what else we could possibly fit into one day, though, she just smiled and grabbed my hand, tugging me along behind her toward what turned out to be a corner where it looked like every cab in the entire city had congregated.
A muttered set of instructions from Erika—too quiet for me to catch—and we were zooming along through the streets of Chicago, the dimming sunlight now sporting the start of the lights of the city.
When we pulled to a stop fifteen minutes later, dark had truly fallen, in the way that happens when you’re surrounded by buildings and can’t actually see the sun going down, and we found ourselves at…
“The river?” I asked, surprised. “Weren’t we just here earlier?”
“We were,” she confirmed, pulling me out of the cab and turning toward the water. “But it’s different at night.”
A quick glance and I could see that she was right. Whereas it had been all people and birds and bright light and action during the day, at night, the Chicago River became something else entirely.
We were surrounded by buildings, still, each of them lit with its nighttime lights, and those lights reflected off the water like stars, in reds and greens and whites. The bridges over the river had been lit up, and the boats that had run during the day were quiet, now.
When we walked across the path that meandered along next to the river, and out onto one of the footbridges, I felt the world pause around us, the noise dying away, the activity slowing to a halt.
Erika leaned on the rail, staring down into the water, and smiled softly. “This is my favorite place—and time—in Chicago,” she said quietly. “Here on the river, where all the action takes place during the day. But at night, it all goes sort of still, you know? It’s like the whole city comes here to breathe.”
I reached out and brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek, too entranced by the moment, by her beauty, to keep my hands off her.
“And you come here to breathe with it?” I asked.
She turned to me, her eyes large and dark in the light reflecting up off the water. “Something like that,” she whispered.
Remember that thing I’d said about not wanting to give a part of myself away, and not being ready for that step? Yeah. In that moment, looking at that beautiful girl as she glowed in the darkness—all wavy, dark hair and big brown eyes—I felt the doubt fly away from me and leave only a deep need in its place.
I’d never met anyone worth losing myself to before. But this girl in front of me? Something was telling me that she was worth that, and so much more.
I bent forward and brushed my lips against hers, my hand under her chin, and a moment