At thirty minutes past the tenth hour of the night, he rose from his bed and opened his windows.Ā
It was becoming a part of his evening routineāto temporarily put aside all thoughts of rest just so he could admire the breathtaking scenery that the night holds. There was something about that grand canvas of deep blue and silver that never ceased to amaze him; it brought him a sense of excitement and joy that was beyond his ability to define. He didnāt know when, where, or how it started, but all he knew was that the moon was his most trusted confidant and the stars had always been a witness to all the stories that only he could tell behind closed doors. The night was his safe haven, and never once did it fail to give him a sweet feeling of home.Ā
He was used to the moon being in the company of a few stars, but in that moment, only two characters were present in the tale of the night: the moon, and a lone light shining some distance away from itāplanet Venus, he eventually realized. It was an unexpected sight, but he had no difficulty in embracing it since he had always been fond of finding beauty even in the simplest of things. There was something so extraordinary about the ordinary, and the night at that particular hour was no exception. It was beautifulāsimple, but mesmerizingly beautiful.Ā
āLike her,ā a voice at the back of his mind suddenly echoedāmuch to his surprise. He blinked a few times in an attempt to compose himself, but his heart hit rewind faster than a bolt of lightning that he had no choice but to mentally walk down the lane of memories that he thought he had long since forgotten. What started out to be a harmless period of relaxation suddenly became an opportunity to be reunited with the past, and he did not know how much longer of it he could take.
The first time they met, it was a bit crowded and bustlingāand yet he felt as if she was the only person in the room the second he saw her face break into a smile. It was the very one that had him smiling in his sleep that night, and the one that he had yearned to see in the days after that. And when they introduced themselves to each other, he knew he was going to keep her name in his vocabulary for quite a while.Ā
She seemed like a maiden of modesty and lace, so when he saw her laugh while playing a game of cards with a few friends, he had to stop himself from getting lost in the joyful sound. It was then that he realized that she was willing to tear down her walls when she was in comfortable company, and a part of him wanted to think that she might actually be at ease with showing more of herself to him because he was among those whom she was playing with at the time.Ā
She had a soul that was full of warmth, but she had always been careful about getting too close to peopleāit felt as if she had parts of herself that needed to be taken care of, so that sent him the message that she was, for some reason, afraid to love. That is why despite days when the voices around them were screaming that they should inch closer to each other; in the seconds where he could have the chance to close the gap between her fingers with his, he opted to stay where he was and look from afar. No matter how badly he wanted what they had to mean so much more, he tried his hardest to make himself believe that knowing that he was existing at the same time as her was more than enough.
For years, that was what he didāhe drew a line between his heart and her fears, careful not to let his yearning disregard all the unspoken scars that she needed to heal from. In silence and from a distance, he loved herābut that did not stop him from making her happiness a dream that he resolved to reach every chance he could get. Within the boundaries that he had willingly set, he did his best to make her feel his presence without making her feel that she had to give him something in return.Ā
A heavy feeling sunk from deep within him as he remembered the last time he saw her: she was still clad in modesty and lace, but this time around, she had roses in her hand. She walked across the room in her floor-length white dress, and her smile was still as beautiful as the first time he saw her. Nothing much had changed, including himāfor in the moment that she had finally broken free from her fears and accepted love for what it truly was, he was still in silence and standing from afar. Just when he thought that the timing couldnāt be any more perfect to tell her that he had always been firm about making her happy forever, she decided to keep herself safe in the arms of a man that he could only dream was him. And because she was in a crowd of excited people who wanted to wish her well, she could only look over her shoulder and give him a smile that expressed all the gratitude that she had for all the times that he had been there for her. She locked eyes with him and mouthed a āthank youāāalso in silence, and from afar.Ā Ā
He might have waited too much or acted too late, but whatever the case was, he could only blame himself at the end of the day. She deserved to be happy, and it was his choice, although unconsciously, to stay inside his room and let her go without a fight.Ā
It was now thirty minutes past the eleventh hour, and the moon was still up in the sky with Venus. As he gazed at the sight before him, he wondered why they were so far away from each other. He was sure that science had a say in the matter, but he just could not help but feel like it would be much lovelier if the two luminaries could bridge the gap between them and shine togetherājust like how he and she would have been perfect if only time had been more patient and he had been more sensitive to its movement. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he accepted the sad reality that life wonāt always go in the direction that he wants toāthat not all the pieces that make up this lifetime are a right fit for one another, regardless of how beautiful that thought may seem to be.
He heaved a sigh as he wiped every drop of regret falling down his cheeks. āThere will always be a distance between Venus and the moon,ā he uttered weakly to the wind.Ā
He gave the sky one last glance before closing his windows and finally calling it a night.Ā
A/N: This is a collaborative piece! Wrote this with one of my best friends :)Ā