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The last of the sunset's splendor blooms into the ink of the night sky.
Xiao has always loved these moments, even as a child. And, he knows he should be looking at the way the yellows and the oranges melt into each other, or how the colors bleed into a dark and rich pink to give way to the darkness, but he cannot tear his eyes away from Hu Tao and the way the wind plays with the loose strands of her hair. Or the way her face is softened into a smile so different from her usual grins (a smile so devastatingly soft, so devastatingly tender, so devastatingly beautiful—just like the rest of her), or the way the sky reflects off the darks and lights of her eyes.
The sunset is stunning, but Hu Tao is magical , something so magnificent it was a league of its own. He does not understand how someone so human can be so perfect, so heavenly, so ethereal. It was a question he often weighed in his mind, how did he get so lucky ? What had he done in his past life to be worthy of someone like her? He does not deserve it, he does not deserve her. It's a fact he's aware of. But he cannot tear himself away. Hu Tao has planted herself onto the soil of his very being, stretching out her roots, grounding herself into every part of him. He wasn't sure he could live without her. It was not codependency, not quite, but he knows what life was like with her light, and he does not think he would be ready to give that up. Not now, not ever.
He loves her. He loves her. He loves her so much he cannot contain it. He is cracking open for her, and her alone. It is scary and nerve-wracking but it is Hu Tao and that alone makes it okay. She makes the fear and pain worth it.
He tightens his grip on her hand, her warmth surrounding him.
"Are you okay?" She looks up at him and his breath comes out in shallow huffs. She is breathtaking, so much that it was almost painful. He is so full of her, for her, because of her.
He nods, not trusting his voice to stay whole. He knew it would break; every part of him wanted to be vulnerable for her, every part of him wanted to let her in.
He does not blink, he cannot think that he can. It was pathetic, but he wanted to keep looking at her, to commit every detail to his memory. There is a cold that touches his cheek and he flinches away, so does Hu Tao.
“Oh—sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your personal space.”
“No—no. You weren’t—you don’t have to apologize,” he reaches for her free hand, cupping it inside of his. He brings her palm to his cheek, leaning into her touch. The metal of her rings was still cold, but she was warm.
“Here,” he says, voice barely above a whisper.
“Thanks,” she answers, thumb stroking the jut of his cheekbones. She makes him soft—impossibly so.
It is dark now, the moon is dull, but the stars shine through the city smog. Xiao brings his own hand to her face, cupping her jaw. The pad of his thumb touches her bottom lip and electricity bursts through him, he wouldn’t be surprised if the hairs on his head were standing on end.
“Can I kiss you?”
He nods, fingers tangling onto a messy pigtail.
Xiao swears time stops when Hu Tao’s lips meet his.
The world tilts on its axis when she splays a hand on the bare skin of his nape, underneath his collar. Flowers grow in his lungs, creeping up his trachea and wrapping around his throat when she brushes her tongue on his. Lightning strikes inside his stomach and aurora borealis shine behind his closed eyelids when she whimpers in his mouth, soft and low.
Her arms wrap around his shoulders, she is flush against him now. She has to be closer, he needs her to be.
They pull away, foreheads pressed together, lips swollen, and faces a breath apart. He runs his hands up her arms, cupping her jaw again. She looks up at him, eyes wide and hazy.
“My place or yours?”