It’s late. The light outside looks like midnight but the air boasts of early morning. As she walks in she notices people leaving. The bright remains of a party lay splattered across the floor and furniture. He sits at the bar. She knows he’s been waiting. The thought cements her to the spot if only for a moment.  Her heart rate inches towards running away. She takes a deep breath and makes a decision.

    “Hello,” she says as she reaches his side.
    He turns, ever so slightly, to see her slowly sitting down next to him. He smiles brightly in welcome. “Hello.”
    As his smile breaches the space between them, she feels the comfort of the reunion ease the fear away.
    “Have you been waiting long?” She asks.
   He answers calmly, his smile unmovable, “Yes.”
    “I’m sorry,” she says trying to avoid his gaze. “It’s taken me longer than I expected.”
    “It’s ok. I’m not going anywhere.”
    His calm certainty hits a nerve in her heart and before she can think twice about it the words escape her lips, “That’s what scares me.”
    She turns her head away; half in fear, half in embarrassment. He reaches out to touch her hand.
    “You see,” she continues emboldened by the kind gesture, “I feel as if I just got my heart back, and while you are not asking for it, it certainly feels like it knows where to go.” She takes a deep breath, “and I know that if I start sharing it with you it will change the safety I feel now. I feel pulled to you in a way that scares me. Even my words seem to know where to go, and my voice what to say, without my intervention.”
    His smile widens. She can feel the warmth of his smile spreading gently on her cheeks. He says nothing. She looks up to meet his gaze.
    “You are not scared?” She asks.
    He pauses for a moment, a single moment of deep contemplation. “I am scared of what happens when you leave,” He says gently. He tries to smile, but worry is a potent weight tugging at the corner of his lips. “When you appear, even in silence, it takes away the lonely I did not even know I was feeling.”
    “Are you very lonely?” She asks.
    “Waiting is a lonely place.” He answers candidly. His own answer seems to surprise him.
    “What are you waiting for?”
    “I think I have been waiting for you.” He takes his hand away from hers and straightens up in his chair, distancing himself from her a little. “I did not mean to share that. I do not mean to keep you if you want to leave. It’s just… I am here and I know this is where I need to be… although I am not even sure how I got here to begin with…”
    She smiles at the reassurance that this encounter is a shared space of new. “I know exactly what you mean.”
    Her hand reaches out to his. He looks up to see her smiling and feels relieved that his honesty did not scare her away. They smile at each other. The freedom of being absolutely understood engulfs them in a single moment that seems to touch forever, holding them to the spot — and to each other— by the harmony of their grins.