We Were

He sat there silently, studying the woman who sat across him. It had been while since they had met... oh well... it had been years. They hadn’t met since they had parted ways. Gone was the girl he once knew and in its place was this woman.  There was no much trace of the youthfulness he had once known, and in its place was a stoic maturity. But she was still beautiful, and there were still traces of the girl he once knew, the girl he once loved.

They sat there in silence, studying each other, till he started the conversation, enquiring how her life had been. And between the sips of coffee, an awkward conversation began, and as if the coffee was warming them up, they began to warm up to each other. Their conversation began to flow, and there were even flashes of smiles. They seemed to warm up to each other but not to the extent to the way they were.

He found himself traveling back in time, to a time when they were young, wild and free, with no care in this world, to a time when they were very much in love. He remembered all the late night sneaking out for long bike rides. He remembered the way she snuggled upto him, as they rode through deserted streets, the way her breath felt on his neck, the way her lips felt and she pressed it against him, and then sitting on the park bench witnessing the sunrise.  

He remembered the way it felt to hold her tight and kiss her, the long walks in the moonlight which they took holding hands, holding on to each other. He remembered stealing kisses and clandestine meetings and making out when no one was watching, no one was there. He remembered the flirty texts and those late night calls that seemed to go on and on, missing each other every moment they were apart.

He remembered to all the parties they had been, the ones they quietly sneaked out from when they got bored, when they were required to make an appearance. The movies they had been to, kissing as the lights began to dim, holding hands for the rest show. He remembered to the concerts they had been to, rocking, dancing and singing along, having a jolly good time.

He remembered all the fights they had, their misunderstanding, refusing to talk to one another but the they would always make up, always end up making out. They thought their love was forever, their love eternal. They could do no wrong unto each other.

But then things had changed, and things seemed strange, and life happened to them. They grew up and drifted apart. They matured and realised there was nothing called forever, there were no happy ever after. So they decided to part and go their own way, down the path that their lives took them.

As they continued to talk he continued to study her face, her expression, her every gesture. He could love no other the way he had loved her, he could love no woman the way he loved her. After her, he came out to himself, he came to a realisation of who he was, something he had previously dismissed as a passing phase but finally realising who he was, learning to accept himself before others accepted him. But no matter who he was, he truly had loved her.

Finally when it came time to part way they promised to stay in touch with each other, catch up whenever their lives permitted them to. As he awkwardly kissed her on her cheek, he couldn’t help but think “I know who I am, I miss who I was, when WE WERE.”