Leaving the City

Samantha opened her eyes to notice that the surroundings were already dark in the dark of the night.

Looking next to her, she sees Jon asleep with his chest bare and the blanket covering up his; she could see the muscles along his ribcage.

After waking up in the middle of the night, she usually has a bit of difficulty falling back asleep, and for some reason, the calm makes her more lonely, and she wants to get close to somebody to heal it away.

Leaning close to him, she wraps her arms around him and feels the warmth of another human being, hearing the heartbeat that is dancing inside his chest.

She finds that her emptiness inside melted a little bit as she feels a certain closeness to another person.

She wants to close her eyes to fall asleep but opens them a minute later, finding it impossible to fall back asleep in the hotel room.

Opening his eyes, Jon notices Samantha holding tightly around him and staring out into the darkness outside the screen door to the hotel room's balcony.

"You okay," he asked caringly, seeing that she seemed to be looking more alone than usual, with her eyes then looking back at him when she heard his question.

"I'm sorry; I wish I could be more excited or happier now that you are taking me on a trip," she said, holding tightly to him and looking at him with a complicated smile.

"No, it's fine," he ruffles through her hair as he smiles for her sweetly, "I can understand how it feels leaving behind a city you're so familiar with. A place you have lived your whole life."

"I wish I could erase my anxieties from my mind, but the worries still hold onto me, and I can't help overthinking," she said with her downcasted, "time, it just...It feels like it is slipping away from me."

He holds onto her hand as he listens to her, remembering his own experiences feeling the pressure of reality as an adult racing through the day and looking at the clock wishing there was more time in a day to do things.

He knows that feeling so clearly in his own life, sometimes wishing time could go faster and wishing there was more time, the constant cycle.

"But it will get better," he holds onto her tightly, "sometimes you got to stop overthinking."

She gives him an innocent smile, "Well, it is not like I can help that...I had always been a person who overthinks way too much. And overthinking leads me to a bottomless dark spiral downwards."

He touches her forehead and smooths through her hair, "If that is the case, how about thinking about what kind of plans you want to make as we travel."

Her eyes seem to reflect that she is thinking of his idea, "...Thinking about plans..."

"There are a lot of places we can go, and we still haven't planned anything out," he told her, "but you can always think about the good things and what kind of dreams you want to chase, and we can slowly make those dreams come true. You can always think of a positive side; the future is still full of amazing things."

She giggles, "Gosh, you're such an upbeat person."

He laughs with her jokingly, "But try it out, don't focus on the negatives, block those out and picture something good. There's always something good, a ray of light or a blossoming flower."

"I'll try that out," she smiles widely, "I'll listen to your advice."

"No matter what happens, I'll always be with you in your wildest dreams in life," he hugs her warmly, "never lock your wings on the ground when you can fly to your highest ambitions."

For some reason, these words make it feel as though he will be leaving soon from her side, but at the same time, she finds those words containing a sense of sincerity in them as though she is trying to give her hope for something far in the distant future.

"I won't be giving up anytime soon, especially with you by my side," she holds onto him tightly and draws herself close.

"Samantha, don't ever give up that hope," he told her calmly, "it is important to live with hope because there would be life without meaning. While we are still living, rather than suffering through the emptiness, at least make the time here on this stay on Earth a worthwhile memory. Be with friends and travel if that makes you the happiest."

"Gosh, you're always making me tear up," she told him, wiping her eyes' wet tears, "why does it make me feel as though you are the one that will be leaving soon?

"I"m not," he smiled and said, "I will always be living and belonging to your dreaming heart because I'm a part of those dreams we have together. We have dreams that make us one and bind us together without separation as long as we live for those dreams."

"You're saying many philosophical things in the morning," she smiled and couldn't make sense of much he said to her, "but I won't forget what you're saying even if I don't understand. I'll try to keep those dreams alive."

Seeing the light piercing through the window curtains, Jon got up from his sleeping position and put on his shirt on the bed.

Walking over to the curtain, he opens it up as a ray of light illuminates the entire room in front of his eyes.

"Alright, come on," he picked her up from the bed with a glowing smile, "it is time to eat something for breakfast before our trip."

"No," she complained jokingly, "I don't want to get up yet."

"Oh, you have to," planting a thousand tiny kisses all over her face affectionately in a funny manner playing with her.

Soon they got dressed, and he waited for her as she did her makeup in the bathroom before heading out of the hotel room to get something to eat.