I provide him with the smile I knew he desperately needed. He thanks me and brings me into his embrace, then I whisper to him, "Don't worry," I fondle his back, "about anything." I instanly regret that remark, owing to the fact that he has innumerable things to worry about. He remains still and silent, and for a moment I feel perfectly content until his arms depart from my body, releasing me back into the night's frigid air, leaving me craving his warmth even more. He stands and begins onward to our apartment building. "Your place tonight?" he asks as he holds my hand tight, walking a few steps ahead of me. "Sure," I respond, purposely staying behind him, admiring his broad shoulders and tall figure. 

I sit on the sofa and allow him to rest his head on my lap. The corners of his mouth rise into a smile and he takes my hand to plant a soft kiss on it, and requests, "Will you play for me?"

"Of course," I say, his face once before he sits up. I amble to my piano and without pulling a sheet, beginning to play a slow piece. I hear him imperceptibly humming to the melody. "Sing for me," I ask of him. From his mouth escapes a golden voice, a voice I wish he could share with the world. As the song came to an end, he proceeded towards me, taking my hand and leading me into the bedroom. 

We lie in darkness, the moonlight illuminating our faces just enough to see the other's. "I love you." He gently stokes my hair off my face and gives me a kiss on the forehead. "I love you," he repeats.

Each time he says those three simple words, it's as if I'm hearing it for the first time, yet a fear comes upon me that it might be the last. I return the words, wondering what feeling he gets when I say them. As if he read my hind, he holds my hand against the left side of his chest. "Do you feel it?" he asks. I feel for the unstable beats, nodding in response. "That's for you," he says. 

Closing my eyes, I drift half into sleep while he begins to speak. "I'm sorry I had to come into your life," I hear him say. Tears well in my eyes, falling quickly, but just as quickly, being caught and wiped away by his fingers. 

I start to think of my life before him, which is all a blur now, merely acquiring fragments of memories. Then I recall back life to when we first met, possibly the peak of my entire existence, when the two of us only worried about what we would be having for lunch that day, or arrving late to our dates. During those times I never imagined that he would eventually become my whole world, nor did I think that my world could be taken away from me at any given moment. I think of my current life, which is even more unthinkable than the last, but in this very moment, I realize that he is a blessing, a complete gift in himself, and I want nothing less of him than to think he is in fact, the best thing that has ever happened to me. And so I say it aloud. "No, thank you for coming into my life. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."