Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

“I’ll let you two finish up in here,” she says, smiling at Stella as she steps around Scotty, slipping out the door before they can object.

Outside, she swats away the mosquitoes as she crosses the deck to find Aidan asleep on one of the lounge chairs, his head tipped to one side. Quietly, she lowers herself onto the chair beside him, lying curled on her side, so that when he jolts awake, it’s to find her face only inches from his.

“No sleeping, remember?” she says, beaming at him.

He sits up, still drowsy. “Why do you look like that?”

“Like what?” she says, then points at her eye with a grin. “Oh, this? Probably because you punched me in the face.”

“Not that,” he says, giving her a weary look as he swings his feet to the ground. “Why do you look so… happy?”

“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “I guess I just missed you.”

He frowns at her. “How long was I asleep?”

“Not long,” she assures him.

Overhead, a plane flies past, and they track it across the sky, a little bead of light moving through the clouds, which are gauzy and gray against all the blackness. Clare sits up, facing Aidan so that their knees are touching in the space between the chairs.

“So was this on the list?”

She nods. “Any guesses?”

“First time I opened a door for you?”

She shakes her head.

“First time we played footsie,” he says, nudging at her sandaled foot with his own.

“Nope.”

“First time I bought you a drink?”

“Very funny.”

“First time I… sneezed on you?”

She laughs. “Maybe.”

“First time you watched me throw up?”

“It’s possible.”

“First time I accidentally tripped you while walking behind you?”

“Wow,” she says. “I never realized what a mess you are.”

“Stop sweet-talking me,” he says, laughing, then he holds up a finger in the direction of the giant chestnut tree that forms a canopy over the other end of the deck. “I know. The first time we saw that owl with the glasses up there.”

“It wasn’t wearing glasses, you clown,” she says, shaking her head. “It just looked that way because it was so dark.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw a pair of specs,” he said. “But you believe whatever you want.”

“I always do,” she says as he flops back onto the chair.

“Okay, I give up. Just tell me.”

Clare smiles. “It was the first time we talked all night.”

“Oh, yeah,” Aidan says, sitting up again.

“Remember how we completely lost track of time?”

“And we both got in trouble for breaking curfew.”

“Yeah, but it was worth it.”

Aidan glances up at the sky. “Can you believe there was ever a time when there was so much we didn’t know about each other it filled up a whole night?”

Clare frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Just that… to spend a whole night talking with someone is kind of a big thing. There was still so much we were learning about each other then.”

“You don’t think we still have anything to learn?”

“Not like at the beginning,” he says, swiping at a bug. “Not like we did then. But that’s a good thing. You know me better than anyone in my life ever has. It’s actually kind of crazy, when you think about it.” His eyes catch hers in the dark, holding her gaze. “It’s hard to imagine anyone else ever knowing me this well.”

“But that’s the thing,” Clare says, looking away. “Somebody will. And then it’ll seem crazy to you that you once thought nobody would ever know you as well as that random girl you dated in high school.”

He smiles, a little sadly. “You’ll never just be that random girl I dated in high school, you know. No matter what, even if we never talk to each other again, you’re still part of my story now—a big part—and I’m a part of yours. There’s no changing that.”

“Yeah, but what if it’s true, what everyone’s been saying?”