48. Caden
CHAPTER 48
Caden
We’ve been lying here, wrapped up in each other's bodies, for hours. Millie quickly fell into a deep sleep after I made good on my word, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her for long enough to close them.
Watching the gentle rise and fall of her faint breaths as she rests in my arms, her perfectly freckled cheek on my chest, feels like a heaven all of my own.
I’ve been so absorbed in her, remiss to take myself away for a single moment, that I almost missed the pinks and greens reflected on the meandering river beyond us.
Disoriented, I gently move her body a fraction, propping myself up on my elbow as I follow the path of the neon hues.
The sky is dancing with colour, fluid lines moving romantically across the darkness in animated paint strokes. The two tones weave in and out of each other, merging together until they are almost one .
Two distinctly different colours, coming back to each other again and again, like they were always meant to be, inseparable once they meet.
“Millie,” my voice is a whisper, careful not to scare the Aurora away. “Millie, wake up.”
“Mmmm.” She opens one eye, letting out a sleepy moan as she does.
“Look up.” I nod towards the water, pulling her body up to rest against mine.
She groans, nuzzling into my chest and pinching her eyes closed again.
“Millie.” I steal another kiss, certain that I’ll never get enough in this lifetime. “Bucket list number seven, see the Northern Lights.” I’ve memorized that list top to bottom, adding in some of my own that I hope she’ll be onboard with.
“ What !?” She gasps, jumping down from our makeshift picnic-table-come-bed, pulling the blanket off me as she goes. “You’re joking!”
“Thanks for that,” I laugh, pulling my boxers back on and wrapping my flannel around my shoulders to replace the warmth she’s taken with her.
She runs towards the water’s edge, wrapped up in the blanket like it's a robe. I hold myself back, letting her take in this moment – experiencing it for the first time in her own way.
She always looks beautiful, but in this light, she is spellbinding. I could watch her for hours, not just because of how she looks, but because of everything she is beneath the surface, and the way that it can’t help but shine through .
I’ve never been one for art, but now I understand the galleries filled with paintings of lovers. If I could capture this moment right now, it’d be a masterpiece, a permanent imprint reminding me that life could never be better than it is with her.
The campfire has burned down to embers. I work on bringing it back to a steady burn, throwing fresh logs into the centre of the ring, stoking the flames until they’re ready to take care of themselves.
Millie holds her hands out over the heat.
“It’s beautiful.” She sighs, moving closer to me and resting her head against my arm. “That’s been the highlight of my night.”
“What?” I fake balk. “Better than dinner? And the shift I put in after?!”
“Way better,” she laughs. “You’ll need to up your game for next time.”
“Listen, I ordered in the Northern Lights especially for you – it was all part of my master plan to woo you.”
“Consider me suitably wooed, Mr Thompson.”
I pull forward a chair, angling it out towards the river, the roar of the fire close enough to keep us warm.
Leaning back against the cool wooden slats, I pat my knee, signaling for Millie to come sit. She settles against me, her skin on my skin, head in the crook of my neck.
We fit so perfectly, her body and my body, her heart and my heart. I spent a lifetime thinking fate was just a romanticised version of coincidence, I didn’t believe that things were ever truly meant to be, or that they happened for a reason.
But Millie is my reason, and she was meant for me. Our paths would always have crossed, every road would have brought us back to each other. Because our souls were made for each other, long before this lifetime. And I think they’ve been waiting patiently ever since, for a moment just like this.