Hug.

This is terribly written with scattered thoughts and even more scattered emotions. However, I have to try and get this written down before it makes its graceful exit from my mind... though I'll be honest and say that the chances of that happening are slim. Slim, I tell ya.

Have you ever been faced with a situation in which you find yourself extremely close to losing someone? Not in a broken friendship kind of way, but something you learn that makes you realize how terribly lucky you are to have that person in your life? Finding out something new about them that makes something in you -click- and realize that there was one moment where they could have been taken away from you. One moment so vital that if it never happened, your paths wouldn't have crossed, leaving you without the most profound friendship of your life?

He's told me the story before, but the impact this time around was long-lasting. I just sat there on his right, on our favorite bench during our favorite time of night, frozen and speechless. I took one short, fleeting glance at him but everything from that moment can be recalled perfectly if I just close my eyes for a second. Maybe it was the way the moonlight gently illuminated his face. The way his new haircut was still in that awkward stage before it had a chance to finally settle. Or the way his black button-down shirt, dark jeans and dress shoes just fit so perfectly with the pronounced blacks and greys of the night. He was staring straight ahead at the muted yellows of the playground when I broke though the silence and a meek whisper escaped my lips, "I just need a hug." We made eye contact, he held me and I cried.

Seconds turned into minutes and the vexatious ring tone that startled us countered the soothing comfort from his warm embrace. We walked back to my street, holding hands and allowed the silence to swallow us once more.