They can never have too much of each other’s time. They can spend hours together and still spend hours on the phone, and his voice makes her strong when she feels weak. There is more love shared between them than there is pain revolving around them. Among the two, laughter is abundant and so are deep conversations and all other lovely things that grow their trust. They take it all in and cherish it all and do not take any of it for granted.

She, who is full of mistakes. Who is sometimes moody and always completely afraid. She felt something different today, even though most days usually feel quite the same. She, whose head rings like a broken school bell or a trumpet in need of tuning, looked up and opened her eyes because his were right in front of her, like swirls of blue waves. She looked up and, with a voice like sweet caramel, spoke.

You know your eyes, the ones that are blue like the birds that sit on windowsills in the summer? She said. You know? What do you mean? You know the ones that hold oceans of thoughts? The ones that lie below your light eyebrows. Them. They are my anchor. Anchor? He asked. Anchor, she said, and she left him questioning, but her answer was over.