In the end, none of it matters. We all meet the same fate eventually, we just approach it through different means and at different times.

I squeeze my eyes shut but the tears spill over anyway. I would give anything, anything, for more time. More time with the knowledge I now have. Oh, what a life I would live. I wouldn’t spend fifty years of days in an office, surrounded by four walls, or fifty years of nights in a dingy little flat, surrounded by a different set of walls. No. I’d live a million sunrises in a million places.

I don’t hear James approach until he is behind me.

“Ava?”

I exhale slowly, trembling, trying to hide the pain I am in. “Did you get your perfect photo?”

“No. There’s something missing.”

I wipe my eyes. “Oh. What’s that?”

“Me.”

I turn around. The pain I feel is reflected in his eyes when he looks at me. He is breathing hard, his face tortured. When he says my name it is more of a question. “Ava.”

We meet roughly as our bodies collide like stars. His hands curl into my hair as my own find his hips. His face stops millimeters away, his eyes questioning. Then his expression changes as he finds his answer in mine, and he pulls me in hungrily, kissing me like I have never been kissed before. He moans softly, his lips firmly against mine as we try desperately to be as close to each other as we can. It’s not enough. It could never be enough. The waterfall thunders in the background as I start pushing his jacket open, trying to free his arms. He shrugs it off, and I furiously set to work on his shirt buttons, all without breaking apart from our kiss.

I’ve never wanted anyone more in my life. I never even knew this feeling existed. Not like this, so raw and animalistic that I feel like snarling with my frustration. How could I have nearly died without experiencing this? When love and lust combine to ignite something so spectacularly brilliant that it quietens all else, and two people come together to burn brightly in the here and now.

I react to him with a passionate savagery I didn’t know I was capable of, ripping open his shirt because unbuttoning it is taking too long. But then,

…cold air and confusion as he disengages from our kiss. I blink at him, feeling uncertain and bereft.

“James?”

“Are you sure about this?” he asks, his voice slurred with his own longing.

“I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

I take his hand and place it on my chest, over my heart. “I would rather feel this and be hurt than die without feeling anything. Please. I want you—”

The last word is cut off as his lips find mine again, and never has anything felt more right. I squeal as his arms go around me and he lifts me up easily, then I wrap my legs around his waist and hold his face in my hands, peppering him with kisses as he moans and carries me down off the little outcrop and over to the picnic blanket. He lowers me down reluctantly and then hops around, cursing as he tries to kick his shoes and jeans off. I fumble behind my back for the zip on the dress but I am all thumbs and it remains elusive.