I caught my breath, trying to steady it, but to no avail. I watched him, his ebony hair black as midnight, his sparkling green eyes, his horrible posture. I loved every part of him from the tip of his head to the bottoms of his toes.

Why did I have to leave so soon? Why did I have to hurt the one man I had ever truly trusted, ever truly loved?

The answers didn’t come to me right away. They never did anymore.

I crept closer to the clearing and sat down at the edge, studying his profile, committing the curves of his body to memory. The leaves overhead made a lacy pattern on my calf, and I traced it lightly with my finger. I savored the coolness of skin under skin, wishing it wasn’t just my finger against my skin, but his. Wishing he was next to me. Wishing he knew the turmoil of emotions that had been brandished to the back of my mind.

I watched him snap his camera, one click after another. I watched him search for the perfect shot.

How can he not see that the perfect shot is right in front of him?