Sweater Weather

The waves crept gently up the shoreline, engulfing the crumbling remains of summer sandcastles. There was an undeniable chill in the salty ocean water, one that wouldn't go away until the early months of spring. Not only did that chill exist in the sea, but in the dry November air. Wind blew around our bodies, picking up particles of sand and scattering them down the beach.

His sweater-clad arm encircled my torso, pulling me into his warmth. I noticed that the sleeve extended well past his hand and I grinned to myself. His favorite kind of sweaters were the oversized thrift store ones that found their way into his closet. Because of copious previous use, they always seemed to develop holes in odd places, holes he'd persuade me to sew up by giving me big puppy-dog eyes. He didn't know that I would have done it for him anyway.

We sat in the sand, watching the water crawl up the shore in silence. A gust of cold wind penetrated the fabric of my cardigan and caused a chill to slither down my spine. "Cold?" He whispered softly, his lips just barely brushing the skin of my earlobe, sending another chill throughout my body. I nodded against his shoulder and pulled my sweater tighter around me. "Wanna get out of here?" he questioned, voice husky and smooth, eyebrows raised in anticipation of my response. I nodded again.

He pushed himself off of the ground and yanked up his sleeves before holding out both hands to me. A smile formed on my lips as I gazed up at him and took his hands. Instead of letting go after pulling me to my feet, his thumbs found their way to the belt loops of my faded shorts. My eyes shifted to the darkening sky, the clouds moving quickly across it and signaling approaching rain. One of his hands tilted my head down, the other tugging on my belt loop, drawing me out of a daze and back into his gravity.

Raindrops began to sprinkle the pavement as we drove home. The clouds darkened overhead and it became evident that a storm was on it's way. Our apartment wasn't too far from the shore, just a short drive into the city. Concrete structures loomed on both sides of the street, casting slanted shadows over the ground. I stared blankly out of the window, forehead resting on the cool glass. The warmth of his hand engulfed mine, a reassuring gesture that'd never fail to induce calmness in me. The feeling was like that of the sun on my skin, bathing me in a comforting warmth and immersing me in sweet contentment; But even that couldn't compare to our entwined fingers resting on the center console.

The apartment door unlocked with an audible click. I peeled off my thin cardigan as soon as I entered, ignoring the cold, still air around me. My shorts came off and were discarded on the wood floor immediately after. All thoughts were shifted to warmth and comfort at the moment, causing me to run down the dark hallway and into the shared bedroom, sliding gracefully into a queen sized bed in the middle of the room. My eyes fluttered shut as I pulled the sheets tight around my body.

I thought of the events of the day, recent memories filtering in and out. Short morning, the result of sleeping late, stretching into an everlasting afternoon of lazing around and finally deciding to travel to the beach. What I currently planned to follow was a quick nap, but those plans exited my head as soon as he climbed in bed and draped an arm around my waist. He burrowed his face in the space where my shoulder curved upward and met my neck. Hair pooled around our heads, soft auburn against inky black, layered together on top of the pristine white of a pillowcase. Firm, calloused fingertips brushed down my side and skimmed across the skin stretched over my hipbone, exploring curves with dancing fingers. I exhaled slowly and slipped my hand over the one now spread across my stomach.

Dim light filtered through the gauzy curtains and penetrated my closed eyelids. Through the light, scenes flashed through my mind of the past few years. He and I trying to get by on meager paychecks. Traveling across the country to countless cities, weeks of living out of a suitcase and calling so many hotels "home". Remembering that only made it more satisfying to be here, in this moment, with no worries plaguing me. It's one that makes it hard to accept the fact that it can't last forever. And it ended far too soon when He extracted his arms from around my waist and sat up.

I whined in protest at the sudden absence of warmth and rolled over to face him. He stared down at me with soft eyes and a relaxed expression. I automatically reached up and tucked a piece of his dark, shaggy hair behind his ear, gently caressing the line of his jaw as I retracted my hand. Before it came to rest back on the bed, however, he tugged it back up and enclosed it in his own, still gazing at me. "I love you." He said it as surely and matter-of-fact as he would if someone asked for his name. Those words floated from his lips as smoothly as smoke being exhaled. Even though the meaning was as opaque as that cloud of grey smoke, I still hung onto the sound and implication like a child with a teddy bear. "I love you too." The smile he gave me in response not only shined as bright as any summer sky, but it told me that everything was gonna be just fine. And I believed it would be so.