Lungs

I watched him breathe. His chest fell up and down in response to the air entering and leaving his lungs. I could see the outline of his chest under his loose shirt. I stared as it grew and then shrunk again. I slowly found that I had been holding my own breath in awe of the idea of watching another human being breathing. He wasn't thinking about breathing. His eyes were firmly on the book he held in front of him. The majesty of the oxygen filling his lungs effortlessly and allowing him to live captivated me. I wasn't sure if I was close enough to his hear his heart or if that consistent hammering was my own organ. The sound filled my ears, and suddenly I was unaware of any sounds that didn't originate from his mouth or my heart. My breathing grew more shallow as I continued to watch his chest. He must have known I was staring by then. He did. He blinked a few extra times before turning his head to stare at me through his thick rimmed glasses. Our eyes met through those lenses and I felt as though my heart might erupt. I was filled with so many emotions I could hardly pinpoint a single one besides love. I felt an overwhelming love for him, the kind of love only one human being can feel for another. I thought the look we were sharing at this moment was only in fairytales and movies, but this was real. It said a thousand words in just a moment and I was reading between every all of them. He seemed just as speechless as I when he looked at me, I knew by his silence. I took a moment of just staring before this lips began to lift and his teeth appeared in one of his glorious, contagious smiles. I smiled too. "Hi," he said, almost as soft as a whisper. I bit my lip. "Hi."