Worth Waiting For

Song: Wait For Me, by Theory of a Deadman

Walking down the small path, stretching my stiff limbs, I asked myself where he could have gone. I knew he went for a run every morning, but I thought that with me here, he’d make an exception. I guess I was selfish.

Taking in my surroundings, I hear a soft melody emerge from my left. It was weaving perfectly with the sounds of the lake, the birds, and the wind skating through the leaves, but most importantly it was weaving straight through my skin, muscles, and bones to land right into my heart.

I took the next left turn and slowed down, listening to it getting louder. Added to the now clear strumming of an acoustic guitar was a voice. His voice. I couldn’t make out the words by ear, but I could make them out by the music accompanying them. It was our song.

“You are not alone tonight 

Imagine me there by your side
It's so hard to be here so far away from you
I'm counting the days ‘till I'm finally done
I'm counting them down, yeah, one by one
It feels like forever ‘till I return to you
But it helps me on those lonely nights
It's that one thing that keeps me alive
Knowing that you wait for me ever so patiently”

He was sitting on the trunk of a tree that had been cut down, probably for firewood. The corners of his mouth seemed to be permanently pulled up, and I couldn’t help but imitate him. I took a couple more steps forward. 

“No one else knows the feeling inside
We hang up the phone without saying goodnight
Because it's the sound of your voice that brings me home
It's never been easy to say, but it's easier when I've gone away

Knowing that you wait for me
Ever so patiently
Yeah, you're everything I've ever dreamed of having and
It's everything I need from you just knowing that you wait for me”

A gust of cold wind made me shiver, but it was nothing compared to the shivers that were already going down my spine. I’ve heard him sing before, but never this song.

“What I'd give
What I'd do
Knowing I'm not there for you

Makes it so hard to leave
What I'd give
What I'd do
Anything to get me home to you
And this time I'll stay

And you wait for me
Ever so patiently
Yeah, you're everything I've ever dreamed of having and
It's everything I need from you just knowing that you wait for me”

As his fingers stopped strumming, he let out a sigh. He then gently laid down his guitar and took his face in his hands. Seeing his sadness, I stepped in view and strode towards him, stopping when I was merely a foot in front of him.

“Matt...” I let my voice trail off as he spotted my tattered converse and let his eyes trail up from my black jeans to the blue sweater I had taken from the back of his bedroom door, and finally to the worry in my eyes. His face softened and the smile resurfaced. I smiled back and took the place that was offered to me on his lap. His arms wrapped around me and I felt whole once again.

“Did you hear all of that?” He whispered, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Yes, and it was beautiful.” I nuzzled his neck, wanting to get as close as I could to him. “I didn’t mean to spy on you though...I just woke up and you were gone, so I thought I’d come find you...” I let my voice trail off because I figured I probably sounded like a baby. I took one of his hands in mine and started playing with his fingers. He just chuckled.

“Sorry about that. I had to let go of all the emotions that were building up inside.” He stated matter-of-factly. 

“Why? I mean, why do you need to let go?” I asked, not quite understanding.

“I- I don’t mean let go of them forever. I don’t know how to explain it; I just don’t want to smother you...?” He shifted from side to side, obviously feeling uncomfortable.

“Smother me? What makes you think I don’t want to be smothered?”  He stopped shifting as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I looked up at him and found him with his eyebrows raised and his lips stretched into a smile.

“Nothing, I just wanted to be sure.”

“Okay, so can you smother me now?” I whispered, leaning into him. Needless to say, he never answered with words: my answer was the gentle pressure of his lips on mine. Now that was worth waiting for.