( HOLD ) -Jesse @ Angela (hearteyes)
Angela has always hesitated to put a name to this thing between them. Before, this had barely been a passing thought, something that made itself known only in a certain light. Now, it lives in her rib cage, next to her heart, as though her body has made space for it to live and grow. She does not know words in German or English to describe it.
They are friends, of course, she thinks as they walk together. Today, they are in a busy marketplace on the other side of the world. They saved the day, and it’s such a beautiful day that no one had the heart to leave just yet. No one sustained anything worse than a few bumps and bruises. There was no harm in delaying their return to Gibraltar for a day or two.
She admires him. He has such capacity for compassion, despite his bloody job. Violence is not his first reaction to difficult circumstances. Her job is different, but she has seen countless surgeons, including mentors and students of hers, lose their soft hearts. She knows how hard it is to hold onto your heart when there is nothing but death and despair around you.
She knows he respects her, too, and counts her among his friends. In such bleak times, she is grateful to have those gifts.
Jesse closes his hand around hers as a whole line of tourists twists around them and into their way. Angela’s heart warms in her chest. “Come on,” he says, interrupting her musing with a half-smile, aren’t tourists just the worst. Even though they are technically tourists, too. “Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”
Angela takes her hand back only to wrap her arms around his to stay even closer. “I’m sure you would be able to find me,” she says, cheeks flushing as she looks up at him.
“Always,” he promises.
That steals the breath from her chest. But it’s still easy to smile. “I am right here,” she tells him, the words heavy in her mouth.
Jesse leans down, Angela tilts her chin up, and he kisses her, a soft moment of contact even as crowds wind around them. They don’t say anything more, but Angela figures they don’t need to.
