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The chill of the breeze didn't matter.
All that mattered was the sun moving from its high position in the sky to accommodate the afternoon glow. All that mattered were the clouds, cheerful and scattered, puffing gently along. All that mattered was here, now, him, you, together.
The young man, more of a boy in actuality, who had called you out for sitting on his grave before even asking for your name. The boy who, although covered in ghastly coats of makeup, was just like you underneath-and had come to be that way in a similar fashion as you did.
The boy who had risen first, the boy you were instructed to do awful things to-but didn't. Couldn't. Because he was the same scared boy, trying to escape, whom you had comforted. The same boy who had, in adrenaline-induced nervousness, come to your door and thrown himself at you, allowing you to be the first to kiss him, to hold him.
How could you hurt him? You had done everything for him. You faced the judgement of his family, who was barely used to his disease, not to mention his equally diseased boyfriend.
But he was still miraculous. This "disease", you knew that it was a blessing. How were people so afraid of a good thing? To you, a second chance was the only thing people like you had left. To them, it was terrifying, a feared activity.
Yes, Kieren Walker was your greatest miracle. He fought impulse in a drug-induced rabid state. You got shot to save him, not that you felt it. All you could feel was the pressure of his body under yours, shaking and nervous as he asked you if he had harmed anyone.
And that was truly the most miraculous thing-he had the power to slaughter mass amounts of people, and every part of his body was telling him to, but his mind was on those he'd harmed before. His humanity told him to stop, for his sake and for the sake of everyone else.
Now you lay, shoulder to shoulder, listening to the few birds out chirping away. You ignore the bite of the cold, which you are both regaining the ability to feel, and instead look intently at the clouds. The ground is still firm from frost, but you are comfortable. Content.
Kieren looks over at you, and you at him. You smile, because you can finally see the color coming back into his eyes, a cheerful brown. His skin, once a dismal grey and riddled with shadows on his too-thin face, is now coming back to normal. His cheeks are pinker, his eyes less sunken, and his lips reddening.
You know that your face is doing the same, your skin becoming its normal hue, your eyes as well. You grab Kieren's hand, still unable to feel how cold you know it is, but getting enough sense of it.
You shift your head a bit, allowing Kieren to gently press his lips against your own. He stays frozen for a moment, but before you can ask what's wrong he begins to move his lips. You follow, not wanting to pressure him into anything.
You are a bit surprised as he rolls so he is directly on top of you, hands moving up into your hair. You are thankful that it is not yet necessary for either of you to breathe, because this, right here, is perfection.
With one of your hands resting on his lower back and the other on his hip, you kiss him back with full force, melting underneath him. For how unexperienced his is, Kieren is far from being an amateur.
Suddenly he tears his lips from yours. You give him a confused look, but he bolts up, a smile beginning to play on his lips. He helps you off the ground, an enormous and somewhat dopey grin lighting up his entire face.
"What is it? What's happening?" You ask him hurriedly. You place one hand on his neck and rest your forehead against his. He grips the wrist of the hand you have on his face and pushes your head (rather violently) to press up against his chest, almost directly underneath his collarbone.
You are confused, and Kieren's hand is shaking. He is laughing lightly, but you can't tell if it is a nervous laugh or not. You wait for him to stop laughing, and everything seems silent.
Then you hear it.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
It is slow, but steady. It echoes through his chest and through you. It is hopeful, a sound of new life.
"A heartbeat," you say slowly, moving your head to look at Kieren face-to-face. You have your hands on his cheeks, and share his joyful smile. You kiss him once, twice, three times before he confirms it with a slight giggle.
"A heartbeat."