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Gally and you are going to meet again, in just a few hours. You still can’t believe your luck, and some part of you still cannot believe that it is real. That you’re really going to see him again. To have him again.
Of course that’s what both of you had hoped for, that you’d find a way to make it work, find a way so you two could live together – could live in the same country at least.
When you met him in the US, and you there on vacation with your family, your attraction had been instant. Gally had immediately caught your eye, arms strong and with that breath-stopping captivating aura he emanated as you watched him go about his work as a park ranger.
Your family had decided to spend some days camping at that national park - “That breath of nature is gonna be good for you,” - your dad had said, in response to which you’d only rolled your eyes.
But in the end, you had been more than glad about it.
Because it was there that you met Gally.
The first few days, Gally and you hadn’t even spoken to each other at all – you’d just caught his glance a few times, and had immediately noticed the blood rushing to your cheeks, and you’d averted your gaze quickly, lest he’d catch on to it. But then one day, on bonfire night, the two of you had started talking.
You don’t even quite remember how when you think about it now, but what you do remember is how you’d suddenly found yourself gushing to Gally about books and movies you liked, completely losing yourself in details and fervent analyses that had been burning on your tongue for eternity – and Gally just smiled at you, listened intently, sometimes asking clarifying questions, but all the while hanging on your lips as though he’d never heard anyone say things quite as interesting as these. You’d found yourself stunned, expecting him to get annoyed or bored at any second – but he never did.
Gally made you feel seen in a way you’d never quite experienced before. And the feeling was mutual – when he talked about the forest, the animals living at the national park and the measures they were taking as rangers to ensure a sound ecological balance for all living things there, you just couldn’t help but hang on his every word. You marvelled at his knowledge, but most of all at the care he showed for the animals and plants around him.
You’d never met anyone before who seemed quite as… pure as Gally?
He didn’t seem to care much about money or status, instead he seemed to be concerned with leading a simple, yet worthwhile life. And somehow, his take on it all made you feel a slow and silent peace within you. Like the world could be an okay place – if you could only stay at his side.
You’d stayed at the park with him that summer, leaving your parents to travel the rest of the United States by themselves. You had told them something about wanting to learn more about the ecology of these forests, fabricated something about wanting to pursue this direction further in your studies and wanting to get a feel for it now, and how this summer internship at the park was the perfect opportunity for you to do that.
They’d let you do it – although you were sure you saw a sly smile on your mother’s face as she kissed you goodbye. You didn’t react to it – although she might have detected a hint of embarrassment in your face, however much you’d tried to conceal it. But it didn’t matter – nothing really mattered except that you could spend more time with Gally.
The two of you became inseparable, and with time, a deep and easy peace filled the time you spent together.
And then was that first kiss – you remember it as though it was yesterday.
The smell of the pine tree needles in your nose, the dinner you’d just finished filling your stomach with a warm and happy feeling – although that feeling might have stemmed from the fact that Gally had been looking at you with a… strange look in his eyes that whole evening.
You couldn’t quite tell what it was. There was something in his eyes that you felt you had seen before, but you couldn’t quite place it.
The tree trunk you were standing against was scratchy at your back as standing there, leaning against the pine tree and looking out over the valley stretching beyond you. The rough smell of the smoke from the fire burning at the camping place below filled your nose, and you could still feel the warm glow the fire had left on your cheeks.
Gally was sitting on a log a little way off, and there was nothing big to be said, just the two of you watching the sunset, the rewarding calmness of a day of heavy work lying between you. You talked a bit about the ongoings in the park, about what you’d do the next day, but of nothing much really.
Suddenly, you noticed that Gally had gone silent. You looked over at him to check if everything was alright, but you gave a little startled jump when you noticed he’d gotten up and was standing closer to you now.
“What’s.. Uhm, what’s up Gally?” You asked, hearing how your voice sounded a little insecure.
Gally looked at his hands, as if trying to find courage, as if trying to find words for what he wanted to say.
You felt a little afraid – was there something you had done wrong in your work, and he needed to tell you off for it, but was uncomfortable doing it? Or had you said something wrong, a joke that had inadvertently hurt him? You just set out to ask, when Gally found his voice.
“I...” he hesitated. “I’m sorry if this is inappropriate. And.. I really don’t want you to feel pressured. Like, at all.”
He empathised those last words, but you could only look at him in confusion. What was he getting at? Gally saw the confused look on your face, and gave you a helpless look. You didn’t understand, what was he trying to say?
“I…”, again, Gally broke off. He was kneading his hands against each other and looking down at them, something you had often seen him do when he was trying to find the right words for something, trying to line up his thoughts in the order he wanted to present them in. You waited.
Finally, he looked up again, a firm look in his eyes, as if he’d decided he just needed to get it over with.
“I like you.” He said. “I really, really like you. And I wanted to ask… I wanted to ask whether I could kiss you.”
You felt yourself speechless, completely at a loss for what to say.
His gaze was turned back down at his hands, but he looked back at you when he said: “I’ve been wanting to ask you this for quite some time, actually.” To your astonishment, you could see his cheeks had a faint pink tinge to them by now.
You felt your gaze go soft, and resisted the urge to clasp your hands to your face to stop the giddy smile you could feel rising up on your face from showing. Instead, you let that smile spread, and you remember thinking that you must have looked like a total idiot, beaming at Gally sheepishly like that.
A tentative smile started spreading on Gally’s face as he saw what was happening with you.
“I –“ you stopped to cough. “Uhm yes, actually.. I’d like that very much.”
You gave an awkward little chuckle, but Gally lips spread into a smile that beamed at you so fondly you again felt the urge to hide your face behind your hands. You couldn’t quite believe he’d look at you like that.
But Gally’s smile was here to stay, and it transformed into something softer as he stepped closer to you.
You could feel yourself getting nervous, but when you felt Gally’s body heat radiate from him, and his calloused and strong hands take yours into his, somehow, a feeling of utter calm settled over you.
And then Gally’s lips had brushed against yours, and you’d felt your heart stop for a second with the unbelievable feel of it. You hadn’t even realised how badly you wanted Gally. – But now, all the looks you’d thrown him over the course of the last weeks, how you always felt so calm around him, the funny feeling you had gotten in your stomach when watching his muscular shoulders strain while cutting trees and doing woodwork, the way you’d felt your gaze shift to his hands more often than probably was normal – now it all made sense.
You weren’t sure what to do, but Gally put a hand behind your back, steadying you while the other one held the crook of your neck, his warm hand soft against your skin. And you found yourself giving into Gally, a smile making its way onto your lips even as you were kissing him. You felt his lips twist into that same smile, and then you felt the vibrations of Gally laughing softly against you in his body that was now so close to you.
You let that smile stay on your lips, delirious with the feel of it all. Gally placed a small kiss on your cheek, then one on the other cheek, then one on your forehead, your nose, and then countless other small kisses on your face, and you couldn’t help but giggle at it, which in turn made Gally smile again.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for forever, you know,” he said.
“No, I actually didn’t,” you said, hearing very well how breathless your own voice sounded. You really wished he would kiss you again - and he did.
When he drew back after a long while and let his forehead rest against yours, you realised that you had never felt that safe in your life.
“Flight from Denver boarding at Gate 10” – The loud airport announcement voiced by that generic female voice that was the same everywhere in the world roused you from the memories you’d gotten consumed in.
You felt your heart rate pick up again, and your head get a little dizzy. You orientated yourself, and then rushed towards the gate where Gally was supposed to arrive.
When you arrived there you were a little breathless because you’d rushed so much - but you just couldn’t wait to see Gally’s soft smile again, to feel his arms around you again. Of course you were there far too early now, and the moments seemed to spread out forever, time barely moving even though you were willing it to go faster so badly.
But then, people started trickling out of the sliding doors, business women, families laughing, wheels of trolley cases rattling over the floor, big bags thrown over shoulders – and then, your heart stuttered in your chest when your eyes registered a familiar shape among all the strangers.
A yell escaped your lips without your doing, and without planning to, you were rushing forward, tears streaming over your face – and then big, warm arms caught you. They wrapped around you, held you tight and you could feel the sobs ripping through you, and hear the small nonsensical words that were washing over you in a constant, soft stream of affection. Big hands were stroking over your back, and your nose was filled with that gorgeous scent that made you feel at home immediately – that made you feel as though everything in the world was going to be alright.
You nuzzled into that broad chest you had missed so much, and then Gally gently pried your arms from around his body and removed you from him at arm’s length so he could have a look at you.
The smile on your face was teary, but the look in Gally’s eyes made you forget all of your tears and sorrows. He cupped your face in his hands, and you could feel his rough and calloused fingers stroking over your cheeks, gently trailing away the wetness of your previous tears.
“It’s all good now, honey,” Gally said, his deep voice washing over you like rain after a drought.
And as you smiled back at him, you knew that he was telling the truth.