Flying

She stood on the edge of the building, leaning against the wind, as the pure northern air played with her dirty blonde hair. Spreading her arms out like wings she grinned and tilted her head towards the sky, soaking up the last, dieing rays of sunlight.1

" What are you doing.... oh my God, you're going to kill yourself!" Jay shouts launching himself towards the edge. 2

Meri just laughed, "No I'm not, I just want to fly." She took his hand and pulled him up next to her. 3

"You're insane, you know that right?"4

Meri nods, "It would be boring if I was sane."5

"True," he concedes and looked out across the city, marveling at how it came alive after dark. Smiling to himself he looks at Meri next to him, and marvels at how beautiful she looked. He wondered sometimes, how he wound up with someone like her. There she was standing on the edge of a twenty-two story building trying to dance to Death Cab for Cutie.6

"Gods, Meri how did you get so beautiful," he asks whispering.7

"I'm not beautiful, I'm just me." She informs him.8

"And that's beautiful."9

"And you are insane." She says taking his hand, cajoling him to dance with her. 10

And he doesn't pull away, he just watches her sway to the beat.11

Closing her eyes she sings along, dancing, and swaying, and holding onto him. Cathing a flyaway strand of her hair he gently touches it to her cheeks and grins as her eyes flutter open. 12

"That tickles." she says sticking her tongue out at him. 13

He sticks his tongue out back and tries to dance along with her. 14

The song ended and she sat down on the ledge, feet dangling. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. 15

She leans her head on his shoulder and yawns. "I'm tired."16

"You wanna go home?" he asks.17

She shakes her head, "No, this is home, you are home, flying is home."18

"I thought you were afraid of heights."19

"I am, but I feel so free, that the fear doesnt matter, its like falling in love, it hurts so bad, but it's always worth it."20

He holds her a little tighter. And there they sat, watching the bright lights sparkle and fade in and out as they talked and laughed. Drinking Dr. Pepper from champagne flutes, using twizzlers for straws. 21

"I wonder sometimes, where you came from?"22

Meri looks up at him and smiles, "What do you mean?"23

"I don't really know, when I'm with you I just say these things. But I don't know, you seem unearthly to me. Like you are from a better place than all this. And I wonder if I'm keeping you from going back home."24

"You aren't. I wouldn't go 'home' without you."25

"I still don't think you belong here."26

"I don't," she said with a soft smile, "I belong out there." She gestured with her hands, encompassing the whole night sky.27

"You do." he said sadly.28

"But I'm not going without you." She pulls herself closer to him and shivers a little. 29

He slips out of his sweatshirt and puts it around her shoulders. She snuggles into it and he reaches behind them and turns the CD player on. 30

Meri sings along softly, gently, under her breath. 31

"Sing louder?" he asks.32

She smiles and hums a little and starts to sing along, "they will see us waving from such great heights, 33

"come down now", they'll say34

but everything looks perfect from far away,35

"come down now", but we'll stay..."36

"That song fits you so well it's scary." He whispers into her hair.37

"It fits you too, it says, we, not I, and you're the other half."38

"Do you want to dance?" he whispers into her ear, warm breath tickling her icy skin.39

She nods and he helps her up. Pulling her close, they start to sway in time with the song. And once the song ended they just stood there, in the silence, slowly swaying. Meri looked out over the city and sighed.40

"It doesn't feel right does it?"41

He pulled her closer, "What doesn't feel right?"42

"Being here, on the ground, instead of up there. Let's just fly away, just the two of us."43

"Just the two of us." he mumbles back, into her soft hair.44

She sighs contentedly in his arms and mutters into his shirt, "I love this song."45

"Me too," he whispers back, and with that he starts to sing along, "I could stay awake just to hear you breathing46

Watch you smile while you are sleeping47

While you’re far away dreaming48

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender49

I could stay lost in this moment forever"50

Meri sighs and leans into him, listening to him sing. The song ended and they faded into silence. "Tell me a story?" Meri asks.51

"Why?" he asks, gently swaying in the wind.52

"So I can listen to your voice."53

"All right, Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, homeless princess, who didn't believe she was beautiful. She had dark blonde hair, and these huge blue eyes that you could drown in. And her pale body was covered in scars that told a story. She was wretchedly beautiful, covered in shameless tears and shattered dreams. She was a knife to the heart, and a blade to the wrist. All she wanted to do was fly." Meri sighed and rested her hand on his chest, counting his heartbeats as he told her story. "She had a killer smile, and could beat up all the boys. And for some reason everyone hurt her, even the ones who loved her, even me, even her parents. But she kept smiling because she was the girl who smiled as her heart was shattered, the one who brightened up everyone else's days even when she couldn't brighten up her own. And there was a quiet musician who fell for her. And he couldn't believe it when she fell for him too. She made him the happest boy in the world. But he kept her grounded, she wanted to fly, but he kept her there, stuck on earth, because he was too afraid to let go. But, the secret was, he would follow her anywhere. To the ends of the earth, to heaven, to hell, anywhere."54

Meri breathed in shrply, "Would you really?"55

"Yes I would."56

"Then what are we waiting for, let's fly." She said.57

He took a deep breath and buried his face in her hair, and held her so tightly it hurt. He looked up and nodded, slowly, surely, "So long as I'll be with you."58

Meri leans up and kisses him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, he holds her just as tightly and lifts her off her feet. Moments later he sets her down and the two pull apart. Breathing hard they stare into each other's eyes, blue locked with green, an unspoke promise to never let go. 59

As the sun's first rays stretch of the sleeping city the two pull farther apart, never looking away. A nearby door slams open, and two police officers sprint onto the roof top. 60

The male steps forward, towards the two shivering teens, the female stays back. 61

"I love you Meri." He says taking her hand.62

"I love you too, Jay." She says intertwining her fingers with his.63

The male cop stepped forwards again, " Don't!" he shouted, but it was too late...64

They were flying, Meri and Jay, hand in hand, were finally flying, leaving behind all the pain and regret and sorrow that had chained them to earth. 65