[This isn't the first time he's felt the sense of someone on the other end of a long line, connected to his heart. This isn't the first time he's seen Maya, either — in the past year, he's seen her a couple of times. Even just a couple of days ago, he saw her walking down the street, almost reached out to her before she turned the corner and was gone.]
[But that time, all those other times, weren't anything like this. He didn't lock eyes with her over a lit match and feel his heart stop just long enough to realign with hers. Didn't see the echo of his own recognition in her eyes. Wasn't reached for like that, didn't see her hand draw back as though he might burn her.]
[Pure instinct has him pulling his jacket off his shoulders and draping it over her shoulders, heedless of the actual temperature. What the fuck else is he supposed to do? What the fuck else could he possibly do in a moment like this but embrace her wholeheartedly?]
Yeah. 'Course I'm real. Hey, are you—
[Hesitant, aware of his own clumsy wording, he forges ahead anyway.]
Are you okay? Do you wanna go — go get something to eat, or something . . . ?
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[But that time, all those other times, weren't anything like this. He didn't lock eyes with her over a lit match and feel his heart stop just long enough to realign with hers. Didn't see the echo of his own recognition in her eyes. Wasn't reached for like that, didn't see her hand draw back as though he might burn her.]
[Pure instinct has him pulling his jacket off his shoulders and draping it over her shoulders, heedless of the actual temperature. What the fuck else is he supposed to do? What the fuck else could he possibly do in a moment like this but embrace her wholeheartedly?]
Yeah. 'Course I'm real. Hey, are you—
[Hesitant, aware of his own clumsy wording, he forges ahead anyway.]
Are you okay? Do you wanna go — go get something to eat, or something . . . ?