The Beginning

“You see those lights in the distance?”

“Where?” the excitement was building in her voice. They had climbed halfway up a mountain after they realized the train didn’t make it to the top.

“Wait for it – there!”

She let out a small gasp, “I see it! What are those?”

“Those are the fountain lights outside of the palace - they light up every single night.”

“Beautiful” was all she could mutter from her mouth.

“Indeed. They are even more beautiful from this view.”

She let the silence stand between them as she looked at the fountain lights mesmerized by the ever-changing, glowing colors. It felt like a dream, something completely surreal.

“Most people don’t know that you can see the lights from up here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they think you have to be right next to the foundations. Like every other tourist,” he spoke impressed with himself that he had led her and their few other friends up here to the top of this mountain and shared with her this secret view.

She laughed at him, and gauging from his expression, he was taken aback.

“What?” he asked surprised.

“…like every other tourist. Damnit, you are a tourist” she responded with the biggest smile on her face lovingly teasing him. His naturally tan skin and dark eyes easily mistaken him for a local in this beautiful Espana country.

“So, naturally I stole the idea from some native, eh?”

“Exactly” she responded cooly.

“Well, I’m a good thief.” He said with a smile on his face as he looked over at her and continued to see the green, blue, and red lights light up the pupils of her eyes. She was transfixed in the foundation and had the biggest grin on her face. He didn’t want to leave.

He looked over at his other friends who were out of ear shot and realized this was his moment. “Shit” he kept whispering in his head to himself. Maybe it was a mixture of the cheap red wine juice boxes they had drank, or maybe it was the beautiful view before him with this girl. Or maybe it was a little combination of both. 

He muttered to himself again.. shit… and took a deep breath, reached out and cautiously grabbed her hand, squeezed it as he drew her in as he whispered in her ear a line that he would never have been able say if it weren’t for the wine, “glad I get to share this view with you.”

He lingered his hand there for a while when he saw the one look. The one look every guy lives to see in any girl: hope. The look guys want to see after they gather up the balls to do something bold and drastic for a girl. Hope lived in her eyes as she took her eyes off of the fountain and looked into his eyes, and didn’t let go of his hand. 

He slowly exhaled as he realized that she hadn’t let go of his hand or been repulsed by the gesture, and that he had seen hope in her eyes. Or maybe that truly was the wine talking now.