You blinked your eyes open slowly, staring directly at the ceiling before a soft voice broke your concentration.

“Today’s the day…” He said quietly, rolling onto his side as he faced you.

You also turned to lay on your side, staring over at him with a small sigh. “Yeah… It is. Are you su—“

“I’m sure. I won’t be able to come back…” Tao said, his hand reaching over to rest lightly on your cheek, his thumb gently your soft skin.

You never really noticed how Tao’s dark hair contrasted so much with the white pillow and bedsheet. You knew you would miss waking up next to him the most.

He leaned forward to press a kiss to your lips before sitting up. “There’s only a few hours left…” He said before standing, looking around the room.

You sat up, startled. “What do you mean?! You’re leaving so soon? B-But I want to stay with you longer…” You said as tears started to form in your eyes.

He looked back as he heard you choke on your tears, a frown forming on his lips. “____... Please, you know I don’t want to go. I want to stay with you, too.” He slowly crawled back onto the bed, his strong arms coming around you and pulling you against his chest.

The tears wouldn’t stop falling from your eyes and you grasped his shirt tightly in your hands, never wanting to let go. “T-Tao… I love you. So much.”

He brought his hand up to pat your head, fingers gently combing through your hair. “I love you, too. H-here, hold on to me tightly…”

You blinked, glancing up at his face. He smiled at you weakly. You hugged him tightly and you could hear his heartbeat, soothing you. Within seconds his heartbeat began to slow and your eyes widened as it came to a very slow and steady beat.

You released him and stared up at his face. “Tao, are you okay!?” You felt around his body. Everything else was completely normal.

He glanced up at the clock and you followed his gaze. The seconds hand moved so slowly you actually questioned if it moved at all. “Tao…?”

His gaze then turned to stare out the window and you looked as well, your eyes growing wide. The people seemed to move in slow motion, one of their steps taking minutes to reach the ground.

“Now we can be together longer…” He said meekly, “… but you need to hold onto me.” His hand lifted to grasp onto yours as he pulled you out of the bedroom.

The both of you spent the next few hours, which seemed like an entire day, doing what you loved. All the while holding hands.

But the time came for Tao to leave.

He kept a tight grip on your hand as you both walked down the street, passing by the rest of the people moving in slow motion.

“I’ll do my best to keep in contact with you… But, I really make no promises…” He glanced down to you, biting down lightly on his lip.

You could tell he was about to cry. Something you loved about Tao; he was sensitive.

You reached the end of the street and the people had disappeared, leaving only you and him.

His hold on your hand only tightened as a few stray tears fell from his eyes. Your brow creased as you tried your hardest to keep your tears in. “I love you.” You said.

He simply stared into your eyes and smiled, leaning down to press his final kiss to your lips. “I love you, too…” His voice cracked as he spoke and that is when your tears finally rushed down your cheeks.

He took in a deep breath and released your hand, turning to walk away from you.

You watched his back as he retreated into the darkness. The world around you slowly becoming noisier as the cars and the people returned to normal, the tears streaming quickly down your face as you dropped to your knees before hugging them to your chest.

“Goodbye..."