Forbidden Mars Soirée

Winter’s over.

The first storm of the season had just blown past when the sun came out and melted all of the snow away. The clouds parted, revealing bright skies that seemed to go on forever. I remember thinking, “This is it. Spring’s here. We’ve got more than a full month ahead of us before the next storm arrives."

That was two months ago. Two months, three days, two hours, and forty-four minutes.

I lost track of time after that.

* * *

“You know that I love you, Xiao.” I said, hooking my arm around her waist as we walked along the frozen lake outside of town.

She looked up at me with those wide eyes of hers, so innocent and blue and round, like the sky itself was looking down on us through her pupils. She let out a long sigh as she smiled up at me, putting her arms around my shoulders and laying her head on my chest. “I know, Reader… but what good does that do me?”

I tightened my grip around her waist. “What are you talking about? I love you!”

She laughed at that and shook her head at me. “No… I mean… it doesn’t matter how much you love me if you can never be with me!” She looked up at me again with those big blue eyes of hers and smiled softly at me. “It hurts so much to think about you being with someone else… but at the same time... it allows me to appreciate your love for me more deeply!” Her voice soft and sweet like honey in the springtime breeze.

My hands slid down her back until they stopped just above her waistline and rested there for a moment before I spoke again to her, locking my eyes onto hers. “Well… I don’t mind being with noone else… as long as I get to be with you every night!” I leaned down and kissed her forehead, holding onto to her tightly while she squeezed me back against her chest.

The night before had been our hundredth night together since we'd met each other during the winter carnival last year; a time when all of the adults were busy celebrating their children's safety from another harsh winter season while we were out there playing in the snow opening gifts for each other under the full moon above us in blissful ignorance of what was really going on around us behind closed doors all over town - like how my mother was carrying on an affair with one of his friends from work while she supposedly babysat us kids late into the night while my father was working overtime to make ends meet; or how Xiao's own father had been carrying on an affair with one of his employees while he was also working overtime at his job - or worse, who knows what that guy was doing when he wasn't working? - leaving his wife all alone at home taking care of their three kids by herself while he was out gallivanting around town "working late" every night; or how Xiao's mother ended up dying suddenly during childbirth because she didn't have anyone there to help save her life when she went into labor too early, leaving Xiao without any siblings and an alcoholic stepfather who neglects her regularly for his own selfish desires and needs; or how everyone in this town has some sort of dirty little secret underneath their own roof that they'd rather keep hidden from everyone else in order to protect themselves from being ostracized from society by their peers if anyone found out about them... which could very well happen if they ever found out just how close I've been getting with their precious daughter Xiao this entire time... especially since it's now been two months since Winter's over... meaning that Spring is almost here now... which means that Summer's right around the corner... which means that people will start wondering why we haven't broken up yet after all these months... wondering why Xiao hasn't tried getting back together with any other guys since we started dating... wondering why she hasn't gotten pregnant yet despite having slept with so many different men already throughout our teenage years thus far... especially since it's already been two months since Winter's over... meaning that Spring is almost here now... which means that Summer's right around the corner... which means that people will start wondering why we haven't broken up yet after all these months... wondering why Xiao hasn't tried getting back together with any other guys since we started dating... wondering why she hasn't gotten pregnant yet despite having slept with so many different men already throughout our teenage years thus far... especially since it's already been two months since Winter's over... meaning that Spring is almost here now... which means that Summer's right around the corner... which means that people will start wondering why we haven't broken up yet after all these months... wondering why Xiao hasn't tried getting back together with any other guys since we started dating... wondering why she hasn't gotten pregnant yet despite having slept with so many different men already throughout our teenage years thus far! Which means–!!!