"You're leaving," Ellie remarked as she struggled for breath, surprised by the resignation in her own voice. The moment Ellie saw Claire open the door to her hotel room as she prepared to leave, all the resolve Ellie had been nursing on the bike ride had evaporated into thin air. Twenty minutes of peddling an uphill battle had deflated what little intrepidity had spurred her forward.

Claire's leaving had never been a matter of conjecture, and it was evident from the carryon bag strapped over Claire's shoulder and the oversized suitcase parked at her feet that the moment had arrived. It wasn't a simple relocation to another hotel either, or a move across town. Wherever Claire was headed to, she had a plane ticket to get her there.

"Why?" But Ellie was not so naive. She understood Claire's situation better than most. Claire's ended marriage hadn't just severed her relationship with Ephraim, it had rippled across their lives unraveling ties that had not been all her own.

"I have to," Claire replied unapologetically. There was a kindness in her voice that Ellie wished was not there. Then, maybe she could protest and whine like the little child that lived inside of her. She was still just nineteen after all. "With everything that's happened, I just can't stay. And I think you know that."

"If only…" Ellie began to say, only to trail off in silence as she reconsidered her words. If only what? She mused. If only my brother hadn't seen us? If only I hadn't kissed you that time and you hadn't kissed me back? If only we had never become family, and our lives had never touched? And just maybe we would all be free.

"Don't tear yourself apart over What ifs," Claire cautioned ruefully. "It doesn't do you any good, and you just end up feeling even more miserable inside."

Claire looked away, timidly squeezing on her own arm, and unable to move. Ellie had unintentionally fixed herself in the frame of the doorway, blocking Claire's only way out, but Claire could have easily pushed past her. She could have but she didn't. It was as if time had stood still and any movement on their part would start the clock up again. They both understood this somehow, and they refused to part from the awkward stillness that had formed around them.

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Time, however, could not truly stand still, and the loud horn from Claire's waiting taxicab broke the illusion.

"I should go now. My ride is waiting."

No sooner had Claire reached for her suitcase handle that Ellie reached for her. Taking a shaky step forward into the room, Ellie outstretched her arms and pulled Claire into the heat of her embrace. The hotel room door closed behind her, and they held on, wordlessly, hearts throbbing in the darkness.

The taxi honked two more times and Claire's phone rang unanswered before they heard the grind and whine of the car engine as it turned back on, quietly listening as the tires began to pull away.

It was only after they could no longer hear the hum of the taxi as it drove off that Ellie leaned up and kissed the corner of Claire's mouth. That was all Claire needed. She dropped her purse and her carryon bag on the floor and pulled Ellie toward her as she walked them back to the bed.

"What about your flight?" Ellie gasped between kisses as both their fevered hands worked to undress the other.

"There's always another one tomorrow."

And that was enough for Ellie.

She wasn't afraid of tomorrow. It was going to come whether she wanted it or not, but she had this moment, and it was completely theirs. It was not stolen nor burdened by deception, and there was no shame in the soft moans that filled the room as hands and bodies touched and pleaded for tenderness and release. Tomorrow could not take away the spark that linked them, or the words that finally found their voice, whispered like a sweet hum on warm lips and prying tongues; their bodies sought them out, trembling and twisting, wringing out ardent passions with words that promised so much more.

Ellie couldn't be sure who uttered them first, but after morning came and Claire had gone, she knew they were real. The pain from parting did not diminish the warmth of those words, even with her tears, the words filled her and etched themselves into her flesh. That sad and lonely girl who'd supplanted the stars had inscribed herself like a curse. And those words were her bindings.

"Me too," Ellie uttered softly when she left shortly after. She wondered if love would always end in a whimper, painful and silent, as the warm breeze dried away the last of her tears.