the coins clink against each other as i shift i my seat. she's sitting there next to me, staring out the window. the world flies by outside, the clouds and the rain, light fading to gray, soon to the black blue of night.

passing a crossing, cars stopped, lined up headlights shining through falling drops. wipers clearing rivers, a woman puffs nervously on a cigarette as her child cries in the seat next to her.

"what are you looking at?"

i look back and see her staring at me.

nothing. cars. people. lives. other lives.

her hand slips into mine. don't worry about those lives, it says, worry about yours for a while. worry about ours.

i glance over her shoulder and catch the eye of the boy across the aisle. he was staring at us but is suddenly engrossed in his book when he sees that i see. he's smiling a crooked smile, his fingers tracing back and forth over the ring on his right hand.

"hello..."

i glance back at her. her face lit only by the reading light above her head. it's gotten dark outside. i can see myself in her eyes. behind me, rain streams down the window. my fingers twitch and she closes her hand around mine. i smile and she smiles back. i lean forward to kiss her, my free hand around the back of her neck. she closes her eyes as our lips touch. i do too.

across the aisle, the boy is looking again, smiling.