There was beauty in each sunset and sadness as well, as if the sun knew that his view of the earth that lay before him was all too brief. In each hour the world changes, and the beauty that was in the last moment would be lost forever.

It looks to that moment, since then gone, not realizing that the moment now was beautiful, too, and rather than enjoy what it had, it grieved over that which it had never bothered to love before it was gone.

And she wondered, as she sat on the beach, digging her bare toes into the fine white sand, if she had done the right thing in letting him go, in letting the moment pass, in letting her last chance slip right through her fingers.

Would she miss him?

She touched her cheek. Her tears still stained her face and she could still feel that last kiss, pressed desperately upon her lips. She remembered his hands, twined in her hair, pulling her close, holding her with such gentleness.

She sighed, laying her head on her knees. She wondered if tomorrow she would regret what she had done. It had seemed the noblest thing to do just now. Would she hate herself for not stopping him? For not running after him? Would she regret letting him go?

She closed her eyes. She could hope; she could wish that someday, he would come back to her.

Would she wait?

She opened her eyes, looked up, and blinked. The sun was gone. The darkness around her seemed to shimmer. A few stars overhead sparkled with feeble light.

She hunched her shoulders in the sudden cold. Night had fallen.

Night had fallen. Would she be back at the house by now? What would she feel tonight, when she slept in his room, on his bed, without him? Would she be sad?

He wondered about that.

"Keith, are you alright?"

He looked up from the back seat of the car. His brother was studying him from the front seat, his best friend glancing at him through the rearview mirror as he drove.

"I'm fine."

"Don't worry about Jamie. I'll make sure she gets to her own home okay tomorrow," Reggie promised, making a cautious left turn.

"I don't think he's worried," Brian said knowingly. "He just misses her already, don't you, Mike?"

He sighed and leaned back, his face in the shadows. Yes, I miss her already. Am I doing the right thing?

"But you're going to come back, right? Mike, as soon as you're finished with law school, you're coming back?"

Am I? His future loomed before him, uncertain. "She won't wait that long."

"She will, if you ask."

He didn't say anything. He remembered her face, the tears that had been in her eyes. He hadn't asked. He couldn't do that to her. She had a life to live, and he wouldn't hold her back by making her promise to wait for him when he didn't know himself if he would ever return.

"Keith. She really loves you."

"God. Shut up, Brian, and leave me alone."

And he did, for once.

He slouched in his seat. He hadn't asked her to wait. She hadn't asked him to stay. They both knew what it meant. He told himself it was for the best and maybe it was even true.

He looked up through the window at the stars shining weakly through a thin veil of clouds. He closed his eyes. He had a long way to go. He needed to rest and maybe, for a while, forget.

But he dreamt about her.