Waiting for Hope

Hanging By a Moment (part 2)

Hanging by a Moment - lifehouse

Ethan pulled the truck around the bend and turned up to the top of the hill. He desperately wanted to see the look on Hope's face when she saw where he was taking her but decided on safety first, keeping his eyes on his surroundings. He would hate to pull too close to the edge and end this date before it even had a chance to begin.

Deciding to back the truck towards the edge, making the truck bed a perfect seat, he turned in his seat to face the rear and noticed Hope watching him. She quickly looked back to the windshield but her gaze had left him somewhat exhilarated. As he parked and started to get out, Ethan tossed back a quick instruction for Hope to "hang tight. I'll be right over there."

As he began to walk around to the passenger side, and just before he opened her door, a realization hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks: he had been waiting for just this moment for the last five years. Almost instantaneously he was hit with a second ton of bricks: she hadn't been waiting for this for the last five years. She hadn't even been waiting for this for the last year, or month, or week. This was the beginning for her. And as much as he wanted to shower her with affection and words of affirmation, she wasn't ready for him to do so. This thought made him more nervous than any other thought he had had over the years.

Slowing his breathing and trying to keep calm on the outside to cover the storm raging within, Ethan held out his hand, saying "Come on, hop out and we can see the whole town." Take it slow, he reminded himself.

He had the smallest of smiles, wanting to gauge her reaction to the view. Would she love it as much as he did? As they neared the back of the truck and the town opened up to them, Ethan saw Hope's reaction, visibly awed by the sight. It was immensely satisfying to finally bring her there and have her appreciate it so strongly. He turned his eyes to the view layed out before them and took it all in once again.

A comfortable silence wrapped around them as they continued to watch the lights and listen to the pull of the surf far below. Neither one said anything, simply enjoying the atmosphere.

After a while, Hope spoke softly. "I bet the sunset is amazing from here."

Ethan wanted nothing more than to be with her at that very spot to share that very sunset with her. "Yeah, it really is."

As he said it, he felt that he would be bringing her back to see it, soon. Although he was taking things slow, and letting her warm up to the idea of him, he sensed that she was comfortable with him. That sense calmed his fears.

"Do you want to sit in the truck bed and talk? I have some blankets we can sit on." Ethan gestured to the back of the truck.

"Sure" she said simply.

He helped her get into the truck bed and they sat together on the blankets. They sat looking out on his hometown for a while in silence. Ethan mulled over the multitude of questions he wanted to ask Hope. So far all of their conversations were casual, get-to-know you chit chats. And while these were perfect, and highly appropriate for their stage of...friendship? He wasn't sure if that was an accurate descriptor but went with it anyway. He had deeper questions for her. He wanted to know the real her, the one that so far she had hidden from him, and he suspected from others she was even closer to than him.

He gathered some courage and finally put what he felt was an easier question out there, "So, what made you come back up here this year, and by yourself?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story..."

Huh, guess it wasn't that easy after all. He wanted to encourage her to be open with him, that he was a safe place for her, "I've got time."