the smoke slowly meandered, drifting upward from her parted lips and his eyes followed until it disappeared into the starless night. he dropped his gaze back down to meet her eyes, black as the midnight sky. and he felt the agonizing pain in his chest as her lips turned upward to a smile.
He saw her mouth something, but his heart pounded and echoed in his skull, protecting him from the malicious slurs pouring from her mouth. he saw the last six months play out in his mind, set only to the soundtrack of his deafening heart beat. The memories played like a burnt reel, cutting violently to the next and missing frames where he knew laughter had been. Every kiss and every smile seemed to fly by and he closed his eyes hoping that he could slow them and linger on an encounter for just a second more. But instead they became more chaotic, crashing together until he reached the present. And behind closed eyes he saw her reach into his chest and pull out his pathetic heart, broken and bleeding, and she smiled. When he opened his eyes she was gone, leaving nothing but the shards of what had beat so loudly seconds before.
