Together At Last

  All around is a blurry swirl of every color plastered onto a black background. The floor is sticky with spilt drinks, filling the air with a sickly-sweet aroma of artificial flavors. The music is blaring just loud enough to drown out everyone else's convorsations, but just quiet enough as to where you don't have to yell to be heard. The local high school's Homecoming was playing their first slow song of the night.

  I glanced around the gym, feeling like an awkward little girl out in the open. All of my friends had paired off with random guys, and had left me sitting alone at our table. As I gave an exasperated sigh, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder.
  "Hey." I whirled around to see Mike towering over me. "Do you want to... You know, dance or something?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling. I giggled at his reluctance, and partly because I was extremely happy to have been asked to dance for once.
  "Sure," I said, smiling up at him. I jumped up and he led me to the other side of the crowd, beneath a string of twinkly lights. He spun me around and lightly placed his hands on my hips. I stretched my arms to make it around his neck, and he laughed when he realized I could barely reach. He stepped back for a second and just stared at me, causing me to wonder if he was second guessing his choice of dance partner. 
  Suddenly he broke into a grin and demanded, "Take off your shoes." I just blinked at him, not understanding the purpose of his strange request. He rolled his eyes and said, "Just do it and you'll see what I mean." Reluctantly, I cast my heels off to the side and frowned at how I had shrunk even more.
  "Now what?" I asked him.
  Smiling, he came up to me and hugged me, lifting me up off the ground. Then he scooted his feet underneath where mine were previously and set me down. It was then that I realized what he was doing, and I balanced myself ontop of his shiny black shoes. I felt just like I did as a little girl, dancing on my Daddy's toes while he stomped around the house.
  "Better?" asked Mike, gazing down at me. I simply grinned and nodded, not wanting to spoil the moment. My left hand was wrapped around his stomach and the other was clasped in his huge one. He rocked from side to side, slowly revolving on the spot. I gazed up at him, marveling at how much my old best friend had aged in the past 11 years. Mike still had his crooked smirk plastered on his face, breaking into a mischievous smile when he found something funny. His eyes had stayed the same; deep brown, quiet, and always staring right back at you. His short dark hair was as it always had been since we were three. He hadn't changed a bit, but everything was different since the last time he had hugged me.
  Suddenly I noticed that everyone else was grinding and fist pumping and jumping out on the floor while we were slow dancing in our own little world. Mike looked at me but didn't make a move to stop what we were doing. He placed his cheek against my forehead, humming along to the song like nothing special was going on.
  I rested my head against his chest, and I heard his heart beating through his chest. Closing my eyes, I listened to the steady pattern. Boom, boom, boom. An alternate rhythm to the heavy bass in the background. I couldn't help noticing how quiet we were being. It was a comfortable silence, the one that comes with having known each other longer than our best friends.
  "You look beautiful tonight." Mike said, not even trying to be subtle. I attempted to hide my blushing, afraid that if even opened my mouth, nothing would cone out but a couple squeaks and all my secrets. He tilted my chin up and gazed into my eyes. "No, really. You're gorgeous," he persisted. A goofy grin exploded over both of our faces like the sunset over a still lake.
  Without warning, Mike presses his lips against mine. My heart fluttered and stopped, trying to muster up the strength to keep beating. I kissed back, attempting to transmit all of my unsaid feelings through it. He seemed to understand and I could feel his mouth smiling against mine. Then it was over just as suddenly, and I gave myself a couple of deep breaths to calm myself.
  "Mike, I-" I began to say. He put a finger against my lips, quieting me, and he spoke.
  "Kat, don't say anything. I've loved you since we both were in diapers, playing king and queen of the sandbox. I loved you when you and I had cooties and weren't allowed to be friends. I loved you when you went through your rough times, your ugly times, and the rest of the times where you were so down-right wonderful I never thought I would ever have a chance with a girl like you. Please just think about that." He looked at me nervously as I searched for the perfect words to describe what I was feeling.
  I took a deep breath and said, "I've loved you longer."
  Mike laughed with his crooked smile and spun me around, lifting my feet off the ground. And I knew that from then on, Mike and I were together at last.