Page 104 of Standing In The Sun
Lunar’s face crumpled. “Ahvi…”
“No - listen.” She grabbed his hands, placed them on her chest. “You broke meso good, now I’m okay with letting you put me back together…the way I wasintendedto be. Soft, feminine, a mother and a boss-ass bitch who ain’t afraid to be loved and led at the same damn time.”
His lips parted but no words came out. Lunar let her talk, let her get her shit off though inside he was jumping for joy.
“I’ve been strong for so long, I didn’t know how to be anything else. I thought being soft meant being weak. I thought following you meant I’d disappear. But I don’t wanna disappear…I wanna merge…I wanna grow…I wanna build…with you and Kamari.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she grabbed the front of his shirt like it was the only thing keeping her upright.
“I want you,Lunar, not just when it’s easy. I want you when it’s messy, when it’s loud, when it’s hard, when I’m scared, when I’m tired. I want you when I’m doubting myself, and I want to learn how to let you love me - fully.”
He finally breathed, pulling her in so slow, like she was made of something precious. “I don’t want to lead you,” he said, voice deep and thick with emotion. “I want to walkwithyou. You ain’t gotta hand me the reins. Just give me your hand.”
She dropped her forehead to his chest, body trembling in his arms. “I’m tired of being afraid of peace,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to be - not with me.”
They stood like that for a long moment, her wrapped in his arms, the moon spilling light over both of them like God was watching and finally exhaled. Then slowly, he bent down and picked her up like she weighed nothing, like she was the last answer to every question he’d ever asked.
He carried her into the grass gently, his lips brushing her temple, her cheek, and her throat - just inhaling her.
She sank into the earth, into him, into the love that had always been waiting for her on the other side of surrender.
“I love you, Ahvi,” Lunar crooned, rubbing his face against hers.
“I love you so much that it hurts. My heart pumps so much blood when I think about loving you like you love me…like you love Kamari. Like you love your family—our family because they said I can stay even if you don’t want me no more,” she smiled making him do the same.
“I was never coming up off you, Ahvi… I was just giving you time but trust I was ‘bout to be on your ass. You ain’t even let me get to the good parts of loving me - the wining and dining, the trips, the businesses we’ll create together and the legacy I’m going to build for us.” He kissed her neck.
They didn’t undress like people desperate—they undressed like people coming home. Every piece of clothing peeled off with a whisper. Every kiss a confirmation.
He laid her down under the stars, fingers running down the side of her face like she was scripture. “I love you,” he breathed against her skin. “I love you in every version. But I’ve been praying for this one - the real you…the free you.”
Ahvi blinked, trying to hold in her tears. “Fuck me under the moon, finish breaking me while the stars watch so you can love me when the sun comes up.” Ahvi kissed his nose. “I just want to stand in the sun with you, baby… just?—”
He pressed his finger against her lips. “Shh, I know what you need. Don’t I always know what you need, Ahvi?”
She nodded, spreading her legs so wide. “Break me, Lunar.
They made love like it was healing, like it was reclamation, like something that was broken but never lost.
Her hands gripped his shoulders as he moved inside her like worship, like she was the moon and he was finally learning how to orbit again.
She cried again, but it wasn’t pain - it was release. It was her body remembering it was safe to feel.
He kissed her mouth, her collarbone, her stomach - kissed his name into her skin.
And when they collapsed together, breath tangled, and hearts synced—they didn’t speak…they didn’t have to.
The stars said it for them.
So did the quiet.
So did the peace.
“Standing in the sun is cool and all, but standing next to you? That’s where the real heat is. You got me burning up, and I ain’t even mad about it.” Lunar told her, needing her to know just how much he loved her.
If Lunar was the moon, Ahvi had to be the sun. They were destined to live together while still remaining true to what life and love had for them—independent in their right, but together because it was what God had intended. There was no night without morning, no grief without love, and no love without a little pain.
twenty-two
