“I think it is,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. “This is the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received.”
Louis beams back at me, pulling me close against him. “I’ve been coming here almost every day, and I just finished it last night. I had to show it to you now.”
“I’m glad you did,” I say, and then I kiss him.
Louis sighs when we pull away. He has more things to get off his chest. “Before I met you, I had no idea of what I wanted to do with my life, but now I think, well…there’s an art school I might be interested in…in New York.”
I hold my breath. I don’t want to appear too excited but…what the hell. I grab his face with my hands and kiss him. “Really?”
He nods. “I talked to my mom about it. The application process is pretty intense, but I could use this piece in my portfolio, and then…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence out loud, but I fill in the blanks in my head. We could be together, for real.
“I don’t know how you feel,” Louis says, gazing into my eyes, “but this isn’t really a summer fling. For me, anyway.”
He holds his breath as he waits for my reaction. There’s a mixture of nervousness and anticipation on his face, a vulnerability I haven’t seen before. This isn’t the Louis who makes little jokes and is quick with snappy comments. This is the unvarnished version.
I need a moment to respond. Because I didn’t come to Paris to have a summer fling. But I didn’t expect to find…him. Still, there are a thousand reasons this shouldn’t work. I take a deep breath. My mouth goes dry. I want to say it right, and I don’t mean just the words, or my accent.
Finally, I’m ready to let it out, what I’ve been feeling all along. “Je t’aime, Louis.”
He smiles, and his eyes sparkle as he says, “I love you, Mia.”
Our kiss is the most delicious thing I’ve tasted in the whole of Paris.
* * *
“I have something for you,” I say as we walk back to Louis’s Vespa. “Well, for us.” I fish inside my bag, retrieve a tiny brown paper bag, and hand it to him.
He pulls out a padlock with two keys, and frowns at me.
“When I was little, I heard about the Lock Bridge on the Seine. I thought it was the most romantic thing, all these couples attaching a keepsake with their initials on it and throwing the key in the river.”
Louis smiles. “It was very romantic. Until the bridge almost collapsed from all the extra weight.”
“I know. But to me it’s just a sign that there is so much love in Paris. I want ours to stay here…even after I’m gone.”
Louis looks down at the padlock. Then he fishes inside his satchel to retrieve a black marker.
MIA + LOUIS he writes on one side.
I take the padlock and the marker, and add MILO on the other side. Then I draw a heart around it.
“Where should we put it?” I ask, looking around.
“I want to lock it right here,” he says, pointing at the front of his Vespa. “This way it will always be with me, every time I drive around the city.”
“I love that,” I say as he hands me one of the keys. He puts the other one in his pocket.
Then he pulls me toward him. “And I love you. I just wanted to say it again all by myself.”
I open my mouth to speak, but he presses his index finger against my lips. “We need to get you back to the dorm. You have a big day tomorrow.”
I nod and put on my helmet, then take my spot at the back of the scooter. In fact, I grin so widely that my cheeks brush against the inside of the helmet. Pressed tightly against him, I giggle to myself. I feel like my heart might burst with joy. I know I’ve said this several times since I’ve landed in Paris, but this day is the best day of my life.
Louis drives off the abandoned park and onto the main street that will take us back to the city. The traffic is heavy, each lane packed with cars almost bumper to bumper. I hang on tight as he swirls around, getting us to the front of the line at the next red light. On the other side of the crossroad, a rectangular sign announces “PARIS” in black letters framed in red against a white background.
We’re home, I think. Louis glances at me in the rearview mirror and gives me a wink. I squeeze his waist tighter, my heart knocking against his back.
The light turns green, and Louis zooms ahead. In just a few minutes, I’ll be back at the dorm, having dinner with my friends before the auditions tomorrow. Except…I see something out of the corner of my eye. A car is coming from the right, speeding toward us. There’s a bang, strong and sharp. And then everything goes black.