After they slowly walked through the park for an hour, Cole lifted his hand that was holding Zain’s and couldn’t help but kiss Zain’s hand. 

Zain’s hands were cold, but this was normal.

“Where to next?” 

“I want to go to the movie theaters. I heard there’s a new romance movie.” 

They were movie fanatics but he couldn’t remember the last time he watched a movie with Zain. 

“Alright, let’s go watch a good romance movie.” 

Cole sat in the car and looked through all the movies with Zain. Finally, they settled on a movie called “My Letters to You.” It seemed to be a tragic love story but Zain was adamant about watching it. 

“Okay, let’s go watch it.” 

Cole slowly drove them to the nearby movie theater and asked for two tickets. 

The movie theater worker seemed confused at Cole’s request. “Sir, are you sure you want two tickets?” 

“Yes, two tickets for me and my husband.” 

The worker at the booth didn’t see anyone else but assumed that the man was buying the tickets in advance. Maybe his husband was late. He charged the man for two tickets and handed them to him. 

“I hope you and your husband enjoy the movie!” 

“Thank you, sir.” 

Cole walked into the movie theater and bought a large popcorn and drink. He then waited for the designated time for the movie. It was only lunchtime, so there weren't a lot of people there. 

When he walked into the theater room, there were only two other people. They were sitting alone. 

Cole walked Zain to their seats and put the drink in between them. 

“Do you want some popcorn?” 

“Sure.” 

The two ate popcorn as they watched the commercials. It only lasted about five minutes before finally getting to the movie. 

The popcorn was already halfway done. 

“Cole, you always eat a lot of popcorn even before the movie starts.” 

“Isn’t that normal? You only ate a few pieces.” 

“I’m not that hungry.” 

After that, the two turned their heads toward the large screen. 

---

The movie, My Letters to You, was about a couple, a man and a woman, who were exchanging letters during a time when phones didn’t exist. The two were separated by the woman’s parents who hated that the man was from a different social class than them. Even so, they secretly sent each other letters, still so in love with one another. 

A couple of years later, the letters stopped coming. She didn’t receive any letters from him. 

Even so, she still sent him letters, telling him about her yearning to meet him. She still thought about him every single day, and she hoped that he still felt the same way. 

When her parents finally gave up on her marrying another man, she headed back to the town where she met the love of her life. At the door to his address, letters were piled up in his mailbox, all were sent from her. 

She stared at the mailbox in disbelief until a neighbor, who saw her standing at the door, told her about the man who once lived in that house. 

“He moved away some time ago… Was it like a year or so ago? One day, he just up and left and no one has heard from him since.” 

“Really? Nobody? Not even his parents?” 

“His parents? I heard they died a couple of years ago.” 

She was speechless. He didn’t tell her that at all. She had no idea what to say.

She grabbed all her letters and put them into her purse. It made her once slightly empty purse bulge out. It was stuffed to the brim with all of her letters. 

After that, she looked over at the door. She knew it was probably locked, but she couldn’t help but try to open it. This was the house they had once lived in together. She still had her key with her. 

The doorknob twisted and the door clicked, signifying that it was opened. 

She opened the door and slowly walked inside. The place was organized but covered in dust. It looked as though no one has lived in it for a year.

She slowly walked through the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. Each step reminded her of their time together. In the living room, they huddled by the fireplace, talking about their future together. She wanted three kids, but he only wanted two. Afterward, he compromised and said three kids were good too. 

Then she walked into the kitchen where the dining table was. She could see them sitting with the food she made. It wasn’t good at all, but he still ate it as if it was the finest dinner in the whole world. Since then, she learned to cook, and now, even to herself, the food she cooked was quite good.

Next, she walked into the bedroom that they shared then. She stared at the well-made bed that didn’t have a sign of life in it. Even so, in her memories, she saw them lying next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, skin to skin, eyes closed, talking about how their day was. They also talked about their expectations not only for their future, but about their parents, their jobs, and their marriage ceremony. They had long night conversations in the moonlight. 

Tears slowly fell from her eyes as she closed the door. There were no clothes, no pictures of them, nothing from when she was living there. The house was an empty husk of what was once there. 

~~~~~~~~

At this part of the movie, tears slowly dripped down Cole’s face but he didn’t realize he was crying. He felt a cold hand wipe away the tears on his face, but he didn’t know if he was crying too much, but the tears were still there. 

“Don’t cry. We are only halfway through the movie.” 

Cole nodded and brought his attention back to the screen.