It’s the glistening of happy tears,

The shining of the stars at night

It’s finding us holding hands not knowing how it happened

Craving knowledge, music, freedom

Adrenaline-induced lungs influencing my decisions;

A better me brought out by good friends

It’s reading a book written a century ago while

I sit with my legs stretched out toward another girl

Who watches anime

Lost in her own world

Both of us flung, for a fleeting second,

Away from reality; out of this realm

Conversations waxing and waning

For the entirety of a road trip with the family

It’s wanting to agree, but disagreeing when necessary

Hyping them up so readily

Respect, harmony

Though my mind is a paradox

My life will be no tragedy

It’s sitting on the floor with them because they claim

“It's more comfy”

Watching movies instead of attending parties,

Ugly Snapchats, singing while they’re peeing

It’s saying and doing all the wrong things but you know it’ll be okay,

Your acceptance goes both ways

They understand where you’re coming from; you understand where they’ve been

The experiences that have shaped both you & them

It’s when they get mad over something careless that you said,

It’s when they call you an idiot, or a piece of shit

It’s when I know how lucky I am to be called that

And how lucky I am that every single day, they make the decision 

To stay

To remain not just in my life, but to march through it by my side