Chemical Attractions, Pt II

We can learn a lot from hydrochloric acid.

Not the whole dangerously-corrosive part, of course, though I admit that a lot of people probably find us two a bit hard to stomach. A dynamic duo we are not.

What I mean is that dance they do - shy glances across a crowded room (beaker?) as Hydrogen and Chlorine each quietly regret their incompleteness, feeling that hole where another electron ought to be, but never willing to resort to online dating... They were probably lab partners in high school, and then a couple of years later found themselves across the table from one another in that sophomore Shakespeare class, then side-by-side in Differential Equations. But they did their work and answered questions and never made more eye-contact than was necessary.

And then there was that day in the early autumn when Chlorine absent-mindedly collected Hydrogen's laundry from the dryer and started to fold it simply because it was a neighbourly thing to do, and there was that spark of understanding that they no longer had two separate lives, that the holes had been filled years back. They both took, and they both gave, because that's what covalent bonds do, tying Hydrogen and Chlorine together by the things they share.

By itself, Hydrogen was explosive, and Chlorine was toxic, and they're not too friendly as a couple either, but now they can keep each other out of trouble. And they might dissociate when you dunk them in water, because everyone needs a break now and then, and Chlorine might flirt with Sulfur, and I admit that Hydrogen had a brief fling with Oxygen, but it was never anything serious.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'll still be here when you come back home.