I've loved you all along


There he is again. I don’t see why I can’t get up enough courage to talk to him. He’s always in the same place at the same time every single day.

“Annabelle, what are you looking at?” Savannah Asks.

“Nothing” I said and quickly turned around and started walking in the opposite direction of him.

“Wait up!” Savannah screamed as she ran to catch up with me.

We said nothing for at least five minutes and then I heard Savannah sigh and slowly say.

“I saw who you were looking at…”

“Look, I’m sorry Savannah. I know how you feel about him. But it’s not like I can stop my feelings.” I said as my heart began to race.

And then I saw something I knew should have been a dream. There he was, Nick the boy of my dreams, walking toward me and Savannah, All of a sudden my palms began to sweat and I began to shake. I figured that he would be coming to beg for Savannah back. I mean, he was the one to break up with her. But the second he got close enough for my knees to get weak he said,

“Annabelle, I need to talk to you.”

“Okay” I said and slowly walked over to a nearby bench. I let him sit down before I did. He looked me dead in the eye for a good ten seconds and then finally said.

“I need you to tell Savannah…”

I interrupted him before he could finish.

“Nick! I don’t want to talk to Savannah for you. If you want her back, tell her that yourself!” I stood up and began to walk away. But that’s when it happened, he grabbed my arm and said
“I need you to tell Savannah that the only person I want to be with is you, and only you.”
And just like that he kissed me. Right there. In front of Savannah, her mouth dropped. She grabbed her bags and ran away crying. I knew as her best friend I should have probably ran after her to see if she was okay. But I didn’t want to. I was exactly where I knew I wanted to be. But I didn’t want to talk to him just yet. I sat on the bench and he watched me think. He knew me well enough to know that I didn’t want to speak. About twenty minutes past and I looked at him and just hugged him. I didn’t want to let go, but I did. I thought about what I wanted to say and then ran over it a couple times in my head.

“I love you, Nick.”

He looked at me with his beautiful, bright green eyes and smiled. I didn’t expect him to answer. I kind of didn’t want him to just because my fear of rejection. The way he had his eyes focused on mine was intimidating and intriguing. And then I saw his lips make the formation to speak.

“I love you too, Annabelle more than anything and everything in the world.”

He walked me to my car, and we said our goodbyes. I went home that night only thinking about him. I was hoping that he was thinking about me too.
**********

I looked at my phone to see who was calling, and I wasn’t surprised at who it was. Nick calls me every morning at the same time to tell me good morning. We’ve been together for three months now. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted. The only bad thing that came from being with Nick was losing my best friend, Savannah. I was supposed to meet Nick at the park at 11. I was already running late. When I arrived I saw him leaning against a tree with a picnic basket. I turned to my car to grab my purse and cell phone. But when I turned back around that’s when I saw her. She was slowly walking up to him. With every step she took my heart broke a little more. He looked at her and she looked at him. She then licked her lips, and kissed him. That was it, I couldn’t breathe. My heart felt like it exploded in my chest. I didn’t know what to do or say. So I just ran. I didn’t bother looking back to see if Nick saw me or not. I kind of wanted him to. I was crying, gasping for air. I couldn’t get the picture out of my head. It was seriously the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I eventually made it home. I went up to my room and just thought about all of the good times that Nick and I had together. And then I heard my phone ring. It was obvious who it was because I had the song Nick wrote and recorded for me as my ring tone for only when he calls. I thought about not answering, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.

“Hello?”

“Hi Beautiful” Nick exclaimed.

“What do you want?” I questioned.

“What do you mean? I just wanted to hear your voice and figure out why you didn’t show up at the park earlier,” he answered.

“I saw you with her!” I screamed.

“With who?” he asked sounding like he really didn’t know what I was talking about.

“Savannah,” I said, my voice sounded so stern and serious.

“It’s not what you think, AB,” he answered.

I love the cute nicknames he makes up for me. It put a smile on my face, but then I remembered the reason why I answered in the first place.

“What is it then, Nick?” I said back awhile later.

“She came up to me! Not the other way around. I told her that I loved you, not her. And then she kissed me,” he answered.

And that’s when it all sank in. Why Savannah has hated me since Nick kissed me. Why she always seemed jealous of me when he was dating her. It was simply because he loved me, and always has.

“Annabelle, are you there?” I heard his gentle voice say. He sounded as if he was crying.

“Yeah” I said and took a deep breath in and I felt as if I was going to burst. “I can’t lose you Nick, you’re all I ever want. I’m sorry I got mad at you. I know how Savannah is. I love you.”

He was silent for a while. I was too scared to say anything else. I felt a sudden urge to just see him. So I quickly said, “Nick, I have to go.” And I hung up.

I ran to my car and headed for his house. To my surprise he was outside waiting for me. I jumped into his arms and refused to let go. We didn’t say a word, instead we just looked up at the stars. He let go of me and just stared at me, right in my eyes. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. My heart started racing as he got down on one knee. Then smiled and said.

“Annabelle, Will you marry me?”