by Lisa Simmons
"You're crying," he said softly, reaching up to gently wipe away another tear that had slipped down my cheek. He looked concerned, his brows pulled low over his beautifully green eyes. I sniffled once and let out a half gasp, half laugh as I smiled softly at him.
"They're happy tears, Reece," I reassured him. "I'm so happy here with you."
Reece was my life now, and always would be. He was my warmth, my light, my heart. I could hardly take a breath without him there, something that sounded so weak actually making me so much stronger. There was nothing I wouldn't do for him, and he'd already proved that there was nothing he wouldn't do for me. We were hopelessly, unconditionally, and unreservedly in love with each other.
"That's all I want- to make you happy," he said softly, brushing his thumbs along my cheeks gently. His gaze held mine tightly and I felt my heart thud in my chest once again.
"As long as you love me, I'll be happy," I told him. My voice sounded weak with emotion but I didn't care. I was too caught up and captivated by his every breath to think about anything else.
"Then be happy, Abby, because I'll love you every single second of every single day."
His words were so loaded with emotion and truth that it sent a jolt of warmth straight through my heart. I was so overcome with love and joy that it almost hurt in the most gloriously beautiful way. What had started out as a wild night where I'd thrown caution to the winds had turned into such a deeply captivating love that had consumed my entire life. Reece had gone from seasoned player to the most incredible boyfriend I'd ever had, although I knew he was so much more than just a boyfriend. The word did no justice to our relationship, but I didn't need a label to know what I felt for him and what he felt for me. This was real, this was shatteringly beautiful, and this was more than I deserved- this was the very definition of love.
"I love you, Reece," I whispered, my lips inches away from his. A soft smile tugged at his mouth and his eyes seemed to glow as he watched me.
"I love you, Abby. For the rest of my life, I love you."
"I'm thinking out loud... that maybe we found love right where we are."
Epilogue
Reece’s POV
Time is a strange thing; sometimes days can feel like years, while other times whole weeks seem to pass in a blink of an eye. People can change, grow together, and drift apart in a series of moments that run together in a seamless string of events, sometimes without even being aware. Sometimes it’s easy to pick out a moment and think, ‘That’s it- that’s when it all changed.’ Other times, you find yourself a completely different person without even being aware of the conversion. One day, life is the same as ever, and you go about your routine in monotonous actions, then suddenly, your world is turned upside down. There’s color where before it was only dull grey, light where there were only shadows, and love where there was nothing but hollow gaps. Things you never noticed or thought about before suddenly seemed more important that the things you valued previously. You find it impossible to go about doing things without thinking of that person, what they’d think or do, how they’d react. They become a part of you, intertwined into your very soul so much so that you can almost feel them physically with every breath you take. My change was a mixture of both: an abrupt, specific moment I could point to and recognize, and a gradual, slow change I didn’t even realize was happening until it was already done. Things I never imagined I would think or feel had become a part of my daily life- things that suddenly felt so right and normal that it seemed impossible I’d ever lived without them. How had I ever been content before, when it had been only me and a string of random girls I didn’t care about? How had I ever felt alive before that moment when I knew everything had changed?
The truth was, I hadn’t been. I’d been a shell of a person, going through the motions as I always had because I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know what it was like to love someone and for that person to love you back. I didn’t know what I was missing before I felt the satisfaction of holding her to my chest in the middle of the night, her warmth flooding through my body while she slept without a moment’s hesitation. I didn’t know what it was like to have someone look at you the way she did, her gaze full of love, understanding, acceptance and compassion so strong and pure I couldn’t doubt it for a second. I didn’t know what love felt like until Abigail. It was strong, so strong that it nearly knocked me over when it took hold of my life. The hold she’d had on my heart was stronger than any I’d ever thought possible, and I had no shame in admitting I let her take it. The love was crippling beautiful, unparalleled in strength and devotion, and more exquisitely captivating than anything I’d ever felt in my entire existence.
It took me two years to do what I’d known I would do for a very long time. Two years of living together. Two years of fights, most completely pointless. Two years of undeniably rare love between two people. Two years of moments building up to the one I would remember for the rest of my life.
It was a Saturday morning and the sun had peaked through the windows long ago. Abigail was nursing a bit of a hangover from our night out to celebrate graduating university with Emily and Luke, who had somehow managed to stay together despite it taking them nearly a year to finally become an official couple. I stood in the kitchen, preparing a pot of coffee in hopes of easing some of her suffering when she woke up. It had taken everything in me to slip out of bed and pull her from my arms, but I could tell by how heavily she slept that she wouldn’t be up for a while. She’d never had a particularly high tolerance for alcohol, and Emily had insisted on taking shots for ‘old time’s sake,’ as she’d called it. Poor Abigail had never stood a chance.
I jumped slightly when I felt a pair of hands wind around my waist, the palms warm over my bare stomach as my momentary surprise calmed. Her arms tightened around my torso as I felt her lips press lightly into my shoulder blade like she so often did as she hugged me from behind. A soft smile tugged at my lips as I felt her lean her forehead against my back while she let out a low grumble.
“Morning, drunkie,” I said lightly. I poured to cups of coffee and set them on the counter before spinning around in her grasp. Her arms remained looped around my waist and I draped my arms casually over her shoulders, letting my hands tangle lightly through her snarled hair. She leaned her head back and squinted up at me, her eyes fighting the bright light that leaked into the kitchen. Her face was clear of make-up after she’d drunkenly washed it off the night before, and her hair was sticking up oddly on one side from how deeply she’d slept, but she still looked beautiful to me. “Hi,” she said quietly. I could easily hear the hangover in her voice and resisted the urge to chuckle.
“I made you coffee,” I told her, tipping my head in the direction of the mugs. “And there’s ibuprofen waiting on the table.”
“Ahh, I love you,” she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them to shoot me an appreciative smile.
“I love you, Abby.” I ducked forward and pressed a light kiss to her lips before releasing her and turning to grab the mugs of coffee. I carried them to the table and sat down, where she followed. She dropped into the chair, wincing slightly as if it hurt her head. A mug of coffee was slid across the table to her as she accepted it graciously, inhaling deeply before sighing in appreciation. “Are you hungry?” I asked. I’d tried to wait to eat, but my stomach had growled relentlessly as I waited for her to wake, so I’d caved and eaten a piece of toast.
“No, coffee is perfect,” she said before taking a sip. “Thank you.”
“Sure, sure. I figured you’d need it after last night. Who knew you were such the interpretive dancer,” I said. I was unable to hold back the smirk on my face as I imagined the ‘dance’ she’d done with Emily after three too many shots. She’d given up on trying to dance with me after bursting into laughter for the third time for some unknown reason, and I’d happily retired to a table with Luke to watch their attempts at dancing alone that had gotten more and more
ridiculous by the song.
“Oh god,” she muttered, dropping her forehead to the table. “I forgot about that.”
“You’re so light on your feet, are you sure you haven’t had training?” I teased, unable to resist. She groaned and I laughed, finding her embarrassment endearing.
“Shut up, you jerk,” she mumbled into the table, which only made me laugh more. “I clearly am getting old. Can’t even handle my liquor anymore.”
“Twenty-two is not old, Abby,” I reassured her. “But yeah, you definitely can’t handle your liquor.”
“Hmmph,” was all she said, her face still buried into her forearm facing the table. I chuckled once more and leaned back in my chair to watch as she finally sat back up and blew lightly on her coffee.
“Why aren’t you hungover?” she asked accusingly, narrowing her eyes playfully at me.
“I didn’t drink that much. I had to watch my drunk girlfriend and make sure she didn’t get into trouble all night,” I said casually, shrugging and grinning at her as I awaited her retaliation. Sure enough, her hand swatted at my arm and managed to connect lightly with my skin once before I caught it. Her narrowed expression relaxed as I brought her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it while holding her eye contact. “You know I don’t mind,” I reassured her. Ever since the incident with Jack two years ago, I hadn’t been able to let her out of my sight. Jack was gone, and any threat that existed because of him was long since ceased, but the fear remained in my heart that someone else, something else, would take her away from me. There was no way I was ever going to let that happen.
“I know, Reece,” she said, her voice dropping the playfully accusing tone from before. Her hand that was still clasped in mine squeezed once. “I love you for that.”
I held her gaze from across the table while my stomach twisted into knots. The moment seemed more loaded than our few words would reveal, but I could feel it. It was times like these where I was most reminded of how much she meant to me. She looked a mess, was playful one moment, and seriously honest the next, and I loved her more than my heart could handle. This girl sitting right in front of me had captivated me in every possible way, taking hold of my very soul and weaving it together with her own. “I’ll be right back,” I told her, kissing the back of her hand once more before placing it on the table and heaving myself out of my chair. She nodded casually and returned her attention to her coffee as I walked out of the kitchen and moved down the hall. My heart started to hammer wildly in my chest before I even made it into my room, and I had to shake my hands by my sides to get a grip. I moved to my dresser and pulled out the top drawer, which was filled with bundles of socks. My hands shook slightly as I sifted around, searching for what I’d hidden there months ago. I was just starting to panic that it was gone when I felt my fingers close around it, the soft velvet of the box smooth along my palm. I blew out a deep breath as I extracted my hand and closed the drawer. After a quick glance back at the doorway to make sure it was still empty, I flipped it open. Inside, fit right between the grooves, was the ring I’d bought for Abigail months ago. A single square diamond adorned the thin, silver band in a beautiful simplicity that I knew was perfect for her. She’d never mentioned what she wanted in a ring, because I knew she wasn’t materialistic about things like that, but I wanted it to be perfect for her. She deserved far more, but I knew she would love it. The ring had lived at the back of my sock drawer for so long not because I didn’t know if I wanted to ask her, but because I couldn’t find the right time. I’d battled internally for so long about how to do it, where to do it, what to say. I had convinced myself I needed to do something extravagant, something to be envied by others, but it nothing had ever felt right. It wasn’t until this morning that I’d realized that wasn’t us. We weren’t overly exuberant or showy, and we weren’t concerned with over-the-top events. We were simple- we lived off our love for each other and that was all that mattered. The moment had never felt right because I’d overthought it. Right now, while we were both dressed in what we’d slept in and in our house together, was right. I drew another shaky breath and snapped the box shut, clutching it in my palm and lowering it to my side.
“Okay,” I breathed quietly, speaking to myself to try and calm my nerves that fizzled through my body. My heart was hammering a thousand miles per hour and my stomach felt twisted into knots, but still it felt right. I nodded once to myself reassuringly before taking a determined step forward. My legs somehow managed to carry me out into the hallway, and all too soon I was in the kitchen. I paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame to observe her.
Her back was to me, and she wore one of my t-shirts over a pair of her own athletic shorts. I could see her leaning against the table as she quietly drank her coffee, and again I was struck by how madly in love with this girl I really was. I wanted to see this every morning for the rest of my life- the beautiful girl that had taken over my life, sitting on a stool at my kitchen table, with a ring on her finger.
That thought was all it took to propel me forward. My feet carried me silently closer, and the box remained hidden in my palm as I clutched it desperately. She heard me coming and glanced halfway backward, a soft smile on her face as I leaned over her from behind and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She didn’t see the box in my grasp as I enveloped her, my forearms folding across her chest lightly as I hugged her. “You’re beautiful, Abby,” I said, speaking as thoughts came to my mind. I’d tried to come up with something to say many times before, but it had all sounded weird, forced. Now, I said whatever came to mind. My lips pressed lightly into her jaw as she leaned back into me, letting her body melt into my own. She hummed quietly at the feeling and let her head rest against my shoulder.
“You’re crazy,” she murmured contently. “I look awful.”
“You look beautiful,” I reassured her, dropping my lips to press into the side of her neck before resting my chin lightly on her shoulder. She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head in amusement. I hoped she couldn’t feel my heart attempting to break through my ribs as my chest pressed into her back.
“I’m so in love with you,” I breathed quietly into her ear, my true emotions leaking into my voice. She caught the change in my voice and ticked her head to the side slightly in an attempt to see my face. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and shot me a questioning look. “You know I’m in love with you,” she replied quietly. Her hands rose to latch onto my forearms that rested over her chest, and I felt her thumb trail lightly over the skin on my arm. As always, a light spark shot up from where she touched me. Even now, after nearly three years of being together, our physical connection remained as strong as ever. “You’re in love with me?” I asked quietly, kissing her jaw once more. She let out a soft sigh at the feeling and let her eyes drift closed as she enjoyed the moment. I could see the plane of her face easily from my position, hugging her tightly from behind while I draped myself over her shoulders.
“Yes, Reece,” she whispered, the volume stolen from her voice as she relaxed even further into me. My heart thumped heavily in my chest and my breath hitched slightly in my throat. I was about to make the most important request of my entire life.
“Then marry me, Abby.”
Her eyes shot open and her head whipped to face me, her widened blue eyes locking onto my own immediately. I could now feel her heart pounding through her ribs, matching the unsteady rhythm of my own.
“What?” she asked breathlessly, her gaze more intense than I’d seen in a long time.
I pressed one final kiss into her neck before I pulled myself from around her shoulders, dropping to the floor and landing on my knee in front of her. Her eyes were wide and her lips were parted in shock as she watched me, clearly still struggling to process my words. Despite my heavily shaking hands, I managed to flick the box open and reveal the ring I’d bought with no one but her in mind. “I want to marry you, Abby. Say you’ll marry me.”
My heart se
emed to have moved up to my throat as I waited anxiously for her to answer. It felt like it was difficult to breathe, and I knew my hands were shaking the box as her gaze dropped down to look at the ring, but it didn’t matter. Her eyes lingered on it for only a few seconds before they snapped back up to mine, a thousand thoughts clearly racing behind the sparkling blue that told me so much without a single word. Her lips parted to speak and I felt like I might actually pass out.
“Yes,” she said breathlessly, as if it hadn’t really sunk in. My heart exploded in my chest and I immediately launched myself off the ground. Gripping her face between my hands, box, ring, and all, I pressed my lips into hers in a desperate kiss. I only managed to hold it for a few seconds, however, before I pulled back a few inches.
“Yes?” I repeated, beaming at her with a grin so wide I thought my face might split in two. Surely the most incredible woman on the planet hadn’t just agreed to marry me, to be mine forever.
“Yes!” she exclaimed a little louder, tears gathering in her eyes now as she recovered from the shock. She leaned forward and kissed me hard for a few seconds before she had to break it to draw a shuddering breath. “Oh my god, Reece, yes, yes, of course I’ll marry you!”Hot tears stung at the backs of my eyes that I made no effort to stop as I launched forward again, bringing us both to stand as I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. She threw hers around my neck as I hauled her into me, the box still clutched in my hand as I hugged her tightly. I heard her gasp a few times as she cried happily, and I couldn’t resist pulling back enough so I could kiss her one last time. Her lips landed on mine, pressing together firmly but not moving thanks to the overflowing emotions we were both feeling. Fireworks seemed to be exploding in every cell of my body, and I felt as if I would float away into the sky if it weren’t for Abby holding me down. I broke the kiss and drew a shaky breath as I locked eyes with her, where tears were leaking out across her cheeks that were pulled wide into a gorgeous smile. She was so beautiful that it hurt, and I had never loved her more.