Surrounded by green, hidden away in a dark corner, I sit on his lap- trying to ignore the noise of the athletes in front of us. A breeze blows lightly, sweeping his curls softly across his forehead. I look at him, a streak of light falling on a part of his face- giving him the exterior of a waning moon.
"So, what was it you wanted to say yesterday?" he asks, his eyes fixed on mine. The confusion fades away as realization engulfs me as I think of what I had wanted to say last night.
"I don't know what you are talking about," I say, slightly happy that the dark covered my reddening cheeks. I laugh nervously, embarrassed because what if he did not feel the same way? He tickles me and joins me in laughing as I almost fall off his lap. As he tickles me more, I laugh, saying I really did not remember what he was speaking about.
As the laughter dies, I look at the slowly emptying field. "I love you too," he says. Butterflies are set free in my stomach as a sense of relief overcomes me. My mind, not knowing whether to feel excited, happy, relieved or in love- decides to feel all of them.
"What?" I look at him, confused that maybe I was hallucinating.
"I love you too," he confirms, smiling as I feel my chest bursting up with happiness. I was so embarrassed that maybe I had confessed too early and scared him off, but there he was- feeling the same about me.
I engulf him in a tight embrace, feeling his arms close around me too. I was overcome with so many emotions- the nervousness of telling those three words to a man for the first time had been so intense that I did not even expect him to tell them back.
As we stood on the stairs cracking fart jokes, the leaves forming a canopy over us, I realized this is the happiest I have ever been. A few raindrops fall on my face, distracting me from my jokes about poop. His fingers glide across my skin, his eyes taking me in deeply.
"You are beautiful," he whispers, and I feel the cage of butterflies being unlocked again.
