Anna and Ian, sounds like a nice couple I think. Nice of Ian to get some love. I feel like there's less stress writing about Ian because no one really has different experiences with him, same as with Mike. They're both just sweethearts and everyone can agree on that. Although, my first experience with Ian was the day after he got food poisoning so.. you know, that was rough.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One could easily say that Ian Casselman and I were best friends. We had been since high school, and it was great. He was a fun guy, and we had a lot in common so we got along really well. He wasn't my only friend in high school but he was definitely the most important. Everyone knew Ian and I were friends and it was great. And, unlike many others, we had never hooked up. We had alway been just friends. But, I didn't want that. I wanted a little bit more. Of course, being 5'5" with light brown hair and green eyes, I was pretty average. There was nothing overly interesting about me, and every guy realized that. I was friend-worthy, but never girlfriend-worthy.
It got tiring after a while, not being girlfriend-worthy. I wanted to be girlfriend-worthy, so I tried. But I tried in all the wrong ways. I'd had many a random hook-up and one night stand. Many of my nights were spent sneaking out of the apartment of some slightly handsome stranger, and every single one of those nights I still had Ian. Ian would pick me up and take me home, even though at the best of times it was 2 in the morning.
Yes, Ian and I are best friends, and I love him. I love him more than anything in the world. More than starry nights, more than puppies, more than Narcissus loves himself, and I couldn't find a way to tell him. However, words or no words, I was going to make sure that Ian knew how I felt by the end of tonight. Mike's having a barbecue to end the summer, and he invited me. I took that as a sign to make my move.
So, later that day, when preparing for the barbecue, I made damn sure to look my best. I wore a blue sundress, and my favourite pair of sandals, grabbed a worn denim jacket for when it cooled down at night. I wasn't a pro in makeup or anything so I settled for foundation and some mascara. When I arrived, almost everyone was already there. Mike greeted me and offered me a drink, then Ian came over to say hi.
"Hey." He said, looking at his feet briefly while he said it.
I smiled, probably looking like an idiot. "Hey Curly, how goes it?"
Curly was a nickname I made for him in highschool, he hated it at first, but he'd grown accustomed to it. Whenever he was stressed or upset, that name always seemed to calm him down. And it seemed to do the trick this time too. He immediately beamed at me and we fell into our comfortable little friendship. We talked all night, made jokes, made fun of how each of us prepared our burgers. It was normal, it was comfortable, it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted it to be different. I wanted people to be taken aback when they made jokes about us being a cute couple and I confirmed that we are, indeed. I wanted that. I wanted him. All to myself.
As the party died down, Ian and I sat on Mike's back porch, looking up at the sky and talking about how much our lives had changed. He told me about how he never thought he'd be in a popular band, and how touring always seemed surreal to him because his past self just couldn't envision it. I told him about how I'd hoped to be some big shot editor at a book company by now, instead of working at a book store and blogging about upcoming authors. We'd both pictured our lives differently, but it didn't seem to bother us how they had turned out.
"There's still one more change that I really want in my life." He said, mezmerized by the shining stars in the otherwise black sky.
I leaned on him slightly, drowsy from the food and drinks I had consumed. "And what would that be, Curly?"
His hand snaked up my side, taking a piece of hair and twirling it around his fingers. Butterflies erupted in my stomach at the innocent gesture. My heart started beating three times faster, my breath caught momentarily. He always made this happen when he touched me.
"Instead of being your friend, I want to be yours. More importantly, I want you to be mine. All mine." He looked down at me, chewing his lip, a nervous habit.
A gasp escaped my lips, my heart was beating a mile a minute, and it felt like if I opened my mouth a thousand butterflies would fly out.
"I can't begin to tell you how long I've waited for those words to leave your mouth." I said, breathless. Simultaneously, we leaned forward, our lips pressing together and feeling like they were woulded for each other. We smiled and kissed for the next ten minutes, until Mike told us he needed to go to bed and we left. He walked me to my car, holding my hand. He even wished me goodnight while placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. It all felt so normal, so comfortable, and not different at all. But I guess that's the point of love, it is comfortable, it is like being with your best friend. It is making fun of each other and playing around. And it was only when I realized that, that I realized it was the most blissful thing ever.
-------
"And that's how I ended up married to my amazing husband of five years, Ian." I answer the interviewer, smiling from ear to ear.
She smiles back. "That's the most touching love story I've heard since I read your book." She says.
Now, sitting here on national television, talking about my book, with my husband and three-year-old daughter standing side-stage, I am reminded again of how lucky I am and how blissful my life is. I am in love, and I will never fall out of it.
Short, I know, but short and sweet. I feel like making it longer would have ruined it. Hope you love :*
