Stories of Poetry and Vice Versa

I love...

You.
Is immediately what comes to mind.
But I can't
Say that yet.
And in my panic
Without the direct words
I asked for that phrase to come soothingly to me
From you.
But I realized
You can't force it.
So I shut up
And waited.
And little to my knowledge
You already knew what I wanted.

When we finally
Saw each other again
Alone
I heard my name
Softly spoken from you
With your head buried in my chest.
"Yeah?" I asked

"I love you."
"I love you too."

I hadn't known
What I was missing in that
For so long.

People might be right
That I move too fast.
But if I do
Then you do too.
And so
That's why I hesitated to say it in the first place
Not because of how you might react
As much as it was
Not wanting them to be right.
Not wanting them to be right that
I move too fast
That
I say too much
That
I screw things up with that.
I didn't want them to be right
So I waited.

I've always loved you.
As friends
I loved you.
I've always loved you.

When you said it
I think I realized
I knew what love meant.
Love meant you.

I think back
On all the times
I wish I would've said it
Or been able to say it.
To put you off something
To help you through something.
And then I realize
I have you here
I have you now
I have the ability
I have the words.
I love you.
I will always love you.

You.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.

It still seems foreign to say
As it's been so long
Since I've said that
Not to family.
I think you said it best
"This felt so different
I meant it with my entire being.
I love you."
You're amazing.

I love you.