But Who Would You Live For?

She's The Tear In My Heart

Jenna:

The one thing that continued to amaze me about my boyfriend was how romantic he could be. He wasn't one of those guys who pretended not to know which flowers were the prettiest or which perfumes smelled the best. Tyler would do anything to make me happy. Which was something I'd never gotten in any of my previous relationships. There were no boundaries for him. He was a part of everything I wanted him to be a part of.

Shopping. He'd follow me around the boutiques and give his opinions on which outfits looked the best. Hair appointments. He'd sit in the chair next to me and suggest cuts or colors. Even the type of shampoo treatment I should get. Nails. He'd help me decide which shape and polish colors to use. My boyfriend quickly became my best friend.

I'd never felt as safe with anyone as I did with Tyler. I could be my pure, unfiltered self and he'd still look at me as if I hung the stars in the sky. A story I liked to tell my girlfriends was of one of our first dates. Tyler took me to a nice seafood place but my stomach didn't agree with the oysters we ate. So of course I'd vomited all over his lap and then cried, because holy crap, I just vomited in my date's lap. At the end of that night Tyler apologized to me for making me feel embarrassed about throwing up on his pants.

There was no one in the world like my boyfriend. And no one in the world as lucky as me for getting to call him mine. Even four years later, just looking at the man was enough to give me butterflies. And even four years later, he managed to surprise me. This time with a romantic boat ride.

It was something cheesy enough to be in a romantic comedy movie. I sat in my floral summer dress, wearing a hat large enough to protect me from the sun's rays. Tyler was wearing a button down, short sleeved shirt with a pair of beige shorts. There was a picnic basket sitting between us with most of it's contents already emptied. Tyler kept glancing off the edge of the boat and into the crystal clear waters beneath us. I followed his gaze half expecting to see a shark or something down there with how apprehensive Tyler seemed to be. He saw me looking and smiled wryly.

"It looks cold."

My eyes narrowed. "Tyler, if you are planning to tip us over, I'm going to kill you."

"I'm not." He chuckled. But his laughter didn't make him look any less tense. "I was just thinking."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Everything is fine." He looked down at the water again. "Are you having fun?"

"Of course I am. I'm with you." It was cliche but we both knew it was true. We were just lucky enough to have a cliche romance.

"Good." He nodded to the lake. "So you like being with me?"

I frowned. I thought we were past the stage where he was insecure about the seriousness of our relationship.

"I love being with you, Ty."

And then he was facing me again. His eyes had a determined glint that almost made me nervous. He slid himself closer to me until our knees bumped against each others. I flinched in surprise when he pulled both my hands into his own.

"I love being with you too."

"Okay." I spoke slowly. Unsure of what was happening. "Good."

"Do you know," He squeezed my hands. "That I still get butterflies when I see you? My stomach twists and turns as if I haven't been blessed with seeing that face for four years now." His expression relaxed into something sweeter. Softer. I felt myself began to smile. "Even today. When I picked you up and you walked out in that dress and hat, I was awestruck. You're ridiculously beautiful, Jenna."