A heart full of love

Chapter 1⃣

"I love you" he said. Meaning every letter of it. Before he even knew her properly, she made him fall in love with her. Not with her looks, but with her smile, her personality, how she reacted to his compliments; blushing and saying that she wasn't beautiful when he told her how gorgeous she just was. This drew him in even more, making him try harder and harder to give her a sliver of self-confidence. She blushed as she usually would. She smiled like crazy and he said it again. He hugged her from behind with his hands around her waist and whispered into her ear, "You're so beautiful." He put his hands on her thighs. She put her palms over his veiny hands and just stood there, glaring off into the distance.

"What are you thinking about?" Said Lauren.

He took a few seconds to respond. "You. You're running through my mind all the time. And don't worry, I wont make the 'Your legs must be tired' joke. I'm being honest. You are always on my mind... Just like to let you know you never leave my mind. Never. No matter where I am, how far apart we are from each other, or what I'm doing. Never." Lauren kissed Chase gently on the cheek again.

"I love you too Chase. You're such a sweet guy. You've changed my perspective on men. All the others I know are assholes. I guess my father gave me most of that impression huh. How could he even cheat on my mother like that?!"

"Today with you was fantastic babe. But It's getting late out. Come on. We will do this again soon, I couldn't have pictured this going any better than it did. I'll drive you to your aunts house so you can get some rest."

"No. Please. No. It's time I confronted my mom about what I saw my father doing. You've got to take me home. Ugh. He's such a sick bastard!" Lauren was on the verge of having a mental breakdown. "Calm down, please. There is no need to work yourself over that thing you have to call your father." Tears streamed down Lauren's face while she recollected her mountain of grief. Chase put his hands gently on either side of her face, and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Her makeup was running down her cheeks, like streams of dirty water. Of course, her thoughts were contaminated with what she'd seen her father do earlier on in the week.

On the drive home, it was silent. The only sound came from Lauren's tears hitting the car's rubber mat. Not even the car was making noise. It was eerily quiet driving through the small town, abnormal for 7:30 in the afternoon. Chase stroked Lauren's upper right arm, where she had drew blood from herself by a razor the day before. She felt sick inside. He had seen her cuts. I wonder what is he thinking of me now, she thought to herself. "Lauren..." It sounded like a whistle in her ears, piercing her brain. She was half in tears, and half asleep.

"I know this week has been rough for you, but I want you to know that everything will turn out better than things were when they started. And if that means that I have to stay up till 3 in the morning holding you so that you will fall asleep, I will do it. If it means that I have to fly to New Orleans to buy you a new pillow because yours isn't comfortable anymore, I'll do it. I love you. And no, I don't believe that saying it is enough. My mother always used to tell me that saying something and showing something go hand-in-hand."

"Chase... You really are an amazing person. You're so kind and caring, loving and generally a great guy. So compassionate. I wish I could have known you a few months before your mom... Well, let's not go there. But you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. But you have filled the gap that was created when my mom passed. But no love compares to a mothers nurturing love, that's for sure." Chase's voice wavered.

They pulled up to Lauren's home and Chase opened the door for Lauren to get out. "Thank you." She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Do you want me to come in with you?"

"No. It's okay babe. Thank you though. You've been a total gentleman today as usual and you've been so strong through it all. Not only for yourself but you've been strong for me. There isn't much more I could ask for in a guy. Honestly, I couldn't."

"Not all guys are jerks you know. I just happen to be one of those few that aren't." They both laughed. "I'm going to go inside now."
They kissed once more. "Bye, love you babe."
"Love you too baby. Goodnight."

The next morning around 9 A.M. Lauren's phone rang. It was Chase checking up on her as a sort of follow-up from the night before. She was overjoyed, and actually started tearing a bit. "Thanks for calling babe, it means a lot to me... You don't even understand...". Her voice broke.

"It's never a problem love. Really. It isn't. I love seeing you happy, and I love making you happy." Chase sounded happy.

"Chase... Why do you stay with me? I'm not even perfect... I've got so many flaws... You could have so many other girls, but you stay with me... Why?"

"Because you're special. No other girl would bother with a guy like me. Everyone's out for looks these days. No other girls want a guy that will actually treat them with respect and loyalty and kindness and care for them! But you... You chose me. You liked me, and told me. I'm so glad our friendship was as close as it was. I promised myself that any lady I get, will be treated like a queen. I would do anything for you Lauren."

"Don't be an idiot." They both gave a little laugh, and laughed that they laughed at the same time after that.

A few weeks passes, and they began to get more distant with each other, and then closer than ever, and repeated over and over again.

"Chase... We need to talk."

"Yeah sure, what's up?"

"Everything has to come to an end. Right? Well... We've been falling apart for the last couple of weeks. You said it yourself... I mean, hell, I love you to the ends of the earth, but maybe the reason being is that we shouldn't be together? Maybe I'm overthinking I don't know. But I want to be with you..." Lauren's throat ached saying the words she had spoken. "Lauren... Baby. Stop thinking about that... It happens with all couples I'm sure from time to time! We love each other, right?!"

"Right..."

"Okay then! It's settled! We have nothin to worry about if we love each other. Fuck what it feels like. I know I want to marry you one day and I promise you I will. You okay with that?"

"I'd love to marry you baby..."

"I want to take you around the world and show you every corner of the earth and explore each other while we do it!"

"Hahaha, Chase you're such a great guy. There's nothing more I want to do than to visit places around the Globe with you. I don't care where, just as long as it's with you sweetie."