With love....

The hallway

"I'm serious! Give it back!" My voice chimes through the seemingly endless hallway.

"And what if I don't?" I look up into his green eyes. Crap. I didn't have a comeback for that one.

"I'll umm.... I'll tackle you!"

"It's adorable that you think you're actually strong enough to do that."

"Oh yeah?" I step on his foot with my high tops and he goes falling to the floor. The only problem is, he pulls me down with him. When my eyes flutter open, I see that I'm on top of him, with my hand on his lower stomach and his hands had somehow found their way to my waist. I feel like I should move, and I can tell he feels the same way, but I don't even feel him flinch. We just lie there, staring at each other.

"I told you I could do it."

He offers me one of his adorable smirks. "I've never doubted you."

There was something different about the way he said those words. His voice had a certain tenderness that I had never heard before. It was as if he had been waiting for a really long time to say them, and I found myself realizing that I needed to hear them. By now we were directly on top of each other. Our faces were inches apart and I could easily bend down and kiss him if I wanted to.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," He starts as he readjusts his grip on my waist, "We've known each other for a while, and I've always believed in you, even when you didn't believe in yourself."

I smiled bigger than I ever had. "You're so beautiful when you smile."

That did it for me. I closed the tiny gap between us, kissing him like I had wanted to for the eight years I had known him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my hands through his curly, dark brown hair. He had fully wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me close to him. I pulled away. "What are we doing here?"

"I'm pretty sure we're lying on the floor kissing."

"You know that's not what I mean."

I sit up and he does the same. The light streaming through the windows hits his eyes and illuminates them, making his usually dark green eyes lighter than I'd ever seen them. Right then he was the most handsome I'd ever seen him.

"You're easy to fall in love with."

"You say that like it's the simplest thing in the world."

"Isn't it?"

"Love? No way."

"But it is. When you love someone, you know it. As soon as I met you, I knew I was going to fall in love with you."

I walk towards him, then take his hands in mine.

"I don't get it. How could a guy as amazing as you, ever fall in love with someone like me?"

"I hate it when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Talk about yourself like you're not worth anything. You're beautiful, smart, and you might be the only one who makes me smile on a daily basis. There's no reason not to love you."

I reach up and kiss him gently. Then, I pull away and lay my head on his chest. His grey cotton sweatshirt feels so soft and smooth against my skin. I look up at him.

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

"You know this is mine right?"