Romantic Short Stories

5. Is This What Love Feels Like?

I hold his hand and lean my head on his shoulder. Somehow the silence of the cool night is oddly romantic and perfect. I guess it's straight out of every romance novel I've ever read but I never thought that I'd be the main character. Going sixteen years without so much as a date and I had pretty much decided I'd wait until college for love. But here and now I feel something welling up inside of me. I was so happy when Johnathan asked me out three months ago. But is that enough time to feel like your in love?

I take a moment to look up at him. He's got his eyes closed and a satisfied smile on his face. I realized a long time ago how content he is with practically nothing but the relaxation on his face makes it seem like the night sky wrapped him up in a blanket. I think he can feel me looking up at him because he opens his eyes and puts his hand on my cheek.

"Sorry if this is too cheesy for you but after school testing, I thought this would be relaxing," he says looking at me.

"Honestly, it's perfect. There's something about being here that makes time slow down." I say.

"You make time slow down," he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It's just every moment I'm with you seems to last forever. We've only been together three months but if feels like an eternity. I don't know why but I think it's because of how content you are." He says and I laugh to myself slightly.

"You're the one who is always satisfied with everything," I reply.

"Yeah, but it's different with you. I'm content with everything because it doesn't take a lot to make me happy. You could hand me the ugliest dog in the world and I'd still be happy just for having him. But you're different. If somebody handed you some ugly dog you'd be happy because he was so soft or because he was so sweet to you," he says and I move even closer to him.

"I think the most important part is that either way we both love that ugly puppy with all of our heart," I say and he laughs.

"Maybe so," he says giving me that look again where he's just spaced out. I always wonder what he thinks about when he just looks at me like that. He doesn't say anything either just stares. It makes my heart happy to look at him like that either way. But sometimes it makes me feel self-conscious. He pulls me even closer to him and kisses me softly. I kiss him back and pulls away with that same look.

"What are you thinking about when you do that," I ask suddenly.

"When I do what?" He asks.

"When you just look at me with that look in your eyes," I say.

"I'm just thinking about you. Sometimes, I'm thinking about how gorgeous you are or other times you'll say something that I had never thought of before. Right now, it's something entirely different though." He says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I don't know if I should say it just yet. Let me stare at you a little longer," he tells me. He wasn't kidding either. I don't say a word and he just keeps watching me. I squeeze his hand a little and think about the possibility that I might be in love with him. Neither of us has said it yet and  I'm not quite the expert on how these things are supposed to feel. Not to mention I have no idea when I'm supposed to say it.  I would imagine that you should just tell somebody when you feel it. But the thought of somebody not feeling it at the same time sounds pretty awkward.

Is this what love feels like? I feel so comfortable with him that I could probably tell him anything and he'd understand. Every single time I'm with him I feel something I didn't feel the time before and I want to keep being with him until I learn every single thing. When we kiss it's like the world stops. Granted, I don't have much experience but there are some things I am sure of.

"Jamie," he mutters leaning in. "Can I say something?" he asks.

"Anything," I reply.

"I think I might be in love with you," he says and somehow it feels like a weight has been lifted from upon my shoulders. This is what love feels like. I'm sure of it. Before I didn't know. But now I know with all of my heart that there couldn't be anything better than this feeling. I'm speechless. He loves me and I love him too. "Do you maybe love me?" he asks. I lean forward and kiss him. Not like the ways in which we've kissed before. This time... it's somehow different. "Is that a yes?" he asks grinning.

"Of course it is. I'm most certainly in love with you," I say. He pulls me closer and kisses me once again. But this time longer and deeper. This is the first time we've kissed like this. We don't have some odd need to have to be kissing each other all the time. Being in the room with each other or holding hands is enough to know he's there and enough to know that he's not going anywhere. It sounds kind of cheesy but it's almost like we've been saving our kisses for a moment like this one. A moment where our emotions are overflowing to point of flood risk. I'm loving every second of it. After a little a bit he pulls away but I can still feel where his lips were.

"Sorry,  I just really wanted to do that," he says.

"I did too," I reply. "The fact that this is happening is just so crazy to me. Just a few months ago I had never even had a boyfriend but now I'm in love with you." I say.

"All the guys were probably too afraid to even talk to you," he laughs.

"There's always the possibility that you are the only guy who likes book nerds that accidentally trip you," I say.

"So what I'm hearing is that tripping guys in the library is a habit of yours," he says.

"Honestly, I really wish I could say that you're the only one but you're not. I've accidentally tripped at least four girls and three guys in the past year." I say.

"Your such a klutz," he teases and starts tickling me. I laugh and squirm out of his grasp and start running through the grass as he chases me.

"I took Track for three years you can't catch me!" I scream. After ten minutes I finally let him catch me and we fall, rolling on the ground. We bust out laughing and can't stop. I just stay in his arms until our laughing fit finally lets up.

"You're amazing," he breathes with joy still evident in his voice.

"I love you," I say and he kisses me softly.

"I love you too," he says and I no longer have any questions about what love feels like. It feels like everything.

12/19/18