ONE DAY [ MATHEW BARZAL ]

- ten hours -

Mathew's PoV:

The fast beating of my heart only comes whenever I think of her. The sweaty palms I get only come whenever she is near me. The love I feel for her never disappears no matter how far she is from me.

I love her. Gosh, I knew from the moment Reid walked in to that coffee shop four hours ago that I would come to love her, and I have done just that. Love at first sight is real, it exists, that is how I knew that Reid is the one for me, the one I am destined to love for the rest of my life. When I laid eyes on her for the first time, my body reacted in a way that I knew was the feeling of love. I just wish she feels the same way as I do with her, that she loves me.

That is why I have chosen to make her fall in love with me, to prove that love does exist and that she can fall in love with someone. And if she doesn't succeed in falling in love with me and leaves for England still believing that love doesn't exist in the world, then I am a fool for listening to what my heart is telling me. Though I know there is no doubt in my heart than I am in love with Reid, I am in love with her.

I enjoy the feeling I get whenever I am near her, the tingling and bubbly feelings I get in my stomach feel like no other whenever her hand is enclosed in mine. I wish we had more time together than the ten hours we have left before she leaves. I wish I had met Reid months before now so I could get to know her more than I already do, I wish we could have met months ago so that I could fall more in love with her than I already am, that she would be the girl I call my girlfriend. Whenever I leave her to the airport, I will tell her that I am in love with her even if she does not love me back. I want to tell her what I feel for her is real, that I love her and that she could love somebody if she just opens her heart to the truth around her.

Reid walks beside me, my hand wrapped in hers as we head down a street somewhere in Manhattan. After our trip to the art museum, there is no doubt in my mind that my feelings for Reid have gotten more intense and stronger than when I first laid eyes on her. I loved seeing the way her eyes lit up whenever she talked about the art in the museum, or the way she got super excited when we moved from gallery to gallery, exploring the stuff she loves. It was beautiful, just like she is.

Gosh, she is beautiful, so goddamn beautiful. I love the way her hair sits on her shoulders, I love the way it moves and bounces as she walks or moves her head. I love the colour of her eyes, those beautiful green eyes that have my heart racing uncontrollably every time she looks at me. I love the feeling I get inside my stomach whenever we hold hands, I love how my hand just fits in hers perfectly like they were made for each other. And that's how I feel about her, that we are made for one another.

There is a saying that everyone has their own soulmate out there in the world, someone who is their equal and who they will come to love more than life itself. I know Reid is the soulmate I have been looking for. We have so much in common that she is like the female version of myself, well apart from the whole love situation but that doesn't matter because by the end of the night she will believe in love. What I am most sad about is the fact I have found her too late, when she leaves tonight, I don't know if she will ever come back to New York or if I will still be here when she does. With playing hockey professionally, it could take me anywhere across the world, but I know that if we do become something if she truly loves me, then I will stay by her no matter what.

I have already picked up on the simplest things that she does that she may not even notice herself. I adore the tilt of her head she does whenever she is studying me when she thinks I'm not looking or paying attention to her. I find the lip biting she does cute when she is trying to hide her smile, I love that smile she has it is so genuine and heartwarming that it fills me with warmth every time I see it. I don't know how I am keeping control around her, she has me going crazy and I love that.