ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ɴᴏᴡ - ᴢ. ʜᴇʀʀᴏɴ

𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

TIME HAD PASSED BETWEEN the couple. They had been dating for a few months with no real issues at all. Every couple would get into a silly argument, but never once did it taint their relationship. Noelle felt like it was actually their time to be a couple. They had grown and matured since they first dated. Neither one wanted to make the same mistakes.

The media was still in the shadows about their relationship. Only close friends knew their actual status. Every now and again, there would be an article or two, but the pair stopped addressing such things. They didn't need that drama in their lives. Instead, they let people think what they thought. They could care less at this point. They knew the truth and that's all that mattered.

Noelle and Zach were currently watching a movie. Well, Noelle was. Zach was too distracted by Noelle to even know what they were supposed to be watching. Too much was on his mind. Everything felt like it was falling into place. He just didn't know how to express those feelings.

"Zach, are you okay? You haven't been paying attention at all. What's going on in that brain of yours?" Noelle asks with concern. She knew he was hiding something. It was quite obvious.

"I love you!" Zach blurts out.

Noelle furrows her eyebrows together. This wasn't their first time saying 'I love you' this time around dating. She is confused with the boy, but still says, "I love you too!"

He shakes his head, "No, you don't understand. Like I love you with all my heart. I love the way your eyes sparkle! I love how you dance without a care! I love that smile you have when you see a puppy! I love every single damn thing about you! Even your imperfections seem perfect to me!" Noelle stays silent. In all her years of knowing Zach, he has never even fully confessed how he felt. She guesses there's a first time for everything.

"I just thought you should know," Zach breaks the silence. His eyes land on his lap, not wanting to see Noelle's reaction. Suddenly, Noelle lifts Zach's chin, forcing him to look at her.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!" Noelle tells her boyfriend and then leans in for a kiss to which Zach gladly kisses back.

They lay in silence, thinking about one another. Their lives have done a complete 360. In the end, they found their ways back to each other. All their friends knew it was bound to happen. They had something special, but it just wasn't their time the first go around.

"You know, I tried telling myself I was better off without you. I was only lying to myself and the boys saw right through that," Zach confesses.

Noelle replies, "I did the same thing. I tried filling a void that couldn't be filled."

They look at each other's eyes and say in unison, "But we're better now."