she's mine.

78

"This is your opportunity baby," he told me. "Profess you're love to me, go on."

I rolled my eyes. This boy.

I laughed as I hummed to myself. I had been taking notes the last 45 minutes, refusing to let Eli move to the couch knowing we would never finish this project if we did. Instead, we sat on the bar stools in his kitchen while I jotted down every last thought I had on love.

He had barely taken me serious this entire time, but some of his teasing did spark some ideas for me for our project. I decided to have a short video playing while we talk, or while I spoke, we both knew I'd do more of the talking.

I took a sip of my hot cocoa. "I don't know how professing your love comes so easy for these people," I said absentmindedly thinking of all the people in the stories we read. "People toss around the word love like it's nothing. Not me," I sighed before continuing to ramble. "I want to only tell one boy that I love him," I looked up imagining the moment, how surreal it will be. "That I have completely and madly fallen in love with him."

I had always imagined that moment, never seeing my future husband's face , but the feeling I got would be something I would never forget. I knew it. I thought of the way I would finally feel safe, the way I would finally willingly hand over my heart and soul to another human. I thought of how be would feel like home and an never ending adventure wrapped in one. He wouldn't be my sun or my moon, but rather both. Brightening my days the way the sun does; something I could always count on, never fearing that he wouldn't be there the next morning. But also there to light up even my darkest nights. To make me feel less alone, and listen to me at three am the way my moon always has. Keeping me company in my loneliest hour, allowing me to let go of the walls I put up for everyone to see.

I had never imagined a face, only the feeling that would bring, but thinking of it now- that feeling finally had a face to accompany it. Not even just a face, but a body, a soul, and even a name.

Eli Jones.

My lips parted and eyes went wide as the dots connected. The feeling now imprinted on the boy with brown eyes and a temper- I would never be able to un see that imprint now. I instantly turned to look at him only to find him already staring at me.

"Uhm," I cleared my throat and looked away. His brown eyes were soft and held a sliver of vulnerability that I could not handle in this moment. "I just think it would be nice to only share that with one person, you know?"

I saw him nod in my peripheral vision.

"It should be for the first person you want to call when you are on top of the world, and who you run to when your heart feels like it's been ripped out of your chest," I didn't look at him as I spoke, but I could feel his eyes on me. I felt the tension in the air, we weren't touching but goodness if we were.. Right now I was a forest and he was a wild fire nipping at my heart strings, threatening to ignite me on fire. I couldn't look at him, not now, because the thing was, there was no stopping a forest fire like this. I knew if I looked into those eyes-

His rough, long fingers were under my chin before the thought finished. He gently turned my face toward his. His face was already close when I turned to look at him. His brown eyes had completely shed their stoic mask, revealing a dark look of wanting mixed with open vulnerability. His beautiful lips were parted, and his cheeks were flushed. I wondered why. His hair fell in perfect curls on his forehead, still short on the sides. I wondered when he had time to cut it and always keep it perfectly trimmed.