Carly Atwood always remembered the man that used to live in the loft above the barn when she was a little girl. John was her childhood crush, he was the guy she wrote about in her diary, and when he left her in his army greens, he was the first man she ever cried for. Nine years later, Carly isn't the eleven year-old girl John left behind. She grew up and moved on with her life, taking over the Atwood Ranch following her father's death. John isn't the man he used to be either; physically and emotionally scarred following his last deployment in Afghanistan, John is returning to the only place he ever called home, back to the loft above the barn and to the pretty blonde girl that's been holding onto his dog tags for all these years. ----- Title inspired by the song of the same name by Tim McGraw.

I walked down the white hallways filled with the smell of bleach and chlorine. The lights above were too bright, too luminescent. I can't think. I can't look straight. I can't breathe. Everything was blurry. I touched my cheeks and felt tears cascade down to my chin. My steps faltered. My heart wouldn't stop beating out of my chest. "I'm sorry Nouran." She had looked at me sadly, eyes filled with emptiness. No, no, no. What am I going to do? What am I going to tell him? Him. Izhar. I can't breathe.... Allah. •|#1 in Spiritual on February 20th, 2016 // March 26th, 2016 // May 20th, 2016 // June 25th, 2016 // July 3rd, 2016 // July 13th, 2016 // July 28th, 2016 // August 2nd, 2016 // August 13th, 2016 // December 28th, 2016 // January 21st, 2017 // January 27th, 2017 // March 23rd, 2017|• ||1 million reads as of May 12th, 2017|| ||2 million reads as of September 15th, 2018|| ||3 million reads as of July 15th, 2020|| ||A Wattpad Featured Story as of August 11th, 2017|| ||100K votes as of February 20th, 2018||

She was in love with words she'd never spoken, places she'd never explored, people she'd never met, and a world that didn't exist. Yet, she didn't believe the truth he vocalized like lies. He despised every syllable she uttered, every place she marked with her soft steps, the people she tainted with her pure voice, and the world she imagined. Yet, he didn't know the secrets she hid behind her mesmerizing eyes. ****** The purest of hearts have endured the most pain. The kindest of souls have been wounded the greatest. The biggest of smiles have quivered the hardest. The quietest of eyes have cried the heaviest of tears. || A Wattpad Featured Story as of May 17th, 2018 ||