In that moment we shared a glance, and he saw straight into the depths
of my soul.
I saw myself in his eyes and
felt his heart beat against my chest,
keeping perfect rhythm.

"I'm in love with you," he told me, as if
it was the first time he had said the words.
but it wasn't
and for some strange reason, it felt
as though it was.
Like everything was clear now, and
every time he had said it before was just practice.
This was real.

He gathered me in his arms and
I let myself fall into him,
Listening to the soft sound of his breathing
and feeling the rise and fall of his
back under my arms.
"I love you," he whispered in my ear.
The words flowed so gently
and with such ease that I remembered
he had been saying that same sentence
countless times a day for the past year of my life,
only this time was different.
It felt different in my stomach and
brought the snowball to my throat
that I got when I tried my hardest
not to cry.

I closed my eyes and realized I
had never seen a moment
more beautiful than this,
even though my eyes were closed.
"I love you," I told him,
and in that moment,
I knew I had never spoken any words
more true than those.