Want to Grow with You

Never had he felt so defeated as he did at this very moment.
His heart was heavy, his soul weary and his mind in turmoil.
He found himself in love with a woman that made him rethink everything he had ever known..
Everything he thought he stood for crumbled in the face of her sparkling green eyes.
He thought he had known love before but he realized that that was a campfire compared to the roaring forest fire he was engulfed in at this moment.

He looked at the boxes around him and he steeled his heart.
Leaving was the only way to keep his sanity. He had to go. Find some semblance of normal.

His phone buzzed in his pocked and he looked down at the text from her.
Heart pounding he read the words: come see me real quick. I know you are packing but I have something to say but it has to be said in person. Come to our place in an hour.
He texted yes back to her and grabbed his keys.
One thing he knew about his little one, she would not let go without a fight.
He had to steel himself against her gorgeous green eyes, her amazing smile and how she made his heart pound with desire.

When he pulled into the parking lot next to the small lake he saw her sitting on a bench feeding bread to the ducks. They milled around her excitedly quacking and gobbling up the bread she tossed to them. He shook his head as he got out of the car. His little one was always giving to others, even ducks.

"Hey" he said as he came up to the bench.
Those green eyes flicked up to him and that 1000 watt smile slammed into him.
God he was not going to make it through this, he thought and ran his hand over his hair.

"Hi there Sunshine." she grinned up at him.
The ducks had left quacking their way back into the lake.

Every time she called him Sunshine it made him grin like a fool. Her little nickname for him had stuck and he secretly loved it. He never told her how much he liked it. Hell, he had not told her much at all about how he felt. He wondered if he should.

"Come sit down. I want to talk with you. I won't take too much of your time." she said.

He sat down next to her on the bench and wondered what she would say. This little one always tended to surprise him with what sorts of things she came up with.

"I know you are packing I know you are leaving within the week. I think its time for me to be honest with you." her green gaze met his blue one and she held him enthralled.

"I fell in love with you months ago. I was always afraid to tell you how I felt. Then you told me you were moving away and I knew I needed to tell you how I felt. I needed to take the chance. I know this could jeopardize our friendship but I had to tell you."

His body was thrumming with joy at her words but his mind ceased up thinking, no. She cannot love me, not now, not with this situation. So much was in the way of what he wanted with her.
He remained silent and he saw her eyes fill with tears but he couldn't move.

She took a deep breath and began to speak again,

"I want to grow with you, to see how much we can thrive together. I want to help you find your dreams, and see them come to life. I want to be there for you when it all seems too much, I want to be the voice that reminds you of hope. I want to make you smile and laugh, to experience joy everyday. I want to be real with you, to open myself and lay down my armor. I want quiet nights, filled with sweet nothings. I want days filled with you, and I want to continue seeing you, in your weakest or in your strongest I want to be there with you."

One tear slid down her cheek and his paralysis broke. He lifted his hand to gently wipe the tear away.
His voice came forth breaking slightly as he spoke past the lump in his throat.

"I love you too my little one. I love you so much but how do you grow with me. How do we get to this magical place you just described?"

Her smile burst forth like the sun through the storm clouds.

"With love, new pathways, and determination. We can do this if we love enough. And at the end of day if it does not work then we can go our separate ways with the knowledge we tried. We fought for love."

His heart skipped a beat as he realized she was right. She was so damn right that he actually gasped with the realization. He was always thinking about how HE wanted the relationship to be instead of taking it for what it was. Seeing that this woman loved him. Was willing to split herself in two to bring him into her world. To love him thoroughly and wholly. He felt his heart break open in joy and he pulled her into his arms.
Staring into her eyes he said softly, "Then I choose love. Let's do this." Then his lips claimed hers.