I didn’t get why I was following him. The woods were getting thicker and we were getting in deeper. The awkwardness was just increasing, even though he tried to be so smooth and quiet. He woke me up an hour ago by throwing rocks at my window. I rolled my eyes when I saw it was him.
But even though I think he is such an idiot, I followed him here.
Because that’s what friends do.
We came to a clear spot and the moon beat down through the trees. He stopped and stood close to me. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew there was a problem.
“Andy, I have to tell you something,” he said pausing dramatically.
“Please don’t tell me you’re a vampire.” I said.
“Can we be serious?” he asked softly. I swallowed my grin and looked him in the eye. Moments went by before either of us said anything.
He looked at me. It was the face. The face I loved. The face that I’ve hated, cried beside, and punched. It was a best friend face. A face you couldn’t hurt, can’t stay mad at, and want to protect. But for the first time that same face buried down to my heart and confused me.
That’s when he started talking.
“Do you remember in third grade, when we worked together on that diorama, and I kept breaking everything?” He asked. I did remember. I kept yelling at him because he was ruining the box. It’s when we became friends.
“Yes, I do. Why?” I said.
“I was nervous.” He said. “That was the day I fell in love with you.”
“What?” I asked.
“And I still am. In love with you.” He answered. My mouth dropped. I leaned against a nearby tree. I must have loved him too. But the friendship overcame the crush and I become oblivious to any feelings. Of course he loved me; I was too stupid to notice. I was too busy complaining about my problems to notice there were feelings there. He was just too good of a friend to not love me.
“Don’t cry.” He said coming toward me. The tears were streaming down my face because I didn’t know what else to do.
“Am I really that stupid?” I asked.
“Absolutely not,” he put his hand on my cheek. “I wanted to do this for a long time.”
He leaned in to my face. I didn’t want him to kiss me. We wouldn’t have any good times. Our friendship would be gone, and it would all be love.
My brain shut up when his lips touched mine. It was like the whole forest was quiet. My heart jumped five miles up and slammed down into my chest. It felt so… right. I wrapped my arms around his neck and got that feeling that I was wanted. He pulled back and told me he loved me. I leaned my head on his chest and told him I loved him too.
And there we were. Two people, in love. Now I’m glad I followed him into the woods.