She sat there and watched him walk across the stage, and suddenly the last three years of her life flashed before her eyes. The good times, and the bad, all those memories with him. Her eyes filled with tears as they met his, those beautiful, perfect eyes of his. He mouthed something indecipherable, and she just smiled. They were wonderful together. He was the boy with big dreams who would never give up, and maybe that is why they worked so well. She would never give up, and he would never give up on her.

Summer came and went, and so did he. He was off living his dream, and that made her so happy. However, she felt empty. She was stuck in the same town, and somehow had to make it through senior year without the boy who had been there by her side. Little did she know that thousands of miles away, he felt the exact same. Every night when he went to sleep, the warmth of her body was missing. They talked every day, and he came home to visit on holidays. They valued every minute they had together because they knew that time was fleeting. They each went to sleep at night with the thought that at any time they could be without each other. Her senior year went by excruciatingly slow, and his year felt like it went by the same.

The day was finally here, the day she would graduate. He sat there and watched her walk across the same stage he had a year earlier, and his eyes caught her’s, and for a slight moment everything was back to normal. For a singular solitary moment, everything was okay. There were no thoughts of the future or what was going to happen to them, just in that moment, everything was perfect. She mouthed something indecipherable, and then he smiled. The smile represented a promise, the promise of a life together.

That night, they did not want to leave each other’s side, because they both knew that this might be the last night they would have together for a while. He kissed her more passionately than ever before, their bodies tangled together, making it hard to tell where her body ended and his began. He thought she looked utterly beautiful there under himself, more beautiful than she had ever been before. She looked into his eyes, those beautiful, perfect eyes, and she felt safe. Sure, they had done this before, but this felt different. There was a sense of urgency, a need for each other’s touch. Every kiss and every slow body movement were treasured, and when it was all over, and they laid there in that dark bedroom with his arms laced around her waist, they both muttered words that meant something, and they smiled.

Then, like their childhood, they were gone. The New York City life was absolutely perfect for her. She had always known that this is what she wanted, and now her dreams were coming true. The only problem was that she was even farther from him, for he was in Nashville. She thought about what his life must be like. Could he maybe have found another girl? She wouldn't ever really know, all she could have was faith. All they both could have was faith. Visiting him was always a huge occasion. He would play his music in bars in the evenings to earn extra cash, before returning to his dorm to study for his producing classes. Watching him play on stage always brought a smile to her face, and he would look into her eyes, and mouth something indecipherable, but the days of being without each other were far from over. They fought, almost constantly it seemed. Which is odd, they never had fought before. Could it be the circumstances? Was it the stress of college bringing them both down? I don't think they both would ever really know, at some point they were just fighting to fight. It felt good for both of them somehow, all the yelling and screaming calmed them both.

She no longer had hope in a life together. He no longer believed in that smile of a promise. All they both had was the promise of each other, and without each other who were they really? A girl and a boy with big dreams and a bond that couldn't be damaged. He started missing her phone calls, and she ignored his texts. However, they couldn't bear to see other people, because they wouldn't dare hurt each other.

It was raining that day. It was cold inside her apartment, winter was fast approaching and she didn't have a lot of money left to use. She was so afraid of being evicted, but she had bigger problems to worry about. Her final exams were slowly creeping up behind her, and if she didn't have a perfect solo done by Monday, she was sure to fail. With a blanket wrapped around her body, she rehearsed. Playing the piano that was a chore to get up her three flight walk up, but it was so worth it. Her phone began to ring, it was him. They hadn't talked in a whole week, and the last time they talked it was not a happy conversation.

“Hello,” she said inquisitively.

“Hey, um… I’m really sorry about last week. I didn’t mean what I said, I was just really worked up.”

“I am sorry too, I have been stressed out and I was only looking for a little sympathy.”

“I understand,” he sounded apologetic enough, “I really hope we can get together soon, I miss you…”

“I miss you too,” and then there was a knock, “Hold on, I’ll be back someone is at the door.”

She opened the door and there in front of her he stood. His phone in his hand, his duffle on the floor, and his guitar slung over his back. He was panting, probably considering he just walked up three flights of stairs carrying all this stuff. She hugged him tighter than she ever had before, and kissed him so more passionately than ever. She was so happy he showed up because she really needed him.

He looked her in her eyes and this time, what he said was audible, “I love you…,” and then she smiled more than ever before.

“I love you too.”