“You need to tell her Garrett,” my best friend said to me, pulling me out of my daydreams as I stared blankly out of the window blurred with rain.

“How can I Mandy?” I asked. “How can I just go up her and say ‘I’m madly in love with you, and I can’t possibly imagine ever being with anybody else. You have completely consumed my thoughts, my heart, my love. And I hope you feel the same way.’ I just can’t do it.”

Mandy smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. That was strange, what was she sad about?

She laced her fingers through mine and gave my hand a squeeze. “It won’t be easy,” she agreed, “But if you want it to happen, what other option is there?”

“You don’t understand,” I said, standing up and walking towards the door. The rain would calm me, just as it always had. Since childhood I had loved the rain, wishing every day would be filled with water falling from the clouds above. I stepped out into the downpour, instantly becoming drenched. I closed my eyes, a color of blue that always seem to draw compliments, and let the rain wash over my face as I kept walking, out into the streets. It took only a few moments for all of my negative emotions to wash away, leaving only a detached contentedness.

I didn’t know how long I stood there, for minutes or for hours, but eventually I became aware of a presence behind me. I opened my eyes and turned around, to see that Mandy stood on the curb, hair plastered down and clothes dripping. In the instant that our eyes met, I knew that now was the time. It couldn’t wait.

I reached out for her to come to me, and she did. Her fingers had barely touched mine before I pulled her into my arms. She looked up at me with a curious look in her eyes. “Garrett...?”

I smiled the warmest smile that had ever touched my lips as I gazed down into her eyes. “Mandy...I’m madly in love with you, and I can’t possibly imagine ever being with anybody else. You have have completely comsumed my thoughts, my heart, my love. And I hope you feel the same way,” I recited.

Happiness flooded her eyes as she realized what I was saying. She threw herself upwards and kissed me more passionately than anyone had ever kissed me before. When finally she pulled away, she whispered gently in my ear, “I love you too, Garrett. I have for years. Everything you said...It applies for me too.”

I smiled again. “All of these years and I could have had you that easily? I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, but I never would have thought you felt the same way.”

“Well, I do,” Mandy answered. She lifted herself up again, and pressed her lips once more against mine. I held her tightly, desiring nothing more than to never be required to let go. We stood there in the rain, locked in each other’s arms, until the clouds above parted and revealed the moon high in the sky. The full circle gazed down luminously upon us, seeming to light the pathway before us - the pathway that we would, most certainly, be traveling together.