The first time I told my boyfriend that I loved him, I didn’t say it aloud.

The first time I told my boyfriend that I loved him, I didn’t say it aloud.

It was last November. I had known for awhile and had been driving my friends crazy by talking about it. It was obvious to everyone, but I couldn’t muster up the courage to tell Ceddy himself.

I realized I hadn’t written any original pieces in years. I discussed my writer’s block with Ceddy; he encouraged me to write a story and give myself a deadline. On Thanksgiving eve, I stayed up all night writing this poem. We spent Thanksgiving day with our respective families, then met up at my apartment that night.

I sat beside him on the couch, printed poem shaking in my hands.

“There’s something that I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but didn’t know how.”

Ceddy’s eyes widened.

“It’s not bad.”

“Okay…?”

“I didn’t actually write a story.”

“What did you write instead?”

“A poem. I haven’t written poetry since high school, but I was inspired.”

“Can I read it?”

“Yeah, of course!” I handed it to him, “I wrote it for you.”

I buried my face in a pillow as Ceddy read. He grabbed the pillow out of my hands without pausing. A smile stretched across his lips. When he was done, he set it on the coffee table.

“So…what do you think?”

“This is the best thing I’ve ever read.” He hugged me to his chest.

I cried quietly. He wiped my tears.

“Sam, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I was just so scared. I love you so much.”

“It was awesome. I’m going to read it again.”