The first thing he thought of was her eyes. Even in the darkness, they blinked up at him with a startling clarity unlike anything he had seen before. Her eyes were always beautiful; a dark murky green with freckles of blue that shone in dim lights. Yet now they were crystal clear and piercing, looking up at him with all the certainty in the world. He wondered if she could hear his heart beat in his stomach, looking down at the woman in his arms. She was different than anyone he had ever known, and while that scared him, it was also exciting. Already she had pushed him outside of everything he was comfortable with, following maybe a bit blindly, the enchantment of her smile, and the mystery of her eyes, and yes, maybe the sway of her hips. She was enchanting, and mysterious, and passionate, and even a little crazy and all of it made him want to know more. More about what mysteries she held, and what she was passionate about, and what made her a little crazy. Everything he had ever wanted was right there in his arms. Her eyes blinked up at him slowly, lips parted just the slightest as her hair fanned on his lap. It was all there within those eyes. So he leant down and started to find out.

---

There was nothing like kissing her. Nothing. In a few short weeks he had become addicted to the taste of her lip-gloss, the feeling on her hands running through his hair, and the way she completed him. She truly did. This euphoric feeling was something he could get used to, smiling down at the woman laying on the couch beneath him. She was breathless and beautiful and he rubbed a thumb over her cheek, smiling as her lips curved up at him. He hated to think that this was good-bye; that he would have to go eight days without the taste of her lips and the warmth of her body when he wrapped his arms around her. Her hands ran up his chest and rested once again around his neck, fingers trailing gently through his hair.

“I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too.”
“Don’t kiss too many pretty girls while you’re gone.”
“I don’t want to kiss any other girls.”

She shifted beneath him, her knee tightly wrapped up in the bandage it had been since her snowboarding incident. He smiled softly her he brushed a stray curl off her face, remembering a few hours ago how he had had to assure his mother, more than once, that she was more than capable of making it down the stairs by herself. It certainly wasn’t the first time she had been on crutches. It was all part of her charm though; she had the ability to injure herself seemingly every other week, but each time smile and laugh it off. One of many charms she possessed on this Christmas evening, grinning broadly as she tugged his shirt collar back down towards her.

“I’m holding you to that.”

---

She had surprised him. That may have been the understatement of the year, but she had thrown him for a complete loop two days ago. Now though they both lay on his bed, her eyes focusing on everything but him: the fish tank, the posters, the artwork hanging above his closet that he had done as a child. Gently, he ran his hand over her cheek, finally bringing her to look at him with her green eyes cloudy with doubt and unspoken worry. God, she could stop him dead in his tracks. Everything that he had been thinking about saying was suddenly gone from his mind as she bit her lip, shrugging her shoulders as he moved to rest with his head on her stomach. She was a word person (and he was not so much), and so it put such a simple smile on his face to suddenly hear her voice stumbling quietly, hesitantly as she tried so hard. Tried so hard to right what she thought she had done wrong, what she thought had ruined them for sure. Yet she didn’t need to right any wrong; he moved to put his weight on his elbow, and hovering above her, she was the most beautiful creature on the planet. For all his own nervousness, and his own confusion, he knew that whatever this ‘love’ was that she was talking about, it certainly applied to her.

“I really do love you.”

---

His breath formed in a cloud of white just off the tip of his nose, stung red and numb from the air around him. Yet she did not seem to be affected nearly as much by the chill in the world around him, if in fact she still currently existed in the same world. She skated around like she were the only one on the ice; little tiny movements of her feet and hips that kept him doubtfully following behind her, laughing as she shouted at him to hurry up. He could never quite believe how energetic she could be about things when she wanted to, and how unenergetic she could be about others. Yet he wasn’t going to attempt to curtail this enthusiasm she showed for skating, grabbing her hand to pull her along the rough surface of frozen ice. Her lips shone bright pink in the fading afternoon sky, and her eyes twinkling brightly at him beside red cheeks and a red tipped nose only further fuelled his desire to make her laugh.

“Slow down!”

He loved the sound of her laugh; the verbalization of inner joy escaping her lips as he pulled her through the slowly dispersing crowd of skaters. Her hands fit so well in his as they clung for dear life nearly, her red tinted hair streaking backwards in the wind he was creating. There was something about the way she shrieked in laughter, begging him to stop, that made him smile broadly as he let go of her hands and turned around to let her pass. His hands found their way to her waist, skating behind her gently as they rounded a corner behind the grove of trees in the centre of the lake, and he took the opportunity to press his lips to her cheek.

“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
“Of course I am. That’s why you love me.”

Her eyes narrowed and once more he was skating with his front to her, legs lazily making the backwards motions that came so naturally to a defensemen. Her lips pursed, and he grinned widely, knowing and loving the woman in front of him, and the chase that was about to ensue.

“You don’t even know what incorrigible means, do you?”
“Not a clue.”

---

The water lapped at his feet as he watched her dance down the beach; hair blowing back in the ocean breeze, he paused his footsteps to watch as she gazed out over the expansion of water in front of her, green eyes crinkling in disapproval. His heart stopped for a second as she turned and caught his eye from down the shoreline, smiling gently before returning to wadding through the shallow tidal pools of lukewarm water. It was obvious how much she hated her predicament, blue bag dangling from her elbow as she leant down to run the very tips of her fingers through the water with care to not let any splash up onto her cast. It almost broke his heart to know how much she loved the feeling of water against her skin, yet could not indulge in such a simple passion. Slowly he continued on at his own pace, mindful of her own wandering from tidal pool to tidal pool, sometimes letting the fingers of her good hand run through the mud before watching it drop down with a splash.

“Wait up!”

His voice carried across the beach, her eyes lifting to watch as he walked towards her, sandals dangling in one hand quite similar to her. She looked a sight, and he didn’t have the heart to point out the smudge of dirt upon her cheek as he neared, instead bringing the camera he had been carrying up to his eye and brought her into focus. She looked simply too innocent as a handful of mud was threatened in his direction, laughing as dark sunglasses now hid her eyes and the flash went off, capturing forever her in that instant, as he saw her in all her beauty, broken arm and all.

---

There was a distinctly sexy sway about her hips as he watched her move. Her eyes were closed, lips moving with the words he heard from the speakers, and for a moment he was completely lost in her. Lost in the way her body moved in time to the music, and her hair streamed around her shoulders, the way she sang every word with all the passion in the world. He got lost in how much she was just there. She was living, and breathing, and seeing each and every word, every chord, and every note. She was part of the music as much as the music was a part of her. He loved that part of her. The part that could just let go of inhibitions, and let go of fear, and just be there in the moment. She was so different from him in so many ways- so spontaneous, so emotional and passionate that sometimes it hurt. Yet that was what made her uniquely her, and he had fallen in love with her. Suddenly there was a hand on his arm, partially covered with a cast, and there were her eyes staring at him, hips swaying, hair falling around her face.

“We are, we are all innocent….”

---

He could stay like this forever. Maybe not forever, but there was nowhere else he would rather be. She fit so perfectly into his hold, her arms loosely wrapped around his neck as they swayed back and forth with so many others around them. The sudden serenity she exhibited was a drastic change from a few moments ago when she had been bouncing around the floor, a bundle of energy and unchained spirit. He knew that for her, this moment was graduation. The pictures, the dinner, the speeches, the dancing were all her dream for graduation. The after-party he was dragging her to afterwards was certainly not part of that dream, yet she had still relented to go. Which is why he pulled the beautiful woman in his arms closer, kissing her temple softly in the dim light. She was beautiful, and she was understanding, and she was everything that he didn’t deserve. Yet there he was, and there she was, and there was no one else he would rather have been with. Her eyes enchanted him, gazing at him resolutely as she lifted her head and smiled tentatively, a smile that he returned. She smelt of perfume and hairspray and makeup, tendrils of curls falling out of their pins to frame her pink tinged cheeks, and he loved her all the more at that moment. Graduation had long ago been just an event, just a ‘thing’; a chance to party and have a few drinks. When she had walked into his life though everything had changed, and this day had been included in that. Truth be told, he had, until tonight, thought all the preparation, and worrying, and colour coordinating had been needless and stupid. The moment he saw her though, dress cascading down over her hips, hair piled high on her head, lips pink and glistening in the setting light, he had reverently thanked the heavens for the weeks leading up to that moment. He would have this day no other way.

“Happy graduation, love.”

---

He held her book in his hands, the black cover smooth under his fingertips. She sat across the hallway from him, hair tucked behind her ears as she paused in thought before returning to her comment. The hallway was a bustle of activity, voices shouting around, trying to locate friends to sign their yearbooks. It was hard to believe that this was the last day of school. His last day of high school, and the last day of a way of life for him. Yet what was more unbelievable was how much had changed this year. In ten months everything he thought he had known had changed. The most unbelievable being the woman who now sat beside him, laughing quietly. Her eyes sparkled, knees brought up to her chest as she caught his eyes before turning back to one of his friends. Slowly, he opened her book and let his eyes trail over the different handwriting that scribbled the pages, each message containing some sort of endearment for his beautiful girlfriend. He was unsure of what to write, pen pausing above the paper for a moment. How could he say everything to her that he wanted? How could words ever be enough to describe how he felt about her? Her hand snaked its way up his leg to rest around his calf as her head lent against his knee; he smiled softly at the kiss she blew him. Pen touched to paper and he knew he didn’t have to say everything, or really anything at all. She already knew.

“You made grade twelve amazing and easily the best year of my life. From awkward social class to our ____ (insert beautiful adjective) relationship today. I love you and every beautiful thing about you. I hope you enjoyed grade twelve as much as me. Whatever day you’re reading this I’ll probably see you in a coupe hours. I. Love. You.”

---

He loved waking up to her. It had only occurred a handful of times over the long months they had been together, but there was no better feeling on the planet to have her in his arms, hair spread wildly around on the pillow they shared. She fit so perfectly in his hold; small and delicate, as she would murmur into his shoulder and tighten her arms around his waist. He lived for the moments she would wake up, stretching out with cat-like grace as her hand ran across his chest, curling back against him with a contented sigh. Her breath was warm against his neck, his hand reaching down to gently stroke away the brown locks to press a light kiss to her temple. It was an action that more often than not solicited her to open her eyes.

“G’morning beautiful.”

Her smile was drowsy as he kissed her softly, running his hand over her exposed shoulder, coming to rest lower than would have been publicly appropriate.

“Did you sleep well?”
“Always with you. Only with you.”
“Good. Because I could get used to this.”
“I already am.”

Like he said, he lived for moments like this.

---

She was going to be the death of him. She splashed around, hair falling slickly over her shoulders, and he truly wondered if she knew exactly how beautiful she looked. Sun-kissed and rosy cheeked, she floated gracefully on her back, slowly moving away from the boat. He on the other hand watched from his dry seat, arms crossed over his chest in protest, knowing all too well that he would have to get back in that water soon enough. She looked so utterly at home in the water, flashing him a bright cheeky before disappearing once more beneath the murky surface. As suddenly as she had vanished she was bobbing back beside the boat, hair clinging to her bikini clad chest, and he wondered if she knew just how wonderful she looked. Wonderful in front of him and his entire family, and he shook his head in amusement. The woman traipsing about in a bikini top, in front of his parents no less was certainly not the shy woman he had fallen in love with.

“Are you coming in?”

There was a daring smirk on her lips, challenging him, taunting him to prove himself to her as she raised her eyebrows in a dazzling display of everything about her that made him feel weak in the knees. No, she certainly wasn’t the same woman he had fallen in love with, and as he rid himself of his tee, he really wouldn’t have it any other way.

---

It was the most terrifying moment of his life. He couldn’t believe that here, in the basement, he was lying beneath the warm covers on a mattress, and she was straddling his lap. Not only that, but she was wearing next to nothing, and he was wearing nothing, and god, was she beautiful. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, but nothing in his wildest dreams could have prepared him for her like this; so open, so innocent, so perfectly and completely honest with him. He gently reached his hand up to brush the hair out of her face, leaning up to capture her lips in a soft kiss, letting his other hand slide down the curve of her side and rest on her hip.

“I love you.”
“I know. And I love you too.”

She was perfect, and beautiful, and she frightened the hell out of him like this. Everything about this moment frightened the hell out of him, and from the way her hands shook as they rested on his chest, she was just as terrified. Reaching out he intertwined his fingers with hers, kissing each fingertip gently as she stared down at him, and he was taken back eight months to the startling clarity of her eyes the first time he had kissed her. The green blinked back at him unabashedly, full of so much passion and so much desire and so much love it made him shiver. He felt as if he were looking directly into her soul, her dreams, her fears, and her love, and everything that drove him completely crazy, but made him love her more than he had loved anyone before. He loved her more than he thought he could love, and as terrifying as his position was, there was no other woman in the world he wanted to be there with.

“I love you.”
“I know.”

---