Three little words
June 25, 2010. That is when I returned from my deployment to Botswana, Africa. I went to her house. All I could think of was seeing her again. I missed her so much. I’d never made so close a friend in such little time before. We met through a mutual friend, Ali. Ali asked me if I wanted the extra room in their apartment. I said yes, and now it terrifies me to think of what would have happened if I had said no. The four of us, Ali, Caitlin, Lauren, and I, were now roommates. We all got along so well someone looking through our windows would never believe we only lived together for a total of a one and a half semesters.
The day after my plane landed I drove the seven hours to Lauren’s house. We were there until July 19th. During that time we made the transition from friends to lovers. I still remember our first kiss. She kissed me while I was unpacking my duffel bag. We were standing between her bed and dresser. This wasn’t either of our first kisses but, it was our first kiss. I thought the sparks, or fireworks, or however you want to describe it, were some rumor made up by the same fairy tale people who brought us ‘prince charming’. I didn’t just see fireworks, I rode them. If I hadn’t felt the ground beneath my feet I would have sworn I was flying.
When we left her house we drove the seven hours back to school so I could fill out some paperwork for my military classes. The next day we drove to my grandparent’s. Fourteen hours in the middle of July in a car with no A/C. We didn’t kill each other. That was a really good sign. After spending twelve days with them we drove another twenty-five hours to see my parents. We were only going to stay there for seven days but I got really sick the morning we were supposed to leave. We ended up staying nine days. Lauren took such good care of me. I felt bad because my being sick was taking time away from the time we would spend at her parents before we went back to school.
When we finally left my parents we drove sixteen hours back to her parent’s for about a week. Then we drove seven hours back to school to start real life again. Lauren moved off campus and we both had classes and worked so we got to see very little of each other. Well, less than I would have liked. I had fallen so hard for her over the summer. I thought that in her mind we were just a fling. I was trying to sort things out so I texted my friend Dave.
I told him about my ‘fuck buddy’ and she read the text. (Lauren isn’t one of those nosy, jealous people, but I thought since we were talking about her she deserved to know what we were saying.) She got really upset. After arguing and lots of crying I found out we were more to her too. That day August 20, 2010 (our anniversary) I finally felt secure enough to say those three little words, I love you, and I’ve told her every day since. We’re still together living our happily ever after.
The day after my plane landed I drove the seven hours to Lauren’s house. We were there until July 19th. During that time we made the transition from friends to lovers. I still remember our first kiss. She kissed me while I was unpacking my duffel bag. We were standing between her bed and dresser. This wasn’t either of our first kisses but, it was our first kiss. I thought the sparks, or fireworks, or however you want to describe it, were some rumor made up by the same fairy tale people who brought us ‘prince charming’. I didn’t just see fireworks, I rode them. If I hadn’t felt the ground beneath my feet I would have sworn I was flying.
When we left her house we drove the seven hours back to school so I could fill out some paperwork for my military classes. The next day we drove to my grandparent’s. Fourteen hours in the middle of July in a car with no A/C. We didn’t kill each other. That was a really good sign. After spending twelve days with them we drove another twenty-five hours to see my parents. We were only going to stay there for seven days but I got really sick the morning we were supposed to leave. We ended up staying nine days. Lauren took such good care of me. I felt bad because my being sick was taking time away from the time we would spend at her parents before we went back to school.
When we finally left my parents we drove sixteen hours back to her parent’s for about a week. Then we drove seven hours back to school to start real life again. Lauren moved off campus and we both had classes and worked so we got to see very little of each other. Well, less than I would have liked. I had fallen so hard for her over the summer. I thought that in her mind we were just a fling. I was trying to sort things out so I texted my friend Dave.
I told him about my ‘fuck buddy’ and she read the text. (Lauren isn’t one of those nosy, jealous people, but I thought since we were talking about her she deserved to know what we were saying.) She got really upset. After arguing and lots of crying I found out we were more to her too. That day August 20, 2010 (our anniversary) I finally felt secure enough to say those three little words, I love you, and I’ve told her every day since. We’re still together living our happily ever after.