(10) Declaration

Suddenly I felt a bit nervous. Was he going to tell me he didn't love me anymore? He had saved my life, but that didn't mean he still loved me in that way. All my fears and insecurities leapt to the forefront of my mind. I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry and said, "Okay, what do we need to talk about?"
He studied me for a moment then responded, "I can't go on like this, I can't eat, I can't sleep, the only things I can do are fight and," a light flush crept up into his cheeks, "think about you, Elaine."

My brain froze. How could I have been so wrong. He wasn't going to leave me, he still loved me, more than I could have possibly imagined. I felt as though I had swallowed the sun. Warmth started to radiate from my stomach and throughout my whole body. He still loved me. I felt a smile break across my face for the first time in ages. My cheeks became flushed and I slowly sat up.
He was watching me still, I wondered why he was not smiling too. I looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "What's wrong John?" He looked like a shy school boy again as he plucked a blade of grass and questioned, "I guess I wonder if you feel the same way." Those eyes looked up at me with a melting expression. I sat there for a moment, stunned that he didn't know. But then I had been careful. I had wanted him to make the first moves. I had held a lot of my feelings inside. I looked straight into those deep blue eyes and declared,
"John, I love you, with all my heart. I don't ever want to be separated from you again."
His most dazzling grin broke across his face from ear to ear. Simultaneously, without any verbal communication between us, we both stood up and threw our arms around each other. He lifted me off my feet and began twirling me around the clearing, my toes skimming the dew-covered grass. We were young and in love.
Anyone who happened upon that clearing could see it, clear as day: we were in love. They would see two young adults in their mid-twenties spinning through the glen in the sunlight. The young man standing a few inches under six feet with a mop of unruly black hair holding a young woman with fair skin and a head of long, wild red curls that bounced everywhere. Her green eyes danced and sparkled with the inner glow of a woman in love.
They enjoyed this moment, savoring each sensation.

For this was the day everything turned upside down.