“When I was two, my mother died in a car accident.” I clung tighter to him as the words came out of his mouth. The tears I had been crying for me stopped immediately but were soon replaced for tears that were just for Max. He was opening his heart to me, and mine opened a little more just for him. “My father quickly remarried, knowing that I needed a mother in my life. They had a daughter about a year later. That was Melanie, who you saw at the diner today. I realized as I got older that it wasn’t a mother that I needed, it was my sister. She is a very important part of my life, and I don’t know what I would do without her, but what I do know is that if her heart was breaking like this right now, I wouldn’t have the slightest clue what to do to help her. But luckily, I think I can help withyou.”
Max tucked my hair behind my ear. It was becoming something he loved to do, seeing my whole face with nothing obstructing it. We sat there, clinging to one another for dear life, like we were the last two on earth and we didn’t know what to do without eachother.
“I never intended on loving you, but when I realized I did, I knew I couldn’t turn back. A week ago, Melanie called to tell me that she was moving across the country. I couldn’t imagine losing her, since she is the most important person in my life. We have never been apart. Even when we moved from New York, we moved together. I told her about you one day and what you had been going through with Adam. She said something that sparked my ferocious need to make you fall in love with me.” Max kissed the top of my head. I didn’t know what to say or think, but my heart was swooning. I found myself hanging on to every word he had tosay.
“Melanie told me that if I ever found the one, not to let her go. So, much to her surprise, I told her that I already had. She started asking me all of these things about you that I didn’t know, and then I realized that I had neglected you so much, that no wonder you hadn’t fallen yet.” He pulled my face closer to him now so that our foreheads rested against each other. “I’ve never wanted another person as much as I want you in my life. I’ve never had a serious relationship, so I don’t know how to make this last, but I know I want itto.”
I closed my eyes, letting myself relax in Max’s arms. He held me there as the silence engulfed us. His lips gently brushed mine before hecontinued.
“I want to make you mine forever.” Max’s words made my head spin. “Not right now, but oneday.”
Now I was lightheaded. I was losing my sense of if this was all real, but looking up into Max’s eyes was probably the worst thing to do. I realized that even though I didn’t want to be the princess before, it didn’t mean that I hadn’t already been one. My prince was just waiting for me to see what had been right in front of us the wholetime.
“I never thought I would say that, and neither did my sister, but all she could do was smile at me. She gave me something to give you, and I thought it would be perfect for a special occasion, but what time is better than thepresent?”
Max got up, his arms still wrapped around me, then sat me back down on the couch and walked back to his room. When he came back, he was holding a small blue box. I could feel my heart beating against my chest. He sat back down next to me and opened it. Inside was a green, blue, and purple stone. Max offered the box to me, and I pulled out them stone. The stone had a small natural indent in it. A worrystone.
“It was my mother’s. Apparently, my father gave it to Melanie when she got married for whenever things got hard. She said that you would probably need it if you were going to have to deal withme.”
I laughed, holding the stone in my hand, letting my thumb rub up and down along the hollow. I really needed to meet this Melanie. It seemed like she had all of the answers that Max and I needed for each other. I wrapped my fingers around the stone and sat there in silence with Max. I didn’t know what to say to him. It felt like everything I had told him was so trivial compared to him baring his soul to me. I had just talked to Lilly and Erica about not wanting to fall again, but how could I not? I knew it was already happening, but just as Max had said, we knew nothing about each other. I had to make achoice.
“I have one condition.” I finally looked into Max’s eyes. They were curious now. “If I say yes to any kind of relationship with you, then I want us to be open with eachother.”
I waited to see if he was going to interject, but he remained silent, waiting for more. I kept rubbing the stone in my hand. It wasn’t working though. I could see that he was on his toesnow.
“I want you to ask me about me and not learn it from my friends. I want us to go on more dates, and as crazy as it is, I want to show you off.” I stopped rubbing the stone and moved closer to Max. My hand landed on his cheek. “I want to know that your love for me isn’t because of how I look or based on how much we have argued and butted heads. I want to know that it is because of all of that andmore.”
“I think I can do that.” He planted a soft kiss on my nose. “I want to show you just how much I love you, and when you are ready to say those words, I want to see that spark in your eyes that I know you see in mine everyday.”
I held in my breath as Max once again got the last words. I know I had just said that I wanted for us to be open and for us to learn about each other, but for some reason I wasn’t expecting him to say the word “love.” When I launched my mouth against his, our bodies reacted immediately, I knew that I had made the right decision. I was falling for Max, and this time, I wasn’t going to stopmyself.
