This Is My Love

"Pete, where are we going?" I questioned him as he practically dragged me further and further away from the noisy crowd of fellow seniors. By now, we had consumed a few beers and countless shots of different liquors and, needless to say, were wasted.
Pete flashed me a playful smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"Away." Was his answer. I pouted at my friend and huffed. I didn't exactly want to leave to party, but he seemed to have some sort of a plan, and who was I to say no?

After a few minutes of walking, we ended up at the edge of the beach. It was an area full of large rocks that sat in the tides in front of a small bunch of large, beautiful trees. Pete helped me over a few of the smaller rocks until we got to one large boulder, at which point he let go of my hand and lowered himself down onto the rough surface. I followed his lead and did the same.

I looked around me and smiled at the beauty that of the area. The moon was full and laid low in the sky, forcing everything dark to become light. It's reflection shone in the blue waters of the ocean, breaking up and lending glimmers of silver to every ripple. The tree tops basked in the light above their own shadows and danced with every breeze that flew through them.
I could almost blush at the honesty of it all, but was interrupted when a warm hand brushed against mine. I turned to face Peter. He was smiling openly at me, his pearly white teeth dramatically contrasted against his tanned skin.

"I love it here, Bruno," I whispered, once again using the nick name that I only call him on rare occasions. He nodded his head and examined the area like I had just done.
"I knew you would," he replied. I waited a moment before speaking again.

"Pete," I quietly called out to him, getting his attention. He brought his eyes back to me, and I smiled. "I wanted to thank you again for what you did earlier. You know, for standing up for me and everything. You didn't have to do that," I stated. He quickly nodded his head.

"Yes, I did," he whispered. I opened my mouth to protest, but he stopped me. "Ano, you know I'd do anything for you, right?" he asked. His question slightly caught me off guard, but I quickly recovered and gave a nod of my head.

"Yeah, Pete," my response was softly spoken through and even softer smile, before I looked back out into the ocean. There was silence for a moment.
"Ano," he called out to me in a hardly audible whisper. I directed my gaze back to him and smiled, silently letting him know he had my attention. He took in a deep breath.

"I love you," he breathed out before letting a large smile come onto his face. I laughed.
"I love you too, Bruno. You're my best fr-"
"No, I mean," he paused for a moment, "I really love you."

There was silence as I searched for something to say. I could tell he was now beginning to grow nervous, but he couldn't have been more nervous than me. I didn't know why I was so speechless. I mean, I knew I loved him too, but I guess a part of me was waiting to see if this was even real.

I know, I'm imagining this. Right now, I'm passed out drunk in the sand, and this is all a dream.

I wanted nothing more than to pinch myself, but if it was real, I'd look like quite the fool.

"Ano, you don't have to say it back, just please...Say something," he begged me, his voice lacking the usual confidence it always has. I wanted to say it back, but I had so many doubts. So, instead, I decided to ask him a question.

"After all these years of being friends, why love me now?" My question seemed to catch him off guard and he glanced away from me for a moment. I quickly shook my head.
"Never mind, I'm an idiot. It doesn't matter why," I almost laughed at myself for asking something so dumb, but he answered anyway.

"Ano, I've loved you since we were 13," he whispered. My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat.

All this time...He's loved me back all this time.
I'm such an idiot!

I quietly laughed at my thoughts and at the irony of it all before giving him another smile.
"I guess I just needed some sort of confirmation before I told you," I paused for a moment to gather up the little bit of confidence I still needed to softly speak; "I love you, too."

A large and beautiful smile graced his perfect features, and before I knew it, his hand was pushed into my hair and he was bringing his lips to mine. The kiss was slow and tender for a moment, but soon my hand was finding it's way to the back of his neck, and the kiss was being deepened.

I still didn't know why he was telling me now. I didn't know why, if he's loved me all these years, he's only telling me now. Something inside me was nagging at me, telling me that there was something more that he wasn't telling me, but I didn't care. I had been hoping for this day for a very long time, and didn't think it would ever happen. Now, here I was, kissing the guy that I've loved since the age of 15, knowing that he loved me back. For the first time in a while, I felt nothing except pure bliss.

Little did I know at the time, you should always listen to your instincts.