Right From the Start, You Were a Thief, You Stole My Heart and I, Your Willing Victim

At 8:00am a loud buzzer rings in our apartment. I got up and went down to meet our postman and Dan was there. The postman reaches around Dan to hand me some mail and Dan turns around and sees me and says "Good morning." "Good morning" I reply. We start walking up the stairs and Dan says "I had fun last night." "So did I. And I like your hobbit hair by the way." Dan smiled. "Sophia is probably up if you want to come over for breakfast." I offer. "Well...maybe we can go and get coffee or something." And just as I was about to say okay I will go get Sophia he adds "Just you and me." I giggle. "Okay then um... let me just go get ready." We get up to our floor and we get to my door and he hugs me. I hug him back kind-of awkwardly because I am a fail. I walk in and Sophia is sitting on the couch. "So you got the mail?" She asked. "Yeah..." I stuttered. "Are you okay?" "Yeah. I'm going to go get coffee." "Okay?" I walk back to my room to change my clothes and to avoid further questioning. After I got ready I walk out into the hallway and to Dan's door. I knocked on the door and waited for what actually seemed like seconds. Phil answered the door. "Come on in." Phil beamed. I walk in and Phil says "Dan will be out in a minute." "Okay." A few minutes later Dan came out from the back of the apartment. "Are you ready?" Dan asked. "Yeah. Phil do you want anything?" "He has coffee here." Dan replied. Dan kind-of rushed me out the door and once we got into the hallway he said "I want to get to know you. Just you. I mean like get to know you for you when your friends are not around. Like truly get to know you." "Okay...?" I said sort-of confused. "Let's go get coffee." He replied trying to mask the intensely awkward situation. We go to Starbucks and I go and find a table while Dan gets coffee. I get text from Sophia saying I have a letter from my ex-boyfriend . I told her I would read it when I got back. Dan comes to the table with 2 caramel macchiatos. "So...What's your story?" He asks. "Well... I was born and raised in Boston. I went to the University of Massachusetts in Boston for 2 and a half years because I decided I could not be a doctor. I moved in with my friend Sophia, broke up with my, then, boyfriend Justin because he was being a dick-headed twat and saved up money to move here. That's ♫ the story of my life♫ well so far." "Wow. I went to the University of Manchester..." I cut him off and said kind-of smiling "I don't mean to be rude but I have seen your draw my life video." "Oh. Right... I forgot about that." Dan frowned and drank his coffee. "I'm sorry Dan. I didn't mean to put you down. I know you wanted to seem like a regular person and tell me your story but you're not regular. You are absolutely amazing." Dan cracked a little smile. I smiled at him. "Dan come over here so I can make you feel better." Dan gets up and sits next to me. I go to hug him and to my surprise Dan hugged me back and tightly I might add. I don't know why but I felt safe in Dan's arms. Without loosening his grip on me he asked "So...what's the story on Justin?" "He was supposed to be my high school sweetheart but I guess fate thought otherwise. He got on the American football team and to one look at the cheerleaders and then he started acting weird. I was not a cheerleader by any stretch of the imagination. I was a theater kid but I also like sports. And one day after a big win, I went down on to the field to congratulate him and saw him making out with one of the cheerleaders . After that he come back to my dorm and tries to be all over me like he wasn't making out with a cheerleader who I swear fell in the shower and broke her brain. Anyway so when he tried to kiss me I slapped him. He got mad, called me a crazy bitch, asked what the hell was wrong with me and, slapped me back. I then told him 'You know what Justin... ♫So since I'm not your everything How about I'll be nothing? Nothing at all to you♫' and punched him in the face. I also feel he fell in the shower and broke his brain. Then he told me that I had a horrible singing voice and he did not know why I was always cast in lead roles with a lot of singing in all of the musicals I was in." "Wow. He really is a twat. And I think you have a great voice" Dan added. Then an older woman walks up to us and says "You make a good-looking couple - how long you been going together?" "Well we're not really going together." I tell her. "You should go together. You look good together." She retorts. "She thinks we look good together." Dan giggles. I just look at Dan. "What you don't think we look good together?" "I do think we look good together but we just met yesterday. I don't know why but I feel really safe in your arms Dan. I feel like I am safe to be who I really am around you without worry of any sort of judgment." Dan smiled. "I'm glad you feel safe." Then Dan's phone vibrates in his pocket. "It's a text from Phil. He asks that I bring you back because he and Sophia are worried." "Why?" "It's been like 2 hours." "Oh." We leave Starbucks and go back to my apartment where Phil and Sophia are sitting on the couch. "I didn't know it takes 2 hours to get coffee from a place that is like a block away." Sophia said sarcastically. I shot her a smirk. "Welcome to London." Dan said to break the silence. "Phil, if you want to you can show Sophia around." I tell him. "Fine we'll go." Sophia shoots back. "By the way your letter is in your room." "Okay." And with that Phil and Sophia were gone. Dan and I were alone again but this time we were really alone. "I'm going to go get that letter." "Okay." I brought the letter out and opened it. It read:

Dear Shelley,

I know we ended on kind-of a bad foot but I was wondering if you would take me back.
I know what I did hurt you deeply. The moment it happened I knew that I couldn't act fast enough to undo it. Your reaction was justified. If someone whom I cared about had done such things to me, I would have reacted the same way. "I'm sorry" doesn't seem to be adequate. I've relived that moment over and over and wondered how I could have been so insensitive. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in myself.
I have no excuse for what happened and saying "I'm sorry" hardly seems adequate. But if you could forgive me this time, I promise you this will never happen again. Both the suffering that I've caused you and the misery I feel now show me that breaking my word causes too much damage to both of us to ever want to do it again. Whatever selfish gratification I thought I'd gain by my foolish act has disappeared like a wisp of cloud under the noonday sun. All that remains is guilt and a stronger resolve to be not only the man you want me to be, but to be the man that I want myself to be.
I know it may be difficult to believe right now, but I really do love you and have honestly never loved anyone else. In the past year, we've become so much a part of each other's lives that I really can't imagine my life without you anymore. I don't think it would benefit either one of us to give up on this relationship yet because we've both invested so much of ourselves into it already and our good times have far outnumbered the bad. What few problems we've had in the past have been minor and we've been able to work through them with very little trouble.
I would give anything to pick up where we left off--just doing everyday things like coming back to the dorm after class, kicking back on the couch and sharing the ups and downs of each other's day. I enjoy taking turns at being chef (when we don't order pizza) and appreciate your willingness to watch a game with me. We had already started to plan our summer vacation together before this happened. Wouldn't it be great if we could still get away together for a while and try to put this behind us?
I know I'm really expecting a lot to ask you to continue making plans with me, but the alternative is too painful to even consider. Please remember all the good times we've had already, as well as all the good times that are still out there waiting for us to discover. I promise you a faithful companion who has learned his lesson and is more determined than ever to make you happy and stand by you as long as you will have him.

I hope you have it your heart to forgive me,
Justin

I just sat there after reading it. "Are you okay?" Dan asked with worry in his voice. "I...I...don't know...It's from Justin." I stuttered. "He wants me to take him back." "Really?" "Yeah. But I am not taking back that dick-headed twat. He did me wrong for the last time. And he can wait for a response."