Leo

by Mia Sheridan

He's my best friend in the world, the boy I've grown to love intensely, the boy who's finally made it safe to dream.

"I'm going to kiss you now, Evie, and when I do, it's going to mean that you're mine. I don't care how far away from each other we are. You. Are. Mine. I'll wait for you. And I want you to wait for me. Promise me you won't let anyone else touch you. Promise me you'll save yourself for me, and only me."

"This is not goodbye, Evie. Remember our promise. Don't ever forget our promise. I will come back for you.

Early on, Willow had been taught that she was unlovable, and she wove that lie into her soul until it was what she lived and breathed. It was the basis for every choice she made, and for every heart she broke, including mine.

but I already know from past experience that you don't have to be awake to cry.

I love looking up at the stars because they make me believe that some things in this world are permanent.

"Do it. Why haven't you?" Because it's out of my realm of "safe."

how you make the most mundane things seem magical.

Maybe that's just what love does. And I do love you, Evelyn Cruise. I love you down to my bones.

To my Evie, the one who knew how to love me before I knew how to love myself,

Please, please, choose me again. I will spend my life trying to make myself a person who is worthy of you.

will work until my dying day to give you the beautiful life a beautiful person like you deserves. I will prove to you that forever is not just a word, not just a measurement of unending time, but that forever is a place where I will treasure your heart.