The realization took an entire nine months, while the encounter lasted all of a minute and a half. Brighton Abbot was not someone who "got" things the first time. It took a little while for them to sink in.
If you'd asked him a year ago, he'd have told you he loved blonde girls, with big chests who really had no idea what the date was, much less anything else. He loved them because 1) they adored him, doting on his every whim and praising him and 2) because they were easy to lay. He didn't care about them other than for the companionship.
But all that changed in this moment, on the front steps of Nina's house. His lips were caressing those of someone who didn't fit any of those stereotypical qualities, and he still loved it. In fact, he loved it more. Hannah was a brunette, who a smaller upper female features. She knew that it was May 29th, 2005. She did adore him, but on a different level and she certainly wasn't easy to lay. None of that mattered.
Hannah had turned out to be able to give him what he thought those other girls could; true companionship. This girl actually had a brain that connected to her mouth and she used it to talk to him. She cared about him, genuinely and she made him feel comfortable enough so that he was able to talk to her. She didn't try and change him, or make him do anything he didn't want to do.
And so, after leaving denial behind, he finally realized that he was head over heels in love with Hannah. Not because she was gorgeous, but because she was beautiful on the inside. The old Bright would have said that statement was cheesy and clichéd, but it was all he could say.
He was in love, not in lust. He hadn't believed there was a difference until this point but he understood it vividly now.
As his lips melded with hers, and his strong arms picked her up and held her, he knew he'd found her; the one. He wouldn't get bogged down in all that though. This is a once in a lifetime thing, and he'd have to work not to screw it up. So he kissed her more, and pulled away, giving her a moment to process. He did not look away, searching her face for the okay to continue. She smiled and mumbled something but he didn't hear it, his heart thumping too loudly from the exhilaration of finally holding onto her, and sharing something with her that felt so right.
Love.