Is It Really Love?

She was sitting in the same spot where Almanzo had proposed, tears rolling down her checks and a soft sob passing through her lips. Almanzo had recently moved to Sleepy Eye for work, stalling their engagement. However, when Laura went into Sleepy Eye to help clean up the new blind school, she saw her supposed courter with a bar girl.

She thought Almanzo loved her, but after he forced her to choose between him and her pa, she questioned everything that man had ever said to her. Laura still wanted to love him, but she wondered if she was now seeing who Almanzo Wilder truly was?

Laura wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She had been crying a lot the past few days, fully knowing that she still had more tears to shed. The air surrounding her was cool and quiet. The lake she was sitting next to was calm and almost memorizing. It was a nice break from the hectic mess her life had become. Laura let her mind clear out as she softly closed her eyes.

Then, there was a sound of a wagon crossing over the nearby bridge.

She was annoyed at how the sound disturbed the peacefulness of the lake, until she saw it was only Mr. Garvey. Then she saw a handsome young man sitting besides him, only to be surprised when that young man was Andy. Jonathan and Andrew had been staying at Alice's mother's house for a few weeks. Both of them needed to get out of the town after Alice's death and her mother needed help with a home renovation.

Laura was so wrapped up in her own problems, she forgot that there was a whole town happening around her. She also remembered that Andy being gone was the reason why Albert complained so much about not having anyone to go fishing with. Laura collected herself, stood up and began walking back to her home.

"Albert." Laura called, opening the front door to the little house.

"What is it?" Albert responded while climbing down the ladder from the loft.

"I just thought you would like to know that Andy is back."

"Really! It's about time! I'm going to head over now." Albert said, already running out the door.

"Wait!" Laura called again.

Albert stopped mid-sprint. "What?"

"I want to come with you."

Albert was taken back. Laura had not spent much time with him in a long while. Ever since she became the school's assistant teacher and got Almanzo's attention, she was different. She acted more mature and could not be bothered with the childish games she used to play only months before.

"Okay." The younger boy said anyways.

The walk to the Garvey's house was quiet. All Laura could talk about was Almanzo and she knew her brother would not want to hear about that. As they walked up to the house, Jonathan noticed the pair.

"Hi, Albert. Laura."

"Hi Mr. Garvey!" The two sibling said together.

"What brings you two out here?" The tall man asked with a smile on his face.

"I saw you and Andy riding in. We just came over to say hi." Laura told him.

"Well, Andrew is inside putting some stuff away."

"Thank you." Albert nodded and ran into the house with his sister to see Andy.

Albert opened the door to find his best friend standing in the middle of the room. However, it did not take him more than a second to realize that Andy had changed too.

"Hey guys." Andrew said in a new deep toned voice. It was shocking to think that in such a short time away, Andrew's appearance could have matured so much.

"It's been a while since we've seen you, Andy. Glad you still remember us." Laura smiled at her old friend.

Andrew laughed, realizing he really did miss his friends from Walnut Grove. "I've only been gone for a few weeks."

"Hey, why don't we all go fishing?" Albert asked, excited to have the old gang back together.

"Sure." Andrew answered immediately.

Laura sighed. "I don't think I can. I promised Miss Wilder I would grade some papers for her."

"Come on, Laura. When's the last time you've gone fishing? Take the day off." Albert pleaded to his older sister.

"Well...alright."

The three friends walked down to the same old creek they always fished in. When they got there, Albert and Andrew immediately put their poles in the water, while Laura just sat at the water's edge, thinking. Albert tried not to notice his sister's attitude, but Andrew was less aware of Laura's troubles. The young man walked over to her with a concerned look on his face.

"You feeling okay, Laura?" Andrew genuinely asked.

The girl looked up, still not used to Andrew's deeper voice.

"You haven't heard? Once I became a teacher, Almanzo started to have feelings for me. Well...he proposed, but my pa said we couldn't get married until I was eighteen. Then, Almanzo wanted me to decide between him or my family. Now, he's gone to Sleepy Eye." Laura explained, leaving out the emotional details.

"Don't take this the wrong way Laura, but that doesn't sound like love to me. Why do you think Almanzo even started having feelings for you in the first place? He never felt that way about you before." Andrew asked, trying to wrap his mind around the entire situation.

"Well, I think it's because I started to look older and act more mature."

"Okay. So, why does Almanzo want to marry you so soon?"

"That's easy, because he loves me."

"I'm just saying, don't you think that the reason he wants to get married so soon is because he's ready to settle down and stop living with his sister? Almanzo is forgetting that you're only sixteen. Laura, you still have your whole life ahead of you. Do you really want to be tied down so young?"

"Andrew Garvey, I love Almanzo. I always have." Laura said with a hint of anger.

"If he really loves you, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to wait a lifetime for you."

Laura was taken back by what Andrew had just said. He shook his head slightly and began heading back to Albert. Laura stood up in awe as she watched Andrew walk away, replaying everything he said in her mind.

Later that night, the entire Ingalls family were eating a wonderfully cooked dinner and conversing amongst themselves.

"Jonathan and I are going to leave early tomorrow morning to take a rush order over to North Field." Charles explained to his wife from across the table.

"At least you won't have to work overtime at the mill now that Jonathan is back." Caroline mentioned.

Albert cocked his head. "Speaking of the Garvey's, you should see Andy."

"Why? What's wrong with Andy?" Charles asked his adopted son.

"Nothing. He grew almost a foot taller and his voice dropped."

"You're just jealous." Laura butted in.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me that Andrew matured and grew a bit. After all, he is around the age when most boys become men." Caroline added her motherly opinion. "Don't worry, Albert. Your time will come soon enough."

"I just hope he doesn't think he has to act all mature now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura asked, feeling that statement was somehow directed towards her.

"Nothing!"

Charles looked over at his children. "Alright, settle down and finish eating."

"Yes, sir."

As the night continued, Laura found herself thinking less about Almanzo and more about what Andrew said about her relationship with the older man. She tossed around in her bed, trying to get the idea of Almanzo not loving her out of her head. What did Andrew know about love anyway? Who has he ever loved?

Then again, Almanzo leaving her could be his way of showing her that he will still love her after they have been apart for sometime. Laura then remembered what her pa once said about love. He said that if you were jealous for someone, then you loved them.

Maybe that is what Almanzo was trying to do in Sleepy Eye? He wanted to see if Laura got jealous when seeing him with another woman. And it worked. Well now she wanted to try it out herself, but how?

The next day in school, Laura was grading homework papers in the back of the schoolhouse, while Miss Wilder was giving a history lesson about the Revolutionary War. The new teacher could barely focus on her work because she was still thinking about Almanzo and trying to find a way of making him jealous. That was be the only thing that could make Laura sure of Almanzo's love for her.

"Alright, class dismissed. Andrew, could I speak to you for a moment?"

She suddenly realized her lost sense of time when the students began running past her. Laura started packing up her things, still lost in a daze.

"So, with the school work you did while you were away, I say that keeps you right on track for graduation at the end of the year."

"Graduation. You mean I'll be done with school by the end of the year?"

Laura over heard Miss Wilder and Andrew talk about his school work.

"Well, as long as you keep your grades up and pass the final exam at the end of the year, then yes."

"What if...what if I wanted to continue school?" Andrew Garvey asking for more school? Laura had to look up.

"Really? What did you have in mind?" Miss Wilder asked in very curious tone.

"I just wondering what it would take to get into the state university." Andrew told her.

"Well, you would have to have good grades, which you do, and you would have to pass an entry exam. Do you have any idea what you want to considering studying?"

"I was just wondering." Andrew confessed. Anyone who knew Andrew from when he was little, understood that school was never his favorite thing. So hearing him talk about attending a university was defiantly out of the ordinary.

"If you would like, I could get you some information on the state university." The teacher offered.

"Actually, that would be great." Andrew smiled.

Miss Wilder smiled back. "It's not everyday a student from a farming town asks about going to a university. I'll get you some information on the classes and entry exam by next week."

"Thank you, Miss Wilder. Have a good day."

"You too, Andrew."

Andrew nodded and was about to walk out of the schoolhouse, when Laura stopped him.

"Andrew, can I ask you a favor?"

"What's up?"

The two friends made their way down the path back to their houses. Laura had no idea how Andrew would react to what she was going to ask of him. She would understand if he said no, but it was the only way she could think of getting Almanzo jealous. The young lady tried to start up a conversation about school, to ease Andrew into her question. She did not want to look too desperate, even though she was.

"So, what do you need from me?" He asked, finally having enough of her small talk.

Laura gripped her books tightly. She was really going to ask him, her old friend for years, to do this. "I want to make Almanzo jealous and I need your help doing it."

"What?" Andrew barely even understood what was just asked of him.

"He's coming back on Sunday to visit his sister. If we could just make him jealous by showing interest in each other-"

"Laura, no!" Andrew cut her off. He could not even imagine the situation Laura was trying to describe.

"Andy, I love him. And I want to be sure he truly loves me back. This is the only way for me to know."

"That's insane. I'm sorry Laura, but we're not kids anymore. If I come onto you when your supposedly engaged to him, I'm going to get beat up or worse." Andrew tried to reason with her.

"He wouldn't do that!"

How could Andrew understand what Laura was going through? No one understood, not even her ma. She loved Almanzo Wilder for too long to just give up on him. Laura knew that if he came back to Walnut Grove and looked into her eyes, they would be married the next day. She just needed his attention.

"Andrew, please."

He just stared at her in total shock. If this was what love is, he wanted no part of it.

"How do you know you love him?" Andrew kept asking Laura questions, trying to make sense of what was going through her mind.

"I never stop thinking about him." Laura looked away from Andrew. "I just want to watch him everyday. I want to be near him. I want to call him mine."

Andrew smirked and shook his head. "My ma always told me that you'd see fireworks when you kissed someone you love."

Laura tilted her head. "Fireworks? When I first kissed Almanzo..."

She turned back to him and lost her breath. Andrew looked at her in a way Almanzo never had, almost like he could see a side of her she never knew. She stepped closer to him. He became the only thing she could see. Gazing into his crystal blue eyes, Laura was overtaken by his presence.

Before she knew it, their faces were an inch or two apart. Her heart was beating out of her chest. In one swift move, Laura pressed her lips against Andrew's and time stopped. He unexpectedly grabbed her shoulders, brought her closer to him and deepened the kiss. They both saw more fireworks in that one moment than when they were in Winoka on the fourth of July.

It might have lasted forever, until Andrew realized what they were doing. His eyes shot open and he pushed Laura away. Before either of them could say anything, he took off running.

That was the first time in a long time Laura did not need Almanzo Wilder.