He truly was a dangerous person.
But she liked that.
She wouldn't change it for the world.
There wasn't a thing she would change about him. There wasn't a trait she would switch, a hair (or lack there-of) she would dye, or another choice she would pick. He was the one.
He was brave, she was headstrong. He was reckless, she kept him in line. He was a romantic, she couldn't say different about herself when she got right down to it. He could rock any girl's world with a word off of his tongue or a sound from his lips; she couldn't flirt with him to save her life. He was a leader, she was his leader.
But that wasn't what he really wanted, was it…?
His heart…
How could he not have said anything?! She was a patient girl. She was calm (most of the time), but it was just too much! She wanted for YEARS to grip him by the back of his sweater, yank him into her arms, and kiss him- but nope. Nope. He was ROUGH! He couldn't LIKE girls!
The truth was she had no problem with him being a tough guy. She liked that about him. It was one of the things that made her swoon and sigh- one of the things that made her heart jump and her eyes light up. So many nights she had dreamed of him knocking himself in the head, running up, swinging her around and into his arms and apologizing for how long he waited. That was silly, though, when she thought about it.
Yes, very silly.
Maybe she was wrong?
Oh god… did he not like her at all?
His strength…
It had taken him a long, long time to see it.
He couldn't even begin to explain why it was that he hadn't figured it out sooner. It was her… she had constantly been circling his mind, loving him and swooning over him. He loved every bit of it.
It was just that something always felt off.
When she walked away, he couldn't bring himself to admit that all it did was pull at a heart string as opposed to them all.
It wasn't that he didn't have his priorities in place; it was that he didn't realize what priority it really was he had been putting before her.
He wasn't abandoning her for missions.
He wasn't leaving her to fight adult tyranny.
His job did not come before her.
His boss did.
And boy… did he like his boss.
The last huge mistake before the biggest right choice…
She was an idiot.
She was the biggest idiot he knew. She was the dumbest creature on the face of the Earth.
Or was that him?
He couldn't bring himself to say it. He couldn't do anything to get those words out of his mouth. He saw her waiting. He saw it in her eyes that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. She would reach out and grab his hand without reason. She would gift him in some way, every day, every way she possibly could, even if all he needed from her was her presence. She would hug him and hold him, and every time he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her, too. He couldn't bring himself to.
He could be the strongest guy in the world, but he was weak at the knees when it came to her.
He would never say it.
He would never say it.
He would never say it to anybody but her.
He would never speak it to anyone but her.
I love you…
With all of my heart, I love you.