He glanced at the beautiful woman beside him. She was laughing as she told a story to the rest of their team, he wasn't hearing the words. Just watching her say them, watching her facial expressions change. Her long black hair lay flat across her back and he could smell her shampoo from where he was, strawberries. The rest of the team was laughing but he was just sitting there, watching her. Eight letters.
As the team got up to leave he finally spoke up. "Vala?" he said, he cleared his throat, this wasn't going to be easy. She turned back to him, her eyes questioning but still alight with laughter from whatever story she had been telling everyone.
"Yes Daniel?" she asked, the sound of her voice saying his name shouldn't drive him this insane, it shouldn't. Three words.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, he had a whole new appreciation for the guys who did this.
"Sure," she said, plopping back into her seat while the other team members left. "What's up?"
For the first time in his life that he could remember, he was absolutely speechless. He didn't know what to say, well thats not true, he did. Eight letters, three words. But how to make her understand. He opened and closed his mouth a view times before looking away from her and at his lap.
She placed her hand on his arm, "Daniel?" she asked softly. He tried to ignore the way his skin tingled where she was touching his arm, he looked up at her and found her full-moon-on-the-water eyes looking back at him. The laughter in her eyes was gone now, but there was something else there, something he couldn't identify. He had to say it now or he never would. Eight letters, three words, one person he'd ever want to say it to.
"I love you," he said softly and that was all he could say before her lips found his.