Tess's POV

Dear Tess,

This is my attempt at writing a letter to you. Maybe it's a love letter; I haven't decided yet. Father told me he tried writing a love letter once, and it was a little embarrassing, but Mother loved it anyway. I am totally copying his idea, but still, I'm hoping you'll indulge in this anyway no matter how humiliated I feel right now.

First off, I want to apologize. I'm sorry I couldn't do this in person, but by the time I finally knew what I wanted—needed—to say, Father told me we had to leave for France to have a conference with the king. God knows what will happen. By the time you read this, I will be up in the clouds, thinking how light they are, like the feeling of your hair against my face when you kiss me.

Right. On with the apology. I am so horribly sorry that I broke your heart. I regret every word I said that night.

You were right when I kept pushing people away, and I'm sorry for that too. But you were so terribly wrong when you said I didn't care for you anymore. I love you more than I love life itself. I never thought I could care for someone this much, but I do. You may call me selfless, but I am selfish when it comes to your kisses, your touch, your words, your crooked smile, your smirk and your raised eyebrow, your laugh at my lame jokes.

You have a good heart, and that might be what I love most about you. You genuinely care for me, even when I'm a complete and total jerk. (And, dare I say it, you are a fantastic kisser.) I have to thank you for tolerating me all this time. The minute that I met you, I had a gut feeling that you would be the one. That moment bled into hours, then days, then weeks, then months. I don't know how I could feel so positively sure of myself, but it's as true as any ring tested in fire.

You have changed me, Tess. If you remember my saying I was a conceited ass... Well, take my word for it. Even Narcissus would have been appalled at my arrogance then. But as you have seen from the very beginning of this letter, I am not too haughty now. What I am confident about is how I feel about you.

You were—are—my first and only love. Not a lot came of my mother's first love and her, but with you, I intend to stray from that same path.

Alright, this letter is getting a bit lengthy. I didn't know how difficult it would be to condense all my feelings into one letter, but I managed to get most of it. I can't wait to see you again when I return, and hopefully, you won't laugh at my face. :)

Yours forever,
Matthew

I wipe the tears that have fallen on my cheeks. How could I laugh at him when all I want to do is give him a hug and apologize too? I count the days until he'll come back from France.

France... Why do I have an odd feeling that the rest of Illea doesn't know what truly happened, present and past? Maybe I should take a little field trip to the secret library tomorrow.

I change into my shorts and t-shirt and get in bed, but something doesn't sit right in my stomach. I cross over to Matt's room and inhale. It still smells like him, sweet and spicy altogether. I never really got a good look of his room; until now, that is. One wall has a shiny bow hanging above three quivers of arrows. In a corner of the room, there is a classical guitar that looks like it hasn't been touched in years. He has a mahogany desk along a wall, covered in papers and pens. How many pens does one man need? There's a picture of his family on the corner of it as well. It must have been from a long time ago; Matt's only as tall as his mother but not quite reaching his father just yet. The picture has been taken in front of a... house the color of yellow primroses. Tire swing, tree... This is the same house in my dream. But how?

My head is spinning like a twirling ballerina. I walk away before I can delve further into it. Instead, I get in Matt's bed, under the warm covers that exude his distinct smell. Goodness, I sound like a bloodhound. Or a stalker. I'm so tired. I can't think.

So I let sleep take me like a silent eagle grabbing its prey.

Okay I know this was really short. I'm sorry but I have a lot of homework and it's Sunday, so yeah. I apologize!

lilythemermaid- Haha I hope I fulfilled your expectations. Thanks girly! LOL wuv you

Athenachild101- It was a brilliant book. I couldn't believe it was over. Like, it seemed so unresolved. IDK

prnamber3909- Maxerica! Love them soooo much. They're my OTP too :)

ilona18- Ooh France... PARIS- the city of looooove

ReadLikeYouMeanIt- Ooh gonna look that up and I'll PM you when I've read it :)

Lucas- Haha you care!

miaforevez- It's amazing. You're gonna love it!

Guest- Haha aw I'm sorry I let you down but I promise it will get better! And thank you! I can actually speak English better than Tagalog, which is the other language I speak, so I guess English is actually my first language!

Salma- Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked both of them!

Thank you guys so much for the reviews!

Love ya!- AcademicGirl