It was the third dream like it that week. Each rendition varied in setting, but Bright was always there. Tonight, they had one of those vintage 60s row houses. She didn't see the children, but as in all dreams, nobody had to tell her that there was a set of twins (a boy and a girl) asleep in the next room.

The dishes had been washed and were drying on the counter next to the sink. The lights were low, and she was resting her head on Bright's shoulder as they both swayed back and forth in silence.

And then it ended as her alarm clock rang.

Hannah sat up in bed. Enough was enough.

It was almost lunch time before Hannah got up her nerve to knock on the door to Bright's apartment. Her hands were shaking so bad that she tried three times to stop the tremors before she could finally knock on the door and waited for what felt like an eternity. Nobody answered. She kicked herself for not ringing the doorbell instead. Not that it mattered, she doubted anyone was home.

She knocked on the door again after a minute, and rang the doorbell just for good measure. Her heart sank when no one came to the door. Who was she kidding? These types of things never ran as smoothly as she hoped. She turned away from the door and started walking down the front porch steps when Bright's worn down sedan pulled into the driveway.

Leaving his backpack in the passenger seat, Bright got out of the car and started walking toward her.

"Hey," he said. A little confused as to the surprise visit but clearly not upset at the spontaneity.

"Hi," Hanna said, "I'm glad you're home. I was hoping we could talk."

Bright nodded, "Of course. What's up?"

By now, they were both standing in front of his car, slightly closer to each other than two so-called "friends" should if they wanted to stay friends for long. Hanna took a few deep breaths. In all of her pacing that morning, she hadn't yet found the right words. Now that the moment was finally here, she realized that she hadn't really planned out any of this.

"I sent my acceptance letter to Colorado A&M." She blurted, her words were said in such haste that she was surprised when she didn't trip on any of them.

Bright's eyes went wide. "What? Why? What happened to Notre Dame?"

"I thought a lot about what you said the other day. About the only reason I'd want to stay here is because I was scared to lose my friends. And you promised me we would be best friends for life, but...for some reason, hearing you say "best friends" stung a little."

Bright was still listening. He took a step closer and instinctively took her hand. He almost said something, but something inside of him told him not to; his words weren't sophisticated enough for what he wanted to say.

"I don't want to stay friends." Hanna said and she paused as tears formed in Bright's eyes. "I can't stay best friends. It took me months and months of tear-soaked pillows to process all that happened. The entire time, I knew you were sorry for what you did. I was determined to hate you forever. Then, we started hanging out again and one day I realized I had forgiven you."

"Really?" he asked.

Hanna nodded, smiling. "You know how in the Bible when Jesus is talking about forgiveness and He said we should forgive our neighbors seventy times seven times?"

Bright nodded. That was one of the few stories he still remembered from Sunday school.

"Well, that's 490, and I figured with everything that's happened, you've used up at least 10 of your chances. That leaves me with only 480 times I am morally obligated to forgive you. But I can't just stay best friends with you because, gosh dang it, Brighton Abbot, I still love you."

She kissed him, and he kissed her back. It felt like their first kiss all over again but this meant infinitely more than any kisses they had ever shared. It felt as though it were making up for all the times they had wanted to kiss each other since they broke up but were too stubborn to admit it.

The kiss ended, and they both held each other as tightly as they could. They stood there in silence, crying uglier tears than the night their previous relationship ended.

"I missed you so much," Bright whispered. "I promise I'll never be such an idiot again."

"I know," Hannah said. "Let's just start over. Forget all the awful things that have happened in the past year and just be us again."

"I don't deserve you, Hannah, but I love you so much."