I woke up lying on the grass, snuggled into Edward. When had I fallen asleep? When had I stopped crying long enough to fall asleep? I didn't know the answer to these questions but as I looked up to see Edward's face, eyes closed, I smiled and snuggled tighter into his arm enjoying the moment while it lasted.
As I moved I felt something on my arm. It was Edward's jacket. He had put it on me last night. I smiled. He must have been freezing. I moved the jacket over so that we were now sharing it and closed my eyes. This was the perfect moment.
After a few minutes I felt Edward move beside me. I slowly opened my eyes, disappointed that the moment was over. and sat up. He stretched his arms above his head, his eyes squinting at the light.
"What time is it?" He asked. I had no idea. I began to scan the sky. By the looks of it, the sun had only just begun to come up.
"Five am? Maybe, I don't know." I said looking at him. His hair was messed up with pieces of grass and leaves caught at the back. His shirt was creased. Even looking like this, just waking after a night of sleeping on the grass, he still seemed perfect to me.
"Woah," He laughed slightly.
"Sorry about..." I trailed off.
"I understand really." He said looking at me, his eyes burning with intensity. "I never thought I'd see you like that, honestly." I looked at him questioningly. "It's just..." He explained. "You always seem so together. You're always on your guard. I understand though. Everything that's happened in your life, I'd be that way too." He was still looking at me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to pull away from his gaze.
I always knew he understood, but noone had noticed the things about me that he did. Noone had ever known how I was feeling it and I was feeling it before, but he did. "Thank you so much." I said, keeping my eyes on him. He had to know how grateful I was. For everything. For giving me the best Summer of my life, for being the best friend I've ever had, for being there for me last night when he could have just walked away.
"For what?" He asked.
"Understanding." I said simply. He smiled his crooked smile and my heart broke. He was so perfect and he wasn't mine.
I looked down only to look up again when I heard him move. I watched as he leaned in and kissed me. It was perfect. My heart pounded in my chest and I could feel myself smile underneath the kiss. Edward was the definition of perfect. The happiness I felt now in this moment made the other moment before seem as small as a grain of sand. The happiness I felt was greater than all of the punches and kicks in the chest from yesterday.
He pulled away and whispered, "I love you."
I began to reply and by force of habit stopped myself. But I knew I could say it. I knew I loved him. I loved everything about him, his crooked smile, his hair, the way his eyes squinted when he laughed, the way he sat. And he loved me back.
"I love you too." I said looking up at him. He breathed a laugh and smiled.
"Finally." He said and kissed me again. I couldn't believe how happy I felt. All that had happened in the past felt irrelevant. It was like Edward was the piece missing from my jigsaw. It was just one piece, and when glancing at the picture you might not even notice it was gone, but it was still broken. Now that I'd found that piece the picture was complete, bright, full. Exactly how I felt.
When the kiss broke we both laughed. And then a sudden thought dawned on me, and my smile fell.
"What about Tanya?" I asked looking down at our intertwined hands.
"She's nice." He said, lifting my chin so we were facing each other. "But it never felt right with her. She wasn't you. It was only yesterday that I realized this." He said smiling. I smiled too. He had chosen me. For once someone had chosen me. I was someone's favourite. I was beaming now as Edward took me into his arms. Perfection.