Hope

    I laughed at the video on my phone as it ended.  "Oh, wow, it's just like me."
    He quirked an eyebrow.  "How?"
    I shrugged a shoulder.  "You know, because he left her.  And I always get left."
    Without any warning, this fury, this rage, that I had never ever seen on him before rushed into his eyes, hot and furious.  "Stop that!"
    I stilled, sobering.  "What?"
    His eyes were dark and flashing as he stepped closer and closer until he had forced my back up against the wall.  "Stop acting like everyone's going to leave you."
    My heart was throbbing through my entire body.  "I'm sorry, but experience speaks for itself."
    He fisted his hands on either side of my head.  "I don't care what you think.  I don't care what you think experience tells you.  I don't care what anyone says.  You are not worth leaving.  Not now, or ever.  Nothing you do could ever justify someone abandoning you like that.  You are beautiful, and you are good enough.  You should never worry about changing yourself or hiding away who you really are.  If someone doesn't love you for who you are, then they're not worth it anyway."
    By this time, tears whispered down my cheeks and he very gently brushed them away.  "I will never leave  you.  No matter what you do, or what you say, I will never leave, because you're the only reason I need to stay."
    Hope flooded through me like a tidal wave, crashing through my barriers, and destroying the bricks that had kept him out for so long.  I took a few shuddering breaths, overwhelmed with the beauty of his promise.  "I love you."
    He cradled my head in his hand.  "I've loved you since the moment you let me break down your walls enough to let the sunshine in."
    And as his lips met mine in a way that felt like they were made to be fit together, I was sure of only one thing.
    I believed him.