Her Gift~

A Story by YukixKitsune

A boy held his feelings for a girl and about to confess. How would she react?

Her Gift

“It’s the start of spring -- full of emotions,

will he be able to let her know..."

               The boy wanders outside his university. The weather is beautiful, he thought; springtime, the season where the flowers bloom brightly after a season of harsh cold. Springtime, where life renews once more and second chances are given.

               He glanced over and saw one of his friends, Emily, who was eating at a table enjoying her lunch. ~

               He walked up to her, his right hand holding his bag and the other, in his pocket.

               Dropping his bag on the table and taking a seat across from her, she stared at him with obvious confusion written across her face.

               The boy took out his water bottle, opened it then drank it.

Slowly, the boy placed the bottle down, and turned to face his friend.

"What should I get her?", pointing at the nearby girl who was lying under the shade of a tree, immersed in a book.

“It seems like I’ve known her forever. You would think I would know her inside and out yet every time I still don’t know what goes on in that mind of hers.”

Emily listened then said to him, “ You known her for how long?! When are you gonna find the courage to just tell her?!”

The boy motioned for Emily to lean in closer and said,

"I'm afraid to confess to her because I don’t want to lose her. I chose to be her friend for this long. Now I don’t know if I can break the habit." ~~

He turned to watch the girl, still sitting under the tree, still reading. He sighed. "I want to give her something she can keep forever, something that she can remember me by...Soon, we’ll be distant."
He looked back at Emily with tears in his eyes but a smile on his face.

"It’s okay because I'm going to smile and make her happy and laugh so she won't see me cry.
Even when the time comes -- when I look at her face for the last time,
I will still smile, even though inside, a part of me is dying"~

The boy picked up his bag from the floor, and said " I'm going to talk to her. Wish me luck Emily." He then left the table, threw his water bottle in the trash and walked towards the girl under the tree.

Emily smiled sympathetically as she watched him go.

The girl, too engrossed in her book, only noticed the boy as he began to speak.

“You busy?”
“No, not really, what’s up?”
“Just stuff on my mind.”
“Hmm really? Like what? You know you can tell me anything!”

The boy sat next to the girl and hummed a song. She would glance his way from time to time.

He took a deep breath, looking down at the ground, daring to do what he was about to. "You know, before I met you... I never knew what it was like to smile at someone for no reason." ~

The girl replied, "That’s so weird! Why would you have no reason at all? A person smiles because they feel happy. They smile because they see or hear funny things. They smile because something good happened. Which one is it then?"

He laughed, " I met you"~

The girl looked back at her book, "Tsk"

This time when she looked, their eyes met~~

She quickly turned away trying to hide her reddening face.

She quietly said, "I'm not dumb..I know that..."

A pause~

She tried to speak again, but this time it was difficult. She took a deep, shaky breath~~

and asked in a whisper...

“What..what are your feelings for me?"

The boy shifted closer to her. This time, he was overcome with confidence. He caught her gaze.

He replied, "I have always kept my feelings hidden. I was afraid to lose you. Even now, I’m still afraid! But in the end, I will always have feelings for you. From the first day we met until now, I’ve only kept my true feelings away."~

She turned again to her other side facing away from him.
tears slowly appearing in her eyes~~

"Don't run away", she said, " otherwise you'll never know if it was meant to be. And years from now, you’ll regret it."~

Silence..

"Is it--", she paused, not knowing the right words to say, "Is it a bad thing if I don't want you to let them go?"~~ she said softly

He inched closer to her and replied lightly "No. It is not a bad thing."~~

He hugged her tightly, taking in the last of her sights and smells.

The boy looked at his watch.

His plane was boarding in an hour, awaiting his departure for his new chapter in life, medical school.
he watched her waiting for a reply.
There was none.

"Oh I wanted to give you a gift but I just couldn’t think of anything to give you. So I’ll just give you this."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper, what he was fumbling in the pocket only minutes before.~~

He placed it in her hand, and wrapping her fingers around it for safekeeping.

He turned to leave.

The girl, still lying there, silent and shocked.
she turned and watched him as he inched closer and closer to his car.

She looked down at her hand. Slowly, she opened the slip of paper.

The note read:
“Thank you for always helping me when I needed it. For being my support through the tough times. I will always cherish the memories we made together. Thank you for just being, you. ”

To see the one guy who helped changed her, the guy who brought indescribable joy, the guy who she could depend on whenever she ever needed a shoulder to cry on --

The sight of him walking away, hurted her.~~

He grasped the door handle of his car when suddenly, he heard his name.
It came from the tree.
His eyes shifted up, seeing the girl standing up, red faced.

"WAITTT!!!!" she shouted~~

She ran with all the willpower she had left.

She crashed into him .

On the ground, they held each other.

He hugged her tightly as she cried in his arms.

"You mean everything to me. I would give up everything, just to mean something to you. I just want you to know that..." she said through the tears.~~~~

" Before you leave, Please remember that.” ~~~ <3

“ I will”..

He continued to hold on to her.

The first raindrop of the season fell upon them as the sun shines.