S.C. Stephens

“Being apart from you is killing me. I feellost without you.”

“I thought I could leave you. I thought distance wouldmake ‘this’ go away, and it’d get easier, but it hasn’t.”

“Do you still love me?” My breath stopped as Iwaited for his answer. I hoped from his expression and his song that hedid, but I needed to hear him acknowledge it.He sighed and looked over my face. Slowly, he nodded. “You wouldnever believe how much.”

“We’ll try…we’ll try to stop hurting each other. We’ll takethis easy. We’ll go slowly.”

“I adore you for all your scars,” I whispered as I leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.”

“I know we’ve taken things slow, but I still want to move forward…with you.”

“I gently grabbed his face with my hands. "Don't leave me. You are mine...and I'm yours. I want you...and you can have me.”

“I thought you might want a ride." He practically purred the words.”

“Our reconnection was intense and deeply emotional, like much of our relationship had been. He muttered things to me while we made love—how beautiful he thought I was, how much he’d missed me, how much he needed me, how empty he’d been, how much he loved me. I couldn’t even speak to tell him I felt the exact same way. I was too overcome by the emotion in his voice. Then he said something that tore me.“Don’t leave…I don’t want to be alone.” He had actual tears in his eyes as he looked down on me. “I don’t want to be alone, anymore.” ~Kellan”

“I cupped her pale cheek, lightly highlighted with a rosy blush, and kissed her tenderly, savoring the feel of her lips against mine. "You could come with me ? We could do this while we wait.""I'm dreaming...aren't I ?""Yeah, I'm sorry.""Don't be. As far as dreams go, this one's not so bad.”

“I held her tight, my hands coming up to wrap over her shoulders, wishing I could wrap myself around her heartache.”

“Dreams didn't mean anything ? But...what if dreams were all I had ?”

“When I had woken up the next morning, I'd stared at my ceiling for a good ten minutes, reliving the dream, committing it to memory...wishing it was real, wishing I could crawl back inside that dream and disappear--stay there forever.”

“As the bus pulled away, the various boys popped back inside it, windows closing after them. All but Kellan. He stayed propped out his window, watching me fade into oblivion as he sped away from me faster and faster.”

“Yeah, I’m having a girl.” She shook her head. “There’s just no way I’d put another Griffin on this earth.”

“Looking down at me, Kellan raised an eyebrow. “Did your dad buy you the squeakiest bed in the world on purpose?”

“Not looking up at me, his smile widened. “I’m reading your porn.”Smacking his foot as I walked by, I scoffed, “That’s not porn…it’s romance.”

“I hid this one in hopes that you would find it long after I'm gone. I hope you find this months from now, when I'm still out there, on the road, away from you. I can't imagine what the time apart has done to us. I'm hoping we're more in love than ever. I'm hoping that when I come back, you'll move in with me. In all honesty, I'm hoping that when I come back, you'll agree to marry me someday. Because that's what I want, what I dream about. You, mine, for the rest of my life. I hope you feel the same because I don't know what I would do without you. I love you so much. But, if for some reason we're not closer, if something has gotten between us, please, I'm begging you, don't give up on me. Stay. Stay with me. Work it out with me. Just don't leave me. Please.”

“You wreck me.”

“After not seeing him for months, his perfection was almost too much to take in all at once, like I'd go blind if I didn't absorb him in segments.”

“I want to be someone's everything. I want fire and passion, and love that's returned, equally. I want to be someone's heart.”

“He swallowed, then looked down at her stomach again. After what seemed like an eternity, he looked back up at her. "Can we name her after my grandma?" Anna started to sob, then nodded and threw her arms around his neck. Griffin smiled, inhaling in a deep breath as he held her back. The rest of the band members glanced at eachother, smiling. Through my own tears and sobs, I heard Matt lean down by Rachel at his side. "One of us should probably tell her that Grandma's name was Myrtle.”

“Love doesn’t exactly come with an off switch.”

“Obviously, I lied, Kiera!" he yelled back. "If you haven't noticed, I do that! And what does it matter anyway? She wanted me, you didn't. What do you care if I-""Because you're mine!" I yelled back at him, quite unintentionally. Of course, he wasn't actually mine .... The immediate silence after that was deafening. Kellan's face paled and then slowly got very, very angry. "No, no I'm not! THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT!”

“I love you. I want to be where you are.”

“Buthe had the kindest face in the world, with big, dark eyes and buzzed-cutbrown hair.”

“Simple, yet stunning. He looked likea rock-god.”

“He was my home...and I missed him terribly.”

“Hewas beautiful. I know, it’s not the manliest way to describe a guy, but inmy head, it was the adjective I used most often and it fit him to a tee.”

“Stubbornly he shook his head. "No, I know that I have to be with you. Everything else is just .... details.”

“She pushed my chest like she wanted me off of her, but her fingers had my shirt clutched in them and I knew she was full of shit. She wanted me.”

“Without the bitter the sweet aint as sweet”

“Loving you is so easy, it's effortless.”

“It was like watching people eat dog food.”

“...It wouldn’t fade. It wouldn’t shift to another. It probably wouldn’t always be easy…but it would always be…always.”

“The love we felt for each other while definitely never planned or expected as I suppose most love isnt had irrevocably seared us both deeply.”

“I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“It did make a flash of jealousy go through me, but his heart was mine, and I didn’t doubt that. How could I, after he’d branded himself?”

“You really are the most adorable person. You have no idea how much I’ve missed that.”

“You…the only woman I’ve ever loved…ever. You thought I’d toss that out? Do you really think anyone in this world compares to you in my eyes?”

“Habits…they can be so hard to break.”

“I suppose we all have our buttons, our triggers that pushed hard enough, would make even the calmest person flip.”

“Do you see now, how that doesn’t work for me? I don’t want to be someone’s safety net... I don’t want to be there, simply because the idea of me being gone is too…scary.”

“I know how scared you get of the unknown. To you…I must be kind of a security blanket.”

“I didn’t want you to forget me. I’ll never forget you.”

“I love you and you understand what that phrase means to me. I don’t say it…to anyone…ever.”

“I don’t regret a single second that I spent with you.” I smiled wryly at him. “No time spent with you is wasted.”

“Being angry with you, almost made me want you even more.”

“Again…you don’t realize how attractive you are to me.”

“I am sorry about being so…amorous with you. I never wanted to hurt you. I simply…wanted you.”