Always Been You

So in Love

(Song Recommendation: Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran)

The doorknob tilts and the door slowly opens. As soon as my eyes meet Drew's, I spread my arms out wide. "Happy graduation!" I yell. He looks stunned at first. It took him a few seconds to take everything in. "Oh my gosh, Kristina." He sets the keycard in front of the TV. As he walks towards me, I meet him halfway. Drew grabs my face and instantly gives me a kiss. He looks around the room with a wide smile. "You did this for me?" his tone resembled that of an excited kid on Christmas. "It's your graduation! Of course, I was going to do something for you." He notices the stuff on the coffee table, and I direct his attention to the scrapbook. He sits down on the sofa as he starts flipping through the pages. I gathered all the pictures I could access from his games, friends, and my personal storage. Drew gently pulls me by my waist onto his lap. His right arm safely buckled me as he continued to look through the book with his left hand.

"I remember this day, you wanted to go to the MET but we ended up spending the day in Brooklyn," he points to a picture of us. I rested my head on his. Once we finished looking through it, I handed him the watch. "This is really fancy," he says unwrapping the box. He tried it on and I could tell he really liked it. Drew gave me at least 30 kisses in appreciation of the watch and scrapbook. Then it was time to show him the letter. I wanted to see his expressions while reading so I got up and sat on the bed while he read.

In the letter, I reflected back on our relationship. From meeting him in the elevator to just being friends. I included how proud I was of him for graduating and commemorated his journey on the school team. And the last few sentences were solely about how I felt about him now.

Dear Drew,

Hi, it's me, Kristina. I wanted to wish you a HAPPY GRADUATION! You're a certified Finance dude. Looking back now, I would've never thought the guy I first met stuck in the elevator would be such a big part of my life. And then we started seeing each other more often and quickly became friends. I would be lying to you if I said I didn't feel some special connection since day 1. Because I really did. I liked you quicker than I would like to admit. But I didn't even know what to do with that. Both of us knew we were never meant to be just friends. The way you looked out for me since the beginning made me feel so safe. And then the pact we made to wait. It was so hard but it allowed us to really get to know each other much deeper than we expected. No matter the ups and downs we've been there for each other, and those obstacles have only gotten us closer. You are one of the best people I know. You make me feel like I'm the only person that even matters to you. You make me want to feel good about myself. You are so incredible to the point where I can't even believe you're real sometimes. I am so grateful for you. I have never ever in my life felt so strongly about a boy before. When I look into your eyes I feel such an incredible feeling inside. And there's only one word I can use to label that feeling. It's love. I love you, Drew Davis.

Drew stares at the letter longer than I expected. My hands were fidgeting as I patiently waited. He puts the letter back on the table and gets up facing the other way. I see him looking at the window and then back down at the table. "I can't believe it," he says. I nervously get up. "What?" I ask. He turns to face me. "That you did all of this for me. Stuff that nobody has EVER done for me before. You're perfect. The absolute perfect girl. And my perfect girl loves me."

He comes to me and grabs my hands. "I love you too, Kristina Kapoor," Drew says looking into my eyes. A smile grows on my face. My heart was filled with joy. Our lips connected like never before. We were two people in love.

We sat facing each other on the bed. "Ever since the day you met my dad," he says. I asked him when he knew. And that was the same day I knew. "He picked up on it faster than I did. He said I looked at you the way my mom once looked at him," he tells me. My HEART. This probably sounded super cheesy but whenever his eyes glistened, I knew he was being honest and vulnerable.

I straddle his lap and hold him close. His hands caressed my hair and body. "You are so beautiful. Wow," he says as his fingers traced the neckline of my dress. He pushes my hair to my right side and places his lips on my neck and makes his way down my arm. His every touch felt so warm and made me tingle inside. I slowly push his body down on the bed as his kisses pick up speed, then I lean over and give him one last look. "I love you, Drew." "I love you, Kristina."

I woke up with a smile on my face. And that rarely happens. I stretched my arms in bed and felt like I could conquer the day. I heard the water running in the bathroom so it was safe to assume Drew was taking a shower. I plop my head back on the pillow and recall everything that happened last night. I'm so madly in love with him. And it was so worth the wait. I just feel like we're finally in that zone of our relationship where we've completely given ourselves to each other.

I choose to stay wrapped in the comforter until he comes out. I pass time on my phone, responding to mass group chat texts. Drew walks out in a few minutes and notices I'm awake once he hangs his towel on the hook outside the closet door. "Goodmorning," he sweetly says, reaching over me and kissing my forehead. He smelled like Old Spice. He pulls out a bouquet of assorted flowers from underneath the bed and catches me by surprise. "When did you get these?" I exclaim. Drew tells me he woke up quite early and couldn't go back to sleep so he went out for a walk. There was a flower kiosk by the local bodega.

I put the bouquet on the side table and pulled him in my arms. "You are the sweetest." His wet hair felt so fresh against my skin. I planted his face with a hundred kisses before letting go. "Last night was a time that I will never forget," he says, squeezing my hands. I am SO in love with this person. It's a feeling that makes me feel on top of the world.

We took the subway to Central Park and grabbed some breakfast food along the way. It wasn't too sunny nor was it too breezy. It was perfect. I really am more of a night person, but I forgot how calming it is to just stare at the bright sky and watch the clouds disperse. Our entire day was kind of like those romantic montages in every cute movie. Without the stress of classes, or work, I felt so much more free and happy.

"There's something about New York that is so... intoxicating," Drew says looking at the busy streets and high buildings. "I still am left in awe every time I come here," I reply. There really is no other place like New York. The city gives you a burst of energy, and the suburbs calm you down. I've never thought of living anywhere else but here. As the sunset, and our day was coming to an end, I couldn't help but wonder about what was next. I still have to finish another semester, and Drew is going to be going back to Indiana next month for the summer. "Hey, did you ever send in the applications to those two firms we talked about?" I ask him as soon as we find seats on the train back home. "Uh, yeah. But I don't really know. There are a lot of applicants," he responds.

The past week Drew spent polishing his resume and applying to different places. Although he should've been more proactive earlier, there's still a lot of opportunities. As much as he loves Indiana, he wants to move to New York. And of course, I'm all for that. I want him to stay. It's bad enough he's gonna be away from me most of the summer, I can't imagine him not being here in the fall. I've been more dependent on him than I'd like to admit. He's my sanity in this world full of crazies. If we have to do long distance, it's gonna be really hard for me. But I know where there's love, there's a way.