Come Right Out And Say It

I was lying there on my bed when Adam came round to mine (we had been texting and he knew I was ill). Within twenty minutes he had cycled round and was lying next to me.
“Thanks for coming over,” I said, “really made me happy.”
“Good,” he smiled, “it’s what I live to do these days.”
I tilted my face up to look into his eyes.
“I’m so lucky! I couldn’t wish for a better best friend than you!”
He smiled and grasped my hand. My heart skipped a beat.
“Back atcha. How are you feeling?”
“Better.” I said, then hesitated, “Adam?”
“Yeah?”
“Our friendship is the most important thing in the world to me; you know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, same. You know how much you mean to me.”
“....And I’d do anything to make sure it lasts forever....”
“Yeah, so would I, of course I would.”
“I’d never let anything come between us..”
“Me either,” he said hurriedly, “Chloe, what is it?” He put his arm around me as we laid down against the pillows. We lay flat on our backs; my eyes wondered to the ceiling. I took a deep breath.
“Remember three years ago, when I asked you out?....” I said tentatively.
“Mmhmm,” he replied, his voice shaking.
“....And I said, well .... nothing, really?”
“Yeah..”
“What I should’ve said is....,” I turned onto my side to face him (he still staring at the ceiling), “.... Adam, I love you, and always will. To me, you are perfect. I’d give my life to make you happy, see you smile. I’d endure hell to hold your hand, hold you close, kiss your lips. You are my world, my everything; I couldn’t live without you. When I’m not around you, I feel so lost and alone. Every time you’re sad, I die inside. My heart is yours, always. Be mine forever?”
He had turned to look at me from the moment I said ‘I love you’, his eyes opening wider and wider with every heartbeat. He had an expression on his face which I couldn’t make out; was it shock, disgust, horror, pity....happiness? He pulled me towards him, held me close, I breathed in the smell I had come to associate with the most wonderful boy on earth. He stroked my hair, brushed it away from my ear and whispered, “And I should’ve said ‘yes’..”
We held each other so tight that if he had not already taken my breath away, quite literally, I wouldn’t have been able to breathe.
“Chloe, I love you, I always will. I promise. You’re beautiful – I’ve never told you that that before, yet it is all I can think about when I see you. I will love you forever, I’ll never leave you, never let you go. I’m yours, always.”
....Always.