We walked along the shoreline barefoot, hand in hand, holding our shoes. A comfortable silence filling the air around us. I couldn’t help but stare at him. The way his beautiful green eyes seemed to glow in the pale light that cloudy overcast made, his chiseled jaw, his gorgeous smile, the way he chuckled when he caught me staring at him...

“Que estas mirando, Emilce,” (what are you staring at?) He asks me, looking down at me, his eyes making contact with mine. “What is it, beauty?”
“I’m so in love with you,” I thought. Instead of saying it, I shook my head and laughed. “Nothing,” I said. “Am I not allowed to stare at you?”
Samuel laughed at me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I suppose you can,” he says, smiling, looking up to where we are walking. “I’ll allow it this time.”
I slapped his stomach lightly. “Where are we going anyway,” I asked, still staring at his face.
Samuel nodded towards the direction in which we were walking, so I turned to look and smiled when I saw that we were headed for the pier where we first met. Samuel takes me here whenever he plans something behind my back.

“Qué hiciste Samuel,” (What did you do?) I gasped.
He just laughed and grabbed my hand again. “Are you ready,” he asked, a huge smile forming on his face.
“For what,” I asked incredulously.
“To run,” he said simply, pulling my arm, giving me no chance to prepare.
I squealed loudly, moving my legs as fast as I could to keep up with him. Even though I was a very fast runner, Samuel was faster. Just about every time we came here, he made us run. That is literally how we met. Running to this spot. It’s a long story, and it makes me smile and laugh every time I tell it, but that’s a story for another time.

I was breathless by the time we got there, my heart was pounding hard against my chest, not just because of our run either. Samuel always made it a point to say something on a whim and when he was breathless. He always said that was when the most important things should be said, and I never understood why.
But then…
“Emilce,” he gasped.
“Yes,” I asked, trying hard to steady my breathing.
“Marry me…”

In that moment, everything stopped. If it were possible, I’m pretty sure my heart could have fallen out of my ass.
“What,” I asked, absent mindedly placing my hand on my chest.
“I told you to marry me,” Samuel laughed, still trying to catch his breath.
“But we’re still young,” I said, trying to wrap my head around things. Was this even really happening?
“I know,” he said, putting his hands on either side of my face. “But I don’t care about that. I don’t care about anything, querida. Just you. I love you with all that I am, and I need you here in my life, for the rest of my life. I know that I would never be able to go on without you. I love you so much, and I need you. Please tell me that you feel the same.”
But there was nothing that I could say… There was no way that I could put it into words. So I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and brought him in for a kiss, tears fell from my eyes, and he smiled into our kiss.
He pulled away from me slowly and laughed a little, wiping my tears away as I nodded at him.
“Of course I’ll marry you, stupid,” I said crying. “Te quiero mucho, Samuel…”
“I love you too, Emilce,” he laughed, pulling out a small box from his sweater pocket.

From the box he took out a two toned ring that had a diamond that was cut in an oval shaped with his peridot birthstone surrounding it.
He got down on one knee before me, and slipped the ring onto my left ring finger before kissing my hand, then stood up and kissed me one more time.
“Todos los días voy a estar con ustedes,” he said. “Usted tiene mi corazón.” (I will always be with you. You have my heart.)
“Are you sure,” I asked him through my tears, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Siempre y para siempre, mi amor.”

Siempre y para siempre…
Always and forever…

~End flashback…~

“Emi,” Mrs. Trujillo said, sniffing. Her tearful voice tore through my beautiful memory of her son. “Did you hear me, love?”
I looked in her eyes, my face expressionless. I started twisting my engagement ring around my finger, a habit I picked up when I get nervous or distraught.
“It was an aneurysm, mija,” she sobbed. “He had it when he was sleeping. That is why he said he was feeling sick. Please baby, answer me.”
I wanted to comfort her and her husband. I wanted to make sure that my father, who was staring at me sadly from the other side of the room, knew that I would be okay. I wanted to hush my mother’s and grandmother’s crying. And I wanted to clear the confusion that invaded my little brother’s mind when they said that his best friend Samuel wasn’t here anymore. I wanted to make everyone feel better, but I couldn’t hear anything over the breaking of my own heart.

I was helpless, and I was useless to everyone here, as the demons that Samuel made go away began to creep back into my life…
So I excused myself from the kitchen table and willed myself to walk to my room, where I laid in my bed, screamed into my pillow, and sobbed until I fell asleep.

Samuel… The one person who was able to accept me despite my appearance… the one person who loved me despite my insecurities… the one person who didn’t care about my past…

Siempre y para siempre was what he told me… and yet here I am alone.

Notes

I wasn't really feeling the last two chapters, so here's some new material. I hope you like it!