Happily Ever After, a History; Part 3: The L Word

We left our heroes as they were on the brink of becoming "official". After an easy DTR via texting a few days later, they were. The couple continued to spend a lot of time together. Allison was becoming happier than she'd ever been before. She had an appalling lack of previous relationship experience, but she felt like things were going well and she liked Corey a whole lot.

One day when Allison arrived at work, one of her friends started talking to her as she walked to the locker room. She said, "So, I hear from Corey that he's pretty in love. Are you in love too?" In love? Allison said, "Well, I'm definitely very much in like...". Her friend laughed and said, "Yeah, whatever Allie. We all know." Maybe they all knew, but Allison sure didn't!

So, she went upstairs and went to the walk-in freezer to get pizzas. She then proceeded to Freak OutTM. She didn't think it was possible for someone to be in love with her! Especially not someone as cute, kind, and flirted with as Corey was. She told herself that he probably had never said that and made it through the rest of her shift with no major mishaps. That night, she went home and related to her roommates what she had been told. Katie, of course, was delighted. "You're in love! You're going to get married! Yay Allie!" Allison responded with, "I can't be in love! Love is big and I'm very, very small." Allison was afraid, to say the least. What was she afraid of? No one knows, she's not a very rational person. Maybe she was afraid of heartbreak. Maybe she was afraid of marriage. Either way, she was definitely afraid. Katie helped her decide that if Corey professed his love before she was ready, she would say something like, "I really care about you too. I don't know if I'm in love yet, but I think I will be soon."

The next day at work, Corey slipped her a note that said "Let's watch a movie at my place tonight. <3, Corey" Allison probably looked at that little heart 20 times over the course of her shift, wondering what it could possibly mean.

That night they watched a movie and then Corey walked Allison home. She wasn't ready to go in yet because in her mind staying out until 2 a.m. is always a fantastic idea. It was a warm night anyway, so they wouldn't even be miserable. She suggestd that they hop the pool fence and sit on the deck swing. Corey agreed.

So the couple sat up there talking, cuddling, and doing other fun couple things. At one point, the couple was hugging and Allison heard Corey whisper, "I love you." Allison Freaked OutTM again, but was very subtle about it. After staring at the pool for a few seconds, Allison said, "I love you too." She wasn't sure that she meant it, but she really wanted to. So much for Katie's plan. Shortly after, the couple said goodnight.

The next day Allison spent a lot of time thinking about her and Corey. She called her mom and wandered campus just trying to figure things out. She went to work not having seen Corey all day and she wondered how she'd react when she saw him next. At work, Allison got a brilliant, yet completely completely unrelated to her dilemma, idea. She gathered up frozen pizza scraps to make Corey an amazing, free pepperoni calzone. He loved those. As she worked, she kept thinking about how excited she was to see him and how much fun ti was to do something to make him smile, even it was small. And the lyrics from one of her favorite love songs kept going through her head:

Never knew I could feel like this

Like I've never seen the sky before

Want to vanish inside your kiss

Every day I love you more and more

Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings

Telling me to give you everything

Seasons may change, winter to spring

But I love you until the end of time

Come what may

Come what may

I will love you until my dying day

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace

Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste

It all revolves around you

And there's no mountain too high

No river too wide

Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side

Storm clouds may gather

And stars may collide

But I love you until the end of time

Oh, come what may, come what may

I will love you until my dying day

As she sang softly to herself and thought about how excited she was to see Corey, she realized it was true. She was in love with him. For the first time, the words from that song seemed to apply to her. The world suddenly did seem like a perfect place with Corey by her side.