It was February 14th, Valentine's Day, and I was sifting through the mail. In all the ads and bills there is a letter addressed to me. It reads nothing more than:
Get ready and come see me at our spot, 8.
I was sure it was from my boyfriend, Jack, who was my favorite person in the world. He knew me better than anyone else and he was totally the cutest boy I had ever seen. My heart melted when I read the simple sentence. He had only given me an hour and a half window to get ready, but it was okay because I had already bought him a gift.
I was on my way an hour and a half later. I had a nice outfit on and my makeup was done. Our spot was a little gazebo in the forest that bordered the town diner. It was where we had our first kiss, where he asked me to be his girlfriend, and where we had our first official date. It wasn't fancy, but it was ours, and nothing was sweeter than going there with him for another milestone. It was our first Valentine's Day together.
I drove myself to the diner and parked in their lot. I got out of the car, grabbed his gift box, and started into the forest. It was a short walk along an underused dirt trail. Walking the same way we had walked many times before, I was reminded of all the times Jack and I shared there. All the dumb times, which usually went hand and hand with the funny ones and the romantic ones that made me smile to myself.
I turned the corner to reveal the pavilion that was shrouded by the thick layer of trees. There was Jack, waiting on a swinging wooden bench with a bouquet 4 times the size of his head with my favorite types of flowers. I burst into nervous and surprised laughter as we both walked to each other. He had the most giant smile stretched across his face.
"What took you so long?" He teased, loosely pulling my face into his chest and rocking us back and forth playfully. I looked up at him, my chin still pressed against his heart, and admired his smile. He kissed my face and looked away nervously.
"Hey Y/N, will you be my valentine?" Jack asked. My whole body fluttered. Everything about the question was perfect. We were already dating, but he still asked as if we had never gone out before, which made me smile at the thought of us before our relationship.
"Yeah, I will. Will you be my valentine?" I invited through bouts of giggles. He nodded, pulling me into a deeper, more passionate kiss.
Once we pulled away I noticed his hands hidden behind his back. While I was attempting to look behind him, he spun around in hopes to keep the mystery object behind his back a secret.
"Whattya got there?" I asked.
"Oh nothing, just-" He stopped his sentence to reveal an assortment of my favorite flowers. I looked down in awe, touched by his thoughtfulness.
After a few more moments of thought, I exclaimed an array of thank yous and tackled him in a hug. He was taken off balance for a second before placing both his hands on my back and putting his head in the crook of my neck. I was lifted off the ground and paused in this moment of bliss. I released him from my embrace and looked down at the flowers once again. I was at a loss for words so I just took them from him, and held them close to my chest.
Jack smiled at my happiness and turned around to collect something else. He then revealed a box of chocolates and held them in front of me. I looked down at them, my mouth hanging open attempting to gasp, but something in me wouldn't let me breathe.
"Jack...." I whispered. He smiled, yet again.
I gratefully accepted the chocolates, sure that Jack would not be receiving a single one.
I stared down at the collection of sweets, eager to devour every single one.
Jack turned around to pick up another gift. I stared at him, unable to say anything about his devotion.
He had a nervous smile plastered on his face as he held out a small box for me to take. Seeing as my hands were already full, I put down the chocolates and flowers to take the small package. He stared at me intently, anxious to see my reaction. I slowly opened the case, revealing the most stunning necklace I have ever seen. It was a small golden locket, the shape of a heart with vines and roses encrusted onto it. I opened it up to see a picture of me and him kissing underneath the Ferris wheel lights at the fair, undoubtedly taken by Alex Peterson, Jack's friend. It was one of my favorite memories of me and him. I stared in shock at the necklace.
"Jack....it's beautiful." He beamed, unlike his other smiles from my reaction to his gifts, this smile was full of pride and euphoria.
I handed the necklace to him and turned around, tucking my hair over one shoulder, implying for him to put the necklace on me. He complied, and carefully lifted the necklace over my head and began to clasp it on the nape of my neck.
"You're so cheesy," I said as he finished clasping the necklace, and placed a soft kiss on my bare neck. I threw my hair back over my shoulder and turned to look at him.
"Hey, I tried," Jack said defensively.
"I love it." We stared at each other for a few more seconds. "My turn." I reached to my feet to pull my gift bag up to him. I didn't feel like it was much compared to the amazing, thoughtful, and expensive gifts he gave me. "It may not be much but..." I handed it to him.
Before opening it, he gave me a gracious smile before lifting the tissue paper. It first revealed a teddy bear that I thought he would love. It was holding a heart, which I thought was adorable. He laughed at it, gratefully, and continued to inbox what I gave him, with the bear tucked under his arm. He then pulled out a bag of his favorite treats, which he always seemed to crave at 2 in the morning. He gasped with delight at the sight of his beloved candy. I knew that I would only get one if I was lucky, and the look in his eyes told me the exact same thing. I think he may love the bag of sweets more than me. He looked at me, a permanent smile on his face. I looked down at the bag expectantly, telling him there is more in the bag. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw the card that had taken me a long time to write, considering the paragraphs within it. He opened it up, and read my many reasons as to why I love him so much. Most of these things went beyond his physical appearance, more revolving around how I love his laugh and smile, or the way his eyes glisten every time he hears about something he loves. Or how he always works just to be able to take me out someplace nice, or how he always listens to what I'm saying, even when I think no one is listening. How he loves his family and friends and would do anything for them. And maybe it's just the fact that I can't help but want to take in everything he does, because the moment I met him he was kind and sweet and caring, and how he always gave me comfort with just a single look, but I can't help but feel that I could not live without this man here in my life, and not a day goes by where I can't think of him or want to hear his voice, because deep down inside I think I have always known that this is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. He is my safe place and I will love him unconditionally, no matter what happens.
So yeah, that was kinda what the card entailed. When he finally looked up at me, I could see small tears brimming his eyes, and he stepped closer to me and hugged me with everything in him. He lifted me off the ground, dug his head into my neck, wrapped his arms entirely around me so his hands were on my waist, and squeezed the living shit out of me. I kissed his cheek, and as he set me down after a few seconds he kissed my forehead, then grabbed my face and kissed my mouth deeply. It was less of a passionate kiss and more of a kiss full of love and promise.
Once we pulled away, I looked him in the eyes, our foreheads touching, and whispered, "There should be one more thing in there."
He grinned and looked down into the gift bag, still holding the card close. He laughed when he looked down in the bag and pulled one of his favorite lingerie (on me) out from the very bottom of the bag.
"Now what is this for exactly?" He chuckled, looking in between me and the set.
"Whatever you want it to be for. Consider it a free pass for whenever." I laughed.
He stared at me. How do his cheeks not hurt from smiling this whole time?
"God I am so in love with you, Y/N." He said, quietly.
My face warmed at his comment, and I felt tingles through my whole body.
"I love you too, Jack."
He pulled me into another very long kiss.
This was certainly one of the best Valentine's Day ever.
