One True Love

"It's been 17 years."

" Feels like an eternity. " 

" By your choosing. "

" I am sorry it took us so long. I am sorry things happened the way they did. Believe me when I say this, I tried my best to find you and apologise for leaving without a word. " 

" Wait, you tried to find me? That's funny!  Why don't you tell me how you tried to find me? "

" I sense the sarcasm in your voice and I can understand your frustration. I went through as much pain as you did. I spent years talking to every person we knew. "

" Did you? Did you go around town risking your life in hopes of finding the smallest bit of information to trace you? Did you go against your family's wishes and travel to places a young girl like me shouldn't? Did you Jack?"

" No. I didn't. But you have to remember, I did come back for you. I spoke to your neighbours and everyone told me the same thing. You had moved. Where was I to look next? I know, we never really spoke for more than five minutes, but you knew I loved you right? "

" What is love, Jack? What is love? We were 13 years old then. Back then, watching you stand outside my window or just being in the same room as you was like heaven.  A lot of time has passed, and I don't know how I feel anymore. I don't know if love even exists anymore. Maybe love is just a form of infatuation. It's not like we even went on a date! "

" I am sorry you feel that way, Sarah. I never stopped loving you. Destiny separated us, but neither of us gave up. Do you think there was a reason we didn't give up? Why you did the things you did to find me? "

"Perhaps. At first, it was to find you and confess my love to you. Then, it became an obsession, a mission. I had to find you, no matter what. That feeling, that need to talk to you again, was toxic. I did things I would never do. I hung out with people who said they knew you, or knew someone who knew you. Do you know where it landed me? Do you?"

" I heard a few stories, I never believed them to be true though. The girl I knew would never be the girl people described to me. "

" Well, wake up Jack! That girl is standing in front of you. The harsh reality is, your so called friends, took me out to parties. Promising there would be someone there who knows more about where you are. Most often, these 'people who knew something about you' never showed up. Alcohol seemed to flow like rivers at those gatherings and that's where it began. My alcohol use numbed my pain and sadly made the barely 16 year old me susceptible to your friends trying to physically abuse me."

"I'm sorry."

" What do you feel sorry about Jack? I let my heart get the better of me. I let it lead the way to hell. If I hadn't run off from one those parties and walked 10 miles home, I would probably be six feet under right now. That night, changed my life forever. It was an awakening. I had already wasted 3 years looking for you, I wasn't going to do it anymore. At least not to the extreme I had already been. But that doesn't mean I ever stopped either. "

" Oh god, trust me when I say this, I am sorry I left. It wasn't my choice. I woke up that morning to find my suitcases packed. My parents gave me 2 hours to say my goodbyes and the only person I thought of at that point, was you. I stole a bunch of yellow roses from my neighbours garden. I knew they were your favourite, after all, you had an artificial one tied to your school bag. I got to your house, but I was a little too late. Your cousins told me you had moved early that morning to another town, about 3 hours away. I had no choice, but to turn around and go home. "

" I didn't know. I didn't know you showed up after we left, and yes, yellow roses were my favourite. I wish I did, but I didn't know you woke up to your life being moved to a whole new place, just like I did. I didn't even have time to brush my teeth that morning. I woke up to being told we are moving. Apparently, the boxes around the house didn't flick any switches in my brain. As always, I thought they were part of dad's work boxes. Now that I think about it, I feel like an idiot. I guess my mind was too occupied with thoughts of you. After all, we had started spending more time together that month. Albeit, that time could have been better used to talk to each other instead of just walking quietly or making the odd remark about our surroundings. "