After Sarah left, Sméagol and I threw away our trash. We had eaten every last bite, and finished our drinks. He took my hand, and led me back to the bench. We sat down together, enjoying the beauty of nature. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer.
"Oh, so beautiful it is this evening," Sméagol sighed happily.
"Yeah, it's really nice," I agreed. "Hey, Sméagol?"
"Yes?"
"What you did for that lady, Sarah, that was really nice. Like, I was watching you with her, and... you have this amazing way of connecting with people. She was having the worst day of her life, and you made it a hundred times better."
"She's Autistic, too."
"Yep, I know. I heard the conversation."
Sméagol smiled reflectively. "Sméagol cares about people. So much he does, yes. Sméagol loves people."
"You have a big heart, Sméagol, probably bigger than the entire universe. You're so kind to everyone you meet, even the biggest jerks."
"Sméagol does not see the point in being hateful in return, Precious, not anymore. Only made things worse, it did." He sighed sadly. "Sméagol was so cruel to nice hobbitses. They tries to help, but I tries to hurts them in return. Precious... if I could do it all over again, I would never hurts them, not this time, no. I destroys the ring for them. I takes it to Mordor myself, take the burden from poor Master, and carry it myself, even if the only way I could destroy it is to... die with it."
I felt tears welling up again. "You would die for them?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because... I loves them, both of them. Very much I do." He held me tighter. "Just like I loves you. So much I loves you, Precious, and I would die for you, too."
I wiped away the tears. "You know, I thought about it all day."
"Thought about what, my love?"
"What you said, that you wanna be with me."
"No rush, Precious. Sméagol knows it needs time."
"Not anymore."
Sméagol's jaw dropped open in excitement. "What?"
"Logan is out of my life now. I'm over him. I got the answers I needed and the closure, and I realize I'm better off without him. He's not the man he used to be, not the man I needed him to be, and... you're right. I do deserve to be loved, for real. The only thing I'm worried about is if he's gonna hurt this new girl like he hurt me. I hope he doesn't. She seems really sweet and nice, and she doesn't deserve to get hurt, too. But... I'm done with him, Sméagol. I can finally move on, and..." I took a deep breath. "I wanna be with you, Sméagol."
Sméagol's face lit up brighter than the sun. "It does?"
"Yes, it does."
Sméagol giggled at the way I imitated his speech.
"Can I be honest with you?"
"Yes."
"I fell in love with you when I first saw the movies, even before we met, and when Hayley first showed me the doll, before I even knew who you were, I almost cried. I looked at you, and I thought you were so, so beautiful. Then, I watch you in the movies, get to know your story, and I connected with you instantly. Your voice was what really got my attention. You have the sweetest voice I've ever heard. Then, you actually came to life for real, and getting to see you up close and in person, holy shit, you really are so freaking beautiful, inside and out. Feeling your skin against mine when you hold my hand, your embrace, your breath on me, hearing your voice in person, hearing you speak, hearing you sing, and getting to really know you, it's... nothing I can even describe. Everything about you is beautiful and special and wonderful. I don't have anything bad to say about you, nothing. God, you take my breath away, Sméagol."
Sméagol burst into tears, and threw his arms around me. "Oh, my precious!" he sobbed.
"I love you, Sméagol," I wept, "so freaking much."
"I loves you, too, Baby."
We watched as the sun began to dip below the clouds, creating a gorgeous, rainbow sunset. There are things in nature that I cannot see very well or at all. I can't see the stars in the sky or the birds in the trees, but this, I could see very clearly. I nearly broke down sobbing again when I saw the rainbow light hit Sméagol's face. Oh, wow, he looked so, so beautiful, and what made it even more stunning was the sparkle and gleam in his bright blue eyes. I quickly grabbed my phone, and managed to take pictures of him and the sunset itself. Then, I put my phone away, and kept looking at his face, watching the colors move as the sun slowly faded into the night. Though the colors darkened, the gleam in his eyes only brightened as we both leaned in, sharing a passionate, powerful kiss that only deepened my feelings for him.