I'll Always Be With You

As you open your eyes early in the morning, you turn your head to the side expecting to see Nate curled up, but he’s not there. Curiosity gets the best of you, and you pull the covers off of you to get out of bed. You slip on your slippers and tug on your robe. As you make your way to the door, you spot a piece of paper lying on the floor. You bend down to get it and spot your name written in neat curly letters. Your heart starts to quicken as you open the note. You skim through his words, catching a few here and there. He says that it was just too much for him to handle at the moment and that he needed time. He needed to get away and he did.

Unbelieving, you walk to the closet you both shared and slowly turned the knob. You push the door inward and turn on the light, taking in everything. His half was bare. All that was left of his belongings was a small box stuffed in the corner.

You feel your heart tearing in your chest as you slump down against the door frame. You can’t hold back the tears and let them blind you as you try to wipe them away. Your breathing is getting heavy, and you can’t seem to take in enough air. Your hands are shaking and your head is a jumbled up mess. You keep thinking about what you could’ve done to make him stay. You never noticed how distant he was becoming until now. It all makes sense, the staying up, the secretive phone calls, the hesitant kisses. They were signs. Signs leading up to this.

You put the thoughts to the side as you crawl toward the box he left. Once you reach it, you hesitantly dump out its contents. He left everything you shared. As you look through the memories, you spot a small silver box underneath a few photographs. You reach for it and hold it in your hands, running your thumb along its smooth surface. You carefully hold it in one hand as you lift the top off. A red piece of paper slides out onto your lap. Forgetting the box, you grab the paper and open it. You immediately recognize the handwriting as his.

My love,

If you’re reading this then I have probably left. I know you must feel like I have never loved you, but that’s not true. I do love you. I truly do. And for reasons that I’m not allowed to mention, I have to do this for the both of us. I know you might not forgive me for leaving, but just know that if I could, I would ensure that none of this would have happened.

I’m sorry that I can no longer be the one to hold you close and love you with everything I have. Maybe you’ve noticed this, or maybe you haven’t, but our relationship just wasn’t what it was at the beginning. I can tell you that everything will turn out just fine, but I know you won’t believe me. I just hope that one day we could both look back and remember the happiness we both felt. Maybe we’ll cross paths and hopefully there will be no pain. Just remember that I love you and if you wish to keep the ring then I will always be with you, my dearest.

Yours Truly,

Nate

As you read those final words, you notice that the tears have stopped and your breathing has become controlled. You set down the note and take hold of the silver box again. You look inside and find the ring he was saving for you with the engraving “I’ll Always Be With You”.