"See, that won't work for me because the thought of walking around on eggshells another damn minute and pretending that I'm not crazy in love with you makes me want to explode," he shot back without a hint of hesitation, blowing my world up with his beautiful words. "And I hear you when you say that you don’t have a high school heart, because I sure as shit don’t have one either." Pulling me closer, he reached up and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "I've been loving you longer than a long time, Molly Peterson. My whole damn life, to be exact. I don't remember a time when my chest didn't feel like this, when I didn't feel love for you. Nothing about the way I feel for you has ever been casual, and I don’t see that changing when high school ends."

"Oh god." A deep shiver racked through my body. "Don’t say things you can't take back, D."

"I don’t wanna take it back," he pushed, tipping my chin up and forcing me to look him in the eyes. "Not any of it. You came home and everything just…came back to life for me." I could see the truth in his eyes. It was shining bright like emerald jewels. "It's like a light switched on in my head and I can think clearly again. I can see again. And I see you, Molly. Only you. And I might not be able to tell the future, but I know that no matter where we go in life, we'll end up together because I refuse to accept anything less."

31 Daryl

The truth was finally out there.

All of my cards were on the table.

My heart was on the line.

Granted, I could have chosen a more private place to pour my heart out, but feelings had a funny way of sneaking up on a guy, hence the pale-faced girl staring up at me on the dance floor at homecoming.

Molly was quiet for so long that I sort of felt like I needed to repeat all of the shit that had just poured from my mouth just to get a response, but deep down inside I knew that she was untangling all of my words and her feelings.

"Can you say something?" I finally asked, more like begged, as I stared down at the girl who held my beating heart in her hands. "Please? Just say something –"

"You came without a warning label, Daryl King," she told me, voice small, eyes wide and full of innocence. "It's like I was born and there you were. I don’t remember my life before you, and I can't imagine my life without you." Reaching up, she placed a shaky hand on my chest. "You swept me off my feet at an age and a time in my life when I didn’t quite understand what was happening, but I get it now. I realize that I found a love in you that most people can only read about. I couldn’t help falling in love with you when we were kids, and I still can't help it now. It's like I'm programmed to love you and I can't stop. Over the years, my feelings for you haven't faltered. They haven't wilted and faded out. They just burn brighter and harder with each passing day." A lone tear trickled down her cheek as she half-laughed/half-sobbed. "My heart is literally on fire for you."