I love you

He watched her lay there on the grass, just an inch away from him. Her eyes were closed, those long lashes creating as long shadows.
He wanted to touch her. Just for a moment, just to feel she really was there, next to him.

It was a long time since the first time they had been laying on the grass in that same park. He was in love with her then, as he still was. He still loved her. She still didn't love him. Or at least he was quite sure. And this time around, just as the first, he wanted to tell her so badly that his heart pounded in his chest. "Like a mad man's fist", she used to say. Yes, like a mad man's fist.

Why it had been so hard to tell, he wasn't sure. He had loved her forever and he thought she must have known, forever. Wasn't it obvious? Yes, he believed it was. And there she was, with her back against the ground, with her eyes slightly moving behind closed eyelids. Just an inch away from his touch.

What if I just kissed her? He had been kissing her for years in his mind, in his dreams. In his dreams her lips were soft. In his dreams he placed his hand on her neck and pulled her closer. As she kept her eyes closed, he leaned slightly forward, just enough to feel her breath on his face. Oh, how many times he had been dreaming about waking up next to her, feeling her breath against his skin! I'm a fool for not telling her, he thought. What if she didn't know? What if he only thought that she knew about his love? What if she had been waiting all this time as well for him to say something?

It happened fast. He closed his eyes for a second, as to focus, and took a deep breath. "I love you." Did he say it out loud? Yes, he did. He said it again, "I love you."

She must have been sleeping, because she didn't move. Instead he lay down next to her and took her hand, squeezed it gently so that she wouldn't wake up.