Page 138 of One Night

"Your father and I had many good years. Just because things didn't work out doesn't mean I regret being with him. We had a love that I'll never have with anyone else and we have three beautiful daughters to prove it. So don't let this divorce discourage you from being in a relationship. Don't ever be afraid to love someone. Go into it with your heart open. That's the best advice I can give you, because when you love someone fully and completely and they love you back, it's the best feeling in the world." I hear noise, like she scooted her chair back. "Honey, I hate to rush off the phone but I have to take Britt to cheerleading practice. Can we talk later?"

"Yeah. But mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

"I'm sorry you have to go through this. I'm sorry things ended this way."

"I am too. I wish things could have gone differently. But we'll move on from this. I promise you, things will get better. I love you, honey."

"Love you, too. Bye, Mom."

She hangs up and I lie on my bed, feeling like a giant weight has been lifted off me. Like the dark clouds have parted and there's light again. My parents' infidelity explains why they fell out of love and I really needed to hear that, but that isn't the reason I'm feeling so much better right now. The reason I'm feeling better, more hopeful, is because my mom still believes in love.

After everything she's been through, I expected my mom to be bitter about love. To have closed her mind and heart off to the very idea of love. To discourage me from ever pursuing it. But instead, she told me to go for it. To love with everything I am, despite the risks of having my heart broken.

My mom loved my dad with all her heart and now her heart is broken. But despite that, she still wants her daughters to experience love. To take the risk and go out in the world and find someone to give our hearts to.

I already found that someone. And I'm ready to give him my heart, without hesitation or doubt or worry about what may be.

I go to my desk and take out a piece of paper and my special pen and begin writing. Writing to the person I'm giving my heart to. The guy I met last May who I was only supposed to be with for one night but ended up being the guy I want to spend my forever with.

I still have my doubts. I still have fears. But I'm taking my mom's advice. Open my heart. Love fully and completely. It's exactly what I've wanted to do but my uncertainty about the future wouldn't let me. But I'm letting those uncertainties go because I want to be with Dylan. He's the one I love. The one I want to be with. The one I want to give my heart to.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Dylan

"I'm going out," Van says as he opens the door. "You want anything?"

"No, I'm good, but thanks." I focus on the basketball game on TV but hear Van laughing.

"Seriously, dude, is this ever going to end?"

"What?"

He comes back holding an envelope and drops it in my lap. "This letter shit. You guys are already dating. Why do you keep doing this?"

I smile. "Because it's romantic."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever, man. See ya later."

After he leaves, I rip open the envelope. I haven't seen Amber in over a week. It's killing me not to see her but I want to give her space. I want her to come to me when she's ready and I'm hoping this letter is telling me she is.

Or she could be breaking up with me. Shit!

I unfold the sheet of paper. It's covered with scrolling letters written with her special pen.

Dear Dylan,

There once was a girl who believed in fairy tales because fairy tales were better than real life. Real life is full of sadness, disappointment, stories that don't end well.

So the girl chose to believe in fairy tales and waited for her prince. And she found him, in of all places, a frat house. Not exactly a castle but it would do. After their brief encounter, she ran away like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight.

The night they shared was magical but she feared the magic would disappear if they ever met again. But staying away from him wasn't possible. She had to see her prince again, and when she did, the magic was still there, sparkling all around her, even brighter than before.

Then something bad happened. Something that made her question magic and fairy tales and happy endings. A dark cloud hung over her and she shunned the prince, uncertain if she trusted the magic between them, or if it could last. But she still felt it, even without him there, because it was in her heart.

No matter how many dark clouds followed her, the lightness, the magic, remained in her heart because the magic she felt was love. True love for her prince. And then suddenly, the dark clouds parted and she saw the light again. Bright, powerful rays of light that made her feel happy and alive and desperate to see her prince again. But this time, she promised herself she would give him her heart, fulling and completely. And she hoped he would do the same, because he was, after all, her prince. She knew that now more than ever.

---