Bill and Julie are so much fun to write. I find writing the memories of their past to be eye-opening and so telling of who they are and how their love was born. This particular memory was the first time Bill went to the cemetery and found Julie there, struggling to make sense of her sudden need for this man in her life.
Julie sat at the cemetery, looking at the tombstones that honored her parents. She let her tears fall as she placed a flower on each grave. Everything had seemed to be going well for her and she didn’t know why she was in such a funk. She and Bill had said their ‘I love you’s to each other and she was falling hard. It scared her, how much she had come to rely on him. She didn’t tell him where she was going today, she just told him there was something she needed to take care of. They were supposed to have gone to dinner after he was done with his officer training. She was just depressed, plain and simple. She missed her mom and dad and sometimes it just hit her like it happened yesterday. She wiped her tears and sighed.
“Tommy told me you might be here” Bill said, startling her.
Julie looked up and her heart beat faster. She had never seen him in full uniform. He looked simply magnificent and the green of the uniform made the blue in his eyes seem even more brilliant. He sat down next to her and she couldn’t help it, she burst into tears. He pulled her to him and held her, not knowing what was wrong, but knowing she simply needed him. She pulled away after a minute and wiped her face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Bill smiled and stroked her cheek. “There is nothing wrong with you.”
She sighed. “I am sitting on the ground crying at my parents’ grave and my amazingly handsome boyfriend just ruined his beautiful uniform by joining me. There is something wrong with that.”
He was quiet for a minute. “Amazingly handsome?” He raised his eyebrows and his eyes twinkled.
She smiled, despite herself. “How come you are wearing your uniform?” She ran her hand over the material.
“We had a walk through with the new cadets, so it is important to make a good impression. I was going to change, but you worried me when you cancelled our date. I called to talk to you and Tommy told me you might be here.” He traced a line down her arm. “What’s going on?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, just overwhelmed I guess.”
He looked at her and then at the tombstones. “Shall I introduce myself?”
She wiped her tears. “I already told them all about you.” She was suddenly uncomfortable. “We should go.”
“Nope.”
“What do you mean, nope?”
“You came here for a reason and we aren’t leaving until you finish what you need to say,” he said simply.
“Maybe it was private?” she countered.
“Maybe it shouldn’t be,” he challenged.
She was stumped. “Fine. I wanted some advice.”
“So ask for it.”
“You’re being a jerk.”
“You’re being stubborn and cryptic.”
Stumped again.
“I wanted to know how you know.”
He was confused. “How you know what?”
“Whether you’re the one?”
“Oh.” He looked at her. “You are referring to me, right?”
“No, Brian,” she said and smiled.
“Now who’s being a jerk?” he grinned.
“Just wanted to see you squirm.”
“Nice.”
She turned and sat against his chest, pulling his arms around her. She leaned back and he held her. “I think I know.”
She closed her eyes, “Know what?”
“Were you not just in this conversation with me?”
She giggled. “Sorry. How do you know?”
“I think it’s simple, really. When I found out you cancelled our date, I felt empty. My time spent without you is sad and lonely for me. I have never found anyone who I would rather be with when I have something happy to share or when I’m too tired to move. I don’t want to just sit on the couch and chill out, I want to look at you and then I’m home. It isn’t one thing, it’s all of those things.” He hugged his arms around her.
She listened to him and her tears fell and she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She turned in his arms and he brushed her tears away. “I think, for me, you are the only one.” He spoke sincerely and with emotion.
She pressed her hands on his chest and looked into his eyes. She leaned into him and pressed her mouth onto his, needing him to know that for her, there had never been a question. He reached his hand up through her hair and intensified the kiss, pulling her close to him and wrapping her in his arms. They broke when air was necessary and she smiled. “For me, you have always been the one.”
