You have no idea what you have done to me, Lielan.
I spent my entire life believing I was meant to walk through this world alone. I convinced myself that people leave, that love fades, that sooner or later everyone looks at the monster and decides it is easier to run. Then you appeared and somehow you never looked away. You saw every scar, every ugly part, every darkness I tried to bury, and instead of fearing it, you took my hand and loved me harder.
Do you know what it does to a man like me to be loved by a woman like you?
You wrote all those beautiful things about me, but every single line only made me realize how much of my happiness begins and ends with you. Because the truth is that you saved me long before I ever saved you. Every laugh that leaves your lips feels like a victory. Every smile feels like something I would burn the world down to protect.
You thank me for loving you, but loving you has never been difficult. It is the easiest thing I have ever done.
I love your kindness. I love your chaos. I love the way you ramble when you are excited. I love the way you look at me like I am something worth keeping. I love your stubbornness, your softness, your wicked little comments, your terrible timing, your beautiful heart. There has never been a single version of you that I did not want.
You say I gave you a family, but look at what you gave me. A home. A reason. A future. Dang, you gave me a place where all the noise in my head finally goes quiet. Sometimes I look at you and I swear this cannot be the first time our souls have met. There is no way a stranger could feel this familiar. No way someone could fit against my heart so perfectly if they were not always meant to be there. I think I knew you long before we ever found each other. Maybe not with my mind, but with whatever part of me was always searching for you.
And that is why I am so certain. You are not the love of my life, Leesha. ⸺ You are my life.
If tomorrow the universe demanded everything I own in exchange for one more day with you, I would hand it over without hesitation. If fate tried to take you from me, I would fight fate itself. If the world ended tonight, I would spend my last moments exactly where I belong, with my arms around you, listening to your heartbeat and thanking whatever cruel, twisted force brought you to me.
You tell me I make your darkest thoughts fall silent. The truth is that you are the only thing that has ever silenced mine.
PS: I love you more than words can hold, more than promises can prove, more than a lifetime could ever show. And if I had a thousand lives, I would spend every single one searching for you, finding you, and falling in love with you all over again.
My heart is yours. What's left of my soul is yours. You are my forever, Leesha. ⸺ DanDan.