Hazel hues meet blue, and immediately Arlo’s knees feel weak, every single time. It borders laughable, this feeling of warmth and attachment that consumes him at the mere thought of Shanley - something that he’d tried to bury beneath reckless vices and self-destructive tendencies and yet even those proved fruitless. The fact of the matter was that Arlo cared more than he was ever willing to let on, his emotions overwhelmed him into a state of numbness - one that sent him off clinging for any semblance of what he was able to get his hands on. He’d been holding onto this thought, the realization that he wanted her and nobody else for far longer than he’d wanted to admit, even to himself. Maybe the others would deem it foolish, the quick pace at which he was now moving, but Arlo had spent far longer than he’d liked without Shanley and he wasn’t going to further repress the emotions that flooded him on account of what the others thought. So, when Willow was knocking down his door - prying him for more information, he was reluctant to let her in on what was consuming his mind, and yet she remained, easing any traces of worry that plagued him - encouraging him, and offering to help him best communicate his feelings, in a way that didn’t require touch.
ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ
Arlo had etched the words into her skin far too many times - into her back as she slept in his arms, walking through the grocery store together as he watches her search for cheek-its, and again as they rinsed one another off in the shower, and yet he still lacked the ability to say it to her - to look in her eyes and mutter the three words he’d been yearning to articulate for years. It wasn’t even necessarily that he was prolonging it out of fear of her not responding with the same sentiment - not anymore. He knew in the moments when her eyes met his, the way she reached for him in her sleep, and the color that still rose to her cheeks with every compliment he spoke - she held those same feelings for him, and yet they clung to those thoughts as if once the words were spoken aloud that the sentiment may somehow waver, but Arlo was exhausted. Fatigued from constantly withholding the words that he so desperately wanted to speak into existence. Perhaps that was why he agreed to Willow’s suggestion, the two hastily making their way to record the lyrics he’d written in the weeks prior, and even then, he never gave Shanley the CD he’d downloaded the track onto. He had been planning to, one night, but she’d hastily entered the room and he hadn’t quite worked up the courage yet, so he’d stashed it in a drawer of her bedroom - he’d decided to wait for another moment.
ɪ’ᴅ ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ꜰɪʀᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ
The pain that shot through his limbs in the aftermath of recent days bordered unbearable, however, Arlo held little desire to make his pain known - old habits die hard and the like. His body ached, head throbbing which served as a reminder of his reckless antics - he needed to find new ways that conveyed his intentions, ones that weren’t so agonizing in the aftermath. Despite the pain that lingered in his body, there was a weight that lifted itself from off of his chest - he was still thankful at least that he hadn’t given in to his urges of striking Luca on the beach. But even more than that, he was elated to know that he was changing - rather choosing a route that he previously wouldn’t have taken and it was all Shanley’s influence. He could hear Luca’s words still ringing in his ears: I hope Shanley never goes back to you. You don’t deserve her. Weeks prior, when he’d allowed for the sense of numbness to consume him, there was an excruciating pain that lingered in his chest, the paralysis that engulfed him feigned a burning sensation that seemed to burrow it’s way through his core. If the words were spoken to him then, he would’ve spiraled even further and there was a chance, one he was well aware of, that he would’ve never crawled back out of. But now...he was beginning to feel a sense of relief. He no longer shared that fear of not being enough, not when he was so convinced that he was finally growing into the person that he wanted to be - the man that deserved her.
ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴀᴅᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ
Even if his encounter with Luca on the beach set them back in their relationship, Arlo couldn’t imagine feeling thwarted. He’d meant it when he hinted at wanting to spend the rest of his life with her, even if it may have been a bit premature in regards to their official relationship, but it was an unshakable feeling - he just knew. There was a sense of comfort in knowing that the woman he’d been pining over for the last ten years had shared the same sentiment. To know that despite the highs and lows, the romances and heartaches the two had gone though with others, that after all that time the two were simply waiting, ready to be with one another. Now that the opportunity had risen again, Arlo knew that this time there wasn’t going to be any more heartache - there was no need to to turn and run out of fear. He was in love with her, and he was going to finally let her know.
→ ʟᴏᴄᴋ ꜱᴄʀᴇᴇɴ : he has to have the boys as his wallpaper - it's a photo of god and his dad after all ?? the man is blessed.
→ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ꜱᴄʀᴇᴇɴ : this photo is on his home screen so he can low key torture himself and not get called out on it. also just so he can admire how beautiful shanley is and be reminded how much he fucked up.
