She loves me.

I mean, Kris said she loved me.

The sounds of the London nightlife is picking up and soon, it'll be hard to find Marie. I begin walking briskly in the direction she ran, hoping to catch up.

I literally ran 10 blocks, in a suit I might add, and no Marie in sight. At the end of the block I was on, I saw the pub where Marie & I watched a football match.

It was at that moment that I knew where she was. The hill. I start sprinting the 2 miles to the hill, the fastest I've ever ran.

Reaching the top, the view is breathtaking. Not because the London lights below but because Marie is standing there, her hair glistening under the moon.

She is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.

"I knew you'd be here." I whispered, walking up behind her.

"I'm sorry Tom," she says, choking up. "I should have.... ugh." Her shoulder falls with her sigh. He grabs her hair with her free hand, revealing the little tattoo on her back neck. I never noticed it before.

"No need to be sorry, dear," I walk to the bench in front of her and sit. I pat the spot next to me, "remember when I first brought you here?"

She sits next to me, leaning her head on my right shoulder. "That's why I came here. You said this was the place you'd go to escape the rush," I feel her body tremble. It does get a little frigid at night. "Here have my jacket," I slip it off and place it over her shoulders. "You know, I would never hurt you."

It was the truth. Marie, well, she's the first woman I've ever felt this way about since the end of University. I proposed to my girlfriend but she rejected me, ever since then, I've never loved.

She looks at me with the most saddened face, tears rolling down past her rosy cheeks. I wipe them away with my finger. "I know you wouldn't hurt me Tom, it's just, I don't want to hurt you. This isn't easy for me, this whole love-mixed-friendship thing." I smile.

"I've been hurt in the past. Plus with my parents being here - my divorced parents - together has really messed my thoughts up. You deserve someone who can be everything you want and need. Someone beautiful, someone who will understand your profession and not get jealous, someone who can treat you like the amazing man you are."

I lift her chin and grab her spare hand. "Marie, you are exactly what I need, what I want. I don't need someone perfect or someone who the world thinks is the most beautiful," her eyes start to fill up with tears again.

"I want someone who supports me, who has passions & isn't afraid to act on them. Someone who won't take no for an answer and someone flawed. Marie, you don't understand how beautiful you are, do you?"

She bows her head down, "No. I've never been that girl." I look at her puzzled. "I've never been the girl who had boyfriends, I was the athlete and the drama/English nerd. I've only had one relationship which was horrible & it happened around the same time of my parent's divorce."

"If given the chance, I'd be honored to show you the real way a man should treat a woman like you," she smiles. "It'll happen when it happens. I don't want to rush into anything and make you feel overwhelmed. But just so you know, I am here. For you, for anything you need and no matter how far away I am, I always will listen."

Marie leans in to me, planting a soft kiss on my lips. Deep down I just want to kiss her back but I'm resisting.

"Tom, I do love you," she tighten her grip around my hand. "I'd love to spend the holidays with your family too."

She doesn't look at me but I can feel her smile as her head is against my shoulder again. I remove my hand from her's and place my arm around her body, pulling her close.

No words needed to be said. Like the times before, our best conversations are best when silent. We just sit there, overlooking a cold London, silent and in each other's company.

This is just one of the many reasons why I'm madly in love with Marie.

She's perfectly flawed.