I take Kelly by the hand, loving the way her fingers look tangled with mine as we walk into the lake house.

She's smiling. It's soft, like an angel's feather, but it's there, and she's looking at me in a way that makes me feel like my heart is going to explode out of my chest. It almost physically hurts to see just how beautiful she is.

Her hair, as soft as my imagination remembers, looks like a halo around her face. Her small baby hairs fly away from the cool lake breeze and the simple sight of it all puts me in awe.

My fingers fumble with the key to the house. Kelly's hand is still gripped in mine and like always, she picks up on my anxiety and wraps her other hand around our combined ones and leans in and kisses my arm.

A shaky breath leaves my lungs but the loving touch of her lips on my skin does two things:

One, it makes my body relax as if the feel of her so close puts my mind at ease like the stars have finally come aligned and all is right in the world.

And two, my body yearns to be connected with hers in every way possible.

When the door finally budges open, we enter the lake house to see it's dark yet welcoming.

"Do you come up here often?" Kelly asks, her eyes watching my face. It's a look that makes my toes curl, as if she is just as amazed by me as I am of her.

I have always loved summers up here with Christopher and my parents. It has been a few years since we have come up here though. Mostly because of me not being able to see how wonderful it is. It always put me in a funk and I think my funks weighed on my parents more than they did me.

"Summers," I answer but that's all I can get out. My mind has officially entered the gutter as the strap of her floral dress slips down her slim shoulder. She watches my eyes narrow in on it and her breathing hitches in her throat, her chest rising rapidly as if she reads my mind. She grips her sweater tighter in her arms.

I don't feel like talking. I have one thing on my mind but I don't want to offend her by continuing to stare at her like a sex-crazed teen. But she's so beautiful. And I am so incredibly in love with her.

I blush. I hate it. But I feel the instant heat crawl up my neck and settle around my ears, turning them the color of a freaking firetruck. The blue of her eyes crinkle in a way that shows me this amuses her. It's like her irises are the ocean and the sweet, saltiness of the water cools the fire under my skin.

"Why not more?" She asks. Her gaze fleets away from mine and around the room. All the furniture is covered in white sheets and this makes Kelly frown. She lets go of my hand and instantly I feel alone. Walking over to the couch, she flings the white sheet away from the leather. "If this were mine, I would be here all summer long plus holidays. I bet it's beautiful in the winter as well."

The sheet flies around her like a ghost of something daringly haunting. It caresses her shoulders--making that darn strap slip lower down her arm again--before falling at her feet. I blink a few times as if my mind is playing tricks on me and she is infact a ghost of a memory that I had once had.

"Do you and your family come here in the winter?"

She is still talking while I am inhumanly gawking at every move she makes. At first, I begin to panic because I don't know how long she has been talking for and knowing Kelly, she talks and talks. Especially when she is nervous. But I like that about her. It makes her seem less immortal.

Her cheeks turn a light shade of glowing pink and she bites her lip to make herself stop speaking. This calms my vibrating nerves some. It has been a few month since I have physically stood in front of her. Mainly because I am a coward. But mostly because I had figured this was all just a phase for her. Once she had spent some time away from this science geek, she would soon realize that she didn't actually love me, that she was just bored with her mundane life and needed to shake things up a bit.

I remember the first time I had seen her after a little over a year of being in the dark when I nearly bumped into her in my floyer. She had looked so shocked, so utterly divine, with her wild blonde hair and blue eyes so round as they connected solely with mine.

I will never forget the way my chest constricted and heart lurched against my ribcage. I will also never forget the way Kelly looked back at me. I had remembered her being beautiful, but my memory didn't suffice. She was other wordly.

"Nate?" Kelly is looking at me as if she is concerned for my well-being. And maybe she should be. I can't take my eyes off of her.

I close them briefly, afraid that if I don't, I will never look away and that will just peg me as weirder than I already am.

"Um," words falter and I feel like I am back at square one. Her physique mixed with that siren voice of hers is enough to bring me under and willingly so.

Kelly's brows lower and the look is so alluring. I never knew she was such an open book. Her expressions give away everything that she is thinking. And to think that I had missed out on that for the past almost two years...

She walks back over to me. With my eyes drawn to the floor, I see her painted red toes stop themselves directly in front of mine.

"Is something wrong?" She asks, her tone so sweet it makes my fingers twitch at my sides to reach out and touch her.

Surprising myself, I do just that. I grip at her fingers with my own and lightly pull her closer so that her body is nearly flushed against mine. I sigh in relief when her chest touches mine.

"I've missed the way you feel, that's all." My words are daring but I don't feel embarrassed like I used to around her. I know for certain that Kelly loves me. I don't know why I ever doubted it to begin with but this I know with every fiber in my body. "I don't know how I managed without it."

"Yeah," she says with a sad smirk on her face and within seconds my world dulls. "Me too."

"Hey..." I tip her wobbling chin up so that her face is clear for me to see.

She tries to smile but she fails. I have heard Kelly cry many times. I have seen it only a few and the sound mixed with the sight of actual tears is enough to bring me to my knees.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes and she closes her eyes as if that is enough to compose herself. I don't like her apologizing to me. She already has hundreds of times for what her and her friends did that cause my accident and it felt like hearing her say the words again brought the subject back up.

My body goes stiff at the memory and my hand falls from her face. "Stop apologizing."

Kelly's brows lower further. I'm confusing her.

"I just want to put it all behind us." I walk over to an armchair and take the sheet off.

I can hear her footsteps before I feel her arms wrap around my waist. "I feel like we really didn't talk about it though. You must have many questions."

"I don't."

"Well, I do, Nate."

I turn around and take another step away from her. This isn't how this night was supposed to go. We had both said we are sorry for this things that needed treading around. Why can't she just let things go? I have. And this is mostly my problem to come to terms with.

"Do you want me to hate you, Kelly?" The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. My chest hurts and my eyes begin to water. I'm not good at confrontation. I may even push things under the rug just to avoid them because life goes on whether you talk about things or not.

I have come to terms with them. Kelly was the only thing that made me want to get up in the morning on days where the darkness almost swallowed me whole. Kelly makes my world brighter just from a simple smile. I wasn't about to give that up and I hope more than anything, never is should.

Kelly's chin wobbles more and I don't have to look at her to know that tears have once again sprung in her eyes but I do because I can't help myself.

"Of course not," she answers. Her voice is so quiet I almost can't hear her, but her mouth is so enticing that my eyes lock right on to it. "I couldn't live with myself if you hated me, Nathaniel."

The room has gone quiet. Kelly quiet is never a good thing.

"I don't hate you," I tell her and take a step towards her again but this time she moves away and my heart squeezes in my chest. "I love you."

Kelly pushes up the strap of her dress that can't seem to stop slipping off her shoulder and turns her face to the side in defiance. "I know. That was just mean to say."

"I'm sorry."

My heart soars back to life when a hint of a smile ghosts Kelly's lips again. The suns seems to grow twice its size and the heat of its closeness washes over me from head to toe. Though microscopic, a smile from this girl is enough to give me hope for world peace.

"I'm sorry too," she says and I give her a pointed look that makes her do the cutest thing I have yet to physically see her do. She zips her lips and places the imaginary key in my hand then folds my fingers into my palm. "For when you're ready."

I will never be ready to hear about that night from her end because that night is considered the worst event of my life. It hurts to know the girl I love was apart of it--if not apart of the reason for it--but I know her. I know she has a good heart and she would have never blinded me on purpose.

I pull on her arm and yank her back to me, our chest pressing together in a way that only makes me want to fit inside her like a jigsaw piece to feel whole again.

Our lips hover over each other as if to stop time for a moment. The feeling of her breath pulsing against my sensitive skin sends a steady buzz through my veins. Not being able to stand the audasive closeness of her without properly doing something about it soon becomes overpowering and I crash my mouth down on hers.

Kelly hums in gratitude when my tongue gentley grazes over hers and she pulls on my neck to bring me closer to her, which is nearly impossible but she manages anyhow because she is amazing and determines and sometimes, I believe her to be magic.

The backs of my knees hit the cushions of the couch and as I fall helplessly down onto them, Kelly stands and peers down at me. There's a smirk on her flushed face as she hikes her flowy dress up and out so that she can comfortably settle on either sides of my thighs.

I am frozen. In complete and total awe. I don't know if I will ever get over the sight.

"I've missed you," she says for what feels like the thousandth time since she agreed to show up in my backyard tonight with a hope of reconciliation on my end.

Her teeth skim like a dull razor over my jaw and a rack of shivers course through me so violently I feel like I will fall apart if it wasn't for this girl holding me together.

I didn't want to talk. I was never one that was good at it. But what I have come to find that I am good at, is kissing Kelly Henderson. What a gift to have.

My hands skim up her exposed thighs and rest on her hips under her dress. She squirms and the feel of her smiling as I kiss her makes me smiles as well.

I've missed her smile. I've missed the sound of her laughter which never fails to bloom another seed in my chest. I've missed the feeling the warmth of her skin gives to mine when she is close. I've miss her.

Being so used to using touch instead of sight, I close my eyes and use my senses to feel her. She has gone completely still and I can feel her watching me but I am too engrossed in the old ways that I don't bother to reopen them.

I can feel ever hair raise on her body when my fingers gingerly move from her knees and up her thighs. I lean forward and travel my lips from her left shoulder, across the soft skin of her chest, and down her other arm. Kelly is shaking on my lap.

With my eyes remaining close, I grab the ends of her dress and slowly bring it up and over her head. Her long hair gets stuck around the fabric but she still remains silent as she watches me do all this.

I probably look crazy to her but sometimes, I miss being blind in a way. Don't get me wrong, I am over the moon that I have my sight back. Though not one hundred percent perfect, I can now drive and strive for my dream of working for NASA.

But I have a new dream. I have had it for a while but with her here now, with me so completely, my dream is to do all of those things with Kelly by my side.

"What are you doing?" Her sweet voice asks. "Why won't you open your eyes?"

"Because," I say stubbornly. This makes her giggle and I squeeze my eyes shut even more, too afraid that the sound would coax them open.

Her hands find my face and I hum while her thumbs soothingly rub over the tops of my cheekbones. "Nathaniel," she taunts and kisses underneath my eyes until I can't help but open them. "There," she says with an accomplished smile. "I love those eyes."

I try to imagine what she sees when she looks into mine. Does she see a scared boy who feels like he is starting over in far too many aspects of his life? Does he see the love he feels for her pouring out of them like the way her shooting star arched and landed in the night sky?

I can't speak for her, but I can see the way her blue eyes draw me in like the tide on a full moon and I can see the adoration that seeks for nothing but love right back. And I do. I love this girl more than the ocean loves its moon. She keeps me moving, keeps me from pulling myself back under to the place inside my head that would surely drown me.

And because I must see those eyes with my own, I keep mine open for the rest of the night because I don't want to miss a single second when I get the view of her.

She smiles when I look up at her and I swear I see stars twinkling in them but then again I could just be light headed for lack of oxygen.

I tilt my chin up and Kelly takes that as an indicator to bring her lips back down to mine. She sighs into the kiss and I happily remove her dress. Her hair falls like waves over her shoulder and I'm in awe when she pushes it away from her face and down her back, revealing her long, slender, neck.

I have to stop my eyes from bulging out their sockets and my mouth from touching the floor. She is so unbelievably beautiful.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She questions with an intimidated smile. She knows she is stunning but it warms my heart that she might be a tad nervous. She has nothing to be nervous about. I would find her alluring in a potato sack and a paper bag over her head.

"Because you're a sight to look at."

Kelly drags that darn bottom lip with her teeth and she tightens her thighs around mine in a way that leaves me breathing harder. She squirms when my fingertips grip her hips harder, holding her down to me.

"So are you." Her hands play with the collar of my shirt as her eyes roam over my face.

I shake my head and she cocks her to the side.

"That's different."

"How so?" Kelly settles back against my thighs but her hands never leave my shirt.

I take in her glowing skin and the way her lips shine when she absentmindedly licks them. Her eyes shine bright under the radiant moon and on a normal night, I would gaze out my window to see it hanging high in the sky but tonight, Kelly illuminate the night sky greater than any rock or constellation ever could.

"You saw me when no one else did."

Kelly's eyes soften at my words and my stomach erupts with relief when she slowly pulls me back into her arms and her lips find mine like the North star.

I will remember our first time every time I close my eyes, but this, seeing her with my own two eyes as she arches and her mouth gapes open as she surrenders to every one of my touches is another first.

It's a sight that will never fade. Just like my love for her.