Growing Older

I remember the day that the innocent times ended.

I pulled away from your lips for the first time, an uneasiness growing in my gut. What just happened? I could see your eyes shine but I felt the fear rise. I'd been here before, and the only way out was to break you, before I broke myself.

But I found I couldn't. This was new. I was out of control around you, but still so safe. I couldn't stay away. Nothing else felt right, even if you were out of my thoughts for a split second. I had to be near you, but I kept my heart locked away for as long as I could. Silly, stubborn girl. And then I fell. I fell against you and cried my heart out, and when I wasn't looking you must have picked it up and slipped it into your pocket. Because it became yours.

And now our future is rolling out before us with few certainties. We're getting older, wiser, we're getting scarred and knocked and we fight through the countless blocks put in our path. But we've been doing that all our lives. This time, we're in it together. King and Queen of our own little world, a red carpet of an uncertain future rolling out before us. You are my religion, my freedom, my candle in the darkness, every single possible clichéd phrase that I can think of to describe something vital and irreplaceable, you are all of it. Thank you for all you have done, and thank you for all you will, as we get older, grow old, and live.